[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 121 (Friday, June 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29096-29098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13429]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-076]


Certain Plastic Decorative Ribbon From the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and 
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and 
exporters of certain plastic decorative ribbon from the People's 
Republic of China (China). The period of investigation is January 1, 
2016, through December 31, 2016.

DATES: Applicable June 22, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maliha Khan or Nancy Decker, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 202-482-0895 or 202-482-0196, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on January 23, 
2018.\1\ Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines 
affected by the closure of the Federal Government from January 20 
through January 22, 2018.\2\ On March 12, 2018, Commerce postponed the 
deadline for the preliminary determination of the investigation to the 
full 130 days permitted under section 703(c)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.205(b)(2), and the revised deadline is now May 29, 2018.\3\
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    \1\ See Certain Plastic Decorative Ribbon from the People's 
Republic of China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 
83 FR 3114 (January 23, 2018) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of the 
Federal Government,'' dated January 23, 2018. All deadlines in this 
segment of the proceeding have been extended by three days.
    \3\ See Certain Plastic Decorative Ribbon from the People's 
Republic of China: Postponement of Preliminary Determination in the 
Countervailing Duty Investigation, 83 FR 10677 (March 12, 2018).
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\4\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary 
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 http://access.trade.gov, and is available to all 
parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Department 
of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain 
Plastic Decorative Ribbon from the People's Republic of China,'' 
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain plastic 
decorative ribbon from China. For a complete description of the scope 
of this investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\5\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\6\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice. Commerce is currently evaluating the scope 
comments filed by the interested parties. Commerce intends to issue its 
preliminary decision regarding the scope of the AD and CVD 
investigations in the preliminary determination of the companion AD 
investigation, which is currently due no later than July 30, 2018, 
unless postponed. The preliminary scope decision will be placed on the 
record of both the AD and CVD investigations, and interested parties 
will have the opportunity to comment prior to the final CVD 
determination.
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    \5\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \6\ See Initiation Notice.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a 
subsidy, i.e., a financial

[[Page 29097]]

contribution by an ``authority'' that confers a benefit on the 
recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\7\ For a full description 
of the methodology underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \7\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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    In making these findings, we relied, in part, on facts available 
and, because one or more respondents did not act to the best of their 
ability to respond to our requests for information, we drew an adverse 
inference where appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise 
available.\8\ For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise 
Available and Adverse Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \8\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A) of the Act, Commerce 
established rates for Joynice Gifts & Crafts Co., Ltd. (Joynice) and 
Seng San Enterprises Co., Ltd. (Seng Sen) (the two individually 
investigated exporters/producers of the subject merchandise that 
participated in this investigation), and for Santa's Collection 
Shaoxing Co., Ltd. (which is assigned a rate based on AFA) as well as 
an all-others rate.
    In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(A) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the 
Act, for companies not individually investigated, Commerce applies an 
``all-others'' rate. The all-others rate is normally calculated by 
weight averaging the subsidy rates of the companies selected for 
individual examination with those companies' export sales of the 
subject merchandise to the United States, excluding any zero and de 
minimis rates calculated for the exporters and producers individually 
investigated, and any rates determined entirely under section 776 of 
the Act.
    In this investigation, Commerce calculated individual 
countervailable subsidy rates for Joynice and Seng Sen that are not 
zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available. 
Because we do not have publicly ranged data from all company 
respondents with which to calculate the all-others rate using a 
weighted-average of the individual estimated subsidy rates, we 
calculated the all-others rate using a simple average of the individual 
estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents.
    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
countervailable subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Subsidy
                      Producer/exporter                           rate
                                                               (percent)
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Joynice Gifts & Crafts Co., Ltd..............................      14.27
Seng San Enterprises Co., Ltd................................      12.81
Santa's Collection Shaoxing Co., Ltd.........................      94.67
All-Others...................................................      13.54
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, 
Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise as described in 
the scope of the investigation that were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. Furthermore, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal 
to the rates indicated above.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis to 
interested parties in this preliminary determination within five days 
of its public announcement, or if there is no public announcement, 
within five days of the date of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in 
this investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case 
briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline 
date for case briefs.\9\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), 
parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation 
are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the 
issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of 
authorities. Commerce intends to set a separate briefing schedule 
pertaining to scope issues when it issues the preliminary scope 
memorandum in this investigation.
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list 
of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, 
Commerce intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, at a time 
and date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the 
date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled 
date.
    Parties are reminded that briefs and hearing requests are to be 
filed electronically using ACCESS and that electronically filed 
documents must be received successfully in their entirety by 5 p.m. 
Eastern Time on the due date.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If 
Commerce's final determination is affirmative, the ITC will make its 
final determination before the later of 120 days after the date of this 
preliminary determination or 45 days after Commerce's final 
determination.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(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 is certain plastic 
decorative ribbon having a width (measured at the narrowest span of 
the ribbon) of less than or equal to four (4) inches in actual 
measurement, including but not limited to ribbon wound onto itself; 
a spool, a core or a tube (with or without flanges); attached to a 
card or strip; wound into a keg- or egg-shaped configuration; made 
into bows, bow-like items, or other shapes or configurations;

[[Page 29098]]

and whether or not packaged or labeled for retail sale. The subject 
merchandise is typically made of substrates of polypropylene, but 
may be made in whole or in part of any type of plastic, including 
without limitation, plastic derived from petroleum products and 
plastic derived from cellulose products. Unless the context 
otherwise clearly indicates, the word ``ribbon'' used in the 
singular includes the plural and the plural ``ribbons'' includes the 
singular.
    The subject merchandise includes ribbons comprised of one or 
more layers of substrates made, in whole or in part, of plastics 
adhered to each other, regardless of the method used to adhere the 
layers together, including without limitation, ribbons comprised of 
layers of substrates adhered to each other through a lamination 
process. Subject merchandise also includes ribbons comprised of (a) 
one or more layers of substrates made, in whole or in part, of 
plastics adhered to (b) one or more layers of substrates made, in 
whole or in part, of non-plastic materials, including, without 
limitation, substrates made, in whole or in part, of fabric.
    The ribbons subject to this investigation may be of any color or 
combination of colors (including without limitation, ribbons that 
are transparent, translucent or opaque) and may or may not bear 
words or images, including without limitation, those of a holiday 
motif. The subject merchandise includes ribbons with embellishments 
and/or treatments, including, without limitation, ribbons that are 
printed, hot-stamped, coated, laminated, flocked, crimped, die-cut, 
embossed (or that otherwise have impressed designs, images, words or 
patterns), and ribbons with holographic, metallic, glitter or 
iridescent finishes.
    Subject merchandise includes ``pull-bows'' an assemblage of 
ribbons connected to one another, folded flat, and equipped with a 
means to form such ribbons into the shape of a bow by pulling on a 
length of material affixed to such assemblage, and ``pre-notched'' 
bows, an assemblage of notched ribbon loops arranged one inside the 
other with the notches in alignment and affixed to each other where 
notched, and which the end user forms into a bow by separating and 
spreading the loops circularly around the notches, which form the 
center of the bow. Subject merchandise includes ribbons that are 
packaged with non-subject merchandise, including ensembles that 
include ribbons and other products, such as gift wrap, gift bags, 
gift tags and/or other gift packaging products. The ribbons are 
covered by the scope of this investigation; the ``other products'' 
(i.e., the other, non-subject merchandise included in the ensemble) 
are not covered by the scope of this investigation.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are the following: 
(1) Ribbons formed exclusively by weaving plastic threads together; 
(2) ribbons that have metal wire in, on, or along the entirety of 
each of the longitudinal edges of the ribbon; (3) ribbons with an 
adhesive coating covering the entire span between the longitudinal 
edges of the ribbon for the entire length of the ribbon; (4) ribbon 
formed into a bow without a tab or other means for attaching the bow 
to an object using adhesives, where the bow has: (a) An outer layer 
that is either flocked or made of fabric, and (b) a flexible metal 
wire at the base that is suitable for attaching the bow to a 
Christmas tree or other object by twist-tying; (5) elastic ribbons, 
meaning ribbons that elongate when stretched and return to their 
original dimension when the stretching load is removed; (6) ribbons 
affixed as a decorative detail to non-subject merchandise, such as a 
gift bag, gift box, gift tin, greeting card or plush toy, or affixed 
(including by tying) as a decorative detail to packaging containing 
non-subject merchandise; (7) ribbons that are (a) affixed to non-
subject merchandise as a working component of such non-subject 
merchandise, such as where the ribbon comprises a book marker, bag 
cinch, or part of an identity card holder, or (b) affixed (including 
by tying) to non-subject merchandise as a working component that 
holds or packages such non-subject merchandise or attaches packaging 
or labeling to such non-subject merchandise, such as a ``belly 
band'' around a pair of pajamas, a pair of socks or a blanket; (8) 
imitation raffia made of plastics having a thickness not more than 
one (1) mil when measured in an unfolded/untwisted state; and (9) 
ribbons in the form of bows having a diameter of less than seven-
eighths (\7/8\) of an inch, or having a diameter of more than 16 
inches, based on actual measurement. For purposes of this exclusion, 
the diameter of a bow is equal to the diameter of the smallest 
circular ring through which the bow will pass without compressing 
the bow.
    Further, excluded from the scope of the antidumping duty 
investigation are any products covered by the existing antidumping 
duty order on polyethylene terephthalate film, sheet, and strip (PET 
Film) from the People's Republic of China (China). See Polyethylene 
Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip from Brazil, the People's 
Republic of China and the United Arab Emirates: Antidumping Duty 
Orders and Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value for the United Arab Emirates, 73 FR 66595 (November 10, 2008).
    Merchandise covered by this investigation is currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under subheadings 3920.20.0015 and 3926.40.0010.
    Merchandise covered by this investigation also may enter under 
subheadings 3920.10.0000; 3920.20.0055; 3920.30.0000; 3920.43.5000; 
3920.49.0000; 3920.62.0050; 3920.62.0090; 3920.69.0000; 
3921.90.1100; 3921.90.1500; 3921.90.1910; 3921.90.1950; 
3921.90.4010; 3921.90.4090; 3926.90.9996; 5404.90.0000; 
9505.90.4000; 4601.99.9000; 4602.90.0000; 5609.00.3000; 
5609.00.4000; and 6307.90.9889. These HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes; the written description of the 
scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Respondent Selection
VI. Injury Test
VII. Application of the CVD Law to Imports From China
VIII. Diversification of China's Economy
IX. Subsidies Valuation
X. Benchmarks
XI. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
XII. Analysis of Programs
XIII. Calculation of the All-Others Rate
XIV. ITC Notification
XV. Disclosure and Public Comment
XVI. Verification
XVII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-13429 Filed 6-21-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P