[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 129 (Monday, July 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40245-40247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14439]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-122-868]


Utility Scale Wind Towers From Canada: Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Final Negative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances

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 utility scale wind towers (wind towers) from Canada.

DATES: Applicable July 6, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tyler Weinhold or Moses Song, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1121 or (202) 482-7885, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 13, 2019, Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination of the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation, which 
aligned the final determination in this CVD investigation with the 
final determination in the companion antidumping duty (AD) 
investigation of wind towers from Canada.\1\
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    \1\ See Utility Scale Wind Towers from Canada: Preliminary 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of 
Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 84 FR 
68126 (December 13, 2019) (Preliminary Determination), and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
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    A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues 
raised by parties for this final determination, are discussed in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\ The Issues and 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 
https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed and electronic 
versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.
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    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decisions Memorandum for the 
Final Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation of 
Utility Scale Wind Towers from Canada,'' dated concurrently with, 
and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decisions 
Memorandum).
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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 wind towers from 
Canada. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation, and the concurrent AD and 
CVD investigations of wind towers from Canada, Indonesia, the Republic 
of Korea, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Commerce did not 
receive scope comments from interested parties. Accordingly, Commerce 
preliminarily did not modify the scope language as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice.\3\ Additionally, because we received no scope 
comments from interested parties for this final determination, we made 
no changes to the scope of these investigations from that published in 
the Preliminary Determination.
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    \3\ See Utility Scale Wind Towers from Canada: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value, 
Preliminary Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances, and 
Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 85 FR 8563 (February 14, 2020).
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Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received

    The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in 
the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation are 
discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues 
that parties raised is attached to this notice as Appendix II.

Methodology

    Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section 
701 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each of the 
subsidy programs found countervailable, Commerce 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.\4\ For a full description of the methodology

[[Page 40246]]

underlying our final determination, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \4\ 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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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in February 2020, we 
conducted verification of the information submitted by the mandatory 
respondent, Marmen Inc. and Marmen [Eacute]nergie Inc., and cross-owned 
affiliate Gestion Marmen (collectively, Marmen), for use in Commerce's 
final determination. We used standard verification procedures, 
including an examination of relevant accounting records and original 
source documents provided by the respondents.\5\ As explained in the 
Issues and decision Memorandum, we did not conduct verification of the 
responses of the Government of Canada, Government of Quebec, or the 
Government of Ontario.\6\
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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Verification of the Questionnaire 
Responses of Marmen Inc., Marmen [Eacute]nergie Inc., and Gestion 
Marmen,'' dated April 16, 2020.
    \6\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum at 3 and Comment 1.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our review and analysis of the comments received from 
parties and our verification findings, we made certain changes to the 
subsidy rate calculations for Marmen. For a discussion of these 
changes, See the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    On February 11, Commerce published a preliminary negative 
determination of critical circumstances with respect to imports of wind 
towers from Canada.\7\ In Preliminary Determinations of Critical 
Circumstances, Commerce determined, pursuant to section 703(e)(1) of 
the Act, that based on information provided in the critical 
circumstances allegation, critical circumstances did not exist with 
respect to imports of wind towers from Canada. We received no comments 
regarding the preliminary negative determination of critical 
circumstances in this investigation. For this final determination, we 
continue to find that critical circumstances do not exist with respect 
to imports of wind towers from Canada. For a full description of the 
methodology and results of Commerce's analysis, see Preliminary 
Determinations of Critical Circumstances and the accompanying 
proprietary Critical Circumstances Calculation Memorandum.\8\
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    \7\ See Utility Scale Wind Towers from Canada, Indonesia, and 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; Countervailing Duty 
Investigations: Preliminary Determinations of Critical 
Circumstances, 28 FR 7724 (February 11, 2020) (Preliminary 
Determinations of Critical Circumstances).
    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Calculations for Preliminary Determination 
of Critical Circumstances in the Countervailing Duty Investigation 
of Utility-Wind Towers from Canada,'' dated February 4, 2020 
(Critical Circumstances Calculation Memorandum).
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All-Others Rate

    We continue to assign the countervailable subsidy rate calculated 
for Marmen as the all-others rate applicable to all exporters and/or 
producers not individually examined.\9\
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    \9\ See Preliminary Determination.
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Final Determination

    In accordance with section 705(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) of the Act, we 
calculated an individual estimated subsidy rate for Marmen. We 
determine the total estimated net countervailable subsidy rate to be:
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    \10\ As discussed in the Preliminary Determination, Commerce 
found the following companies to be cross-owned with Marmen Inc.: 
Marmen[Eacute]nergie, Inc. and Gestion Marmen Inc. No party 
commented on this finding in the case briefs.

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                                                                Subsidy
                      Producer/exporter                          rate
                                                               (percent)
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Marmen Inc., Marmen[Eacute]nergie Inc., and Gestion Marmen          1.18
 Inc.\10\...................................................
All Others..................................................        1.18
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Disclosure

    We intend to disclose to interested parties the calculations and 
analysis performed in this final determination within five days of the 
date of the publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b).

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, that were entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption 
on or after December 13, 2019, which is the date of the publication of 
the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. In accordance 
with section 703(d) of the Act, we issued instructions to CBP to 
discontinue the suspension of liquidation for countervailing duty (CVD) 
purposes for subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
on or after April 11, 2020, but to continue the suspension of 
liquidation of all entries from December 13, 2019 through April 10, 
2020.
    If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final 
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a CVD order, reinstate 
the suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of the Act, and will 
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. 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 wind towers 
from Canada no later than 45 days after our final determination. In 
addition, we are making available to the ITC all non-privileged and 
nonproprietary 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.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    In the event the ITC issues a final negative injury determination, 
this notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 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 subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).


[[Page 40247]]


    Dated: June 29, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by these investigations consists of 
certain wind towers, whether or not tapered, and sections thereof. 
Certain wind towers support the nacelle and rotor blades in a wind 
turbine with a minimum rated electrical power generation capacity in 
excess of 100 kilowatts and with a minimum height of 50 meters 
measured from the base of the tower to the bottom of the nacelle 
(i.e., where the top of the tower and nacelle are joined) when fully 
assembled.
    A wind tower section consists of, at a minimum, multiple steel 
plates rolled into cylindrical or conical shapes and welded together 
(or otherwise attached) to form a steel shell, regardless of 
coating, end-finish, painting, treatment, or method of manufacture, 
and with or without flanges, doors, or internal or external 
components (e.g., flooring/decking, ladders, lifts, electrical buss 
boxes, electrical cabling, conduit, cable harness for nacelle 
generator, interior lighting, tool and storage lockers) attached to 
the wind tower section. Several wind tower sections are normally 
required to form a completed wind tower.
    Wind towers and sections thereof are included within the scope 
whether or not they are joined with non-subject merchandise, such as 
nacelles or rotor blades, and whether or not they have internal or 
external components attached to the subject merchandise.
    Specifically excluded from the scope are nacelles and rotor 
blades, regardless of whether they are attached to the wind tower. 
Also excluded are any internal or external components which are not 
attached to the wind towers or sections thereof, unless those 
components are shipped with the tower sections.
    Further, excluded from the scope of the antidumping duty 
investigations are any products covered by the existing antidumping 
duty order on utility scale wind towers from the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam. See Utility Scale Wind Towers from the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order, 78 FR 11150 (February 
15, 2013).
    Merchandise covered by these investigations is currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under subheading 7308.20.0020 or 8502.31.0000. Wind towers 
of iron or steel are classified under HTSUS 7308.20.0020 when 
imported separately as a tower or tower section(s). Wind towers may 
be classified under HTSUS 8502.31.0000 when imported as combination 
goods with a wind turbine (i.e., accompanying nacelles and/or rotor 
blades). While the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience 
and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of the 
investigations is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Final Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Scope Comments
V. Use of Facts Otherwise Available
VI. Subsidies Valuation Information
VII. Analysis of Programs
VIII. Analysis of Comments
    Comment 1: Whether Commerce Should Rely on Facts Available to 
Determine Non-Countervailability, Non-Use, and Benefits of the 
Programs Under Investigation in the Absence of the Government 
Verifications
Comment 2: Whether the Federal ACCA and Quebec ACCA for Class 29 
Assets Programs are Specific
    Comment 3: Whether the Additional Depreciation for Class 1 
Assets Program is Specific and Provides a Countervailable Benefit
    Comment 4: Whether the Ontario LCR Program Provided 
Countervailable Subsidies to Marmen during the POI
    Comment 5: Whether the Quebec LCR Program Provided 
Countervailable Subsidies to Marmen during the POI
    Comment 6: Whether Marmen's Total Sales Denominator Should Be 
Revised to Reflect Marmen's Total Sales as Expressed in Canadian 
Dollars
    Comment 7: Whether Marmen's Other Wind--Time-Billed Activities, 
Repair Charges, Early Payment Discounts, Deferred Revenue, Inter-
Company Revenues, and Other Non-Production Related Income Should Be 
Included in Marmen's Total Sales Denominator
    Comment 8: Whether Additional Income Taxes Paid by Marmen during 
the POI on the Previous Year's GASP[Eacute]TC Should Be Deducted 
from Marmen's POI GASP[Eacute]TC Benefit
    Comment 9: Tax credit for On-The-Job Training
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2020-14439 Filed 7-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P