[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26002-26004]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12008]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-301-803]


Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts From Colombia: Affirmative 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that citric 
acid and certain citrate salts (citric acid) from Colombia are being, 
or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair

[[Page 26003]]

value (LTFV) during the period of investigation (POI) April 1, 2016, 
through March 31, 2017. In addition, we determine that critical 
circumstances do not exist with respect to imports of the subject 
merchandise.

DATES: Applicable June 5, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Moore, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3692.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Commerce published the Preliminary Determination of sales at LTFV 
of citric acid from Colombia on January 8, 2018, in which we also 
postponed the final determination until May 26, 2018.\1\ We invited 
interested parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination. 
Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by the 
closure of the Federal Government from January 20 through 22, 2018. The 
revised deadline for the final determination of this investigation is 
now May 29, 2018.\2\
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    \1\ See Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from Colombia: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, Preliminary Negative Critical Circumstances Determination, 
and Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 83 FR 791 (January 8, 2018) (Preliminary Determination), 
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum for The Record from Christian Marsh, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of 
the Federal Government'' (Tolling Memorandum), dated January 23, 
2018. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been 
extended by 3 days.
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    A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues 
raised by parties for this final determination, may be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum, which is adopted by this notice.\3\
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than- Fair-Value 
Investigation of Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from 
Colombia,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is citric acid from 
Colombia. For a full description of the scope of this investigation, 
see the ``Scope of the Investigation'' in Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

    Prior to the Preliminary Determination, we issued a Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum.\4\ We subsequently invited parties to submit 
additional scope comments in their case briefs, but received none. 
Therefore, for the final determination, we continue to find that the 
scope of the investigation as defined in the Initiation Notice \5\ and 
the Preliminary Determination \6\ remains applicable. See Appendix I.
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    \4\ See Memorandum ``Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determinations,'' dated December 1, 2017 (Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \5\ See Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from Belgium, 
Colombia, and Thailand: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 82 FR 29828 (June 30, 2017) (Initiation Notice) and 
accompanying Initiation Checklist.
    \6\ See Preliminary Determination, 83 FR at 793.
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), in January and February 2018, we conducted verification of 
the sales and cost information submitted by Sucroal S.A. (Sucroal) for 
use in our final determination. We used standard verification 
procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting and 
production records, and original source documents provided by Sucroal.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs submitted by the 
interested parties are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. 
A list of the issues addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is 
attached to this notice at Appendix II. The Issues and Decision 
Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at https://access.trade.gov, and it is available to 
all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B-8024 of the main 
Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed and electronic 
versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations for 
Sucroal. These changes are discussed in the ``Changes Since the 
Preliminary Determination'' section of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.

Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    In accordance with section 733(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, 
we preliminarily found that critical circumstances do not exist for the 
mandatory respondent, Sucroal or for exporters and producers not 
individually examined (i.e., ``all-others'').\7\ Commerce received no 
comments regarding this issue after the Preliminary Determination. 
Therefore, for the final determination, our determination remains 
unchanged and we continue to find, in accordance with section 735(a)(3) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206(e), that critical circumstances do not 
exist for Sucroal or the companies covered by the ``all others'' rate.
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    \7\ See Preliminary Determination, 83 FR at 791; Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum, at 6-10.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that, in the final 
determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for all-other exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted-average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters or producers individually examined, excluding rates that are 
zero, de minimis or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act.
    Commerce calculated an individual estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for Sucroal, the only individually examined exporter/
producer in this investigation. Because the only individually 
calculated dumping margin is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely 
under section 776 of the Act, the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin calculated for Sucroal is the margin assigned to all-other 
producers and exporters, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Determination

    The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                    Exporter/Producer                         average
                                                          dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Sucroal S.A.............................................           28.48

[[Page 26004]]

 
All-Others..............................................           28.48
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Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties its calculations 
and analysis performed in this final determination within five days of 
any public announcement in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, for this final 
determination, we will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of citric acid from 
Colombia, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which are entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after January 8, 
2018, the date of publication in the Federal Register of the 
affirmative Preliminary Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.10(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for 
such entries of merchandise equal to the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin or the estimate all-others rate, as follows: (1) The 
cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the 
respondent-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
determined in this final determination; (2) if the exporter is not a 
respondent identified above but the producer is, then the cash deposit 
rate will be equal to the respondent-specific estimated weighted 
average dumping margin established for the producer of the subject 
merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and 
exporters will equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin. These suspension of liquidation instructions will 
remain in effect until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination 
in this investigation is affirmative, in accordance with section 
735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to 
whether the domestic industry in the United States is materially 
injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports, or 
sales (or the likelihood of sales) for importation of citric acid from 
Colombia no later than 45 days after this final determination. If the 
ITC determines that such injury does not exist, this proceeding will be 
terminated and all cash deposits posted will be refunded or canceled. 
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue 
an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of propriety information disclosed under APO 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of 
return or destruction of APO materials, or conversion to judicial 
protective order, is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the 
regulations and terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: May 29, 2018.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation includes all 
grades and granulation sizes of citric acid, sodium citrate, and 
potassium citrate in their unblended forms, whether dry or in 
solution, and regardless of packaging type. The scope also includes 
blends of citric acid, sodium citrate, and potassium citrate; as 
well as blends with other ingredients, such as sugar, where the 
unblended form(s) of citric acid, sodium citrate, and potassium 
citrate constitute 40 percent or more, by weight, of the blend.
    The scope also includes all forms of crude calcium citrate, 
including dicalcium citrate monohydrate, and tricalcium citrate 
tetrahydrate, which are intermediate products in the production of 
citric acid, sodium citrate, and potassium citrate.
    The scope includes the hydrous and anhydrous forms of citric 
acid, the dihydrate and anhydrous forms of sodium citrate, otherwise 
known as citric acid sodium salt, and the monohydrate and 
monopotassium forms of potassium citrate. Sodium citrate also 
includes both trisodium citrate and monosodium citrate which are 
also known as citric acid trisodium salt and citric acid monosodium 
salt, respectively.
    The scope does not include calcium citrate that satisfies the 
standards set forth in the United States Pharmacopeia and has been 
mixed with a functional excipient, such as dextrose or starch, where 
the excipient constitutes at least 2 percent, by weight, of the 
product.
    Citric acid and sodium citrate are classifiable under 
2918.14.0000 and 2918.15.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS), respectively. Potassium citrate and crude 
calcium citrate are classifiable under 2918.15.5000 and, if included 
in a mixture or blend, 3824.99.9295 of the HTSUS. Blends that 
include citric acid, sodium citrate, and potassium citrate are 
classifiable under 3824.99.9295 of the HTSUS. Although the HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written description of the merchandise is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
VI. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Date of Sale
    Comment 2: Whether to Include Minor Corrections from the Sales 
Verification
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-12008 Filed 6-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P