[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 226 (Monday, November 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74680-74685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25855]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-560-838, A-557-823, A-549-843, A-552-832]


Polyester Textured Yarn From Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations

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

DATES: Applicable November 17, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Shaw at (202) 482-0697 
(Indonesia); Daniel Alexander at (202) 486-2000 (Malaysia); Peter 
Zukowski at

[[Page 74681]]

(202) 482-0189 (Thailand); and Margaret Collins at (202) 482-6250 
(Vietnam); AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Petitions

    On October 28, 2020, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) received 
antidumping duty (AD) petitions concerning imports of polyester 
textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) filed in proper form on behalf of the 
petitioners,\1\ domestic producers of polyester textured yarn.\2\
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    \1\ Unifi Manufacturing, Inc. and Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, 
America (collectively, the petitioners).
    \2\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Polyester Textured Yarn from 
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam--Petition for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties,'' dated 
October 28, 2020 (the Petitions).
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    On November 2, 2020, Commerce requested supplemental information 
pertaining to certain aspects of the Petitions in separate supplemental 
questionnaires.\3\ The petitioners filed responses to the supplemental 
questionnaires on November 5, 2020.\4\
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    \3\ See Commerce's Letters, ``Petitions for the Imposition of 
Antidumping Duties on Polyester Textured Yarn from Indonesia, 
Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam: Supplemental Questions,'' dated 
November 2, 2020 (General Issues Supplemental); and Country-Specific 
Supplemental Questionnaires: Indonesia Supplemental, Malaysia 
Supplemental, Thailand Supplemental, and Vietnam Supplemental, dated 
November 2, 2020.
    \4\ See Petitioners' Country-Specific Supplemental Responses, 
dated November 5, 2020; see also Petitioners' Letter, ``Polyester 
Textured Yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam--
Petitioners' Amendment to Volume I Related to General and Injury 
Sections,'' November 5, 2020 (General Issues Supplement).
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    In accordance with section 732(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), the petitioners allege that imports of polyester 
textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are 
being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair 
value (LTFV) within the meaning of section 731 of the Act, and that 
imports of such products are materially injuring, or threatening 
material injury to, the polyester textured yarn industry in the United 
States. Consistent with section 732(b)(1) of the Act, the Petitions are 
accompanied by information reasonably available to the petitioners 
supporting their allegations.
    Commerce finds that the petitioners filed the Petitions on behalf 
of the domestic industry, because the petitioners are interested 
parties, as defined in section 771(9)(C) of the Act. Commerce also 
finds that the petitioners demonstrated sufficient industry support for 
the initiation of the requested AD investigations.\5\
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    \5\ See infra, section on ``Determination of Industry Support 
for the Petitions.''
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Periods of Investigation

    Because the Petitions were filed on October 28, 2020, the period of 
investigation (POI) for the Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand 
investigations is October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020, pursuant 
to 19 CFR 351.204(b)(1). Because Vietnam is a non-market economy (NME) 
country, the POI is April 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020.\6\
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    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.204(b)(1).
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Scope of the Investigations

    The product covered by these investigations is polyester textured 
yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. For a full 
description of the scope of these investigations, see the appendix to 
this notice.

Comments on the Scope of the Investigations

    On November 2 and 9, 2020, Commerce requested further information 
from the petitioners regarding the proposed scope to ensure that the 
scope language in the Petitions is an accurate reflection of the 
products for which the domestic industry is seeking relief.\7\ On 
November 5, 2020, the petitioners revised the scope.\8\ The description 
of merchandise covered by these investigations, as described in the 
appendix to this notice, reflects these clarifications.
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    \7\ See General Issues Supplemental at 2-3; see also Memorandum, 
``Phone Call with Counsel to the Petitioners,'' dated November 9, 
2020, at 1.
    \8\ See General Issues Supplement at 3.
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    As discussed in the Preamble to Commerce's regulations, we are 
setting aside a period for interested parties to raise issues regarding 
product coverage (i.e., scope).\9\ Commerce will consider all comments 
received from interested parties and, if necessary, will consult with 
interested parties prior to the issuance of the preliminary 
determinations. If scope comments include factual information,\10\ all 
such factual information should be limited to public information. To 
facilitate preparation of its questionnaires, Commerce requests that 
all interested parties submit such comments by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time 
(ET) on December 7, 2020, which is 20 calendar days from the signature 
date of this notice. Any rebuttal comments, which may include factual 
information, must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on December 17, 2020, which 
is ten calendar days from the initial comment deadline.
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    \9\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) (Preamble).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) (defining ``factual 
information'').
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    Commerce requests that any factual information parties consider 
relevant to the scope of the investigations be submitted during this 
period. However, if a party subsequently finds that additional factual 
information pertaining to the scope of the investigations may be 
relevant, the party may contact Commerce and request permission to 
submit the additional information. All such submissions must be filed 
on the record of each of the AD investigations.

Filing Requirements

    All submissions to Commerce must be filed electronically via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS), unless an exception 
applies.\11\ An electronically filed document must be received 
successfully in its entirety by the time and date it is due.
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    \11\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order 
Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011); see also Enforcement and 
Compliance; Change of Electronic Filing System Name, 79 FR 69046 
(November 20, 2014) for details of Commerce's electronic filing 
requirements, effective August 5, 2011. 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_on_Electronic_Filing_Procedures.pdf.
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Comments on Product Characteristics

    Commerce is providing interested parties an opportunity to comment 
on the appropriate physical characteristics of polyester textured yarn 
to be reported in response to Commerce's AD questionnaires. This 
information will be used to identify the key physical characteristics 
of the subject merchandise in order to report the relevant costs of 
production accurately, as well as to develop appropriate product-
comparison criteria.
    Interested parties may provide any information or comments that 
they feel are relevant to the development of an accurate list of 
physical characteristics. Specifically, they may provide comments as to 
which characteristics are appropriate to use as: (1) General product 
characteristics, and (2) product comparison criteria. We note that it 
is not always appropriate to use all product characteristics as product 
comparison criteria. We base product comparison criteria on meaningful 
commercial differences among products.

[[Page 74682]]

In other words, although there may be some physical product 
characteristics utilized by manufacturers to describe polyester 
textured yarn, it may be that only a select few product characteristics 
take into account commercially meaningful physical characteristics. In 
addition, interested parties may comment on the order in which the 
physical characteristics should be used in matching products. 
Generally, Commerce attempts to list the most important physical 
characteristics first and the least important characteristics last.
    In order to consider the suggestions of interested parties in 
developing and issuing the AD questionnaires, all product 
characteristics comments must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on December 7, 
2020, which is 20 calendar days from the signature date of this notice. 
Any rebuttal comments must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on December 17, 
2020. All comments and submissions to Commerce must be filed 
electronically using ACCESS, as explained above, on the record of each 
of the AD investigations.

Determination of Industry Support for the Petitions

    Section 732(b)(1) of the Act requires that a petition be filed on 
behalf of the domestic industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act 
provides that a petition meets this requirement if the domestic 
producers or workers who support the petition account for: (i) At least 
25 percent of the total production of the domestic like product; and 
(ii) more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like 
product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support 
for, or opposition to, the petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D) of 
the Act provides that, if the petition does not establish support of 
domestic producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of 
the total production of the domestic like product, Commerce shall: (i) 
Poll the industry or rely on other information in order to determine if 
there is support for the petition, as required by subparagraph (A); or 
(ii) determine industry support using a statistically valid sampling 
method to poll the ``industry.''
    Section 771(4)(A) of the Act defines the ``industry'' as the 
producers as a whole of a domestic like product. Thus, to determine 
whether a petition has the requisite industry support, the statute 
directs Commerce to look to producers and workers who produce the 
domestic like product. The International Trade Commission (ITC), which 
is responsible for determining whether ``the domestic industry'' has 
been injured, must also determine what constitutes a domestic like 
product in order to define the industry. While both Commerce and the 
ITC must apply the same statutory definition regarding the domestic 
like product,\12\ they do so for different purposes and pursuant to a 
separate and distinct authority. In addition, Commerce's determination 
is subject to limitations of time and information. Although this may 
result in different definitions of the like product, such differences 
do not render the decision of either agency contrary to law.\13\
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    \12\ See section 771(10) of the Act.
    \13\ See USEC, Inc. v. United States, 132 F. Supp. 2d 1, 8 (CIT 
2001) (citing Algoma Steel Corp., Ltd. v. United States, 688 F. 
Supp. 639, 644 (CIT 1988), aff'd 865 F. 2d 240 (Fed. Cir. 1989)).
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    Section 771(10) of the Act defines the domestic like product as ``a 
product which is like, or in the absence of like, most similar in 
characteristics and uses with, the article subject to an investigation 
under this title.'' Thus, the reference point from which the domestic 
like product analysis begins is ``the article subject to an 
investigation'' (i.e., the class or kind of merchandise to be 
investigated, which normally will be the scope as defined in the 
petition).
    With regard to the domestic like product, the petitioners do not 
offer a definition of the domestic like product distinct from the scope 
of the investigations.\14\ Based on our analysis of the information 
submitted on the record, we have determined that polyester textured 
yarn, as defined in the scope, constitutes a single domestic like 
product, and we have analyzed industry support in terms of that 
domestic like product.\15\
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    \14\ See Volume I of the Petitions at 11-13 and Exhibit GEN-2 
(containing Polyester Textured Yarn from China and India, Inv. Nos. 
701-TA-612-613 and 731-TA-1429-1430 (Final), USITC Pub. 5007 
(January 2020) at 4-8).
    \15\ For a discussion of the domestic like product analysis as 
applied to these cases and information regarding industry support, 
see Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation Checklists: Polyester 
Textured Yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, dated 
November 17, 2020 (Country-Specific AD Initiation Checklists), at 
Attachment II, Analysis of Industry Support for the Antidumping Duty 
Petitions Covering Polyester Textured Yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, 
Thailand, and Vietnam (Attachment II). These checklists are dated 
concurrently with this notice and on file electronically via ACCESS.
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    In determining whether the petitioners have standing under section 
732(c)(4)(A) of the Act, we considered the industry support data 
contained in the Petitions with reference to the domestic like product 
as defined in the ``Scope of the Investigations,'' in the appendix to 
this notice. To establish industry support, the petitioners provided 
the 2019 production of the domestic like product for the U.S. producers 
that support the Petitions and compared this to the estimated 
production for the entire U.S. polyester textured yarn industry.\16\ We 
relied on data provided by the petitioners for purposes of measuring 
industry support.\17\
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    \16\ See Volume I of the Petitions at 4-5 and Exhibit GEN-3.
    \17\ Id.
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    Our review of the data provided in the Petitions and other 
information readily available to Commerce indicates that the 
petitioners have established industry support for the Petitions.\18\ 
First, the Petitions established support from domestic producers (or 
workers) accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production of 
the domestic like product and, as such, Commerce is not required to 
take further action in order to evaluate industry support (e.g., 
polling).\19\ Second, the domestic producers (or workers) have met the 
statutory criteria for industry support under section 732(c)(4)(A)(i) 
of the Act because the domestic producers (or workers) who support the 
Petitions account for at least 25 percent of the total production of 
the domestic like product.\20\ Finally, the domestic producers (or 
workers) have met the statutory criteria for industry support under 
section 732(c)(4)(A)(ii) of the Act because the domestic producers (or 
workers) who support the Petitions account for more than 50 percent of 
the production of the domestic like product produced by that portion of 
the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the 
Petitions.\21\ Accordingly, Commerce determines that the Petitions were 
filed on behalf of the domestic industry within the meaning of section 
732(b)(1) of the Act.\22\
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    \18\ See Attachment II of the Country-Specific AD Initiation 
Checklists.
    \19\ Id.; see also section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act.
    \20\ See Attachment II of the Country-Specific AD Initiation 
Checklists.
    \21\ Id.
    \22\ Id.
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Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and Causation

    The petitioners allege that the U.S. industry producing the 
domestic like product is being materially injured, or is threatened 
with material injury, by reason of the subject merchandise sold at 
LTFV. In addition, the petitioners allege that subject imports exceed 
the negligibility threshold provided for under section 771(24)(A) of 
the Act.\23\
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    \23\ See Volume I of the Petitions at 14-15 and Exhibit GEN-9.
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    The petitioners contend that the industry's injured condition is 
illustrated by a significant and

[[Page 74683]]

increasing volume of subject imports; declining market share; 
underselling and price depression and suppression; decreasing 
production, U.S. shipments, and capacity utilization rates; a decline 
in financial performance, including declining profitability, operating 
income, and operating profit to net sales ratio; and lost sales and 
revenues.\24\ We have assessed the allegations and supporting evidence 
regarding material injury, threat of material injury, causation, as 
well as negligibility, and we have determined that these allegations 
are properly supported by adequate evidence, and meet the statutory 
requirements for initiation.\25\
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    \24\ See Volume I of the Petitions at 15-28 and Exhibits GEN-7 
and GEN-10 through GEN-13.
    \25\ See Country-Specific AD Initiation Checklists at Attachment 
III, Analysis of Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and 
Causation for the Antidumping Duty Petitions Covering Polyester 
Textured Yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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Allegations of Sales at LTFV

    The following is a description of the allegations of sales at LTFV 
upon which Commerce based its decision to initiate AD investigations of 
imports of polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, 
and Vietnam. The sources of data for the deductions and adjustments 
relating to U.S. price and normal value (NV) are discussed in greater 
detail in the Country-Specific AD Initiation Checklists.

U.S. Price

    For Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, the petitioners based export 
price (EP) on pricing information for sales of, or sales offers for, 
polyester textured yarn produced in and exported from each country.\26\ 
For Vietnam, the petitioners based EP on the average unit value (AUV) 
of publicly-available import data.\27\ The petitioners made certain 
adjustments to U.S. price to calculate a net ex-factory U.S. price.\28\
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    \26\ See Country-Specific AD Initiation Checklists.
    \27\ See Vietnam AD Initiation Checklist.
    \28\ See Country-Specific AD Initiation Checklists.
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Normal Value \29\
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    \29\ In accordance with section 505(a) of the Trade Preferences 
Extension Act of 2015 (TPEA), amending section 773(b)(2) of the Act, 
for these investigations, Commerce will request information 
necessary to calculate the constructed value and cost of production 
(COP) to determine whether there are reasonable grounds to believe 
or suspect that sales of the foreign like product have been made at 
prices that represent less than the COP of the product. Commerce no 
longer requires a COP allegation to conduct this analysis.
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    For Indonesia and Thailand, the petitioners based NV on home market 
price quotes obtained through market research for polyester textured 
yarn produced in and sold, or offered for sale, in each country within 
the applicable time period.\30\ For Malaysia, the petitioners provided 
information indicating that the price quote was below the COP and, 
therefore, the petitioners calculated NV based on constructed value 
(CV).\31\ For further discussion of CV, see the section ``Normal Value 
Based on Constructed Value.''
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    \30\ See Country-Specific AD Initiation Checklists.
    \31\ See Malaysia AD Initiation Checklist.
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    Commerce considers Vietnam to be an NME country.\32\ In accordance 
with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, any determination that a foreign 
country is an NME country shall remain in effect until revoked by 
Commerce. Therefore, we continue to treat Vietnam as an NME country for 
purposes of the initiation of this investigation. Accordingly, NV in 
Vietnam is appropriately based on factors of production (FOPs) valued 
in a surrogate market economy country, in accordance with section 
773(c) of the Act.\33\
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    \32\ See, e.g., Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Final Results, and Final Results of No 
Shipments of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2016-2017, 
84 FR 18007 (April 29, 2019).
    \33\ See Vietnam AD Checklist.
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    The petitioners state that India is an appropriate surrogate 
country for Vietnam because India is a market economy country that is 
at a level of economic development comparable to that of Vietnam and it 
is a significant producer of comparable merchandise.\34\ The 
petitioners provided publicly available information from India to value 
all FOPs.\35\ Based on the information provided by the petitioners, we 
determine that it is appropriate to use India as a surrogate country 
for initiation purposes.
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    \34\ See Volume V of the Petition at 4-6 and Exhibits AD-VN-2 
through AD-VN-4.
    \35\ See Volume V of the Petition at 4-6 and Exhibits AD-VN-2 
through AD-VN-4.
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    Interested parties will have the opportunity to submit comments 
regarding surrogate country selection and, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.301(c)(3)(i), will be provided an opportunity to submit publicly 
available information to value FOPs within 30 days before the scheduled 
date of the preliminary determination.

Normal Value Based on Constructed Value

    As noted above, the petitioners provided information indicating 
that the price charged for polyester textured yarn produced in and 
sold, or offered for sale, in Malaysia was below the COP. Accordingly, 
the petitioners based NV on CV.\36\ Pursuant to section 773(e) of the 
Act, the petitioners calculated CV as the sum of the cost of 
manufacturing, selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses, 
financial expenses, and profit.\37\
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    \36\ Id.
    \37\ Id.
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Factors of Production

    Because information regarding the volume of inputs consumed by 
Vietnamese producers/exporters was not reasonably available, the 
petitioners used their own product-specific consumption rates as a 
surrogate to value Vietnamese manufacturers' FOPs.\38\ Additionally, 
the petitioners calculated factory overhead; SG&A expenses; and profit 
based on the experience of an Indian producer of comparable 
merchandise.\39\
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    \38\ See Vietnam AD Initiation Checklist.
    \39\ Id.
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Fair Value Comparisons

    Based on the data provided by the petitioners, there is reason to 
believe that imports of polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, 
Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are being, or are likely to be, sold in 
the United States at LTFV. Based on comparisons of EP, as applicable, 
to NV in accordance with sections 772 and 773 of the Act, the estimated 
dumping margins for polyester textured yarn for each of the countries 
covered by this initiation are as follows: (1) Indonesia--26.07 
percent; (2) Malaysia--75.13 percent; (3) Thailand--56.80 percent; and 
(4) Vietnam--54.13 percent.\40\
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    \40\ See Country-Specific Initiation Checklists for details of 
calculations.
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Initiation of LTFV Investigations

    Based upon the examination of the Petitions and supplemental 
responses, we find that they meet the requirements of section 732 of 
the Act. Therefore, we are initiating AD investigations to determine 
whether imports of polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, 
Thailand, and Vietnam are being, or are likely to be, sold in the 
United States at LTFV. In accordance with section 733(b)(1)(A) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.205(b)(1), unless postponed, we will make our 
preliminary determinations no later than 140 days after the date of 
this initiation.

Respondent Selection

    In the Petitions, the petitioners named 11 companies in Indonesia, 
five companies in Malaysia, and 12 companies in Thailand \41\ as 
producers/exporters of polyester textured yarn. Following the standard 
practice in AD investigations involving market

[[Page 74684]]

economy countries, in the event Commerce determines that the number of 
exporters or producers in any individual case is large such that 
Commerce cannot individually examine each company based upon its 
resources, where appropriate, Commerce intends to select mandatory 
respondents in that case based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) data for U.S. imports under the appropriate Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States numbers listed in the ``Scope of the 
Investigations,'' in the appendix.
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    \41\ See Volume I of the Petitions at 26 and Exhibit GEN-6.
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    On November 12, 2020, Commerce released CBP data on imports of 
polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand under 
Administrative Protective Order (APO) to all parties with access to 
information protected by APO and indicated that interested parties 
wishing to comment on the CBP data must do so within three business 
days of the publication date of the notice of initiation of these 
investigations.\42\ Comments must be filed electronically using ACCESS. 
An electronically-filed document must be received successfully in its 
entirety via ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. ET on the specific deadline. Commerce 
will not accept rebuttal comments regarding the CBP data or respondent 
selection.
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    \42\ See country-specific Memoranda, ``Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Polyester Textured Yarn: Release of Customs Data 
from U.S. Customs and Border Protection,'' dated November 12, 2020.
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    Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(b). Instructions for filing such 
applications may be found on Commerce's website at http://enforcement.trade.gov/apo.
    With respect to Vietnam, the petitioners named nine companies as 
producers/exporters of polyester textured yarn in the Petitions. In 
accordance with our standard practice for respondent selection in AD 
investigations involving NME countries, Commerce selects respondents 
based on quantity and value (Q&V) questionnaires in cases where it has 
determined that the number of companies is large and it cannot 
individually examine each company based upon its resources. Therefore, 
considering the number of Vietnamese producers and exporters identified 
in the Petitions, Commerce will solicit Q&V information that can serve 
as a basis for selecting exporters for individual examination in the 
event that Commerce decides to limit the number of respondents 
individually examined pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. Given 
that there are nine producers and exporters identified in the 
Petitions, Commerce has determined that it will issue Q&V 
questionnaires to each potential respondent for which the petitioners 
have provided a complete address.
    In addition, Commerce will post the Q&V questionnaire along with 
filing instructions on Enforcement and Compliance's website at https://www.trade.gov/ec-adcvd-case-announcements. Producers/exporters of 
polyester textured yarn from Vietnam that do not receive Q&V 
questionnaires may still submit a response to the Q&V questionnaire and 
can obtain a copy of the Q&V questionnaire from Enforcement and 
Compliance's website. In accordance with the standard practice for 
respondent selection in AD cases involving NME countries, in the event 
Commerce decides to limit the number of respondents individually 
investigated, Commerce intends to base respondent selection on the 
responses to the Q&V questionnaire that it receives.
    Responses to the Q&V questionnaire must be submitted by the 
relevant Vietnamese producers/exporters no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on 
December 1, 2020. All Q&V questionnaire responses must be filed 
electronically via ACCESS. An electronically filed document must be 
received successfully, in its entirety, by ACCESS no later than 5:00 
p.m. ET on the deadline noted above. Commerce intends to finalize its 
decisions regarding respondent selection within 20 days of publication 
of this notice.

Separate Rates

    In order to obtain separate-rate status in an NME investigation, 
exporters and producers must submit a separate-rate application.\43\ 
The specific requirements for submitting a separate-rate application in 
a Vietnam investigation are outlined in detail in the application 
itself, which is available on Commerce's website at http://enforcement.trade.gov/nme/nme-sep-rate.html. The separate-rate 
application will be due 30 days after publication of this initiation 
notice.\44\ Exporters and producers who submit a separate-rate 
application and have been selected as mandatory respondents will be 
eligible for consideration for separate-rate status only if they 
respond to all parts of Commerce's AD questionnaire as mandatory 
respondents. Commerce requires that companies from Vietnam submit a 
response to both the Q&V questionnaire and the separate-rate 
application by the respective deadlines in order to receive 
consideration for separate-rate status. Companies not filing a timely 
Q&V questionnaire response will not receive separate rate 
consideration.
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    \43\ See Policy Bulletin 05.1: Separate-Rates Practice and 
Application of Combination Rates in Antidumping Investigation 
involving NME Countries (April 5, 2005), available at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf (Policy Bulletin 05.1).
    \44\ Although in past investigations this deadline was 60 days, 
consistent with 19 CFR 351.301(a), which states that ``the Secretary 
may request any person to submit factual information at any time 
during a proceeding,'' this deadline is now 30 days.
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Use of Combination Rates

    Commerce will calculate combination rates for certain respondents 
that are eligible for a separate rate in an NME investigation. The 
Separate Rates and Combination Rates Bulletin states:

{w{time} hile continuing the practice of assigning separate rates 
only to exporters, all separate rates that the Department will now 
assign in its NME Investigation will be specific to those producers 
that supplied the exporter during the period of investigation. Note, 
however, that one rate is calculated for the exporter and all of the 
producers which supplied subject merchandise to it during the period 
of investigation. This practice applies both to mandatory 
respondents receiving an individually calculated separate rate as 
well as the pool of non-investigated firms receiving the weighted-
average of the individually calculated rates. This practice is 
referred to as the application of ``combination rates'' because such 
rates apply to specific combinations of exporters and one or more 
producers. The cash-deposit rate assigned to an exporter will apply 
only to merchandise both exported by the firm in question and 
produced by a firm that supplied the exporter during the period of 
investigation.\45\
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    \45\ See Policy Bulletin 05.1 at 6 (emphasis added).
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Distribution of Copies of the AD Petitions

    In accordance with section 732(b)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.202(f), copies of the public version of the AD Petitions have been 
provided to the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and 
Vietnam via ACCESS. To the extent practicable, we will attempt to 
provide a copy of the public version of the AD Petitions to each 
exporter named in the AD Petitions, as provided under 19 CFR 
351.203(c)(2).

ITC Notification

    We will notify the ITC of our initiation, as required by section 
732(d) of the Act.

Preliminary Determinations by the ITC

    The ITC will preliminarily determine, within 45 days after the date 
on which the AD Petitions were filed, whether there is a reasonable 
indication that imports of polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, 
Malaysia, Thailand, and/or Vietnam are materially injuring, or

[[Page 74685]]

threatening material injury to, a U.S. industry.\46\ A negative ITC 
determination for any country will result in the investigation being 
terminated with respect to that country.\47\ Otherwise, these AD 
investigations will proceed according to statutory and regulatory time 
limits.
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    \46\ See section 733(a) of the Act.
    \47\ Id.
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Submission of Factual Information

    Factual information is defined in 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) as: (i) 
Evidence submitted in response to questionnaires; (ii) evidence 
submitted in support of allegations; (iii) publicly available 
information to value factors under 19 CFR 351.408(c) or to measure the 
adequacy of remuneration under 19 CFR 351.511(a)(2); (iv) evidence 
placed on the record by Commerce; and (v) evidence other than factual 
information described in (i)-(iv). Section 351.301(b) of Commerce's 
regulations requires any party, when submitting factual information, to 
specify under which subsection of 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) the information 
is being submitted \48\ and, if the information is submitted to rebut, 
clarify, or correct factual information already on the record, to 
provide an explanation identifying the information already on the 
record that the factual information seeks to rebut, clarify, or 
correct.\49\ Time limits for the submission of factual information are 
addressed in 19 CFR 351.301, which provides specific time limits based 
on the type of factual information being submitted. Interested parties 
should review the regulations prior to submitting factual information 
in these investigations.
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    \48\ See 19 CFR 351.301(b).
    \49\ See 19 CFR 351.301(b)(2).
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Particular Market Situation Allegation

    Section 504 of the TPEA amended the Act by adding the concept of a 
particular market situation (PMS) for purposes of CV under section 
773(e) of the Act.\50\ Section 773(e) of the Act states that ``if a 
particular market situation exists such that the cost of materials and 
fabrication or other processing of any kind does not accurately reflect 
the cost of production in the ordinary course of trade, the 
administering authority may use another calculation methodology under 
this subtitle or any other calculation methodology.'' When an 
interested party submits a PMS allegation pursuant to section 773(e) of 
the Act, Commerce will respond to such a submission consistent with 19 
CFR 351.301(c)(2)(v). If Commerce finds that a PMS exists under section 
773(e) of the Act, then it will modify its dumping calculations 
appropriately.
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    \50\ See TPEA, Public Law 114-27, 129 Stat. 362 (2015).
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    Neither section 773(e) of the Act, nor 19 CFR 351.301(c)(2)(v), set 
a deadline for the submission of PMS allegations and supporting factual 
information. However, in order to administer section 773(e) of the Act, 
Commerce must receive PMS allegations and supporting factual 
information with enough time to consider the submission. Thus, should 
an interested party wish to submit a PMS allegation and supporting new 
factual information pursuant to section 773(e) of the Act, it must do 
so no later than 20 days after submission of a respondent's initial 
section D questionnaire response.

Extensions of Time Limits

    Parties may request an extension of time limits before the 
expiration of a time limit established under 19 CFR 351.301, or as 
otherwise specified by Commerce. In general, an extension request will 
be considered untimely if it is filed after the expiration of the time 
limit established under 19 CFR 351.301. For submissions that are due 
from multiple parties simultaneously, an extension request will be 
considered untimely if it is filed after 10:00 a.m. ET on the due date. 
Under certain circumstances, we may elect to specify a different time 
limit by which extension requests will be considered untimely for 
submissions which are due from multiple parties simultaneously. In such 
a case, we will inform parties in a letter or memorandum of the 
deadline (including a specified time) by which extension requests must 
be filed to be considered timely. An extension request must be made in 
a separate, stand-alone submission; Commerce will grant untimely-filed 
requests for the extension of time limits only in limited cases where 
we determine, based on 19 CFR 351.302, that extraordinary circumstances 
exist. Parties should review Extension of Time Limits; Final Rule, 78 
FR 57790 (September 20, 2013), available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-09-20/html/2013-22853.htm, prior to submitting factual 
information in these investigations.

Certification Requirements

    Any party submitting factual information in an AD or countervailing 
duty proceeding must certify to the accuracy and completeness of that 
information.\51\ Parties must use the certification formats provided in 
19 CFR 351.303(g).\52\ Commerce intends to reject factual submissions 
if the submitting party does not comply with the applicable 
certification requirements.
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    \51\ See section 782(b) of the Act.
    \52\ See Certification of Factual Information to Import 
Administration During Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Proceedings, 78 FR 42678 (July 17, 2013) (Final Rule). Answers to 
frequently asked questions regarding the Final Rule are available at 
http://enforcement.trade.gov/tlei/notices/factual_info_final_rule_FAQ_07172013.pdf.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Parties wishing to participate 
in these investigations should ensure that they meet the requirements 
of these procedures (e.g., the filing of letters of appearance as 
discussed at 19 CFR 351.103(d)). Note that Commerce has temporarily 
modified certain portions of its requirements for serving documents 
containing business proprietary information, until further notice.\53\
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    \53\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 
10, 2020).
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    This notice is issued and published pursuant to sections 732(c)(2) 
and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.203(c).

    Dated: November 17, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix--Scope of the Investigations

    The merchandise covered by these investigations, polyester 
textured yarn, is synthetic multifilament yarn that is manufactured 
from polyester (polyethylene terephthalate). Polyester textured yarn 
is produced through a texturing process, which imparts special 
properties to the filaments of the yarn, including stretch, bulk, 
strength, moisture absorption, insulation, and the appearance of a 
natural fiber. This scope includes all forms of polyester textured 
yarn, regardless of surface texture or appearance, yarn density and 
thickness (as measured in denier), number of filaments, number of 
plies, finish (luster), cross section, color, dye method, texturing 
method, or packaging method (such as spindles, tubes, or beams).
    The merchandise subject to these investigations is properly 
classified under subheadings 5402.33.3000 and 5402.33.6000 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although 
the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the written description of the merchandise is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2020-25855 Filed 11-20-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P