[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 184 (Friday, September 21, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47879-47880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20605]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-570-072]
Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid and Derivative Products From the
People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters
of sodium gluconate, gluconic acid and derivative products from the
People's Republic of China (China).
DATES: Applicable September 21, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Galantucci or Jonathan Hill,
AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-2923 or (202) 482-
3518, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This final determination is made in accordance with section 705 of
the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The petitioner in this
investigation is PMP Fermentation Products, Inc. (the petitioner). The
mandatory respondents in this investigation are Qingdao Dongxiao
Enterprise Co., Ltd. (Qingdao Dongxiao), Shandong Fuyang Biotechnology
Co. (Fuyang), Shandong Kaison Biochemical Co Ltd (Kaison), and
Tongxiang Hongyu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Hongyu Chemical). Hongyu Chemical,
Kaison, and Qingdao Dongxiao did not respond to any of our requests for
information.
We published our Preliminary Determination on May 23, 2018.\1\ On
May 30, 2018, Fuyang, the sole respondent to provide a questionnaire
response in this investigation, notified Commerce that it would no
longer be participating in the proceeding.\2\ On June 21, 2018, the
petitioner submitted a case brief.\3\ We received no comments from
other interested parties.
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\1\ See Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products
from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative
Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final
Determination with Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 83 FR 23888
(May 23, 2018) (Preliminary Determination) and accompanying
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
\2\ See Letter from Fuyang, ``Countervailing Duty Investigation
on Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products from the
People's Republic of China: Notice of Non-Participation in
Investigation,'' dated May 30, 2018.
\3\ See Letter from the petitioner, ``Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid and Derivative
Products from the People's Republic of China: Petitioner's Case
Brief,'' dated June 21, 2018.
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Additional background on this case, including a summary of events
that occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary Determination,
and a discussion of comments from the petitioner, are provided in the
Issues and Decision Memorandum, which is hereby adopted by this
notice.\4\ 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
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 Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly
at http://enforcement.trade.gov. The signed and electronic versions of
the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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\4\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Affirmative Determination in the Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid and Derivative
Products from the People's Republic of China,'' dated concurrently
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are sodium gluconate,
gluconic acid, and derivative products from China. We have made no
changes to the scope of the investigation, as published in the
Preliminary Determination.\5\ For a complete description of the scope
of this investigation, see Appendix I to this notice.
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\5\ See 83 FR at 23888 (noting that Commerce would consider
scope comments from interested parties and implement any changes to
the scope in the final countervailing duty determination).
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Period of Investigation
The period of investigation is January 1, 2016, through December
31, 2016.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case brief submitted by the petitioner are
addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum accompanying this
notice. A list of the issues addressed in the memorandum is attached to
this notice at Appendix II.
Adverse Facts Available
In this final determination, we continue to apply facts available
with an adverse inference to Fuyang, Hongyu Chemical, Kaison, and
Qingdao Dongxiao. For purposes of this final determination, we relied
on facts available and, because the respondents did not respond, or did
not act to the best of their ability in responding to, our requests for
information, we drew adverse inferences in selecting from among the
facts otherwise available, pursuant to sections 776(a)-(b) of the
Act.\6\ A detailed discussion of our application of adverse facts
available was provided in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
accompanying our Preliminary Determination, and additional discussion
is contained in the Issues and Decision Memorandum accompanying this
notice.
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\6\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. Section 782(i) of
the Act requires Commerce to verify a respondent's data as part of
an investigation. However, because we applied adverse facts
available to each of the respondents in the Preliminary
Determination, we did not conduct verification in this
investigation.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
In our Preliminary Determination, we applied adverse facts
available to calculate the subsidy rates for all mandatory respondents.
We have made no changes to our analysis, or to the respondents' subsidy
rates, for this final determination.
Final Determination
With respect to the ``all-others'' rate, section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii)
of the Act provides that if the countervailing duty rates established
for all exporters and producers individually investigated are
determined entirely in accordance with section 776 of the Act, Commerce
may use any reasonable method to establish an all-others rate for
exporters and producers not individually investigated. In this case,
the rates assigned to Fuyang, Hongyu Chemical, Kaison, and
[[Page 47880]]
Qingdao Dongxiao are based entirely on facts otherwise available, with
adverse inferences, under section 776 of the Act. Because there is no
other information on the record with which to determine an all-others
rate, in accordance with section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act, we have
established the all-others rate by applying the countervailable subsidy
rates for mandatory respondents Fuyang, Hongyu Chemical, Kaison, and
Qingdao Dongxiao. The final countervailable subsidy rates are
summarized in the table below.
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Subsidy rate
Producer/exporter (percent)
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Qingdao Dongxiao Enterprise Co., Ltd.................... 194.67
Shandong Fuyang Biotechnology Co........................ 194.67
Shandong Kaison Biochemical Co Ltd...................... 194.67
Tongxiang Hongyu Chemical Co., Ltd...................... 194.67
All-Others.............................................. 194.67
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Disclosure
We described the subsidy rate calculations, which were based on
adverse facts available, in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. As
noted above, there are no changes to our calculations. Thus, no
additional disclosure is necessary for this final determination.
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
As a result of our Preliminary Determination and pursuant to
section 703(d) of the Act, we instructed U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of any entries of merchandise
under consideration from China that were entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after May 23, 2018, the date of the
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register.
Additionally, at that time, we instructed CBP to collect cash deposits
of estimated countervailing duties at the rates assigned in the
Preliminary Determination. The suspension of liquidation and collection
of cash deposits remains in effect until further notice.\7\
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\7\ Provisional measures will expire on September 19, 2018,
having been in effect for 120 days. Accordingly, we will direct CBP
to discontinue suspension of liquidation of merchandise entered on
or after September 20, 2018. If the ITC issues an affirmative final
determination, we will direct CBP to resume suspension of
liquidation effective on the date of publication of the ITC final
determination in the Federal Register.
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If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a countervailing duty
order, will reinstate the suspension of liquidation under section
706(a) of the Act, and will require a cash deposit of estimated
countervailing duties for entries of subject merchandise in the amounts
indicated above. If the ITC determines that material injury, or threat
of material injury, does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated,
and all estimated duties deposited as a result of the suspension of the
suspension of liquidation will be refunded.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the
ITC of our determination. In addition, we are making available to the
ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information relating to this
investigation. We will allow the ITC access to all privileged and
business proprietary information in our files, provided the ITC
confirms that it will not disclose such information, either publicly or
under an administrative protective order (APO), without the written
consent of the Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and
Compliance.
Notification Regarding APOs
This notice serves as a reminder to parties to an APO of their
responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely
written notification of the return or destruction of APO materials or,
alternatively, conversion to judicial protective order, is hereby
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO
is a violation that is subject to sanction.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is published pursuant to section 705(d) and
777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
Dated: September 17, 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 scope of this investigation covers all grades of sodium
gluconate, gluconic acid, liquid gluconate, and glucono delta
lactone (GDL) (collectively, GNA products), regardless of physical
form (including, but not limited to substrates; solutions; dry
granular form or powders, regardless of particle size; or as a
slurry). The scope also includes GNA products that have been blended
or are in solution with other product(s) where the resulting mix
contains 35 percent or more of sodium gluconate, gluconic acid,
liquid gluconate, and/or GDL by dry weight.
Sodium gluconate has a molecular formula of
NaC6H11O7. Sodium gluconate has a
Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) registry number of 527-07-1, and can
also be called ``sodium salt of gluconic acid'' and/or sodium 2, 3,
4, 5, 6 pentahydroxyhexanoate. Gluconic acid has a molecular formula
of C6H12O7. Gluconic acid has a CAS
registry number of 526-95-4, and can also be called 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
pentahydroxycaproic acid. Liquid gluconate is a blend consisting
only of gluconic acid and sodium gluconate in an aqueous solution.
Liquid gluconate has CAS registry numbers of 527-07-1, 526-95-4, and
7732-18-5, and can also be called 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-pentahydroxycaproic
acid-hexanoate. GDL has a molecular formula of
C6H10O6. GDL has a CAS registry
number of 90-80-2, and can also be called d-glucono-1,5-lactone.
The merchandise covered by the scope of this investigation is
currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS) under subheadings 2918.16.1000, 2918.16.5010, and
2932.20.5020. Merchandise covered by the scope may also enter under
HTSUS subheadings 2918.16.5050, 3824.99.2890, and 3824.99.9295.
Although the HTSUS subheadings and CAS registry numbers 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. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
V. Analysis of Comments
Comment 1: Application of Total Adverse Facts Available to
Hongyu Chemical, Kaison, and Qingdao Dongxiao
Comment 2: Application of Total Adverse Facts Available to
Fuyang
Comment 3: Whether the Scope of the Investigation Should be
Modified
VI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2018-20605 Filed 9-20-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P