[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 18 (Friday, January 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7537-7539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01976]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-123]


Certain Corrosion Inhibitors From the People's Republic of China: 
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination

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 certain corrosion inhibitors from the People's Republic of China 
(China).

DATES: Applicable January 29, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theodore Pearson or Nicholas 
Czajkowski, AD/CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2631 
or (202) 482-1395, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The petitioner in this investigation is Wincom, Inc. In addition to 
the Government of China, the selected mandatory respondents in this 
investigation are Jiangyin Delian Chemical Co., Ltd. (Delian) and 
Nantong Botao Chemical Co., Ltd. (Botao).
    On July 13, 2020, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
Preliminary Determination of this investigation.\1\ In the Preliminary 
Determination, in accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), Commerce 
aligned the final CVD determination in this investigation with the 
final antidumping duty (AD) determination in the companion AD 
investigation of certain corrosion inhibitors from China. The revised 
deadline for the final determination of this investigation is now 
January 25, 2021. On October 29, 2020, Commerce issued a Post-
Preliminary Analysis.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Corrosion Inhibitors from the People's Republic 
of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 
and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination, 85 FR 41960 (July 13, 2020) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
(PDM).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Post-Preliminary Analysis in the 
Countervailing Duty Investigation of Corrosion Inhibitors from the 
People's Republic of China,'' dated October 29, 2020.
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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, may be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum which is hereby adopted by this 
notice.\3\ 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 http://access.trade.gov. In 
addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can 
be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed 
and electronic versions

[[Page 7538]]

of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Corrosion Inhibitors from the People's Republic of 
China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is January 1, 2019, through December 
31, 2019.

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain corrosion 
inhibitors from China. For a full description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

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 
raised by parties, and to which we responded in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum, is attached to this notice at Appendix II.

Methodology

    Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section 
701 of 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 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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    In making this final determination, Commerce relied, in part, on 
facts available pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act. Additionally, as 
discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, because one or more 
respondents did not act to the best of their ability in responding to 
our requests for information, we drew adverse inferences, where 
appropriate, in selecting from among the facts otherwise available, 
pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act. This includes three companies 
that did not respond to Commerce's quantity and value questionnaire; as 
described in the Preliminary Determination,\5\ we have applied an 
adverse inference in selection of facts available for determining the 
subsidy rates for these companies, pursuant to section 776(d) of the 
Act. For further information, see the section ``Use of Facts Otherwise 
Available and Adverse Inferences'' in the accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
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    \5\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 12-20, section 
``Application of AFA: Non-Responsive Q&V Questionnaire Recipients.''
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Verification

    Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verification of the 
information relied upon in making its final determination in this 
investigation. However, we took additional steps in lieu of an on-site 
verification to verify the information relied upon in making this final 
determination, in accordance with section 782(i) of the Act.\6\
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    \6\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Certain Corrosion Inhibitors from 
the People's Republic of China: Nantong Botao Chemical Co., Ltd. 
Verification Questionnaire,'' dated November 30, 2020; see also 
Commerce's Letter, ``Certain Corrosion Inhibitors from the People's 
Republic of China: Jiangyin Delian Chemical Co., Ltd. Verification 
Questionnaire,'' dated November 30, 2020; Botao's Letter, ``Certain 
Corrosion Inhibitors from the People's Republic of China: Botao 
Verification Questionnaire Response,'' dated December 7, 2020; and 
Delian's Letter, ``Corrosion Inhibitors from China; C-570-123; CVD 
Questionnaire in Lieu of Verification,'' dated December 7, 2020.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our review and analysis of the comments received from 
parties, we made certain changes to Botao and Delian's subsidy rate 
calculations. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    In accordance with section 705(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) of the Act, Commerce 
calculated a countervailable subsidy rate for the individually 
investigated exporters/producers of the subject merchandise. Section 
705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that, in the final determination, 
Commerce shall determine an estimated all-others rate for companies not 
individually examined. The rate shall be an amount equal to the 
weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates established for those 
companies individually examined, excluding any rates that are zero, de 
minimis, or rates based entirely under section 776 of the Act.
    In this investigation, as discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum, Commerce calculated individual estimated countervailable 
subsidy rates for Delian and Botao that were not zero, de minimis, or 
based entirely under section 776 of the Act. Therefore, Commerce 
calculated an all-others rate using a simple average of the individual 
estimated subsidy rates calculated for Botao and Delian using each 
company's values for the merchandise under consideration because 
publicly ranged sales data was unavailable.\7\
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    \7\ 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 are not 
available, Commerce based the all-others rate on a simple average of 
the mandatory respondents' subsidy rates.
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Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated countervailable 
subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Subsidy
                          Company                                rate
                                                              (percent)
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Jiangyin Delian Chemical Co., Ltd..........................       93.05
Nantong Botao Chemical Co., Ltd............................       61.62
CAC Shanghai Chemical Co., Ltd.............................      239.21
Jiangyin Gold Fuda Chemical Co., Ltd.......................      239.21
Xinji Xi Chen Re Neng Co., Ltd.............................      239.21
All Others.................................................       77.34
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Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
and analysis performed in this final determination within five days of 
any public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, 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 
section 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, we 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 entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, 
effective July 13, 2020, which is the date of publication of the 
Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. In accordance with 
section 703(d) of the Act, effective November 10, 2020, we instructed 
CBP

[[Page 7539]]

to discontinue the suspension of liquidation of all entries at that 
time, but to continue the suspension of liquidation of all entries 
between July 13, 2020 and November 9, 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 and require a cash deposit of estimated 
countervailing duties for such entries of subject merchandise in the 
amounts indicated above, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act. 
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.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our affirmative determination that countervailable subsidies are 
being provided to producers and exporters of corrosion inhibitors from 
China. 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 corrosion inhibitors from China no 
later than 45 days after our final determination. If the ITC determines 
that material injury or threat of material injury does not exist, this 
proceeding will be terminated and all cash deposits will be refunded. 
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue 
a countervailing duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury 
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties 
subject to an administrative protective order (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/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 which is 
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).

    Dated: January 25, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is tolyltriazole 
and benzotriazole. This includes tolyltriazole and benzotriazole of 
all grades and forms, including their sodium salt forms. 
Tolyltriazole is technically known as Tolyltriazole IUPAC 4,5 methyl 
benzotriazole. It can also be identified as 4,5 methyl 
benzotriazole, tolutriazole, TTA, and TTZ.
    Benzotriazole is technically known as IUPAC 1,2,3-Benzotriazole. 
It can also be identified as 1,2,3-Benzotriazole, 1,2-
Aminozophenylene, lH-Benzotriazole, and BTA.
    All forms of tolyltriazole and benzotriazole, including but not 
limited to flakes, granules, pellets, prills, needles, powder, or 
liquids, are included within the scope of this investigation.
    The scope includes tolyltriazole/sodium tolyltriazole and 
benzotriazole/sodium benzotriazole that are combined or mixed with 
other products. For such combined products, only the tolyltriazole/
sodium tolyltriazole and benzotriazole/sodium benzotriazole 
component is covered by the scope of this investigation. 
Tolyltriazole and sodium tolyltriazole that have been combined with 
other products is included within the scope, regardless of whether 
the combining occurs in third countries.
    Tolyltriazole, sodium tolyltriazole, benzotriazole and sodium 
benzotriazole that is otherwise subject to this investigation is not 
excluded when commingled with tolyltriazole, sodium tolyltriazole, 
benzotriazole, or sodium benzotriazole from sources not subject to 
this investigation. Only the subject merchandise component of such 
commingled products is covered by the scope of this investigation.
    A combination or mixture is excluded from this investigation if 
the total tolyltriazole or benzotriazole component of the 
combination or mixture (regardless of the source or sources) 
comprises less than 5 percent of the combination or mixture, on a 
dry weight basis.
    Notwithstanding the foregoing language, a tolyltriazole or 
benzotriazole combination or mixture that is transformed through a 
chemical reaction into another product, such that, for example, the 
tolyltriazole or benzotriazole can no longer be separated from the 
other products through a distillation or other process is excluded 
from this investigation.
    Tolyltriazole has the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry 
number 299385-43-1. Tolyltriazole is classified under Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading 
2933.99.8220.
    Sodium Tolyltriazole has the CAS registry number 64665-57-2 and 
is classified under HTSUS subheading 2933.99.8290.
    Benzotriazole has the CAS registry number 95-14-7 and is 
classified under HTSUS subheading 2933.99.8210.
    Sodium Benzotriazole has the CAS registry number 15217-42-2. 
Sodium Benzotriazole is classified under HTSUS subheading 
2933.99.8290.
    Although the HTSUS subheadings and CAS registry numbers are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Subsidies Valuation
IV. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
V. Analysis of Programs
VI. Analysis of Comments
    Comment 1: Whether Commerce Should Reconsider the Petitioner's 
Standing to Bring the Investigation
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce Should Renew Suspension of 
Liquidation and Collection of Cash Deposits Prior to the Publication 
of an Affirmative Determination by the ITC
    Comment 3: Countervailability of the Export Buyer's Credit 
Program
    Comment 4: Whether Commerce Should Select a Different Benchmark 
for the Provision of Land-Use Rights for Less Than Adequate 
Remuneration (LTAR) for Encouraged Industries
    Comment 5: Countervailability of the Provision of Electricity 
for LTAR
    Comment 6: Whether the Provision of Ortho Phenylene Diamine for 
LTAR is Specific
    Comment 7: Benchmarks for the Calculation of Inputs for LTAR
    Comment 8: Countervailability of Other Subsidies
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-01976 Filed 1-28-21; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P