[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 126 (Monday, July 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31301-31303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13982]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-885]


Polyester Textured Yarn From India: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination and Extension of Provisional Measures

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that polyester textured yarn (yarn) from India is being, or is likely 
to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The 
period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 2017 through September 30, 
2018. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Applicable July 1, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine Johnson or Michael Bowen, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4929 
or (202) 482-0768, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on November 
19, 2018.\1\ 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\ The 
revised tolled deadline for this preliminary determination was May 6, 
2019. In response to the petitioners' request, Commerce postponed the 
preliminary determination of this investigation and the revised 
deadline is now June 25, 2019.\3\
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    \1\ See Polyester Textured Yarn from India and the People's 
Republic of China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 83 FR 58223 (November 19, 2018) (Initiation Notice).
    \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.
    \3\ See Polyester Textured Yarn from India and the People's 
Republic of China: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the 
Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 84 FR 16843 (April 23, 2019).
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\4\ A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary

[[Page 31302]]

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 to all parties in the 
Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main 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 the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Polyester Textured Yarn 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 polyester textured 
yarn from India. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I and ``Scope Comments'' section below.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\5\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (scope).\6\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice. 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.\7\ 
Commerce preliminarily modified the scope language as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice to exclude bulk continuous filament yarn.
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    \5\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \6\ See Initiation Notice, 83 FR at 58233.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Polyester Textured Yarn from India and the 
People's Republic of China: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for 
the Preliminary Determinations,'' dated April 26, 2019 (Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum).
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    On May 2, 2019, the petitioners requested that Commerce include an 
additional Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
subheading in the scope language. We intend to address this request in 
the final determinations of this and the concurrent AD and 
countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of yarn from India and the 
People's Republic of China (China).

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act and normal values in 
accordance with section 773 of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to 
sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce has preliminarily relied 
upon facts otherwise available with adverse inferences for JBF 
Industries Limited. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying Commerce's preliminary determination, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that 
in the preliminary determination Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero 
and de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under 
section 776 of the Act. In this investigation, Commerce preliminarily 
assigned a rate based entirely on facts available to JBF Industries 
Limited. Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, de minimis or based 
entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate calculated for 
Reliance Industries Limited (Reliance). Consequently, the rate 
calculated for Reliance is also assigned as the rate for all other 
producers and exporters.

Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Cash
                                                   Estimated    deposit
                                                   weighted-     rate
                                                    average    (adjusted
                Exporter/producer                   dumping       for
                                                    margin      subsidy
                                                   (percent)  offset(s))
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JBF Industries Limited..........................       35.92       28.97
Reliance Industries Limited.....................       17.88       10.93
All Others......................................       17.88       10.78
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(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 Appendix I, entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Further, pursuant 
to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will 
instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, adjusted for 
export subsidies, as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for each of the 
respondents listed above will be equal to the company-specific 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins as determined in this 
preliminary determination, adjusted for export subsidies; (2) if the 
exporter is not a respondent identified above, but the producer is, 
then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-specific 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin as established for that 
producer of the subject merchandise, adjusted for export subsidies; and 
(3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be 
equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average dumping margin, 
adjusted for export subsidies.
    Commerce normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated antidumping 
duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a companion 
CVD proceeding, when CVD provisional measures are in effect. 
Accordingly, where Commerce preliminarily made an affirmative 
determination for countervailable export subsidies, Commerce has offset 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate CVD 
rate. Any such adjusted cash deposit rate may be found in the 
Preliminary Determination section above.\8\
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    \8\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum for further discussion.
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    Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation 
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV 
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting estimated 
antidumping duty cash deposits unadjusted for countervailed export 
subsidies at the time that the provisional CVD measures expire. These 
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the

[[Page 31303]]

information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    As stated in the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, all 
interested parties will have the opportunity to submit case and 
rebuttal briefs on the preliminary scope determination.\9\ Case briefs 
regarding scope issues may be submitted within 10 days after the date 
of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Rebuttal briefs 
regarding scope issues, limited to those issues which are raised in the 
scope case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the 
deadline date for scope case briefs. All scope case and rebuttal briefs 
must be filed identically on the records of this investigation and the 
concurrent AD and CVD investigations of yarn from India and China.
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    \9\ See Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.
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    Case briefs or other written comments regarding non-scope issues 
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 351.309(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, 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.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. Section 351.210(e)(2) of Commerce's regulations 
requires that a request by exporters for postponement of the final 
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months 
in duration.
    On June 13, 2019, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Reliance requested 
in the event of an affirmative preliminary determination, that Commerce 
postpone the final determination and that provisional measures be 
extended to a period not to exceed six months.\11\ On June 18, 2019, 
the petitioners also filed a request to postpone the final 
determination in the event of a negative preliminary determination.\12\ 
In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii) and (e)(2), because: (1) The preliminary 
determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter accounts for 
a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) 
no compelling reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the 
final determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-
month period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, 
Commerce will make its final determination no later than 135 days after 
the date of publication of this preliminary determination.
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    \11\ See Letter from Reliance, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation 
of Polyester Textured Yarn from India--Request for Postponement of 
Final Determination and Provisional Measure Period,'' dated June 13, 
2019.
    \12\ See Letter from the Petitioners, ``Request to Extend the 
Antidumping Duty Final Determinations,'' dated June 18, 2019.
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
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 
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: June 25, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation, polyester 
textured yarn, is synthetic multifilament yarn that is manufactured 
from polyester (polyethylene terephthalate). Polyester textured yarn 
is produced through a texturing process, which imparts special 
properties to the filaments of the yarn, including stretch, bulk, 
strength, moisture absorption, insulation, and the appearance of a 
natural fiber. This scope includes all forms of polyester textured 
yarn, regardless of surface texture or appearance, yarn density and 
thickness (as measured in denier), number of filaments, number of 
plies, finish (luster), cross section, color, dye method, texturing 
method, or packing method (such as spindles, tubes, or beams).
    Excluded from the scope of the investigation is bulk continuous 
filament yarn that: (a) Is polyester synthetic multifilament yarn; 
(b) has denier size ranges of 900 and above; (c) has turns per meter 
of 40 and above; and (d) has a maximum shrinkage of 2.5 percent.
    The merchandise subject to this investigation is properly 
classified under subheadings 5402.33.3000 and 5402.33.6000 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although 
the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the written description of the merchandise is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
V. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
VII. Date of Sale
VIII. Product Comparisons
IX. Export Price
X. Normal Value
XI. Currency Conversion
XII. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies
XIII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2019-13982 Filed 6-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P