[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 150 (Monday, August 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37998-38001]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-16663]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-549-837]


Glycine From Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances in Part

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that glycine 
from Thailand is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States 
at less than fair value (LTFV). In addition, Commerce determines that 
critical circumstances exist with respect to certain imports of the 
subject merchandise. The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 
2017 through December 31, 2017. The final estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins are listed below in the ``Final Determination'' section 
of this notice.

DATES: Applicable August 5, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Smith or Jesus Saenz, AD/CVD, 
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) 482-1766 
or (202) 482-8184, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The petitioners in this investigation are GEO Specialty Chemicals, 
Inc. and Chattem Chemicals, Inc. (collectively, the petitioners). The 
mandatory respondent in this investigation is Newtrend Food Ingredient 
(Thailand) Co., Ltd. (Newtrend Thailand).
    The events that occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination \1\ on October 31, 2018 and postponed the final 
determination until March 15, 2019 are discussed in the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Glycine from Thailand Preliminary Determination of Sales 
at Not Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Negative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances, Postponement of Final Determination, 83 FR 
54717 (October 31, 2018) (Preliminary Determination), and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of 
Glycine from Thailand,'' 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

[[Page 37999]]

December 22, 2018 through the resumption of operations on January 29, 
2019.\3\ Commerce revised the deadline for the final determination in 
this investigation to April 24, 2019.
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    \3\ 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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    On March 19, 2019, the petitioners submitted new factual 
information (NFI) on the record of this investigation, which included 
the notice of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) commencement 
of a formal investigation and imposition of interim measures (CBP 
Interim Measures) under Title IV, Section 421 of the Trade Facilitation 
and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (also referred to as the Enforce and 
Protect Act or EAPA).\4\ Commerce accepted the NFI and provided 
interested parties with an opportunity to comment. On April 24, 2019, 
Commerce postponed until further notice the issuance of the final 
determination in this investigation, in order to further investigate 
this matter.\5\ We subsequently issued to Newtrend Thailand additional 
requests for sales and cost information relevant to this matter. 
Newtrend Thailand timely responded to these requests for information, 
and Commerce subsequently conducted verification of the additional 
information submitted.
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    \4\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Glycine from Thailand: Request to 
Accept U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Interim Measures,'' 
dated March 19, 2019.
    \5\ See Memorandum from Gary Taverman, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Jeffrey I. Kessler, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, ``Postponement of the Final Determinations in the Less-
Than-Fair Value and Countervailing Duty Investigations of Glycine 
from Thailand,'' dated April 24, 2019.
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    We invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary 
Determination and on events that occurred since the publication of that 
determination. A detailed summary of the events that occurred in this 
investigation since Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, 
as well as a full discussion of the issues raised by parties for this 
final determination, can be found in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is glycine from Thailand. 
For a full description of the scope of this investigation, see the 
``Scope of the Investigation'' in Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

    We invited parties to comment on Commerce's Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum.\6\ Commerce reviewed the briefs submitted by 
interested parties, considered the arguments therein, and made no 
changes to the scope of the investigation. For further discussion, see 
Commerce's Scope Comments Final Decision Memorandum.\7\
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Glycine from India, Japan, the People's 
Republic of China and Thailand: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum 
for the Preliminary Determinations,'' dated August 27, 2018 
(Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Glycine from India, Japan, the People's 
Republic of China and Thailand: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum 
for the Final Determinations,'' dated April 24, 2019 (Scope Comments 
Final Decision Memorandum).
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs submitted by 
parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum is attached to this notice as Appendix II. 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 it is available to 
all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B-8024 of the main 
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 and electronic 
versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), from November to December 2018 and during June 2019, 
Commerce conducted verifications of Newtrend Thailand's sales and cost 
information. We used standard verification procedures, including an 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original 
source documents provided by Newtrend Thailand.\8\
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    \8\ For a discussion of our verification findings, see ``U.S. 
Verification of the Sales Response of Newtrend Food Ingredient 
(Thailand) Co., Ltd. in the Antidumping Investigation of Glycine 
from Thailand,'' dated March 14, 2019; ``Home Market Verification of 
the Sales Response of Newtrend Food Ingredient (Thailand) Co., Ltd. 
in the Antidumping Investigation of Glycine from Thailand'' and 
``Verification of Cost Response of Newtrend Food Ingredient 
(Thailand) Co., Ltd. in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of 
Glycine from Thailand'' both dated March 15, 2019; and 
``Verification of the Questionnaire Response of Newtrend Food 
Ingredient (Thailand) Co., Ltd. in the Antidumping Investigation of 
Glycine from Thailand with Respect to the Transshipment Allegation'' 
and ``2nd Verification of Cost Response of Newtrend Food Ingredient 
(Thailand) Co., Ltd. in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of 
Glycine from Thailand,'' both dated June 20, 2019.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our review and analysis of the comments received from 
parties and our verification findings, we find that facts available 
with an adverse inference is warranted for Newtrend Thailand in the 
final determination in accordance with sections 776(a) and (b) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.308. For further discussion, see ``Use of Adverse 
Facts Available'' section below and the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    Newtrend Thailand, the sole mandatory respondent, failed to provide 
critical information in determining its cost of production of glycine 
during the POI, rendering its reported costs unreliable and unusable 
for purposes of calculating an accurate estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin. Therefore, pursuant to section 776(a) and (b) of the 
Act, we find that the application of facts available with an adverse 
inference is warranted with respect to Newtrend Thailand in the final 
determination. In applying total adverse facts available (AFA), 
Commerce has determined that Newtrend Thailand's estimated weighted-
average dumping margin is 227.17 percent, which is the highest dumping 
margin alleged in the Petition, as supplemented on April 9, 2018, and 
will apply this margin to its exports of glycine to the United 
States.\9\ For further discussion, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum at Comment 1.
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    \9\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Glycine from Thailand: Petition 
for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties,'' dated March 28, 2018 
(Petition); and Petitioners' Letter, ``Glycine from Thailand: 
Responses to Second Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated April 9, 
2018 (Thailand AD Second Petition Supplement), at Exhibit TA-2S5.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that Commerce estimate the 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers or exporters 
equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margins of those companies individually examined, excluding any rates 
that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts available 
pursuant to section 776 of the Act. Section 735(c)(5)(B) of the

[[Page 38000]]

Act provides that when, as here, each of the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins established for all exporters or producers individually 
examined are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts available, 
Commerce may use any reasonable method to establish the rate for all 
other exporters or producers. In such a situation, Commerce's practice 
has been to determine the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for 
all other producers or exporters as the simple average of the dumping 
margins alleged in the Petition,\10\ which we have done for this final 
determination.\11\
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    \10\ See, e.g., Silicon Metal From Australia: Affirmative Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances in Part, 83 FR 9839, 9840 
(March 8, 2018); Certain Uncoated Paper from Australia: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative Final 
Determination of Critical Circumstances, In Part, 81 FR 3108 
(January 20, 2016); and Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value: Light-Walled Rectangular Pipe and Tube from 
Turkey, 73 FR 5508 (January 30, 2008), unchanged in Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Light-Walled 
Rectangular Pipe and Tube from Turkey, 73 FR 19814 (April 11, 2008).
    \11\ See Petition; Thailand AD Second Petition Supplement, at 
Exhibit TA-2S5.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

    In accordance with section 733(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, 
we preliminarily determined that critical circumstances did not exist 
with respect to imports of glycine because that subject merchandise was 
not being, or was not likely to be, sold in the United States at 
LTFV.\12\ However, in this final determination, in accordance with 
section 735(a)(3) and 19 CFR 351.206, we find that critical 
circumstances exist with respect to subject merchandise produced or 
exported by Newtrend Thailand, but do not exist with respect to all 
other producers or exporters. For a full description of the methodology 
and results of Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, see the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \12\ See Preliminary Determination, 83 FR at 54717, and 
accompanying PDM at 16.
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Final Determination

    The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                  Exporter or producer                        average
                                                          dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Newtrend Food Ingredient (Thailand) Co., Ltd............          227.17
All Others..............................................          201.59
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Disclosure

    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with a final determination within five days of 
its 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). However, in this investigation, Commerce applied AFA 
to the sole respondent, Newtrend Thailand, in accordance with section 
776 of the Act, the applied AFA rate is based solely on the Petition, 
and the all-others rate is a simple average of the Petition rates.\13\ 
Therefore, there are no margin calculations to disclose.
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    \13\ See Glycine from India, Japan, and Thailand: Initiation of 
Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 83 FR 17995 (April 17, 2018), 
and accompanying Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation 
Checklist: Glycine from Thailand, at 13.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) and (C) of the Act, for 
this final determination, we will direct CBP to suspend liquidation of 
all entries of glycine from Thailand, as described in Appendix I of 
this notice, which are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication in the Federal Register 
of this notice. Section 735(c)(4)(C) of the Act provides that, given an 
affirmative determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of 
liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of 
liquidation was first ordered.
    For entries made by Newtrend Thailand, in accordance with section 
735(c)(4)(C) of the Act, because we find that critical circumstances 
exist, we will instruct CBP to suspend liquidation of all appropriate 
entries of glycine from Thailand which were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date which is 90 days prior 
to the date of publication of this notice. For entries made by 
companies covered by the all-others rate, because we find that critical 
circumstances do not exist, we will not give CBP such instructions.
    Further, pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal 
to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin as follows: (1) The 
cash deposit rate for Newtrend Thailand will be equal to the 
(estimated) weighted-average dumping margin determined in this final 
determination; (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 
established for that producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the 
cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will be equal to 
the all-others (estimated) weighted-average dumping margin determined 
in this final determination.
    Commerce normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated antidumping 
duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a companion 
countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding, when CVD provisional measures are 
in effect. In the concurrent CVD investigation of glycine from 
Thailand, however, Commerce did not make an affirmative determination 
for countervailable export subsidies. Therefore, Commerce has not 
offset the estimated weighted-average dumping margins by 
countervailable export subsidies.
    These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination 
is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the 
ITC will make its final determination as to whether the domestic 
industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with 
material injury, by reason of imports, or sales (or the likelihood of 
sales) for importation of glycine from Thailand no later than 45 days 
after this final determination. If the ITC determines that such injury 
does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, and all cash 
deposits posted will be refunded or canceled. If the ITC determines 
that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty 
order directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, 
antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective 
date of the suspension of liquidation, as discussed above in the 
``Suspension of Liquidation'' section.

Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of

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their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary 
information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of return or destruction of 
APO materials, or conversion to judicial protective order, is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an 
APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: July 29, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is glycine at any 
purity level or grade. This includes glycine of all purity levels, 
which covers all forms of crude or technical glycine including, but 
not limited to, sodium glycinate, glycine slurry and any other forms 
of amino acetic acid or glycine. Subject merchandise also includes 
glycine and precursors of dried crystalline glycine that are 
processed in a third country, including, but not limited to, 
refining or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of this investigation if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the in-scope glycine or precursors of 
dried crystalline glycine. Glycine has the Chemical Abstracts 
Service (CAS) registry number of 56-40-6. Glycine and glycine slurry 
are classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) subheading 2922.49.43.00. Sodium glycinate is classified in 
the HTSUS under 2922.49.80.00. While the HTSUS subheadings and CAS 
registry number are provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
the written description of the scope of this investigation is 
dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Margin Calculations
V. Adjustment for Countervailable Export Subsidies
VI. Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
VII. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1 Application of Adverse Facts Available (AFA)
    Comment 2 CBP Interim Measures
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-16663 Filed 8-2-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P