[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 62 (Monday, April 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12198-12199]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06214]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-092]
Mattresses From the People's Republic of China: Postponement of
Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
DATES: Applicable April 1, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lilit Astvatsatrian at (202) 482-6412
or Stephen Bailey at (202) 482-0193, AD/CVD Operations, Office IV,
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20230.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On October 17, 2018, the Department of Commerce (Commerce)
initiated a less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of imports of
mattresses from the People's Republic of China.\1\ Currently, the
preliminary determination is due no later than April 8, 2019.
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\1\ See Mattresses from the People's Republic of China:
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 83 FR 52386
(October 17, 2018) (Initiation Notice).
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Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by
the partial federal government closure from December 22, 2018, through
the resumption of operations on January 29, 2019.\2\ If the new
deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with Commerce's
practice, the deadline will become the next business day. Accordingly,
the revised deadline for the preliminary determination of this
investigation became April 8, 2019.
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\2\ See memorandum to the Record from 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, ``Deadlines
Affected by the Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated
January 28, 2019. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding
have been extended by 40 days.
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Postponement of Preliminary Determination
Section 733(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the
Act), requires Commerce to issue the preliminary determination in an
LTFV investigation within 140 days after the date on which Commerce
initiated the investigation. However, section 733(c)(1) of the Act
permits Commerce to postpone the preliminary determination until no
later than 190 days after the date on which
[[Page 12199]]
Commerce initiated the investigation if: (A) The petitioner makes a
timely request for a postponement; or (B) Commerce concludes that the
parties concerned are cooperating, and determines that the
investigation is extraordinarily complicated and that additional time
is necessary to make a preliminary determination. Under 19 CFR
351.205(e), the petitioner must submit a request for postponement 25
days or more before the scheduled date of the preliminary determination
and must state the reasons for the request. Commerce will grant the
request unless it finds compelling reasons to deny the request.
On March 7, 2019, the petitioners \3\ in the mattresses LTFV
investigation submitted a timely request that Commerce postpone the
preliminary determination in the investigation to the maximum extent
permitted under the statute.\4\ The petitioners requested the
postponement to provide Commerce, and the petitioners, time to review
questionnaire responses and identify deficiencies within those
responses, and to provide time for Commerce to issue, and receive
responses to, supplemental questionnaires prior to the preliminary
determination.\5\
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\3\ The petitioner is the Corsicana Mattress Company, Elite
Comfort Solutions, Future Foam Inc., FXI, Inc., Innocor, Inc.,
Kolcraft Enterprises Inc., Leggett & Platt, Incorporated, Serta
Simmons Bedding, LLC, and Tempur Sealy International, Inc.
(collectively, the petitioners).
\4\ See Letter from the petitioners, ``Mattresses from the
People's Republic of China: Petitioners' Request to Postpone the
Antidumping Investigation Preliminary Determination,'' dated March
7, 2019.
\5\ Id.
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For the reasons stated above, and because there are no compelling
reasons to deny the request, Commerce, in accordance with section
733(c)(1)(A) of the Act, is postponing the deadline for the preliminary
determination in the mattresses LTFV investigation by 50 days (i.e.,
until 190 days after the date on which this investigation was
initiated, plus 40 days for tolling). As a result, Commerce will issue
its preliminary determination in the mattress LTFV investigation no
later than May 28, 2019. In accordance with section 735(a)(1) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1), the deadline for the final determination
in this investigation will continue to be 75 days after the date of the
preliminary determination, unless postponed at a later date.
This notice is issued and published pursuant to section 733(c)(2)
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(f)(1).
Dated: March 27, 2019.
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.
[FR Doc. 2019-06214 Filed 3-29-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P