[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 100 (Thursday, May 23, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23760-23763]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-10799]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-085]


Certain Quartz Surface Products From the People's Republic of 
China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, and Final 
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

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 certain quartz surface products (quartz surface products) from the 
People's Republic of China (China).

DATES: Applicable May 23, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Darla Brown or Joshua Tucker, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1791 or (202) 482-2044, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The petitioner in this investigation is Cambria Company, LLC. In 
addition to the Government of China (GOC), the mandatory respondents in 
this investigation are Fasa Industrial Corporation Limited (Fasa 
Industrial), Foshan Hero Stone Co., Ltd. (Hero Stone), and Foshan Yixin 
Stone Co., Ltd. (Foshan Yixin).
    The events that occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination \1\ on September 21, 2018; the post-preliminary analysis 
\2\ on November 6, 2018; and the Preliminary Critical Circumstances 
Determination \3\ on November 15, 2018, are discussed in the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum,

[[Page 23761]]

which is hereby adopted by this notice.\4\ The Issues and Decision 
Memorandum also details the changes we made since the Preliminary 
Determination to the subsidy rates calculated for the mandatory 
respondents and all other producers/exporters. 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 http://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/frn/index.html. The signed Issues and Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic version of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Certain Quartz Surface 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 47881 (September 21, 2018) 
(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Post-Preliminary Analysis of 
Countervailing Duty Investigation: Certain Quartz Surface Products 
from the People's Republic of China,'' dated November 6, 2018.
    \3\ See Certain Quartz Surface Products from the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, in Part, in the Countervailing Duty Investigation, 83 
FR 57419 (November 15, 2018) (Preliminary Critical Circumstances 
Determination).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of 
Certain Quartz Surface 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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    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.\5\ The revised 
deadline for the final determination of this investigation is now May 
14, 2019.
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    \5\ 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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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is January 1, 2017, through December 
31, 2017.

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are quartz surface 
products from China. For a complete description of the scope of the 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation and the concurrent less-
than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of quartz surface products from 
China, Commerce received scope comments from interested parties. 
Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum to address 
these comments and set aside a period of time for parties to address 
scope issues in scope case and rebuttal briefs.\6\ We received comments 
from interested parties on the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, 
which we addressed in the Final Scope Decision Memorandum.\7\ In 
addition, on February 14, 2019, the petitioner submitted a proposed 
clarification to the scope of this and the concurrent LTFV 
investigation.\8\ In response to the petitioner's proposed scope 
clarification, Commerce established a separate scope briefing schedule 
and received case and rebuttal briefs regarding the proposed 
clarification, which we addressed in the Proposed Scope Clarification 
Decision Memorandum.\9\ As a result, for this final determination, we 
made certain changes to the scope of these investigations from that 
published in the Preliminary Determination.\10\ See Appendix I.
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Quartz Surface Products from the 
People's Republic of China: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for 
the Preliminary Determination,'' dated September 14, 2018 
(Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Quartz Surface Products from the 
People's Republic of China: Final Scope Comments Decision 
Memorandum,'' dated May 10, 2019 (Final Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \8\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Certain Quartz Surface Products 
from the People's Republic of China: Request to Extend Deadline to 
Submit Factual Information,'' dated February 14, 2019.
    \9\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Quartz Surface Products from the 
People's Republic of China: Proposed Scope Clarification Decision 
Memorandum,'' dated concurrently with this notice (Proposed Scope 
Clarification Memorandum).
    \10\ This scope modification will not apply to merchandise 
entered prior to the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    In the Preliminary Critical Circumstances Determination, Commerce 
preliminarily determined, pursuant to section 703(e)(1) of the Tariff 
Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), that critical circumstances exist 
for Fasa Industrial and Hero Stone, but not for Foshan Yixin or the 
companies covered by the all-others rate. For this final determination, 
we continue to find that critical circumstances exist for Fasa 
Industrial and Hero Stone pursuant to section 705(a)(2) of the Act. 
Moreover, we now find that Foshan Yixin and its unaffiliated suppliers, 
Foshan Nanhai Julang Quartz Co. (Foshan Nanhai) and Qinguan Yuefeng 
Decoration Material Co. (Qinguan Yuefeng), as well as the companies 
covered by the all-others rate received export-contingent 
countervailable subsidies during the POI through the Export Buyer's 
Credit program that are inconsistent with the Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures Agreement and had massive imports of the 
subject merchandise over a relatively short period. Therefore, in 
accordance with section 705(a)(2) of the Act, we also find that 
critical circumstances exist with respect to Foshan Yixin, Foshan 
Nanhai, Qinguan Yuefeng, and the companies covered by the all-others 
rate. For the analysis of critical circumstances for this final 
determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 10.

Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received

    In the Issues and Decision Memorandum, we address the subsidy 
programs under investigation and all issues raised in parties' case and 
rebuttal briefs, other than those issues related to scope. A list of 
the issues that parties raised, and to which we responded in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum, is attached to this notice as Appendix II.

Methodology

    Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section 
701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, 
Commerce 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.\11\ For a full description 
of the methodology underlying our final determination, see the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum.
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    \11\ 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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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, Commerce verified the 
subsidy information reported by Foshan Yixin. We used standard 
verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
accounting records and original source documents provided by the 
respondent.\12\
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    \12\ See Memorandum, ``Verification of the Questionnaire 
Responses of Foshan Yixin Stone Co., Ltd.,'' dated December 14, 
2018.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    In addition to now finding critical circumstances for Foshan Yixin 
and companies covered by the all-others rate, based on our review and 
analysis of the comments received from parties and corrections 
presented at verification, we made certain changes to the subsidy rate 
calculations for Foshan Yixin. We also assigned individual

[[Page 23762]]

estimated subsidy rates based on adverse facts available to Foshan 
Yixin's unaffiliated suppliers that failed to cooperate in this 
investigation: Foshan Nanhai and Qinguan Yuefeng. As a result of the 
changes to Foshan Yixin's calculated rate, Commerce has also revised 
the all-others rate. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum.\13\
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    \13\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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Final Determination

    In accordance with section 705(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) of the Act, we 
calculated an individual estimated subsidy rate for Foshan Yixin (for 
entries produced and exported by Foshan Yixin), and established 
individual estimated subsidy rates for Fasa Industrial, Foshan Nanhai, 
Hero Stone, and Qinguan Yuefeng. Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act 
states that, for companies not individually investigated, we will 
determine an ``all others'' rate equal to the weighted-average 
countervailable subsidy rates established for exporters and producers 
individually investigated, excluding any zero and de minimis 
countervailable subsidy rates, and any rates determined entirely under 
section 776 of the Act. In the final determination of this 
investigation, Commerce calculated rates for Fasa Industrial and Hero 
Stone in accordance with section 776 of the Act.\14\ Therefore, the 
only rate that is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
otherwise available is the rate calculated for Foshan Yixin. 
Consequently, the rate calculated for Foshan Yixin is also assigned as 
the rate for ``all other'' producers and exporters.
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    \14\ We also assigned rates to Foshan Yixin's unaffiliated 
suppliers Foshan Nanhai and Qinguan Yuefeng in accordance with 
section 776 of the Act.
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    Commerce determines the total estimated net countervailable subsidy 
rates to be the following:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Subsidy
                            Company                             rate (%)
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Foshan Hero Stone Co., Ltd.\15\...............................    190.99
Fasa Industrial Corporation Limited...........................    190.99
Foshan Yixin Stone Co., Ltd...................................     45.32
Foshan Nanhai Julang Quartz Co................................    190.99
Qinguan Yuefeng Decoration Material Co........................    190.99
All Others....................................................     45.32
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Disclosure

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties in this 
proceeding within five days of the date of publication of this notice, 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
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    \15\ Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-
owned with Foshan Hero Stone Co., Ltd.: Mingwei Quartz New 
Environmental Protection Materials Co., Ltd.; and Foshan Quartz 
Stone Imp & Exp Co., Ltd.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    As a result of our Preliminary Determination of Critical 
Circumstances and pursuant to sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the 
Act, Commerce instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise for Fasa 
Industrial and Hero Stone, as described in the scope of the 
investigation section, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after June 23, 2018, which is 90 days prior to the 
date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal 
Register. Additionally, as a result of our Preliminary Determination, 
for Foshan Yixin and the companies covered by the all-others rate, 
Commerce instructed 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 the Preliminary Determination in the Federal 
Register. In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, we issued 
instructions to CBP to discontinue the suspension of liquidation for 
countervailing duty (CVD) purposes for subject merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, on or after January 19, 2019, but to continue 
the suspension of liquidation of all entries from September 21, 2018 
(or, in the case of Fasa Industrial and Hero Stone, June 23, 2018), 
through January 18, 2019.
    If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final 
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a CVD order, reinstate 
the suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of the Act, and 
require a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties for such 
entries of subject merchandise in the amounts indicated above. If the 
ITC also issues a final affirmative determination of critical 
circumstances, on the basis of our final affirmative critical 
circumstances determination, we will additionally instruct CBP to 
suspend liquidation and require a cash deposit on all entries of quartz 
surface products from China effective June 23, 2018. If the ITC issues 
a final affirmative injury determination but a final negative 
determination of critical circumstances, we will instruct CBP to 
liquidate entries prior to the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination without regard to duties, and all estimated duties 
deposited or securities posted as a result of the suspension of 
liquidation will be refunded or canceled. 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 or 
securities posted as a result of the suspension of liquidation will be 
refunded or canceled.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our determination. Because Commerce's final determination is 
affirmative, in accordance with section 705(b) of the Act, the ITC will 
determine, within 45 days, whether the domestic industry in the United 
States is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by 
reason of imports of quartz surface products from China, or sales (or 
the likelihood of sales) for importation, of quartz surface products 
from China. If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of 
material injury does not exist, the proceeding will be terminated and 
all cash deposits will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such 
injury does exist, Commerce will issue a CVD order directing CBP to 
assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties on 
all imports of the subject merchandise that are entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective date of the 
suspension of liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of 
Suspension of Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury 
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties 
subject to the administrative protective order (APO) of their 
responsibility concerning the destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 
written notification of the return/destruction of APO materials or 
conversion to judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to 
comply with the regulations and terms of an APO is a sanctionable 
violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act.


[[Page 23763]]


    Dated: May 14, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the investigation is certain quartz 
surface products.\16\ Quartz surface products consist of slabs and 
other surfaces created from a mixture of materials that includes 
predominately silica (e.g., quartz, quartz powder, cristobalite) as 
well as a resin binder (e.g., an unsaturated polyester). The 
incorporation of other materials, including, but not limited to, 
pigments, cement, or other additives does not remove the merchandise 
from the scope of the investigation. However, the scope of the 
investigation only includes products where the silica content is 
greater than any other single material, by actual weight. Quartz 
surface products are typically sold as rectangular slabs with a 
total surface area of approximately 45 to 60 square feet and a 
nominal thickness of one, two, or three centimeters. However, the 
scope of this investigation includes surface products of all other 
sizes, thicknesses, and shapes. In addition to slabs, the scope of 
this investigation includes, but is not limited to, other surfaces 
such as countertops, backsplashes, vanity tops, bar tops, work tops, 
tabletops, flooring, wall facing, shower surrounds, fire place 
surrounds, mantels, and tiles. Certain quartz surface products are 
covered by the investigation whether polished or unpolished, cut or 
uncut, fabricated or not fabricated, cured or uncured, edged or not 
edged, finished or unfinished, thermoformed or not thermoformed, 
packaged or unpackaged, and regardless of the type of surface 
finish.
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    \16\ Quartz surface products may also generally be referred to 
as engineered stone or quartz, artificial stone or quartz, 
agglomerated stone or quartz, synthetic stone or quartz, processed 
stone or quartz, manufactured stone or quartz, and 
Bretonstone[supreg].
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    In addition, quartz surface products are covered by the 
investigation whether or not they are imported attached to, or in 
conjunction with, non-subject merchandise such as sinks, sink bowls, 
vanities, cabinets, and furniture. If quartz surface products are 
imported attached to, or in conjunction with, such non-subject 
merchandise, only the quartz surface product is covered by the 
scope.
    Subject merchandise includes material matching the above 
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise 
fabricated in a third country, including by cutting, polishing, 
curing, edging, thermoforming, attaching to, or packaging with 
another product, or any other finishing, packaging, or fabrication 
that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of 
the investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the 
quartz surface products.
    The scope of the investigation does not cover quarried stone 
surface products, such as granite, marble, soapstone, or quartzite. 
Specifically excluded from the scope of the investigation are 
crushed glass surface products. Crushed glass surface products must 
meet each of the following criteria to qualify for this exclusion: 
(1) The crushed glass content is greater than any other single 
material, by actual weight; (2) there are pieces of crushed glass 
visible across the surface of the product; (3) at least some of the 
individual pieces of crushed glass that are visible across the 
surface are larger than one centimeter wide as measured at their 
widest cross-section (glass pieces); and (4) the distance between 
any single glass piece and the closest separate glass piece does not 
exceed three inches.
    The products subject to the scope are currently classified in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under 
the following subheading: 6810.99.0010. Subject merchandise may also 
enter under subheadings 6810.11.0010, 6810.11.0070, 6810.19.1200, 
6810.19.1400, 6810.19.5000, 6810.91.0000, 6810.99.0080, 
6815.99.4070, 2506.10.0010, 2506.10.0050, 2506.20.0010, 
2506.20.0080, and 7016.90.10. The HTSUS subheadings set forth above 
are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes only. The 
written description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Final Determination of Critical Circumstances
IV. Scope Comments
V. Use of Adverse Facts Available
VI. Subsidies Valuation Information
VII. Analysis of Programs
VIII. Analysis of Comments
    Comment 1: Whether This Investigation Was Improperly Initiated
    Comment 2: The Application of AFA to Hero Stone
    Comment 3: The Application of AFA to Foshan Yixin's and Hero 
Stone's Unaffiliated Suppliers of Subject Merchandise
    Comment 4: The Application of AFA to Input Market Distortion
    Comment 5: The Application of AFA Regarding Whether Inputs Are 
Specific
    Comment 6: Whether Commerce's Use of a Tier Two Benchmark Takes 
Into Account Prevailing Market Conditions in China
    Comment 7: The Benchmark Used in the Calculation of the 
Provision of Polyester Resin for Less Than Adequate Remuneration 
(LTAR) Program
    Comment 8: The Benchmark Used in the Calculation of the 
Provision of Quartz for LTAR Program
    Comment 9: Whether Commerce Should Continue To Treat Quartz 
``Powder'' as Crushed Quartz Sand
    Comment 10: Whether Commerce's Preliminary Critical 
Circumstances Determination Was Lawful
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-10799 Filed 5-22-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P