[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 41 (Monday, March 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12256-12259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04223]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-115]


Certain Glass Containers From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and 
exporters of certain glass containers (glass containers) from the 
People's Republic of China (China) for the period of investigation 
(POI) January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable March 2, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maliha Khan or Stephen Bailey, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0895 or (202) 482-0193, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on October 21, 
2019.\1\ On December 4, 2019, pursuant to a request from the American 
Glass Packaging Coalition (the petitioner),\2\ Commerce published the 
postponement of the preliminary determination of this investigation to 
February 24, 2020.\3\ For a complete description of the events that 
followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\4\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. The 
Preliminary 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 http://access.trade.gov, and 
is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of 
the main Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of

[[Page 12257]]

the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Certain Glass Containers From the People's Republic of 
China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 84 FR 56168 
(October 21, 2019) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Certain Glass Containers from the 
People's Republic of China: Request to Postpone Preliminary 
Determination,'' dated November 19, 2019.
    \3\ See Certain Glass Containers From the People's Republic of 
China: Postponement of Preliminary Determination in the 
Countervailing Duty Investigation, 84 FR 66377 (December 4, 2019).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain 
Glass Containers from the People's Republic of China,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are glass containers 
from China. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\5\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\6\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice.\7\ Commerce intends to issue its preliminary 
decision regarding comments concerning the scope of the antidumping 
duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations in the 
preliminary determination of the companion AD investigation.
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    \5\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \6\ See Initiation Notice.
    \7\ See Shandong Pharmaceutical Glass Co., Ltd.'s Letter, 
``Certain Glass Containers from the People's Republic of China: 
Shandong Pharmaceutical Glass Co., Ltd.--Comments on Scope,'' dated 
November 12, 2019, IKEA Supply AG's Letter, ``Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Investigations on Certain Glass Containers from 
the People's Republic of China--Scope Comments,'' dated November 12, 
2019, Target General Merchandise, Inc.'s Letter, ``Certain Glass 
Containers from the People's Republic of China: Scope Comments,'' 
dated November 12, 2019, Zibo Glass Container Exporter Coalition's 
Letter, ``Certain Glass Containers from the People's Republic of 
China: Submission of Scope Comments,'' dated November 8, 2019, and 
Midwest Custom Bottling LLC's Letter, ``Certain Glass Containers 
from the People's Republic of China: Scope Comments,'' dated 
November 12, 2019.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a 
subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives 
rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is 
specific.\8\
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    \8\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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    Commerce notes that, in making these findings, it relied, in part, 
on the facts available, including on adverse facts available. Further, 
at the outset of this investigation, several companies failed to 
respond to Commerce's quantity and value questionnaire (Q&V) 
questionnaire.\9\ Therefore, because Commerce finds that certain 
respondents did not act to the best of their ability to respond to 
Commerce's requests for information, it drew an adverse inference where 
appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise available.\10\ 
For a full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary 
determination, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse 
Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \9\ The companies that failed to properly respond to Commerce's 
quantity and value questionnaire were: Asia Trade Connection, Built 
in China, Cangzhou Roter Faden Glass Products, Choicest 
International, East Asia Glass Limited, Guangzhou Idealpak Business, 
Haimen Sanlong Glass Products, Hebei Anyu Glass Products Co. Ltd., 
Hebei Zhengi Glass Products Co. Ltd., Huazhong Glass Co. Ltd. 
(Changxing), Iboya Glass, Jiangmen Zhong'an Import and Export, 
Jining Baolin Glass Product Co. Ltd., Kisco Trading Shanghai, 
Lianyungang Chinamex Trade, Linlang (Shanghai) Glass Products Co. 
Ltd., New Westgate Glass Packaging, Ningbo Vifa International Trade 
Co., Qingdao Auro Pack, Qingdao Jutai International Trade Co., 
Rockwood & Hines (Jiaxing) Co. Ltd., SGS Bottle, Shandong Hongda 
Glassware Co. Ltd., Shandong Mounttai Sheng Li Yuan GLA, Shandong 
Qingguo Foods, Shandong Wensheng Glass Technology Co. Ltd., ShangHai 
Misa Glass Co. Ltd., Shanghai Vista Packaging, Suzhou Yunbo Glass, 
Unipack Glass, Value Chain Glass Ltd. (VCG), Wheaton Glass, Wuhan 
Vanjoin Packaging Co. Ltd., Xiamen Cheer Imp & Exp Co. Ltd., Xuzhou 
Dahua Glass Products Co. Ltd., Xuzhou Fangbao Glassware, Xuzhou 
Huajing Glass Products, Xuzhou Livlong Glass Products Co. Ltd., 
Xuzhou Pretty Glass Products, Xuzhou Wan Xuan Import and Export, 
Xuzhou Yanjia Glassware, Yantai NBC Glass Packaging Co. Ltd., 
Yuncheng Jinpeng Glass Co. Ltd., Zheijiang Industrial Minerals 
Foreign Trade Co Ltd., Zibo CY International Trade Co. Ltd., Zibo 
Regal Glassware and Zibo Rongdian Glass Co. Ltd. (collectively, the 
47 non-responsive companies). We refer to these companies, 
collectively, as the ``non-responsive companies.''
    \10\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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All-Others Rate

    Sections 703(d)(1)(A)(i) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that 
in the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate 
shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated 
subsidy rates established for those companies individually examined, 
excluding any zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely 
under section 776 of the Act.
    Commerce calculated individual estimated countervailable subsidy 
rates for Guangdong Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd. (Guangdong Huaxing) and 
Qixia Changyu Glass Co. Ltd. (Qixia Changyu) that are not zero, de 
minimis, or based entirely on section 776 of the Act. Therefore, 
Commerce calculated the all-others rate using a simple average of the 
individual estimated subsidy rates calculated for Guangdong Huaxing and 
Qixia Changyu using each company's values for the merchandise under 
consideration because publicly ranged sales data was unavailable.\11\
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    \11\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally 
calculates (A) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates 
calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average of the 
estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents; and 
(C) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for 
the examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S. 
sale quantities for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce 
then compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) 
as the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. 
See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, 
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances 
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 
(September 1, 2010). As complete publicly ranged sales data was 
available, Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly ranged 
sales data of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of 
the data, please see the All-Others' Rate Calculation Memorandum.
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Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
countervailable subsidy rates exist:
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    \12\ Guangdong Huaxing reported the following cross-owned 
companies which also preliminarily will receive Guangdong Huaxing's 
subsidy rate: Foshan Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd., Fujian Huaxing Glass 
Co. Ltd., Daye Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd., Hunan Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd., 
Guizhou Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd., Zhejiang Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd., 
Foshan City San Shui Hua Xing Glass Co. Ltd., Fujian Changcheng 
Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd., Jiangsu Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd., Hebei 
Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd., Henan Huaxing Glass Co Ltd., and Xinjiang 
Huaxing Glass Co. Ltd.

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                      Company                           Subsidy rate
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Guangdong Huaxing Glass Co., Ltd \12\.............                 23.25
Qixia Changyu Glass Co., Ltd......................                 22.60
Asia Trade Connection.............................                315.73
Built in China....................................                315.73
Cangzhou Roter Faden Glass Products...............                315.73
Choicest International............................                315.73
East Asia Glass Limited...........................                315.73

[[Page 12258]]

 
Guangzhou Idealpak Business.......................                315.73
Haimen Sanlong Glass Products.....................                315.73
Hebei Anyu Glass Products Co. Ltd.................                315.73
Hebei Zhengi Glass Products Co. Ltd...............                315.73
Huazhong Glass Co. Ltd. (Changxing)...............                315.73
Iboya Glass.......................................                315.73
Jiangmen Zhong'an Import and Export...............                315.73
Jining Baolin Glass Product Co. Ltd...............                315.73
Kisco Trading Shanghai............................                315.73
Lianyungang Chinamex Trade........................                315.73
Linlang (Shanghai) Glass Products Co. Ltd.........                315.73
New Westgate Glass Packaging......................                315.73
Ningbo Vifa International Trade Co................                315.73
Qingdao Auro Pack.................................                315.73
Qingdao Jutai International Trade Co..............                315.73
Rockwood & Hines (Jiaxing) Co. Ltd................                315.73
SGS Bottle........................................                315.73
Shandong Hongda Glassware Co. Ltd.................                315.73
Shandong Mounttai Sheng Li Yuan GLA...............                315.73
Shandong Qingguo Foods............................                315.73
Shandong Wensheng Glass Technology Co. Ltd........                315.73
ShangHai Misa Glass Co. Ltd.......................                315.73
Shanghai Vista Packaging..........................                315.73
Suzhou Yunbo Glass................................                315.73
Unipack Glass.....................................                315.73
Value Chain Glass Ltd. (VCG)......................                315.73
Wheaton Glass.....................................                315.73
Wuhan Vanjoin Packaging Co. Ltd...................                315.73
Xiamen Cheer Imp & Exp Co. Ltd....................                315.73
Xuzhou Dahua Glass Products Co. Ltd...............                315.73
Xuzhou Fangbao Glassware..........................                315.73
Xuzhou Huajing Glass Products.....................                315.73
Xuzhou Livlong Glass Products Co. Ltd.............                315.73
Xuzhou Pretty Glass Products......................                315.73
Xuzhou Wan Xuan Import and Export.................                315.73
Xuzhou Yanjia Glassware...........................                315.73
Yantai NBC Glass Packaging Co. Ltd................                315.73
Yuncheng Jinpeng Glass Co. Ltd....................                315.73
Zheijiang Industrial Minerals Foreign Trade Co Ltd                315.73
Zibo CY International Trade Co. Ltd...............                315.73
Zibo Regal Glassware..............................                315.73
Zibo Rongdian Glass Co. Ltd.......................                315.73
All Others........................................                 22.93
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, 
Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise as described in 
the scope of the investigation entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register. Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce 
will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the rates 
indicated above.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of this notice in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 14 
days after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may 
be submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for case 
briefs.\13\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who 
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation 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.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce within 21 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list 
of the issues to be discussed. 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 time 
and date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the 
date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled 
date.

Final Determination

    Section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1) provide that 
Commerce will issue the final determination within 75 days after the 
date of its preliminary determination.

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Accordingly, Commerce will make its final determination no later than 
75 days after the signature date of this preliminary determination, 
unless postponed.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If the 
final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the 
later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 
45 days after the final determination, whether imports of the subject 
merchandise are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, 
the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: February 24, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain glass 
containers with a nominal capacity of 0.059 liters (2.0 fluid 
ounces) up to and including 4.0 liters (135.256 fluid ounces) and an 
opening or mouth with a nominal outer diameter of 14 millimeters up 
to and including 120 millimeters. The scope includes glass jars, 
bottles, flasks and similar containers; with or without their 
closures; whether clear or colored; and with or without design or 
functional enhancements (including, but not limited to, handles, 
embossing, labeling, or etching).
    Excluded from the scope of the investigation are: (1) Glass 
containers made of borosilicate glass, meeting United States 
Pharmacopeia requirements for Type 1 pharmaceutical containers; (2) 
glass containers without ``mold seams,'' ``joint marks,'' or 
``parting lines;'' and (3) glass containers without a ``finish'' 
(i.e., the section of a container at the opening including the lip 
and ring or collar, threaded or otherwise compatible with a type of 
closure to seal the container's contents, including but not limited 
to a lid, cap, or cork).
    Glass containers subject to this investigation are specified 
within the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
under subheadings 7010.90.5005, 7010.90.5009, 7010.90.5015, 
7010.90.5019, 7010.90.5025, 7010.90.5029, 7010.90.5035, 
7010.90.5039, 7010.90.5045, 7010.90.5049, and 7010.90.5055. The 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes 
only. The written description of the scope of the investigation is 
dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Injury Test
VI. Diversification of China's Economy
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Benchmarks and Interest Rates
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Calculation of the All-Others Rate
XII. ITC Notification
XIII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XIV. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2020-04223 Filed 2-28-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P