[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 221 (Thursday, November 15, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57425-57427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24939]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-900]
Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof From the People's Republic of
China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Circumvention
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines
that Diamond Tools Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (Diamond Tools) is
circumventing the antidumping duty order on diamond sawblades and parts
thereof (diamond sawblades) from the People's Republic of China
(China).
DATES: Applicable November 15, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yang Jin Chun, AD/CVD Operations
Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5760.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On December 7, 2017, in response to a request from Diamond
Sawblades Manufacturers' Coalition (the petitioner), Commerce published
the initiation of the anti-circumvention inquiry to determine whether
certain imports of diamond sawblades comprised of cores and segments
produced in China and joined into diamond sawblades in, and exported
from, Thailand by Diamond Tools are circumventing the antidumping duty
order on diamond sawblades from China.\1\
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\1\ See Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the People's
Republic of China: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry, 82 FR
57709 (December 7, 2017) (Initiation Notice).
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Scope of the Order
The merchandise subject to the order is diamond sawblades. The
diamond sawblades subject to the order are currently classifiable under
subheadings 8202 to 8206 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS), and may also enter under subheading 6804.21.00.
The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs
purposes. A full description of the scope of the order is contained in
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\2\ The written description is
dispositive.
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\2\ See the Memorandum, ``Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof
from the People's Republic of China: Decision Memorandum for
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Circumvention,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary
Decision Memorandum) at 2-3.
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Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiry
We initiated this anti-circumvention inquiry to cover diamond
sawblades produced in Thailand by Diamond Tools with cores and segments
produced in China and subsequently exported from Thailand to the United
States.\3\ During the conduct of this anti-circumvention inquiry,
Diamond Tools reported that, in addition to diamond sawblades produced
in Thailand with cores and segments produced in China, it also produced
diamond sawblades with either Chinese cores and Thai segments or Thai
cores and Chinese segments.\4\ Based on the additional information we
received from Diamond Tools, and as further discussed in the
Preliminary Analysis Memorandum,\5\ we are also examining whether
diamond sawblades produced in Thailand by Diamond Tools with either
cores or segments produced in China are circumventing the order.
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\3\ See Initiation Notice, 82 FR at 57710 (``This anti-
circumvention inquiry covers diamond sawblades exported from
Thailand to the United States that are produced by Diamond Tools
from cores and segments of {China{time} origin.'').
\4\ See, e.g., Diamond Tools' original response dated January
18, 2018, at 4.
\5\ See the Memorandum, ``Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof
from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Analysis Memorandum
for Diamond Tools Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd.'' dated
concurrently with this memorandum (Preliminary Analysis Memorandum)
for more information containing Diamond Tools' business proprietary
information.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this anti-circumvention inquiry in
accordance with section 781(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act), and 19 CFR 351.225(h). Because China is a non-market economy
country within the meaning of section 771(18) of the Act, Commerce
relied on surrogate values to value the purchases of Chinese cores and
Chinese segments, as discussed in section 773(c) of the Act. For a full
description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum 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
to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main
Department of Commerce building. In addition, a
[[Page 57426]]
complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed
directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/.
Preliminary Determination
As detailed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce
preliminarily determines that diamond sawblades produced by Diamond
Tools in Thailand using cores and/or segments from China and exported
from Thailand to the United States are circumventing the antidumping
duty order on diamond sawblades from China. We therefore preliminarily
determine that it is appropriate to include this merchandise within the
antidumping duty order on diamond sawblades from China and to instruct
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend entries of
merchandise produced using Chinese cores and/or Chinese segments by
Diamond Tools in Thailand and exported to the United States.
Suspension of Liquidation
As stated above, Commerce has made a preliminary affirmative
finding of circumvention of the antidumping duty order on diamond
sawblades from China for diamond sawblades assembled or completed using
Chinese cores and/or Chinese segments as inputs by Diamond Tools in
Thailand and exported to the United States. This preliminary
circumvention finding applies to diamond sawblades assembled or
completed using Chinese cores and/or Chinese segments as inputs by
Diamond Tools in Thailand. In accordance with section 19 CFR
351.225(l)(2), Commerce will direct CBP to suspend liquidation and to
require a cash deposit of estimated duties on unliquidated entries of
diamond sawblades produced (i.e., assembled or completed) using Chinese
cores and/or Chinese segments by Diamond Tools in Thailand that were
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after
December 1, 2017, the date of initiation of this anti-circumvention
inquiry. The suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in
effect until further notice. For the reasons stated in the Preliminary
Analysis Memorandum, which contains Diamond Tools' business proprietary
information,\6\ Commerce will instruct CBP to require antidumping duty
cash deposits equal to the rate established for the China-wide entity,
i.e., 82.05 percent,\7\ for entries of such merchandise produced by
Diamond Tools.
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\6\ See Preliminary Analysis Memorandum at 4 for Diamond Tools'
accounting and production system in its normal course of business.
\7\ See, e.g., Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the
People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review; 2015-2016, 83 FR 17527, 17528 (April 20,
2018).
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Diamond sawblades assembled or completed in Thailand using both
non-Chinese origin cores and non-Chinese origin segments are not
subject to this anti-circumvention inquiry. However, for the reasons
stated in the Preliminary Analysis Memorandum, Commerce finds that
Diamond Tools is not currently able to identify diamond sawblades
produced with non-Chinese origin cores and non-Chinese origin
segments.\8\ Therefore, Commerce will not implement a certification
process at this preliminary stage, and we will require cash deposits on
all entries of diamond sawblades produced by Diamond Tools in Thailand.
We invite parties to comment on this issue in their case briefs.
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\8\ See Preliminary Analysis Memorandum at 4 for Diamond Tools'
accounting and production system in its normal course of business.
Some, but not all, of the reasons stated contain business
proprietary information.
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Public Comment
Commerce intends to disclose the analysis used in these preliminary
findings within five days of publication of this notice. Interested
parties are invited to comment on the preliminary determination of this
anti-circumvention inquiry. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(b)(2),
interested parties may submit case briefs not later than 30 days after
the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to
issues raised in the case briefs, may not be filed later than five days
after the time limit for filing case briefs.\9\ Pursuant to 19 CFR
351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs in
this anti-circumvention inquiry 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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\9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1)-(2).
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Any interested party who wishes to request a hearing, or to
participate if one is requested, must submit a written request to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance within 30 days after
the day of publication of this notice pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c). A
request should contain: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone
number; (2) the number of participants; (3) whether any participant is
a foreign national; and (4) a list of issues to be discussed. If a
request for a hearing is made, then 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. Issues raised in the hearing will
be limited to those raised in case and rebuttal briefs.
International Trade Commission Notification
Consistent with section 781(e) of the Act, Commerce will notify the
International Trade Commission (ITC) of this preliminary determination
to include the merchandise subject to this anti-circumvention inquiry
within the antidumping duty order on diamond sawblades from China.
Pursuant to section 781(e) of the Act, the ITC may request
consultations concerning Commerce's proposed inclusion of the subject
merchandise. If, after consultations, the ITC believes that a
significant injury issue is presented by the proposed inclusion, it
will have 60 days from the date of notification by Commerce to provide
written advice.
Final Determination
According to section 781(f) of the Act, Commerce shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, make its anti-circumvention determination
within 300 days from the date of the initiation of the inquiry.\10\ Due
to the complicated nature of this anti-circumvention inquiry, we
previously extended the deadline for the final determination of this
anti-circumvention inquiry by 150 days. Therefore, Commerce intends to
issue the final determination in this anti-circumvention inquiry by
February 27, 2019.\11\
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\10\ See also 19 CFR 351.225(f)(iii)(5) (explaining that
Commerce will issue a final anticircumvention ruling ``normally
within 300 days from the date of the initiation of the . . .
inquiry'').
\11\ See the Memorandum, ``Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof
from the People's Republic of China: Extension of Deadline for Final
Determination of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated September 27,
2018.
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This preliminary affirmative circumvention determination is
published in accordance with section 781(b) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.225(f).
Dated: November 8, 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
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiry
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V. The Period of Inquiry
VI. Surrogate Country and Valuation Methodology for Inputs from
China
VII. Statutory Framework
VIII. Statutory Analysis
IX. Other Statutory Criteria
X. Summary of Statutory Analysis
XI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2018-24939 Filed 11-14-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P