[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 4, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44859-44861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19096]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-533-884]
Glycine From India: 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 glycine from India. The period of investigation (POI) is
January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017. Interested parties are
invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES: Applicable September 4, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Davina Friedmann or Chelsey
Simonovich, AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance,
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0698
or (202) 482-1979, 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 April 25,
2018.\1\ On June 7, 2018, in accordance with section 703(c)(1)(A) of
the Act, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this
investigation to August 27, 2018.\2\ For a complete description of the
events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics included 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
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Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service
System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov, and 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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\1\ See Glycine from India, the People's Republic of China, and
Thailand: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 83 FR
18002 (April 25, 2018) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Glycine from India, the People's Republic of China, and
Thailand: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations of
Countervailing Duty Investigations, 83 FR 26415 (June 7, 2018).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Affirmative Determination: Countervailing Duty Investigation of
Glycine from India,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted
by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is glycine from India.
For a complete description of the scope of the investigation, see
Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain interested
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in
the Initiation Notice.
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\4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\5\ See Initiation Notice.
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For a summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal
responses submitted to the record for this preliminary determination
and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely
received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ Commerce is
not preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice. See scope in Appendix I.
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\6\ See Memorandum, ``Glycine from India: Scope Comments
Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination,'' dated
concurrently with this notice (Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum).
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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 contribution by an ``authority'' that gives
rise to a benefit to 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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Alignment
In accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the final countervailing duty (CVD)
determination in this investigation with the final determination in the
companion antidumping duty (AD) investigation of glycine from India
based on a request made by GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc. and Chattem
Chemicals, Inc. (the petitioners).\8\ Consequently, the final CVD
determination will be issued on the same date as the final AD
determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than
January 7, 2019, unless postponed.
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\8\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Glycine from Thailand: Request to
Align the Countervailing Duty Investigation Final Determination with
the Antidumping Duty Investigation Final Determination,'' dated June
29, 2018.
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All-Others Rate
Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in the
preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-
others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be
an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates
established for those companies individually examined, excluding any
zero and de minimis rates, and any rates based entirely under section
776 of the Act. In this investigation, we calculated individual
estimated countervailable subsidy rates for Kumar Industries, India and
Paras Intermediates Private Limited that are not zero, de minimis, or
based entirely on facts available. Notwithstanding the language of
section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, we have not calculated the ``all-
others'' rate by weight-averaging the rates of the two individually
investigated respondents, because doing so risks disclosure of
proprietary information. Therefore, for the ``all-others'' rate, we
calculated a simple average of the two responding companies' rates.\9\
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\9\ See Countervailing Duty Investigation of Fine Denier
Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's Republic of China: Final
Affirmative Determination, 83 FR 3120 (January 23, 2018).
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Preliminary Determination
We preliminarily determine that the following estimated
countervailable subsidy rates exist:
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Subsidy
Company rate
(percent)
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Kumar Industries, India..................................... 26.07
Paras Intermediates Private Limited......................... 3.03
All-Others.................................................. 14.55
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Suspension of Liquidation
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 section entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this
notice in the Federal Register. Further, 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
performed 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, we intend to verify
the information submitted by the respondents prior to making our 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.\10\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.203(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.
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\10\ 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,
[[Page 44861]]
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.
International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the
International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If the final
determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later
of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days
after the 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: August 27, 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 glycine at any
purity level or grade. This includes glycine of all purity levels,
which covers all forms of crude or technical glycine including, but
not limited to, sodium glycinate, glycine slurry and any other forms
of amino acetic acid or glycine. Subject merchandise also includes
glycine and precursors of dried crystalline glycine that are
processed in a third country, including, but not limited to,
refining or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the
merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the
country of manufacture of the in-scope glycine or precursors of
dried crystalline glycine. Glycine has the Chemical Abstracts
Service (CAS) registry number of 56-40-6. Glycine and glycine slurry
are classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) subheading 2922.49.4300. Sodium glycinate is classified in
the HTSUS under 2922.49.8000. While the HTSUS subheadings and CAS
registry number 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. Injury Test
IV. Subsidies Valuation
V. Loan Benchmark and Interest Rates
VI. Analysis of Programs
VII. Conclusion
[FR Doc. 2018-19096 Filed 8-31-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P