[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12511-12512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04354]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-028]


Hydrofluorocarbon Blends From the People's Republic of China: 
Scope Ruling on Unpatented R-421A; Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty Order for 
Unpatented R-421A; and Extension of Time Limit for Final Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that imports of unpatented R-421A from the People's Republic of China 
(China) are circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) order on HFC blends 
from China. As a result, imports of blends of unpatented R-421A from 
China will be subject to suspension of liquidation effective June 18, 
2019. We invite interested parties to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Applicable March 3, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Medley or Manuel Rey, 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) 482-4987 or (202) 482-3342, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On June 18, 2019, Commerce initiated an anti-circumvention inquiry 
to determine whether blends of unpatented R-421A from China, that are 
further processed into finished HFC blends in the United States,\1\ are 
circumventing the Order on HFC blends from China.\2\ Additionally, in 
our Notice of Initiation, we stated that, as part of this anti-
circumvention inquiry,\3\ we would also address both a covered 
merchandise referral from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),\4\ 
and a scope inquiry filed by Choice Refrigerants under 19 
CFR.225(c).\5\ As part of this preliminary determination, we also have 
made a final scope finding. With respect to the covered merchandise 
referral, we will inform CBP of our findings at the conclusion of this 
anti-circumvention proceeding. For a complete description of the events 
that followed the initiation of this inquiry, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\6\
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    \1\ See Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from the People's Republic of 
China: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry of Antidumping Duty 
Order; Unpatented R-421A, 84 FR 28281 (June 18, 2019) (Notice of 
Initiation).
    \2\ See Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from the People's Republic of 
China: Antidumping Duty Order, 81 FR 55436 (October 16, 2017) 
(Order).
    \3\ See Notice of Initiation, 84 FR 28281, 28283-84.
    \4\ See Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from the People's Republic of 
China: Notice of Covered Merchandise Referral, 83 FR 9277 (March 5, 
2018).
    \5\ See Choice Refrigerants' Letter, ``Application for Scope 
Ruling on Exclusion of Patented HFC Blends from Antidumping Duty 
Order A-570-028: Hydrofluorocarbon Blends and Components Thereof 
from the People's Republic of China,'' dated November 30, 2017.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum for Scope Ruling and Anti-Circumvention Inquiry 
of the Antidumping Duty Order on Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from the 
People's Republic of China; Unpatented R-421A'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The products subject to this order are HFC blends. HFC blends 
covered by the scope are R-404A, R-407A, R-407C, R-410A, and R-507A.\7\ 
HFC blends covered by the scope of the Order are currently classified 
in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) at 
subheadings 3824.78.0020 and 3824.78.0050. Although the HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written description of the scope is dispositive.
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    \7\ For a complete description of the scope of the order, see 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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Merchandise Subject to the Anti-Circumvention Inquiry

    This anti-circumvention inquiry covers imports of unpatented R-
421A, a blend of HFC components R-125 (also known as Pentafluoroethane) 
and R-134a (also known as 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane), from China that 
are further processed in the United States to create an HFC blend that 
would be subject to the Order.\8\
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    \8\ The scope of the order explicitly excludes Choice[supreg] R-
421A (also referred to as ``patented R-421A''). The scope also only 
covers five HFC blends; R-421A is not one of the covered blends. 
Patented R-421A is a blend of 58 percent R-125, and 42 percent R-
134a, with a lubricant added to it. The patent holder for R-421A is 
Choice Refrigerants.
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Methodology

    Commerce made this preliminary finding of circumvention in 
accordance with section 781(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(Act) and 19 CFR 351.225(g). We relied on information placed on the 
record by the American HFC Coalition (the petitioners) and information 
placed on the record by LM Supply Inc. and Cool Master USA, LLC, the 
importers of the merchandise in question, and their affiliated 
blenders, BMP USA Inc. (BMP USA) and IGas USA, Inc. Further, because 
certain interested parties did not cooperate to the best of their 
abilities in responding to Commerce's requests for information, we have 
based parts of our preliminary determination on the facts available, 
with adverse inferences, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the 
Act.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 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 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 the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content. A list of the topics discussed in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum is attached at the Appendix to this notice.

Scope Ruling and Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Circumvention

    As detailed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, we determine, 
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(k), that because the scope only covers five 
HFC blends, and unpatented R-421A is not one of the five blends, that 
consequently, unpatented R-421A is not covered by the scope of the 
Order within the meaning of 19 CFR

[[Page 12512]]

351.225(k). Accordingly, because unpatented R-421A is not specifically 
excluded from the Order, a circumvention analysis and determination is 
warranted for the unpatented R-421A blends, under 19 CFR 351.225(g).
    As detailed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, we 
preliminarily determine, pursuant to section 781(a) of the Tariff Act, 
that imports of unpatented R-421A from China are circumventing the 
Order.

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(l)(2), Commerce will instruct CBP 
to suspend liquidation of all unpatented R-421A (as defined in the 
Merchandise Subject to the Anti-Circumvention Inquiry section above) 
from China that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after June 18, 2019, the date of initiation of this 
anti-circumvention inquiry.\9\ CBP shall require cash deposits in 
accordance with those rates prevailing at the time of entry, depending 
upon the exporter in question. At this time, we have not included a 
certification requirement; however, based upon comments from interested 
parties, we may add such a certification requirement for the final 
determination.
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    \9\ See, e.g., Anti-circumvention Inquiry of the Antidumping 
Duty Order on Certain Pasta from Italy: Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty Order, 63 FR 
18364, 18366 (April 15, 1998), unchanged in Anti-Circumvention 
Inquiry of the Antidumping Duty Order on Certain Pasta from Italy: 
Affirmative Final Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping 
Duty Order, 63 FR 54672, 54675-6 (October 13, 1998).
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Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs to Commerce no later than 
14 days after the date of publication of this notice.\10\ Rebuttal 
briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no 
later than five days after the time limit for filing case briefs.\11\ 
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.\12\ Case and rebuttal briefs should be filed 
electronically via ACCESS.\13\
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    \10\ Commerce is exercising its discretion, under 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(1)(ii), to alter the time limit for filing of case 
briefs.
    \11\ Commerce is exercising its discretion, under 19 CFR 
351.309(d)(1), to alter the time limit for filing of rebuttal 
briefs.
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
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    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 and 
received successfully in its entirety, via ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern 
Time within 14 days after the date of publication of this notice.\14\ 
Hearing requests should contain: (1) The party's name, address, and 
telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of 
issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to 
issues raised in the briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, 
parties will be notified of the date and time for the hearing to be 
held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20230.\15\
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \15\ Id.
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Postponement of Final Determination

    Section 781(f) of the Act provides that, to the maximum extent 
practicable, Commerce shall make its anti-circumvention determinations 
within 300 days from the date of initiation of the inquiry. We 
determine that it is not practicable to make a final determination in 
this anti-circumvention inquiry by the current deadline of April 13, 
2020, because Commerce will require additional time to notify the U.S. 
International Trade Commission (ITC), and to review and analyze case 
and rebuttal briefs. Therefore, we are extending the time period for 
issuing the final determination in this inquiry by 45 days, to May 28, 
2020.

Notification to the ITC

    Consistent with section 781(e) of the Act, Commerce is notifying 
the ITC of this affirmative preliminary determination to include the 
merchandise subject to this inquiry within the AD order on HFC blends 
from China. Pursuant to section 781(e) of the Act, the ITC may request 
consultations concerning Commerce's proposed inclusion of the subject 
merchandise. These consultations must be concluded within 15 days after 
the date of the request. If, after consultations, the ITC believes that 
a significant injury issue is presented by the proposed inclusion, it 
will have 60 days to provide written advice to Commerce.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice is published in accordance with section 781(a) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.225(g).

    Dated: February 25, 2020.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Merchandise Subject to the Scope and Anti-Circumvention Inquiry
IV. Scope of the Order
V. Statutory and Regulatory Framework for Scope Inquiry
VI. Interested Party Scope Comments
VII. Commerce's Scope Determination
VIII. Period of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry
IX. Surrogate Countries and Methodology for Valuing Inputs From 
China
X. Statutory and Regulatory Framework for Anti-Circumvention Inquiry
XI. Use of Facts Available With An Adverse Inference
XII. Allegations of Circumvention as Identified in the Initiation of 
Inquiry
XIII. Anti-Circumvention Analysis
XIV. Intent To Consider Certification Requirement
XV. Country-Wide Determination
XVI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2020-04354 Filed 3-2-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P