[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67430-67432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26552]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-489-836]


Dried Tart Cherries From the Republic of Turkey: Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters 
of dried tart cherries (cherries) from the Republic of Turkey (Turkey).

DATES: Applicable December 10, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ajay Menon, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1993.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This final determination is made in accordance with section 705 of 
the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The petitioner in this 
investigation is the Dried Tart Cherry Trade Committee.\1\ The 
mandatory respondents in this investigation are Isik Tarim Urunleri 
Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Isik Tarim) and Yamanlar Tarim Urunleri 
(Yamanlar Tarim). Neither the mandatory respondents, nor the Government 
of Turkey, responded to our requests for information in this 
investigation. On September 27, 2019, Commerce published in the Federal 
Register the Preliminary Determination and invited interested parties 
to comment.\2\ We received no comments

[[Page 67431]]

regarding the Preliminary Determination.
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    \1\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitions for the Imposition of 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties: Dried Tart Cherries from the 
Republic of Turkey,'' dated April 23, 2019.
    \2\ See Dried Tart Cherries from the Republic of Turkey: 
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 84 FR 
51109 (September 27, 2019) (Preliminary Determination), and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is January 1, 2018 through December 31, 
2018.

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are cherries from 
Turkey. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see the appendix to this notice.

Analysis of Subsidy Programs--Adverse Facts Available (AFA)

    For purposes of this final determination, we relied solely on facts 
available, because neither the Government of Turkey, nor either of the 
selected mandatory respondents, participated in this investigation. 
Further, because the mandatory respondents and the Government of Turkey 
did not cooperate to the best of their abilities in responding to our 
requests for information in this investigation, we drew adverse 
inferences in selecting from among the facts otherwise available, in 
accordance with sections 776(a)-(b) of the Act. Therefore, consistent 
with the Preliminary Determination, we continue to apply AFA to Isik 
Tarim and Yamanlar Tarim. No interested party submitted comments on the 
Preliminary Determination. Thus, we made no changes to the subsidy 
rates for the mandatory respondents for the final determination. A 
detailed discussion of our application of AFA is provided in the 
Preliminary Determination and the accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\3\
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    \3\ Id., PDM at ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse 
Inferences.''
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All-Others Rate

    As discussed in the Preliminary Determination, Commerce based the 
selection of the all-others rate on the countervailable subsidy rate 
established for the mandatory respondents, in accordance with section 
705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act.\4\ We made no changes to the selection of 
the all-others rate for this final determination.
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    \4\ See Preliminary Determination, 84 FR at 51110.
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Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated net 
countervailable subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
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Isik Tarim Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S...............          204.93
Yamanlar Tarim Urunleri.................................          204.93
All-Others..............................................          204.93
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Disclosure

    The subsidy rate calculations in the Preliminary Determination were 
based on AFA.\5\ As noted above, there are no changes to the 
calculations. Thus, no additional disclosure is necessary for this 
final determination.
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    \5\ Id., PDM at Appendix--``AFA Rate Calculation.''
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    As a result of our Preliminary Determination and pursuant to 
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, Commerce instructed U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries 
of subject merchandise as described in the scope of the investigation 
section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the 
Federal Register.
    If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final 
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a countervailing duty 
(CVD) order, continue the suspension of liquidation under section 
706(a) of the Act, and require a cash deposit of estimated 
countervailing duties for such entries of subject merchandise in the 
amounts indicated above. If the ITC determines that material injury, or 
threat of material injury, does not exist, this proceeding will be 
terminated and all estimated duties deposited or securities posted as a 
result of the suspension of liquidation will be refunded or canceled.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our determination. In addition, we are making available to the 
ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information related to this 
investigation. We will allow the ITC access to all privileged and 
business proprietary information in our files, provided the ITC 
confirms that it will not disclose such information, either publicly or 
under an administrative protective order (APO), without the written 
consent of the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
    Because the final determination in this proceeding is affirmative, 
in accordance with section 705(b) 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 cherries from Turkey no later than 45 days after 
our final determination. If the ITC determines that material injury or 
threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will be 
terminated and all cash deposits will be refunded. If the ITC 
determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue a CVD order 
directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, 
countervailing duties on all imports of the subject merchandise that 
are 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 APOs

    In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury 
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties 
subject to the APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction 
of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of the 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 violation which is subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: December 4, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation covers dried tart cherries, 
which may also be referred to as, e.g., dried sour cherries or dried 
red tart cherries. Dried tart cherries may be processed from any 
variety of tart cherries. Tart cherries are generally classified as 
Prunus cerasus. Types of tart cherries include, but are not limited 
to, Amarelle, Kutahya, Lutowka, Montmorency, Morello, and 
Oblacinska. Dried tart cherries are covered by the scope of this 
investigation regardless of the horticulture method through which 
the cherries were produced (e.g., organic or not), whether or not 
they contain any added sugar or other sweetening matter, whether or 
not they are coated in oil or rice flour, whether infused or not 
infused, and regardless of the infusion ingredients, including 
sugar,

[[Page 67432]]

sucrose, fruit juice, and any other infusion ingredients. The scope 
includes partially rehydrated dried tart cherries that retain the 
character of dried fruit. The subject merchandise covers all shapes, 
sizes, and colors of dried tart cherries, whether pitted or 
unpitted, and whether whole, chopped, minced, crumbled, broken, or 
otherwise reduced in size. The scope covers dried tart cherries in 
all types of packaging, regardless of the size or packaging 
material.
    Included in the scope of this investigation are dried tart 
cherries that otherwise meet the definition above that are packaged 
with non-subject products, including, but not limited to, mixtures 
of dried fruits and mixtures of dried fruits and nuts, where the 
smallest individual packaging unit of any such product contains a 
majority (i.e., 50 percent or more) of dried tart cherries by dry 
net weight. Only the dried tart cherry components of such products 
are covered by this investigation; the scope does not include the 
non-subject components of such products.
    Included in the scope of this investigation are dried tart 
cherries that have been further processed in a third country, 
including but not limited to processing by stabilizing, preserving, 
sweetening, adding oil or syrup, coating, chopping, mincing, 
crumbling, packaging with non-subject products, or other packaging, 
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 dried tart cherries.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are dried tart 
cherries that have been incorporated as an ingredient in finished 
bakery and confectionary items (cakes, cookies, candy, granola bars, 
etc.).
    The subject merchandise is currently classifiable under 
0813.40.3000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). The subject merchandise may also enter under subheadings 
0813.40.9000, 0813.50.0020, 0813.50.0060, 2006.00.2000, 
2006.00.5000, and 2008.60.0060. The HTSUS subheadings set forth 
above are provided for convenience and U.S. customs purposes only. 
The written description of the scope is dispositive.
[FR Doc. 2019-26552 Filed 12-9-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P