[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 233 (Wednesday, December 4, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66374-66375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26219]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 233 / Wednesday, December 4, 2019 / 
Notices  

[[Page 66374]]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-863]


Honey From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results 
and Preliminary Intent To Rescind 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 Jiangsu Runchen Agricultural/Sideline Foodstuff Co., Ltd. 
(Runchen) did not make a bona fide sale of honey for the period of 
review (POR) December 1, 2017 through November 30, 2018. Therefore, 
Commerce preliminarily intends to rescind this administrative review. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary results of 
this review.

DATES: Applicable December 4, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jasun Moy or Kabir Archuletta, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-8194 or (202) 482-2593, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 14, 2019, Commerce initiated an administrative review of 
the antidumping duty order on honey from the People's Republic of China 
(China) in accordance with section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), with respect to three companies: Runchen; Inner 
Mongolia Komway Import & Export Co., Ltd.; and Shenzhen Long Sheng 
Shang Mao Ltd.\1\ On June 24, 2019, Commerce rescinded its review of 
two of these companies, leaving Runchen as the sole mandatory 
respondent in this review.\2\
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    \1\ See Honey from the People's Republic of China: Continuation 
of Antidumping Duty Order, 83 FR 18277 (April 2, 2018); see also 
Honey from the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Final 
Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty Order, 77 FR 
50464 (August 21, 2012); and Initiation of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 84 FR 9297 (March 14, 
2019) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Honey from the People's Republic of China: Partial 
Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2017-2018, 84 
FR 29498 (June 24, 2019).
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    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(h)(1), the preliminary and final 
results deadlines in administrative reviews are calculated based on the 
``last day of the anniversary month of the order or suspension 
agreement for which the administrative review was requested,'' which in 
this proceeding was December 31, 2018. 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, by 40 days.\3\ This review was 
therefore initiated on March 13, 2019.\4\ As a result, the time period 
allotted to Commerce for conducting this administrative review 
overlapped the tolling period by 31 days. Accordingly, Commerce tolled 
all deadlines by 31 days for this review.\5\ On September 19, 2019, 
pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, Commerce determined that 
it was not practicable to complete the preliminary results of this 
review within the 245 days and extended the preliminary results by 61 
days.\6\ The revised deadline for the preliminary results in this 
review is now December 3, 2019.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``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 31 days.
    \4\ See Initiation Notice.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``December Order Deadlines Affected by the 
Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated August 7, 2019.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Honey from the People's Republic of China: 
Extension of Deadline for Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review,'' dated September 19, 2019.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to this order are natural honey, artificial 
honey containing more than 50 percent natural honey by weight, 
preparations of natural honey containing more than 50 percent natural 
honey by weight, and flavored honey. For a full description of the 
scope, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\7\
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    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of Honey from 
the People's Republic of China; 2017-2018,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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China-Wide Entity

    Commerce's policy regarding conditional review of the China-wide 
entity applies to this administrative review.\8\ 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, 
the entity is not under review and the entity's rate (i.e., $2.63 per 
kilogram) is not subject to change.\9\
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    \8\ 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).
    \9\ See Honey from the People's Republic of China: Final Results 
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2012-2013, 80 FR 27633-34 
(May 14, 2015).
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(B) of the Act. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A 
list of the topics included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as an appendix to this notice. The Preliminary 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 https://access.trade.gov, and it is available to 
all parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main 
Commerce building. The signed and electronic versions of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

[[Page 66375]]

Preliminary Rescission of the Administrative Review

    As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum and as 
expounded upon in the Bona Fide Memorandum, Commerce preliminarily 
finds that the sale made by Runchen serving as the basis for this 
review is not a bona fide sale of honey.\10\ Commerce reached this 
conclusion based on the totality of the record information surrounding 
Runchen's reported sale, including, but not limited to, the sales price 
and quantity, the profitability of the resold subject merchandise, the 
late payments, the limited number of sales (i.e., one sale), and the 
importer/exporter experience and likelihood of future sales.
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    \10\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Bona Fide Sales Analysis,'' 
dated concurrently with this notice (Bona Fide Memorandum).
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    Because the non-bona fide sale was the only reported sale of 
subject merchandise during the POR, we find that Runchen had no 
reviewable transactions during this POR. Accordingly, we preliminarily 
intend to rescind this administrative review.\11\ The factual 
information used in our bona fides analysis of Runchen's sale involves 
business proprietary information. See the Bona Fide Memorandum for a 
full discussion of the basis for our preliminary findings.
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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).
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Public Comment

    Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary 
results and may submit case briefs and/or written comments, filed 
electronically using ACCESS, within 30 days of the date of publication 
of this notice, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii). Rebuttal briefs, 
limited to issues raised in the case briefs, will be due five days 
after the due date for case briefs, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(d). 
Parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs in this review are requested 
to submit with each argument a statement of the issue, a summary of the 
argument not to exceed five pages, and a table of statutes, 
regulations, and cases cited, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2).
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who submit 
case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are encouraged to 
submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief 
summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities.
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via 
ACCES. An electronically filed document must be received successfully 
in its entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days after the date 
of publication of this notice. Requests should contain: (1) The party's 
name, address and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; (3) 
whether any participant is a foreign national; and (4) a list of issues 
parties intend to discuss. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited 
to those raised in the respective case and rebuttal briefs.\12\ If a 
request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at 
the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20230, at a date and time to be determined.\13\ Parties 
should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing 
two days before the scheduled date.
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    Unless otherwise extended, Commerce intends to issue the final 
results of this administrative review, which will include the results 
of its analysis of issues raised in any briefs, within 120 days of 
publication of these preliminary results, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

    If Commerce proceeds to a final rescission of this administrative 
review, the assessment rate to which Runchen's shipments are subject 
will not be affected by this review. If Commerce does not proceed to a 
final rescission of this administrative review, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(1), we will calculate importer-specific (or customer-
specific) assessment rates based on the final results of this review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    If Commerce proceeds to a final rescission of this administrative 
review, Runchen's cash deposit rate will continue to be the China-wide 
rate of $2.63 per kilogram. If Commerce issues final results for this 
administrative review, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection to collect cash deposits, effective upon the publication of 
the final results, at the rates established therein.

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 duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this POR. Failure to comply with this 
requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement 
of antidumping duties occurred and the assessment of doubled 
antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This administrative review and notice 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: November 29, 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. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-26219 Filed 12-3-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P