[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 120 (Monday, June 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37431-37432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13374]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-489-838, C-533-890]
Certain Quartz Surface Products From India and the Republic of
Turkey: Countervailing Duty Orders
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of
Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC),
Commerce is issuing countervailing duty orders on certain quartz
surface products (quartz surface products) from India and the Republic
of Turkey (Turkey).
DATES: Applicable June 22, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristen Johnson at (202-482-4793)
(India) and Stephanie Berger at (202) 482-2483 (Turkey), AD/CVD
Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In accordance with section 705(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (the Act), on May 1, 2020, Commerce published its affirmative
final determinations that countervailable subsidies are being provided
to producers and exporters of quartz surface products from India and
Turkey.\1\ On June 15, 2020, the ITC notified Commerce of its
affirmative determinations that an industry in the United States is
materially injured within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the
Act, by reason of subsidized imports of subject merchandise from India
and Turkey.\2\
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\1\ See Certain Quartz Surface Products from India: Final
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Final Affirmative
Determination of Critical Circumstances, In Part, 85 FR 25398 (May
1, 2020) (Quartz Surface Products from India Final Determination);
see also Certain Quartz Surface Products from the Republic of
Turkey: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and
Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, In Part,
85 FR 25400 (May 1, 2020).
\2\ See ITC's Letter, ``Notification of ITC Final
Determinations,'' dated June 15, 2020.
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Scope of the Orders
The scope of these orders covers quartz surface products from India
and Turkey. For a complete description of the scope, see the Appendix
to this notice.
Countervailing Duty Orders
On June 15, 2020, in accordance with sections 705(b)(1)(A)(i) and
705(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final
determinations in these investigations, in which it found that an
industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of
imports of quartz surface products from India and Turkey, and that
critical circumstances do not exist with respect to imports of subject
merchandise from India and Turkey that are subject to Commerce's
affirmative critical circumstances findings. Therefore, in accordance
with section 705(c)(2) of the Act, Commerce is issuing these
countervailing duty orders. Because the ITC determined that imports of
quartz surface products from India and Turkey are materially injuring a
U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from India or
Turkey, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are
subject to the assessment of countervailing duties.
Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon
further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties for all relevant
entries of quartz surface products from India and Turkey.
Countervailing duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of
quartz surface products from India and Turkey entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption on or after October 11, 2019, the date
of publication of the Preliminary Determinations,\3\ but will not
include entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional
measures period and before publication of the ITC's final injury
determination, as further described below, for all producers and
exporters except Antique Marbonite Private Limited (Antique Marbonite).
For Antique Marbonite, countervailing duties will be assessed on
unliquidated entries of quartz surface products from India entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after May 1, 2020, the
date on which Commerce published the Quartz Surface Products from India
[[Page 37432]]
Final Determination in the Federal Register.\4\
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\3\ See Certain Quartz Surface Products from India: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary
Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, In Part, and
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty
Determination, 84 FR 54838 (October 11, 2019); see also Certain
Quartz Surface Products from the Republic of Turkey: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary
Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, and Alignment of
Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 84 FR
54841 (October 11, 2019) (collectively, Preliminary Determinations).
\4\ See Quartz Surface Products from India Final Determination.
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Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 706 of the Act, Commerce will instruct
CBP to reinstitute the suspension of liquidation of quartz surface
products from India and Turkey. We will also instruct CBP to require,
pursuant to section 706(a)(1) of the Act, countervailing duties for
each entry of the subject merchandise in an amount based on the net
countervailable subsidy rates for the subject merchandise. These
instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further
notice.
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Subsidy
Company rate
(percent)
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India:
Antique Marbonite Private Limited \5\..................... 1.57
Pokarna Engineered Stone Limited \6\...................... 2.34
All Others................................................ 2.17
Turkey:
Belenco Di[scedil] Ticaret A.[Scedil]. and Peker 2.43
Y[uuml]zey Tasar[inodot]mlar[inodot] Sanayi ve Ticaret
A.[Scedil]\7\............................................
All Others................................................ 2.43
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Critical Circumstances
With regard to the ITC's negative critical circumstances
determination on imports of quartz surface products from India and
Turkey, we will instruct CBP to lift suspension and to refund any cash
deposits made to secure the payment of estimated countervailing duties
with respect to entries of the subject merchandise entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after July 13, 2019
(i.e., 90 days prior to the date of the publication of the Preliminary
Determinations), but before October 11, 2019 (i.e., the date of
publication of the Preliminary Determinations).
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\5\ The company's legal name is Antique Marbonite Private
Limited and trade name is Antique Marbonite Pvt. Ltd. Commerce found
the following companies to be cross owned with Antique Marbonite
Private Limited: Antique Granito Shareholders Trust, Prism Johnson
Limited, and Shivam Enterprise.
\6\ Commerce found Pokarna Engineered Stone Limited to be cross
owned with Pokarna Limited.
\7\ Commerce found the following company to be cross owned with
Belenco Di[scedil] Ticaret A.[Scedil].: Peker Y[uuml]zey
Tasar[inodot]mlar[inodot] Sanayi ve Ticaret A.[Scedil].
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Provisional Measures
Section 703(d) of the Act states that instructions issued pursuant
to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect
for more than four months. In the underlying investigations, Commerce
published the Preliminary Determinations on October 11, 2019.
Therefore, the four-month period beginning on the date of the
publication of the Preliminary Determinations ended on February 8,
2020.
In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act and our practice, we
instructed CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to
liquidate, without regard to countervailing duties, unliquidated
entries of quartz surface products from India and Turkey entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption after February 8, 2020, the
date the provisional measures expired, until and through the day
preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final injury
determination in the Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation will
resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determination in
the Federal Register, for all producers and exporters except Antique
Marbonite for whom suspension of liquidation began on May 1, 2020, the
date on which Commerce published the Quartz Surface Products from India
Final Determination in the Federal Register.\8\
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\8\ See Quartz Surface Products from India Final Determination.
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Notifications to Interested Parties
This notice constitutes the countervailing duty orders with respect
to quartz surface products from India and Turkey pursuant to section
706(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of countervailing
duty orders currently in effect at http://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
These orders are issued and published in accordance with section
706(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).
Dated: June 16, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix--Scope of the Orders
Quartz surface products consist of slabs and other surfaces
created from a mixture of materials that includes predominately
silica (e.g., quartz, quartz powder, cristobalite, glass powder) as
well as a resin binder (e.g., an unsaturated polyester). The
incorporation of other materials, including, but not limited to,
pigments, cement, or other additives does not remove the merchandise
from the scope of the orders. However, the scope of the orders only
includes products where the silica content is greater than any other
single material, by actual weight. Quartz surface products are
typically sold as rectangular slabs with a total surface area of
approximately 45 to 60 square feet and a nominal thickness of one,
two, or three centimeters. However, the scope of these orders
includes surface products of all other sizes, thicknesses, and
shapes. In addition to slabs, the scope of these orders includes,
but is not limited to, other surfaces such as countertops,
backsplashes, vanity tops, bar tops, work tops, tabletops, flooring,
wall facing, shower surrounds, fire place surrounds, mantels, and
tiles. Certain quartz surface products are covered by the orders
whether polished or unpolished, cut or uncut, fabricated or not
fabricated, cured or uncured, edged or not edged, finished or
unfinished, thermoformed or not thermoformed, packaged or
unpackaged, and regardless of the type of surface finish.
In addition, quartz surface products are covered by the orders
whether or not they are imported attached to, or in conjunction
with, non-subject merchandise such as sinks, sink bowls, vanities,
cabinets, and furniture. If quartz surface products are imported
attached to, or in conjunction with, such non-subject merchandise,
only the quartz surface product is covered by the scope.
Subject merchandise includes material matching the above
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise
fabricated in a third country, including by cutting, polishing,
curing, edging, thermoforming, attaching to, or packaging with
another product, or any other finishing, packaging, or fabrication
that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of
the orders if performed in the country of manufacture of the quartz
surface products.
The scope of the orders does not cover quarried stone surface
products, such as granite, marble, soapstone, or quartzite.
Specifically excluded from the scope of the orders are crushed glass
surface products. Crushed glass surface products must meet each of
the following criteria to qualify for this exclusion: (1) The
crushed glass content is greater than any other single material, by
actual weight; (2) there are pieces of crushed glass visible across
the surface of the product; (3) at least some of the individual
pieces of crushed glass that are visible across the surface are
larger than 1 centimeter wide as measured at their widest cross-
section (``Glass Pieces''); and (4) the distance between any single
Glass Piece and the closest separate Glass Piece does not exceed
three inches.
The products subject to the scope are currently classified in
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under
the following subheading: 6810.99.0010. Subject merchandise may also
enter under subheadings 6810.11.0010, 6810.11.0070, 6810.19.1200,
6810.19.1400, 6810.19.5000, 6810.91.0000, 6810.99.0080,
6815.99.4070, 2506.10.0010, 2506.10.0050, 2506.20.0010,
2506.20.0080, and 7016.90.1050. 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. 2020-13374 Filed 6-19-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P