[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 206 (Thursday, October 24, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57010-57012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23215]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-093]


Refillable Stainless Steel Kegs From the People's Republic of 
China: Final Affirmative 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 imports 
of refillable stainless steel kegs (kegs) from the People's Republic of 
China (China) are being, or are 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, 
2018 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 24, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Schauer or Aimee Phelan, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0410 or (202) 482-0697, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Commerce published the Preliminary Determination in the LTFV 
investigation of kegs from China on June 4, 2019.\1\ For a complete 
description of the events that followed the Preliminary Determination, 
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Refillable Stainless Steel Kegs from the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances, in Part, Postponement of Final 
Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 84 FR 25745 
(June 4, 2019) (Preliminary Determination), and accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Refillable Stainless Steel Kegs from the 
People's Republic of China: Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,'' 
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues 
and Decision Memorandum).
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is January 1, 2018 through June 30, 
2018.

Scope of the Investigation

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

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of issues raised is attached to this 
notice at Appendix II. The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public 
document and is made available to the public 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 to all parties in Commerce's Central 
Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Commerce building. In addition, a 
complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed 
directly on the internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), we verified the U.S. sales and factors of production 
information submitted by Ningbo Master International Trade Co., Ltd. 
(Ningbo Master) in July 2019.\3\ We used standard verification 
procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting and 
production records, and original source documents provided by Ningbo 
Master.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Verification of the Questionnaire 
Responses of Ningbo Master International Trade Co., Ltd. in the 
Antidumping Investigation of Refillable Stainless Steel Kegs from 
the People's Republic of China,'' dated July 25, 2019.
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China-Wide Entity and Use of Adverse Facts Available

    We continue to find that the use of facts available is warranted in 
determining the rate for the China-wide entity pursuant to sections 
776(a)(1) and (a)(2)(A)-(C) of the Act.\4\ Further, we found that the 
China-wide entity did not cooperate to the best of its ability to 
comply with our requests for information and, accordingly, we 
determined it appropriate to apply adverse inferences in selecting from 
the facts available, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.308(c).
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    \4\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 16-18.
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Changes From the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to our dumping margin calculation 
for Ningbo Master and revised the margins for non-selected respondents 
and the China-wide entity to reflect the revised margins for Ningbo 
Master.\5\
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    \5\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum for a discussion of these 
changes.
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Combination Rates

    Consistent with the Preliminary Determination \6\ and Policy 
Bulletin 05.1,\7\ Commerce determined combination rates for the 
respondents

[[Page 57011]]

that are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation.
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    \6\ See Preliminary Determination, 84 FR at 25745-46.
    \7\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1, 
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination 
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy 
Countries,'' dated April 5, 2005 (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available 
on Commerce's website at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

    In the Preliminary Determination, Commerce preliminarily determined 
that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of kegs from 
China for the China-wide entity, but do not exist for Ningbo Master or 
for the separate rate applicants, Ningbo Haishu Direct Import And 
Export Trade Co., Ltd. (Haishu), Guangzhou Jingye Machinery Co., Ltd. 
(Jingye), and Guangzhou Ulix Industrial & Trading Co., Ltd. (Ulix).\8\ 
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 the China-
wide entity,\9\ but do not exist with respect to Ningbo Master, Jingye, 
or Ulix. 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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    \8\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 31-34.
    \9\ Although we preliminarily found that Haishu was eligible for 
a separate rate, we have found that it is not eligible for a 
separate rate for this final determination. See Issues and Decision 
Memorandum at ``Separate Rates'' section.
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Final Determination

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

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                                                                                     Estimated     Cash deposit
                                                                                     weighted-         rate
                                                                                      average      (adjusted for
                   Exporter                                 Producer                  dumping         subsidy
                                                                                      margin         offsets)
                                                                                    (percent ad     (percent ad
                                                                                     valorem)        valorem)
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Ningbo Master International Trade Co., Ltd....  Ningbo Major Draft Beer                   * 0.00            0.00
                                                 Equipment Co., Ltd.
Guangzhou Jingye Machinery Co., Ltd...........  Guangzhou Jingye Machinery Co.,             0.00             0.0
                                                 Ltd.
Guangzhou Ulix Industrial & Trading Co., Ltd..  Guangzhou Jingye Machinery Co.,             0.00             0.0
                                                 Ltd.
China-Wide Entity \10\........................  ................................           77.13           63.60
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* (de minimis).

    Consistent with section 733(b)(3) of the Act, Commerce determines 
that Ningbo Master, the individually examined respondent with a de 
minimis margin, has not made sales of subject merchandise at LTFV. 
Therefore, we will exclude Ningbo Master from the antidumping duty 
order in the event an order is instituted.
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    \10\ We preliminarily determined that subject merchandise 
produced by Ningbo Haishu Xiangsheng Metal Products Plant and 
exported by Ningbo Haishu Direct Import and Export Trade Co., Ltd., 
was eligible for a separate rate. See Preliminary Determination PDM 
at 14-15. For this final determination, we determine that such 
subject merchandise is not eligible for a separate rate. See Issues 
and Decision Memorandum at Comment 9.
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    With respect to Jingye and Ulix, consistent with the decision of 
the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Changzhou Hawd Flooring 
CAFC, we are assigning to the separate-rate- eligible non-selected 
respondents the rate we calculated for Ningbo Master, i.e., zero 
percent.

Disclosure

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties in this 
proceeding within five days after public announcement of the final 
determination or, if there is no public announcement, within five days 
of the date of publication of the notice of final determination in the 
Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all entries of kegs from China, as described in 
Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after June 4, 2019, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination of this investigation in 
the Federal Register, with the exception of entries of subject 
merchandise that were produced by Ningbo Major Draft Beer Equipment 
Co., Ltd., and exported by Ningbo Master International Trade Co., Ltd.; 
with regard to such entries, because we have determined the weighted-
average dumping margin to be zero, we will exclude Ningbo Master from 
the antidumping duty order, in the event an order is instituted, and we 
will discontinue the suspension of liquidation and will refund all cash 
deposits already collected for this producer/exporter combination. Such 
exclusion will not be applicable to merchandise exported to the United 
States by any other producer/exporter combinations or by third-country 
exporters that sourced from the excluded producer/exporter 
combination(s). Moreover, consistent with the decision of the Court of 
International Trade in Changzhou Hawd Flooring CIT, we will not exclude 
from the antidumping duty order, in the event an order is instituted, 
the separate-rate-eligible non-selected respondents.\11\
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    \11\ See Changzhou Hawd Flooring Co. v. United States, 324 F. 
Supp. 3d 1317 (Changzhou Hawd Flooring CIT).
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    Because we find that critical circumstances exist for subject 
merchandise produced for the China-wide entity, we will instruct CBP to 
suspend liquidation of all entries of kegs from China which were 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after March 
6, 2019, which is 90 days prior to the date of publication of the 
Preliminary Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, upon the 
publication of this notice, Commerce will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit \12\ equal to the weighted-average amount by which the 
normal value exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate 
for the exporter/producer combinations listed in the table above will 
be the rate identified in the table; (2) for all combinations of 
Chinese exporters/producers of merchandise under consideration that 
have not received their own separate rate above, the cash-deposit rate 
will be the cash deposit rate established for the China-wide entity; 
and (3) for all non-Chinese exporters of merchandise under 
consideration which have not received their own separate rate above, 
the cash-deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate applicable to the 
Chinese exporter/producer combination

[[Page 57012]]

that supplied that non-Chinese exporter. These suspension of 
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \12\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 
(October 3, 2011).
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this 
proceeding 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 of subject 
merchandise from China no later than 45 days after our final 
determination. If the ITC determines that such injury does not exist, 
this proceeding will be terminated, and all securities 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.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order

    This notice will serve as a reminder to the parties subject to 
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 terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: October 17, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation are kegs, vessels, 
or containers with bodies that are approximately cylindrical in 
shape, made from stainless steel (i.e., steel containing at least 
10.5 percent chromium by weight and less than 1.2 percent carbon by 
weight, with or without other elements), and that are compatible 
with a ``D Sankey'' extractor (refillable stainless steel kegs) with 
a nominal liquid volume capacity of 10 liters or more, regardless of 
the type of finish, gauge, thickness, or grade of stainless steel, 
and whether or not covered by or encased in other materials. 
Refillable stainless steel kegs may be imported assembled or 
unassembled, with or without all components (including spears, 
couplers or taps, necks, collars, and valves), and be filled or 
unfilled.
    ``Unassembled'' or ``unfinished'' refillable stainless steel 
kegs include drawn stainless steel cylinders that have been welded 
to form the body of the keg and attached to an upper (top) chime 
and/or lower (bottom) chime. Unassembled refillable stainless steel 
kegs may or may not be welded to a neck, may or may not have a valve 
assembly attached, and may be otherwise complete except for testing, 
certification, and/or marking.
    Subject merchandise also includes refillable stainless steel 
kegs that have been further processed in a third country, including 
but not limited to, attachment of necks, collars, spears or valves, 
heat treatment, pickling, passivation, painting, testing, 
certification or any other processing that would not otherwise 
remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if 
performed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope refillable 
stainless steel keg.
    Specifically excluded are the following:
    (1) Vessels or containers that are not approximately cylindrical 
in nature (e.g., box, ``hopper'' or ``cone'' shaped vessels);
    (2) stainless steel kegs, vessels, or containers that have 
either a ``ball lock'' valve system or a ``pin lock'' valve system 
(commonly known as ``Cornelius,'' ``corny'' or ``ball lock'' kegs);
    (3) necks, spears, couplers or taps, collars, and valves that 
are not imported with the subject merchandise; and
    (4) stainless steel kegs that are filled with beer, wine, or 
other liquid and that are designated by the Commissioner of Customs 
as Instruments of International Traffic within the meaning of 
section 332(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
    The merchandise covered by this investigation are currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under subheadings 7310.10.0010, 7310.10.0050, 7310.29.0025, 
and 7310.29.0050.
    These HTSUS subheadings 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 Comments
IV. Surrogate Country
V. Separate Rates
VI. China-Wide Rate
VII. Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
VIII. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IX. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies and 
Double Remedies
X. Discussion of the Issues
    a. Ningbo Master International Trade Co., Ltd.
    Comment 1: Labor Surrogate Value
    Comment 2: Surrogate Financial Ratio Calculations
    Comment 3: Value-Added-Tax (VAT) Adjustment
    Comment 4: Minor Corrections
    Comment 5: Alleged Pre-POI Sale
    Comment 6: Proprietary Adjustment
    Comment 7: Spear Surrogate Value
    Comment 8: Neck Surrogate Value
    b. Separate Rate Eligibility
    Comment 9: Ningbo Haishu Direct Import and Export Trade Co., 
Ltd.
    Comment 10: Guangzhou Jingye Machinery Company, Ltd.
    Comment 11: Guangzhou Ulix Industrial & Trading Company, Ltd.
    XI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-23215 Filed 10-23-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P