[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

[[Page 44860]]

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:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Subsidy
                           Company                               rate
                                                               (percent)
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Kumar Industries, India.....................................       26.07
Paras Intermediates Private Limited.........................        3.03
All-Others..................................................       14.55
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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