[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44283-44285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18147]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-912]


Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review; 2017-2018

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that Weihai Zhongwei Rubber Co., Ltd. (Zhongwei), an exporter of 
certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires (OTR tires) from the People's 
Republic of China (China), did not sell merchandise in the United 
States at prices below normal value (NV) during the period of review 
(POR) September 1, 2017 through August 31, 2018. We invite interested 
parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable August 23, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Haynes, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5139.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On September 11, 2018, Commerce published a notice of opportunity 
to request an administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order 
on OTR tires from China for the period September 1, 2017 through August 
31, 2018.\1\ Based on requests by interested parties, Commerce 
initiated an administrative review on five exporters of OTR tires.\2\ 
On January 31, 2019, we selected two mandatory respondents for 
individual examination in this review: Triangle Tyre Co. Ltd. 
(Triangle) and Weihai Zhongwei Rubber Co. Ltd. (Zhongwei).\3\ Pursuant 
to timely withdrawal of review requests, Commerce rescinded the review 
on April 11, 2019, with respect to three exporters upon which the 
review was initiated, including mandatory respondent Triangle.\4\ 
Accordingly, this administrative review covers one mandatory 
respondent, Zhongwei, and one separate rate respondent Qingdao Honghua 
Tyre Factory (Honghua).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review, 83 FR 45888 (September 11, 2018).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 83 FR 57411 (November 15, 2018).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Administrative Review of Certain New 
Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the People's Republic of China,'' 
dated January 31, 2019.
    \4\ See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Notice of Partial Rescission of the 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2017-2018, 84 FR 13633 
(April 5, 2019); see also Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires 
from the People's Republic of China: Notice of Correction to the 
Partial Rescission of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 
2017-2018, 84 FR 15179 (April 15, 2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On January 28, 2019, 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\ In this case, the original deadline for the preliminary 
results of the underlying administrative review was June 3, 2019.\6\ 
Thus, the revised initial deadline for the preliminary results in this 
review was tolled to July 12, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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.
    \6\ The calculated initial deadline of June 2, 2019 was a 
Sunday. Commerce's practice dictates that where a deadline falls on 
a weekend or a federal holiday, the appropriate deadline is the next 
business day. See Notice of Clarification: Application of ``Next 
Business Day'' Rule for Administrative Determination Deadlines 
Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, As Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 
2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On June 19, 2019, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act), we determined that it was not practicable 
to complete the preliminary results of this review within 245 days.\7\ 
Thus, we postponed the preliminary results by 35 days.\8\ The revised 
deadline for the preliminary results in this review is now August 16, 
2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See Memorandum, ``New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of the 2017-2018 Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,'' 
dated June 19, 2019.
    \8\ Id. at 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this administrative review, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\9\ The Preliminary 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 is available 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 on the internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The 
signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic versions of 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary 
Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Certain New 
Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the People's Republic of China; 
2017-2018,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by this order includes new pneumatic tires 
designed for off-the-road and off-highway use, subject to certain 
exceptions. The subject merchandise is currently classifiable under 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 
4011.20.10.25, 4011.20.10.35, 4011.20.50.30, 4011.20.50.50, 
4011.61.00.00, 4011.62.00.00, 4011.63.00.00, 4011.69.00.00, 
4011.92.00.00, 4011.93.40.00, 4011.93.80.00, 4011.94.40.00, and 
4011.94.80.00. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes only; the written product description of the scope of 
the order is dispositive. For a complete description of the scope of 
the order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(B) and 751(a)(2)(A) of the Act. Export

[[Page 44284]]

prices have been calculated in accordance with section 772(a) of the 
Act. Because China is a non-market economy within the meaning of 
section 771(18) of the Act, NV has been calculated in accordance with 
section 773(c) of the Act.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

China-Wide Entity

    Commerce's policy regarding conditional review of the China-wide 
entity applies to this administrative review.\11\ Under this policy, 
the China-wide entity will not be under review unless a party 
specifically requests, or Commerce self-initiates, a review of the 
entity. Because no party requested a review of the China-wide entity in 
this review, and we did not self-initiate a review of the entity, the 
entity is not under review and the entity's rate (i.e., 105.31 percent) 
is not subject to change.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Announcement of Change in 
Department Practice for Respondent Selection in Antidumping Duty 
Proceedings and Conditional Review of the Nonmarket Economy Entity 
in NME Antidumping Duty Proceedings, 78 FR 65963 (November 4, 2013).
    \12\ See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review; 2012-2013, 80 FR 20197 (April 15, 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Separate Rates

    Commerce preliminarily determines that information placed on the 
record by Zhongwei and Honghua demonstrates that these companies are 
entitled to separate rate status.\13\ For additional information, see 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ See Zhongwei's March 11, 2019 Section A Questionnaire 
Response at 2-14; see also Honghua's Letter, ``Separate Rate 
Application: Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the 
People's Republic of China,'' dated December 14, 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dumping Margins for Separate Rate Company

    The statute and Commerce's regulations do not address what rate to 
apply to respondents not selected for individual examination when 
Commerce limits its examination in an administrative review pursuant to 
section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. Generally, Commerce looks to section 
735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the 
all-others rate in an investigation, for guidance when calculating the 
rate for non-selected respondents that are not examined individually in 
an administrative review. Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act states that 
the all-others rate should be calculated by averaging the weighted-
average dumping margins for individually-examined respondents, 
excluding rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
available. Where the rates for the individually examined companies are 
all zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts available, section 
735(c)(5)(B) of the Act provides that Commerce may use ``any reasonable 
method'' to establish the all-others rate. As the margin preliminarily 
calculated for the mandatory respondent, Zhongwei, is zero, we 
preliminarily assigned Honghua, the sole separate-rate respondent not 
selected for individual examination in this review, a separate rate 
margin based on Zhongwei's weighted-average dumping margin, which we 
find to be reasonable and consistent with practice.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ 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 (April 20, 2018), and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 4; see also 
Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from 
the Republic of Turkey: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Preliminary Determination of No Shipments; 
2017-2018, 84 FR 34863, 34864 (July 19, 2019) (citing Albemarle 
Corp. v. United States, 821 F.3d 1345 (Fed. Cir. 2016)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Results of Review

    We preliminarily determine that the following weighted-average 
dumping margins exist for the period September 1, 2017 through August 
31, 2018:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                          Exporter                              dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weihai Zhongwei Rubber Co., Ltd.............................        0.00
Qingdao Honghua Tyre Factory................................        0.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose the calculations used in our analysis 
to parties in this review within five days of the date of publication 
of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    Interested parties may submit case briefs within 30 days after the 
date of publication of these preliminary results of review in the 
Federal Register.\15\ Rebuttals to case briefs, which must be limited 
to issues raised in the case briefs, must be filed within five days 
after the time limit for filing case briefs.\16\ Parties who submit 
arguments are requested to submit with the argument (a) a statement of 
the issue, (b) a brief summary of the argument, and (c) a table of 
authorities.\17\ Parties submitting briefs should do so pursuant to 
Commerce's electronic filing system, ACCESS.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \16\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1)-(2).
    \17\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2), (d)(2).
    \18\ See 19 CFR 351.303 (for general filing requirements).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of 
publication of this notice.\19\ Hearing requests should contain the 
following information: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone 
number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to 
be discussed. Oral presentations will be limited to issues raised in 
the briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, parties will be 
notified of the time and date for the hearing to be held at the U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \20\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative 
review, which will include the results of our analysis of all issues 
raised in the case briefs, within 120 days of publication of these 
preliminary results in the Federal Register, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce will determine, and 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping 
duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review.\21\ Commerce 
intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP 15 days after the 
publication date of the final results of this review.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If Zhongwei's weighted-average dumping margin is not zero or de 
minimis (i.e., less than 0.5 percent) in the final results of this 
review, Commerce will calculate importer-specific assessment rates on 
the basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for 
the importer's examined sales to the total entered value of sales, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1). For customers or importers of 
Zhongwei for which we received entered-value information, we have 
calculated importer-(or customer-) specific antidumping duty assessment 
rates based on importer-(or customer-) specific ad valorem rates.\22\ 
Where an importer-or (customer-) specific ad valorem rate is greater 
than de minimis, Commerce will instruct CBP to collect the appropriate 
duties at the time of liquidation.\23\ If Zhongwei's weighted-average 
dumping margin is zero or de

[[Page 44285]]

minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries 
without regard to antidumping duties. Entries by Honghua, the separate 
rate respondent, will be assessed at the cash deposit rate, since it is 
not a mandatory respondent. If Zhongwei's margin is above de minimis at 
final, we will calculate importer-specific assessment rates, which only 
apply to Zhongwei's importers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ Id.
    \23\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For entries that were not reported in the U.S. sales database 
submitted by an exporter individually examined during this review, 
Commerce will instruct CBP to liquidate such entries at the China-wide 
rate. Additionally, if Commerce determines that an exporter under 
review had no shipments of the subject merchandise, any suspended 
entries that entered under that exporter's case number will be 
liquidated at the China-wide rate.\24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ See Non-Market Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment 
of Antidumping Duties, 76 FR 65694 (October 24, 2011).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cash Deposit Requirements

    Because the antidumping duty order on OTR tires from China was 
revoked,\25\ Commerce will not issue cash deposit instructions at the 
conclusion of this administrative review.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Final Results of Sunset Reviews and 
Revocation of Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders, 84 FR 
20616 (May 10, 2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping and/or countervailing duties 
prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during the POR. Failure to 
comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption 
that reimbursement of antidumping and/or countervailing duties occurred 
and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results are issued and published in accordance 
with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: August 16, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
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. Discussion of the Methodology
V. Currency Conversions
VI. Adjustment Under Section 777A(f) of the Act
VII. Recommendation

 [FR Doc. 2019-18147 Filed 8-22-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P