[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3024-3026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00742]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-051, C-570-052]


Certain Hardwood Plywood From the People's Republic of China: 
Notice of Covered Merchandise Referral and Initiation of Scope Inquiry

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Enforce and Protect Act of 2015 (EAPA), the 
Department of Commerce (Commerce) received a covered merchandise 
referral from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in connection 
with a CBP EAPA investigation concerning the antidumping duty (AD) and 
countervailing duty (CVD) orders on certain hardwood plywood from the 
People's Republic of China (China). In accordance with EAPA, Commerce 
intends to determine whether the merchandise subject to the referral is 
covered by the scope of these orders and promptly transmit its 
determination to CBP. Commerce is providing notice of the referral and 
inviting participation from interested parties.

DATES: Applicable January 17, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kabir Archuletta or Nicolas Mayora, 
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) 482-2593 or (202) 
482-3053, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 24, 2016, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement 
Act of 2015 was signed into law, which contains Title IV--Prevention of 
Evasion of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders (short title 
``Enforce and Protect Act of 2015'' or ``EAPA'') (Pub. L. 114-125, 130 
Stat. 122, 155, Feb. 24, 2016). Effective August 22, 2016, section 421 
of the EAPA added section 517 to the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), which establishes a formal process for CBP to investigate 
allegations of the evasion of AD/CVD orders. Section 517(b)(4)(A) of 
the Act provides that if, during the course of an EAPA investigation, 
CBP is unable to determine whether the merchandise at issue is covered 
merchandise within the meaning of section 517(a)(3) of the Act, it 
shall refer the matter to Commerce to make such a determination. 
Section 517(a)(3) of the Act defines covered merchandise as merchandise 
that is subject to an AD order issued under section 736 of the Act or a 
CVD order issued under section 706 of the Act. Section 517(b)(4)(B) of 
the Act states that Commerce, after receiving a covered merchandise 
referral from CBP, shall determine whether the merchandise is covered 
merchandise and promptly transmit its determination to CBP. The Act 
does not establish a deadline within which Commerce must issue its 
determination.
    On September 16, 2019, Commerce received a covered merchandise 
referral from CBP regarding CBP EAPA Investigation No. 7252 \1\ which 
concerns the Orders \2\ on certain hardwood plywood from China. 
Specifically, based on an allegation by Plywood Source, a company 
located in California, CBP has requested that Commerce issue a 
determination as to whether certain hardwood plywood products produced 
by Vietnam Finewood Company Limited (Finewood) from China-origin 
materials is covered merchandise subject to the Orders.
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    \1\ See CBP's Letter, ``Scope Referral Request for Merchandise 
under EAPA Cons. Investigation 7252, Imported by Far East America, 
Inc., CIEL Group, American Pacific Plywood, Interglobal Forest, and 
Liberty Woods International, Inc., (Importers) and Concerning the 
Investigation of Evasion of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Orders on Hardwood Plywood from the People's Republic of China (A-
570-051 and C-570-052),'' dated September 16, 2019. Commerce intends 
to make available this document and any supporting documents on 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping Duty and Countervailing 
Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS) within five days 
of publication of this notice.
    \2\ See Certain Hardwood Plywood from the People's Republic of 
China: Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
and Antidumping Duty Order, 83 FR 504 (January 4, 2018); see also 
Certain Hardwood Plywood from the People's Republic of China: 
Countervailing Duty Order, 83 FR 513 (January 4, 2018) 
(collectively, Orders).
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Notification to Interested Parties

    Commerce is hereby notifying interested parties that it has 
received the covered merchandise referral referenced above, will begin 
a new segment of the proceeding by initiating a scope inquiry in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(b), and based on our finding in that 
scope inquiry, intends to notify CBP as to whether the merchandise 
subject to the referral is covered merchandise within the meaning of 
section 517(a)(3) of the Act. Additionally, Commerce intends to provide 
interested parties with the opportunity to participate in this segment 
of the proceeding, including through the submission of comments, and, 
if appropriate, new factual information and verification. Specifically, 
Commerce will notify parties on the segment-specific service list for 
this segment of the proceeding of a schedule for comments. In addition, 
Commerce may request factual information from any person to assist in 
making its determination, including soliciting information directly 
from Finewood to conduct our analysis, and may verify submissions of 
factual information, if Commerce determines that such verification is 
appropriate. Commerce intends to issue a final determination within 120 
days of the publication of this notice (this deadline may be extended 
if it is not practicable to complete the final determination within 120 
days) and will promptly transmit its final determination to CBP in 
accordance with section 517(b)(4)(B) of the Act.
    In addition, Commerce may consider conducting a separate 
anticircumvention inquiry regarding

[[Page 3025]]

this covered merchandise referral if parties submit the necessary 
information addressing the criteria for an anticircumvention inquiry in 
accordance with section 781 of the Act. Interested parties are 
requested to file such comments and information onto the record of this 
proceeding within 30 days of the publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register.
    Interested parties that wish to participate in this segment of the 
proceeding, and receive notice of the final determination, must submit 
their letters of appearance as discussed below. Further, any party 
desiring access to business proprietary information in this segment of 
the proceeding must file an application for access to business 
proprietary information under administrative protective order (APO), as 
discussed below.
    Finally, we note that covered merchandise referrals constitute a 
new type of segment of a proceeding at Commerce. Commerce intends to 
develop its practice and procedures in this area as it gains more 
experience.

Scope of the Orders on Hardwood Plywood From China

    For a complete description of the scope of the orders, see the 
appendix to this notice.

Filing Requirements

    All submissions to Commerce must be filed electronically using 
ACCESS.\3\ An electronically filed document must be received 
successfully in its entirety by the time and date it is due. Documents 
exempted from the electronic submission requirements must be filed 
manually (i.e., in paper form) with Enforcement and Compliance's APO/
Dockets Unit, Room 18022, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, and stamped with the date 
of receipt by the applicable deadlines.
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    \3\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order 
Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011), as amended in Enforcement 
and Compliance; Change of Electronic Filing System Name, 79 FR 69046 
(November 20, 2014), for details of Commerce's electronic filing 
requirements. Information on help using ACCESS can be found at 
https://access.trade.gov/help.aspx and a handbook can be found at 
https://access.trade.gov/help/Handbook%20on%20Electronic%20Filing%20Procedures.pdf.
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Letters of Appearance and APO

    Interested parties that wish to participate in this segment of the 
proceeding and be added to the public service list for this segment of 
the proceeding must file a letter of appearance in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.103(d)(1), with one exception: The parties publicly identified 
by CBP in the covered merchandise referral (referenced above) are not 
required to submit a letter of appearance, and will be added to the 
public service list for this segment of the proceeding by Commerce.
    Within 24 hours of this notice being signed, Commerce placed a 
request for an APO segment on the record \4\ and established an APO 
segment for use in this proceeding. Commerce intends to place the 
business proprietary versions of the documents contained in the covered 
merchandise referral on the record of this proceeding in ACCESS within 
five days of publication of this notice.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Request for Establishment of 
Administrative Protective Order: Hardwood Plywood from the People's 
Republic of China (A-570-051 and C-570-052).''
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    Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under 
the APO in accordance with the procedures outlined in Commerce's 
regulations at 19 CFR 351.305. Those procedures apply to this segment 
of the proceeding, with one exception: APO applicants representing the 
parties that have been identified by CBP as an importer in the covered 
merchandise referral (referenced above) are exempt from the additional 
filing requirements for importers pursuant to 19 CFR 351.305(d).

    Dated: January 13, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Orders

    The merchandise covered by the Orders is hardwood and decorative 
plywood, and certain veneered panels as described below. For 
purposes of this proceeding, hardwood and decorative plywood is 
defined as a generally flat, multilayered plywood or other veneered 
panel, consisting of two or more layers or plies of wood veneers and 
a core, with the face and/or back veneer made of non-coniferous wood 
(hardwood) or bamboo. The veneers, along with the core may be glued 
or otherwise bonded together. Hardwood and decorative plywood may 
include products that meet the American National Standard for 
Hardwood and Decorative Plywood, ANSI/HPVA HP-1-2016 (including any 
revisions to that standard).
    For purposes of the Orders, a ``veneer'' is a slice of wood 
regardless of thickness which is cut, sliced or sawed from a log, 
bolt, or flitch. The face and back veneers are the outermost veneer 
of wood on either side of the core irrespective of additional 
surface coatings or covers as described below.
    The core of hardwood and decorative plywood consists of the 
layer or layers of one or more material(s) that are situated between 
the face and back veneers. The core may be composed of a range of 
materials, including but not limited to hardwood, softwood, 
particleboard, or medium-density fiberboard (MDF).
    All hardwood plywood is included within the scope of the Orders 
regardless of whether or not the face and/or back veneers are 
surface coated or covered and whether or not such surface coating(s) 
or covers obscures the grain, textures, or markings of the wood. 
Examples of surface coatings and covers include, but are not limited 
to: Ultra violet light cured polyurethanes; oil or oil-modified or 
water based polyurethanes; wax; epoxy-ester finishes; moisture-cured 
urethanes; paints; stains; paper; aluminum; high pressure laminate; 
MDF; medium density overlay (MDO); and phenolic film. Additionally, 
the face veneer of hardwood plywood may be sanded; smoothed or given 
a ``distressed'' appearance through such methods as hand-scraping or 
wire brushing. All hardwood plywood is included within the scope 
even if it is trimmed; cut-to-size; notched; punched; drilled; or 
has underwent other forms of minor processing.
    All hardwood and decorative plywood is included within the scope 
of the Orders, without regard to dimension (overall thickness, 
thickness of face veneer, thickness of back veneer, thickness of 
core, thickness of inner veneers, width, or length). However, the 
most common panel sizes of hardwood and decorative plywood are 1219 
x 1829 mm (48 x 72 inches), 1219 x 2438 mm (48 x 96 inches), and 
1219 x 3048 mm (48 x 120 inches).
    Subject merchandise also includes hardwood and decorative 
plywood that has been further processed in a third country, 
including but not limited to trimming, cutting, notching, punching, 
drilling, or any other processing that would not otherwise remove 
the merchandise from the scope of the Orders if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the in-scope product.
    The scope of the Orders excludes the following items: (1) 
Structural plywood (also known as ``industrial plywood'' or 
``industrial panels'') that is manufactured to meet U.S. Products 
Standard PS 1-09, PS 2-09, or PS 2-10 for Structural Plywood 
(including any revisions to that standard or any substantially 
equivalent international standard intended for structural plywood), 
and which has both a face and a back veneer of coniferous wood; (2) 
products which have a face and back veneer of cork; (3) multilayered 
wood flooring, as described in the antidumping duty and 
countervailing duty orders on Multilayered Wood Flooring from the 
People's Republic of China, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration. See Multilayered Wood Flooring from the 
People's Republic of China, 76 FR 76690 (December 8, 2011) (amended 
final determination of sales at less than fair value and antidumping 
duty order), and Multilayered Wood Flooring from the People's 
Republic of China, 76 FR 76693 (December 8, 2011) (countervailing 
duty order), as amended by Multilayered Wood

[[Page 3026]]

Flooring from the People's Republic of China: Amended Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Orders, 77 FR 5484 (February 3, 2012); (4) 
multilayered wood flooring with a face veneer of bamboo or composed 
entirely of bamboo; (5) plywood which has a shape or design other 
than a flat panel, with the exception of any minor processing 
described above; (6) products made entirely from bamboo and 
adhesives (also known as ``solid bamboo''); and (7) Phenolic Film 
Faced Plyform (PFF), also known as Phenolic Surface Film Plywood 
(PSF), defined as a panel with an ``Exterior'' or ``Exposure 1'' 
bond classification as is defined by The Engineered Wood 
Association, having an opaque phenolic film layer with a weight 
equal to or greater than 90g/m3 permanently bonded on both the face 
and back veneers and an opaque, moisture resistant coating applied 
to the edges.
    Excluded from the scope of the Orders are wooden furniture goods 
that, at the time of importation, are fully assembled and are ready 
for their intended uses. Also excluded from the scope of the Orders 
is ``ready to assemble'' (RTA) furniture. RTA furniture is defined 
as (A) furniture packaged for sale for ultimate purchase by an end-
user that, at the time of importation, includes (1) all wooden 
components (in finished form) required to assemble a finished unit 
of furniture, (2) all accessory parts (e.g., screws, washers, 
dowels, nails, handles, knobs, adhesive glues) required to assemble 
a finished unit of furniture, and (3) instructions providing 
guidance on the assembly of a finished unit of furniture; (B) 
unassembled bathroom vanity cabinets, having a space for one or more 
sinks, that are imported with all unassembled hardwood and hardwood 
plywood components that have been cut-to-final dimensional component 
shape/size, painted or stained prior to importation, and stacked 
within a singled shipping package, except for furniture feet which 
may be packed and shipped separately; or (C) unassembled bathroom 
vanity linen closets that are imported with all unassembled hardwood 
and hardwood plywood components that have been cut-to-final 
dimensional shape/size, painted or stained prior to importation, and 
stacked within a single shipping package, except for furniture feet 
which may be packed and shipped separately.
    Excluded from the scope of the Orders are kitchen cabinets that, 
at the time of importation, are fully assembled and are ready for 
their intended uses. Also excluded from the scope of the Orders are 
RTA kitchen cabinets. RTA kitchen cabinets are defined as kitchen 
cabinets packaged for sale for ultimate purchase by an end-user 
that, at the time of importation, includes (1) all wooden components 
(in finished form) required to assemble a finished unit of 
cabinetry, (2) all accessory parts (e.g., screws, washers, dowels, 
nails, handles, knobs, hooks, adhesive glues) required to assemble a 
finished unit of cabinetry, and (3) instructions providing guidance 
on the assembly of a finished unit of cabinetry.
    Excluded from the scope of the Orders are finished table tops, 
which are table tops imported in finished form with pre-cut or 
drilled openings to attach the underframe or legs. The table tops 
are ready for use at the time of import and require no further 
finishing or processing.
    Excluded from the scope of the Orders are finished countertops 
that are imported in finished form and require no further finishing 
or manufacturing.
    Excluded from the scope of the Orders are laminated veneer 
lumber door and window components with (1) a maximum width of 44 
millimeters, a thickness from 30 millimeters to 72 millimeters, and 
a length of less than 2413 millimeters (2) water boiling point 
exterior adhesive, (3) a modulus of elasticity of 1,500,000 pounds 
per square inch or higher, (4) finger-jointed or lap-jointed core 
veneer with all layers oriented so that the grain is running 
parallel or with no more than 3 dispersed layers of veneer oriented 
with the grain running perpendicular to the other layers; and (5) 
top layer machined with a curved edge and one or more profile 
channels throughout.
    Imports of hardwood plywood are primarily entered under the 
following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
subheadings: 4412.10.0500; 4412.31.0520; 4412.31.0540; 4412.31.0560; 
4412.31.0620; 4412.31.0640; 4412.31.0660; 4412.31.2510; 
4412.31.2520; 4412.31.2610; 4412.31.2620; 4412.31.4040; 
4412.31.4050; 4412.31.4060; 4412.31.4075; 4412.31.4080; 
4412.31.4140; 4412.31.4150; 4412.31.4160; 4412.31.4180; 
4412.31.5125; 4412.31.5135; 4412.31.5155; 4412.31.5165; 
4412.31.5175; 4412.31.5235; 4412.31.5255; 4412.31.5265; 
4412.31.5275; 4412.31.6000; 4412.31.6100; 4412.31.9100; 
4412.31.9200; 4412.32.0520; 4412.32.0540; 4412.32.0565; 
4412.32.0570; 4412.32.0620; 4412.32.0640; 4412.32.0670; 
4412.32.2510; 4412.32.2525; 4412.32.2530; 4412.32.2610; 
4412.32.2630; 4412.32.3125; 4412.32.3135; 4412.32.3155; 
4412.32.3165; 4412.32.3175; 4412.32.3185; 4412.32.3235; 
4412.32.3255; 4412.32.3265; 4412.32.3275; 4412.32.3285; 
4412.32.5600; 4412.32.3235; 4412.32.3255; 4412.32.3265; 
4412.32.3275; 4412.32.3285; 4412.32.5700; 4412.94.1030; 
4412.94.1050; 4412.94.3105; 4412.94.3111; 4412.94.3121; 
4412.94.3141; 4412.94.3161; 4412.94.3175; 4412.94.4100; 
4412.99.0600; 4412.99.1020; 4412.99.1030; 4412.99.1040; 
4412.99.3110; 4412.99.3120; 4412.99.3130; 4412.99.3140; 
4412.99.3150; 4412.99.3160; 4412.99.3170; 4412.99.4100; 
4412.99.5115; and 4412.99.5710.
    Imports of hardwood plywood may also enter under HTSUS 
subheadings 4412.99.6000; 4412.99.7000; 4412.99.8000; 4412.99.9000; 
4412.10.9000; 4412.94.5100; 4412.94.9500; and 4412.99.9500. While 
the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the written description of the scope of the Orders is 
dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2020-00742 Filed 1-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P