[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48105-48107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19795]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-825]


Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip From India: 
Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review; 2017

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an 
administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on 
polyethylene terephthalate film, sheet, and strip (PET film) from 
India. The period of review (POR) is January 1, 2017 through December 
31, 2017. We preliminarily determine that Jindal Poly Films Ltd. 
(Jindal) and SRF Limited (SRF) received countervailable subsidies 
during the POR. Interested parties are invited to comment on these 
preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable September 12, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elfi Blum, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0197.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On July 3, 2018, Commerce published in the Federal Register a 
notice of opportunity to request an administrative review of the 
countervailing duty order on PET film from India, for the POR.\1\ In 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.213(b)(1) and (2), in July 2018, we 
received four review requests. DuPont Teijin Films, Mitsubishi 
Polyester Film, Inc., and SKC, Inc. (collectively, the petitioners) 
requested reviews of Ester Industries Limited (Ester), Garware 
Polyester Ltd. (Garware), Polyplex Corporation Ltd. (Polyplex), SRF, 
Jindal, and Vacmet India Limited (Vacmet). Additionally, Polyplex USA 
LLC requested reviews for Ester, Garware, Jindal, MTZ Polyesters Ltd. 
(MTZ), Polyplex, SRF, Vacmet and Uflex Ltd. (Uflex). Finally, Jindal 
and SRF each self-requested to be reviewed in the instant review.
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    \1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review, 83 FR 31121, 31122 (July 3, 2018).
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    Subsequently, on September 10, 2018, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.221(c)(1)(i), Commerce published a notice of initiation of an 
administrative review of the countervailing duty order on PET Film from 
India.\2\ On October 15, 2018, we placed on the record U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) import data \3\ for purposes of respondent 
selection, and invited parties to comment.\4\ Because Jindal entered 
its notice of appearance at a later point in time \5\ and did not 
obtain its administrative protective order until after the comment 
period for the CBP data issued on October 15, 2018, Commerce re-
released the CBP data on November 5, 2018, and extended the comment 
period on the CBP import data for Jindal only. We received no comments 
from interested parties. Subsequently, Polyplex USA timely withdrew its 
request for a review on November 21, 2018, for all companies.\6\ Also, 
on December 10, 2018, SRF withdrew its request for a review.\7\ We 
selected Jindal and SRF as mandatory respondents.\8\
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    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 83 FR 45596, 45604 (September 10, 2018) 
(Initiation Notice).
    \3\ Note: The CBP import data released on September 19, 2018, 
was compiled based on the company names, and variations thereof, 
whereas the CBP import data release of October 15, 2018, was 
compiled based on the case number and POR, which captured Jindal's 
and SRF's shipments of subject merchandise during the entire POR.
    \4\ See Memorandum ``Administrative Review of the Countervailing 
Duty Order on Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip from 
India: Release of U.S. Customs Entry Data for Respondent Selection'' 
dated October 3, 2017.
    \5\ See Jindal's Letter, ``Polyethylene Terephthalate (Pet) Film 
from India: Entry of Appearance and APO Application,'' dated October 
23, 2018 (Jindal Entry of Appearance).
    \6\ See Polyplex USA's Letter, ``Polyethylene Terephthalate 
(PET) Film, Sheet, and Strip from India: Request for Withdrawal of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated November 21, 
2018.
    \7\ See SRF's Letter, ``Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Film 
from India/Withdrawal of Request for countervailing Duty Admin 
Review of SRF Limited (SRF),'' dated December 10, 2018.
    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Administrative Review of the 
Countervailing Duty Order on Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, 
and Strip from India: Selection of Respondents for Individual 
Examination--2017'' dated December 17, 2018 (Respondent Selection 
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.\9\ If the new 
deadline falls on a

[[Page 48106]]

non-business day, in accordance with Commerce's practice, the deadline 
will become the next business day.\10\ On April 26, 2019,\11\ and July 
10, 2019, we extended the deadline for the preliminary results of this 
review.\12\ The revised deadline for the preliminary results is now 
September 6, 2019.
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    \9\ 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.
    \10\ Id.
    \11\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review--2016'' dated 
March 23, 2018; see also Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for 
Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review'' 
dated June 1, 2018.
    \12\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated April 
26, 2019; Memorandum, ``Second Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review'' dated July 
10, 2019.
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this order are all gauges of raw, 
pretreated, or primed polyethylene terephthalate film, sheet and strip, 
whether extruded or coextruded. Excluded are metallized films and other 
finished films that have had at least one of their surfaces modified by 
the application of a performance-enhancing resinous or inorganic layer 
of more than 0.00001 inches thick. Imports of PET film are classifiable 
in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under 
item number 3920.62.00.90. HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes. The written description of the scope 
of the order is dispositive.

Partial Rescission of Administrative Review

    Commerce initiated a review of eight companies in this segment of 
the proceeding.\13\ In response to timely filed withdrawal requests, we 
are rescinding this administrative review with respect to MTZ and 
Uflex, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1). Accordingly, the companies 
subject to the instant review are: Ester; Garware; Jindal; Polyplex; 
SRF; and Vacmet, of which Commerce has selected Jindal and SRF as the 
mandatory respondents.\14\
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    \13\ See Initiation Notice, 82 FR 42974, 42974 (September 13, 
2017). The eight companies were Ester, Garware, Jindal, MTZ, 
Polyplex, SRF, Uflex, and Vacmet.
    \14\ See Respondent Selection Memorandum.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(l)(A) of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, we preliminarily determine that there is a subsidy, 
i.e., a government-provided financial contribution that gives rise to a 
benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\15\ For a 
full description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum, dated concurrently with, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice. A list of topics included in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum is included as an Appendix to this notice.
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    \15\ 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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    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 http://access.trade.gov and 
in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department of 
Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the internet at http://trade.gov/enforcement/frn/index.html. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.

Companies Not Selected for Individual Review

    For the companies not selected for individual review, because the 
rates calculated for Jindal and SRF were above de minimis and not based 
entirely on facts available, we applied, looking to section 
705(c)(5)(A) of the Act for guidance, a subsidy rate based on a simple 
average of the subsidy rates calculated for Jindal and SRF because 
complete publicly ranged sales data was not submitted by all 
respondents selected for individual review.\16\
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    \16\ Commerce intends to request complete publicly ranged 
quantity and value data from respondents in this segment of the 
proceeding.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    We preliminarily determine the total estimated net countervailable 
subsidy rates for the period January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017 
to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Subsidy
                                                                 rate
                   Manufacturer/exporter                       (percent
                                                             ad valorem)
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Jindal Poly Films Limited of India.........................         9.41
SRF Limited................................................         7.22
Ester Industries Limited...................................         8.32
Garware Polyester Ltd......................................         8.32
Polyplex Corporation Ltd...................................         8.32
Vacmet India Limited.......................................         8.32
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce will disclose to parties to this proceeding the 
calculations performed in reaching the preliminary results within five 
days of the date of publication of these preliminary results.\17\ Case 
briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance at a date to be determined. 
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be 
submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for case 
briefs.\18\ Rebuttal briefs must be limited to issues raised in the 
case briefs.\19\ Parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs are 
requested to submit with the argument: (1) A statement of the issue; 
(2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of 
authorities.\20\
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    \17\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \18\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii) and 351.309(d)(1).
    \19\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(2).
    \20\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must do so within 
30 days of publication of these preliminary results by submitting a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, using Enforcement and 
Compliance's ACCESS system.\21\ Requests should contain the party's 
name, address, and telephone number, the number of participants, and a 
list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, 
we will inform parties of the scheduled date for the hearing which will 
be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230, at a time and location to be determined.\22\ 
Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the 
hearing. Issues addressed at the hearing will be limited to those 
raised in the briefs.\23\ All briefs and hearing requests must be filed 
electronically and received successfully in their entirety through 
ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
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    \21\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \22\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
    \23\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act, Commerce intends to issue the final results of this 
administrative review, including the results of our analysis of the 
issues raised by the parties in their comments, within 120 days after 
publication of these preliminary results.

Assessment Rates and Cash Deposit Requirement

    Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall determine, and 
U.S.

[[Page 48107]]

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, countervailing duties 
on all appropriate entries covered by this review. We intend to issue 
instructions to CBP 15 days after publication of the final results of 
review.
    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce also intends 
to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties, in the amounts shown above for each of the respective companies 
shown above, on shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of 
the final results of this review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will 
instruct CBP to continue to collect cash deposits at the most-recent 
company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company, as 
appropriate. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.
    These preliminary results of review are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(l) and 777(i)(l) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.213 and 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: September 6, 2019.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
4. Scope of the Order
5. Period of Review
6. Subsidies Valuation Information
7. Analysis of Programs
8. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-19795 Filed 9-11-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P