[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53678-53680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21807]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-427-830]


Strontium Chromate From France: Final Affirmative Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
strontium chromate from France is being, or is likely to be, sold in 
the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period of 
investigation (POI) July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. The final 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins are listed below in the 
``Final Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Applicable October 8, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis McClure or Joshua Simonidis, 
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) 482-5973 
or (202) 482-0608, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On May 17, 2019, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
Preliminary Determination of sales at LTFV of strontium chromate from 
France, in which we also postponed the final determination until 
September 30, 2019.\1\ We invited interested parties to comment on the 
Preliminary Determination. A summary of the events that occurred since 
Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full 
discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final 
determination, may be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Strontium Chromate From France: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Negative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances, Postponement of Final 
Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 84 FR 22438 
(May 17, 2019) (Preliminary Determination), and accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Strontium Chromate from France,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by this notice (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is strontium chromate 
from France. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation of strontium chromate from 
France, Commerce did not receive scope comments from interested 
parties. Therefore, for this final determination, the scope of this 
investigation remains unchanged from that published in the Preliminary 
Determination.

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 accompanying this notice. 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), during June 2019, we conducted verification of the sales and 
cost information submitted by Soci[eacute]t[eacute] Nouvelle des 
Couleurs Zinciques (SNCZ), the sole mandatory respondent, for use in 
our final determination. We used standard verification procedures, 
including an examination of relevant accounting and production records, 
and original source documents provided by SNCZ.\3\
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    \3\ For a discussion of our verification findings, see the 
following memoranda: ``Verification of the Cost Response of 
Soci[eacute]t[eacute] Nouvelle des Couleurs Zinciques in the Less-
than-Fair-Value Investigation of Strontium Chromate from France,'' 
dated July 18, 2019; and ``Verification of the Sales Response of 
Soci[eacute]t[eacute] Nouvelle des Couleurs Zinciques in the 
Antidumping Investigation of Strontium Chromate from France,'' dated 
July 22, 2019.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to

[[Page 53679]]

the margin calculation for SNCZ. For a discussion of these changes, see 
the ``Margin Calculations'' section of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    At verification SNCZ failed to properly support the amounts 
reported for inland freight to the port and international freight 
expenses in its U.S. sales database. Because SNCZ provided information 
that cannot be verified, the use of facts available pursuant to section 
776(a) of the Act is warranted. Moreover, SNCZ failed to act to the 
best of its ability to comply with Commerce's requests for information 
within the meaning of section 776(b) of the Act regarding these 
movement expenses. We, therefore, applied adverse facts available (AFA) 
to these movement expenses, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act. As 
partial AFA, we applied the highest recalculated amounts, based on 
verification findings, for inland freight to the port and international 
freight to the U.S. sales database.\4\
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    \4\ For further discussion see Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that 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.
    Commerce calculated an individual estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for SNCZ, the only individually examined exporter/
producer in this investigation. Because the only individually 
calculated dumping margin is not zero, de minimis, or determined 
entirely under section 776 of the Act, the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin calculated for SNCZ is the margin assigned to all other 
producers and exporters, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    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 strontium chromate from France because 
imports were not massive with respect to SNCZ and all other producers 
and exporters. For this final determination, our determination remains 
unchanged from that published in the Preliminary Determination. 
Accordingly, pursuant to section 735(a)(3) of the Act, we find that 
critical circumstances do not exist with respect to imports of 
strontium chromate from France. For a full description of the 
methodology and results of Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, 
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Final Determination

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Estimated
                                                               weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter or producer                        dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
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Soci[eacute]t[eacute] Nouvelle des Couleurs Zinciques.......       32.16
All Others..................................................       32.16
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Disclosure

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed in this final 
determination within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice to parties in this proceeding in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, for this final 
determination, we will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of strontium 
chromate, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which are entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after May 17, 2019, 
the date of publication in the Federal Register of the affirmative 
Preliminary Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), we will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for such 
entries of merchandise equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the respondents listed 
above will be equal to the respondent-specific 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 respondent-specific 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that producer 
of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other 
producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin. 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, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the 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 strontium chromate from France 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 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 
``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of 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: September 30, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is strontium 
chromate, regardless of form (including but not limited

[[Page 53680]]

to, powder (sometimes known as granular), dispersions (sometimes 
known as paste), or in any solution). The chemical formula for 
strontium chromate is SrCrO4 and the Chemical Abstracts Service 
(CAS) registry number is 7789-06-2.
    Strontium chromate that has been blended with another product or 
products is included in the scope if the resulting mix contains 15 
percent or more of strontium chromate by total formula weight. 
Products with which strontium chromate may be blended include, but 
are not limited to, water and solvents such as Aromatic 100 Methyl 
Amyl Ketone (MAK)/2-Heptanone, Acetone, Glycol Ether EB, Naphtha 
Leicht, and Xylene. Subject merchandise includes strontium chromate 
that has been processed in a third country into a product that 
otherwise would be within the scope of this investigation if 
processed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope strontium 
chromate.
    The merchandise subject to this investigation is currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under subheading 2841.50.9100. Subject merchandise may also 
enter under HTSUS subheading 3212.90.0050. While the HTSUS 
subheadings and CAS registry number are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, 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. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Margin Calculations
V. Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
VI. Discussion of Issues
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2019-21807 Filed 10-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P