[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 33 (Monday, February 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10536-10539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03513]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-131]


Twist Ties From the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines twist ties 
from the People's Republic of China (China) are being, or are likely to 
be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The 
period of investigation is October 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020.

DATES: Applicable February 22, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex Wood, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1959.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background
    This final determination is made in accordance with section 735(a) 
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). On December 10, 2020, 
Commerce published in the Federal Register its preliminary affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV of twist ties from China.\1\ On December 
10, 2020, Commerce published in the Federal Register its preliminary 
affirmative determination of sales at LTFV in the antidumping duty (AD) 
investigation of twist ties from China.\2\ We invited interested 
parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination. On January 11, 
2021, we received a case brief from Tianjin Kyoei Packaging Supplies 
Co., Ltd. (Kyoei).\3\ On January 19, 2021, we received a rebuttal brief 
from Bedford Industries, Inc. (the petitioner).\4\
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    \1\ See Twist Ties from the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 85 FR 79468 (December 10, 2020) (Preliminary Determination), 
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
    \2\ See Twist Ties from the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 85 FR 79468 (December 10, 2020) (Preliminary Determination), 
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
    \3\ See Kyoei's Letter, ``Twist Ties from the People's Republic 
of China: Kyoei's Case Brief,'' dated January 11, 2021.
    \4\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of 
Twist Ties from China; Preliminary Determination--Petitioner's 
Rebuttal Case Brief,'' dated January 19, 2021.

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[[Page 10537]]

    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues 
raised by parties for this final determination, see the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.\5\ 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 of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Twist Ties from the People's Republic of China,'' 
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues 
and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are twist ties from 
China. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix I to this notice.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this and the concurrent countervailing duty 
(CVD) investigation, Commerce received scope comments from interested 
parties. Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum to 
address these comments and invited parties to comment on this 
memorandum.\6\ No interested party submitted comments on the 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum. Therefore, for this final 
determination, the scope of this investigation remains unchanged from 
that published in the Preliminary Determination.
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Investigations of Twist Ties from the People's Republic of China: 
Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determinations,'' dated November 23, 2020 (Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum).
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case brief submitted by Kyoei in this 
investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A 
list of the issues addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is 
attached to this notice at Appendix II.

China-Wide Entity

    For the reasons explained in the Preliminary Determination, we are 
continuing to find that the use of adverse facts available (AFA), 
pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, is appropriate and are 
applying a rate based entirely on AFA to the China-wide entity. \7\ The 
China-wide entity includes mandatory respondents Zhenjiang Hongda 
Commodity Co., Ltd. (Zhenjiang Hongda) and Zhenjiang Zhonglian I/E Co., 
Ltd. (Zhenjiang Zhonglian).\8\ These companies failed to respond to 
Commerce's requests for information and withdrew from participation in 
this investigation. As these non-responsive companies did not 
demonstrate that they are eligible for separate rate status, Commerce 
continues to consider them to be part of the China-wide entity. 
Consequently, we continue to find that the China-wide entity, which 
includes these non-responsive companies, withheld requested 
information, significantly impeded this proceeding, and failed to 
cooperate to the best of its ability.
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    \7\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 9-13.
    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of 
Twist Ties from the People's Republic of China: Respondent 
Selection,'' dated August 17, 2020; and Zhenjiang Hongda and 
Zhenjiang Zhonglian's Letter, ``Twist Ties from the People's 
Republic of China: Withdrawal of Zhenjiang Hongda and Zhenjiang 
Zhonglian from the Antidumping Duty Investigation and Counsel's 
Certification of Compliance with the Terms of the APO,'' dated 
August 24, 2020.
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China-Wide Rate

    We continue to find that the use of AFA, pursuant to sections 
776(a) and (b) of the Act, is warranted in determining the rate for the 
China-wide entity.\9\ In selecting the AFA rate for the China-wide 
entity, Commerce's practice is to select a rate that is sufficiently 
adverse to ensure that the uncooperative party does not obtain a more 
favorable result by failing to cooperate than if it had fully 
cooperated.\10\ Specifically, it is Commerce's practice to select, as 
an AFA rate, the higher of: (a) the highest dumping margin alleged in 
the petition; or (b) the highest calculated dumping margin of any 
respondent in the investigation.\11\ There are no respondents for which 
we are calculating a separate dumping margin for the final 
determination. Therefore, the highest (and only) rate on the record of 
the proceeding is the rate found in the Petition,\12\ which is the only 
information reasonably at Commerce's disposal to determine a rate that 
is sufficiently adverse to induce cooperation.\13\
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    \9\ The China-wide entity includes those companies who did not 
submit a separate rate application, and those companies Commerce 
determined were ineligible to receive a separate rate.
    \10\ See, e.g., Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination: 
Purified Carboxymethyl Cellulose from Finland, 69 FR 77216 (December 
27, 2004), unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value: Purified Carboxymethyl Cellulose from Finland, 
70 FR 28279 (May 17, 2005).
    \11\ See Silicon Metal from Australia: Affirmative Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances in Part, 83 FR 9839 (March 
8, 2018), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum (IDM) at 
Comment 1.
    \12\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petition for the Imposition of 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Twist Ties from China,'' 
dated June 26, 2020 (the Petition).
    \13\ See, e.g., Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and Derivative 
Products from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 83 FR 31949 (July 
10, 2018), and accompanying PDM, unchanged in Sodium Gluconate, 
Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products from the People's Republic of 
China: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 83 FR 47876 (September 21, 2018), and accompanying IDM; and 
Certain Hardwood Plywood Products from the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, in Part, 82 FR 28629 (June 23, 2017), and 
accompanying PDM at pages 31-32, revised in Certain Hardwood Plywood 
Products from the People's Republic of China: Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Final Affirmative Determination 
of Critical Circumstances, in Part, 82 FR 53460 (November 16, 2017) 
(calculating a higher rate than the highest Petition rate to apply 
as the AFA rate in the final determination)).
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    Thus, as AFA, Commerce assigned to the China-wide entity the rate 
of 72.96 percent, which is the sole dumping margin alleged in the 
Petition.\14\
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    \14\ See Petition; and Twist Ties from the People's Republic of 
China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 85 FR 45161 
(July 27, 2020) (Initiation Notice), and accompanying Antidumping 
Duty Investigation Initiation Checklist.
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Separate Rates

    For the final determination, we continue to find that the evidence 
placed on the record of this investigation by Kyoei and Rongfa Plastic 
Products Co., Ltd. (also known as Zhenjiang Rongfa Plastic Co., Ltd) 
(Rongfa) \15\ demonstrates an absence of de jure and de facto 
government control. Accordingly, consistent with the Preliminary 
Determination, Commerce continues to assign Kyoei and Rongfa a separate 
rate, which is the petition rate because it is the only rate available 
on the record of this proceeding. For a full description of the 
methodology underlying Commerce's final

[[Page 10538]]

determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \15\ See Kyoei's Letter, ``Twist Ties from the People's Republic 
of China: Separate Rate Application,'' dated September 2, 2020; and 
Rongfa's Letter, ``Rongfa Separate Rate Application: Antidumping 
Duty Investigation of Twist Ties from the People's Republic of China 
(A-570-131),'' dated September 2, 2020.
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Combination Rates

    In the Initiation Notice, Commerce stated that it would calculate 
producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that are 
eligible for a separate rate in this investigation.\16\ Policy Bulletin 
05.1 describes this practice.\17\ Accordingly, we have assigned 
combination rates to certain companies, as provided in the ``Final 
Determination'' section below. Because Commerce determined that the 
mandatory respondents originally selected are not eligible for separate 
rate status and, thus, should be considered part of the China-wide 
entity and assigned, as AFA, the petition rate to the China-wide 
entity, Commerce did not calculate producer/exporter combination rates 
for those respondents.
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    \16\ See Initiation Notice, 85 FR at 45164.
    \17\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1, 
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination 
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy 
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available at 
http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Final Determination

    Commerce determines that twist ties from China are being, or are 
likely to be, sold in the United States at LTFV, and that the following 
dumping margins exist:

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                                                                                              Cash deposit rate
                                                                      Estimated  weighted-      (adjusted for
               Exporter                           Producer              average  dumping      subsidy offsets)
                                                                        margin  (percent)         (percent)
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Rongfa Plastic Products Co., Ltd.      Rongfa Plastic Products Co.,                  72.96                 62.42
 (also known as Zhenjiang Rongfa        Ltd. (also known as
 Plastic Co., Ltd).                     Zhenjiang Rongfa Plastic
                                        Co., Ltd).
Tianjin Kyoei Packaging Supplies Co.,  Tianjin Kyoei Packaging                       72.96                 62.42
 Ltd.                                   Supplies Co., Ltd..
China-wide Entity \18\...............  .............................                 72.96                 62.42
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Disclosure
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    \18\ The China-wide Entity includes Zhenjiang Hongda and 
Zhenjiang Zhonglian.
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    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with a final determination within five days of 
any public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within 
five days of the date of publication of the notice of final 
determination in the Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b). However, because Commerce applied AFA to the China-wide 
entity (which includes the companies subject to individual examination) 
in this investigation, in accordance with section 776 of the Act, and 
the applied AFA rate, as well as the separate rate, are based solely on 
the Petition, there are no calculations to disclose.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of twist ties from China, as described in 
Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after December 10, 2020, the date of 
publication in the Federal Register of the affirmative Preliminary 
Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, upon the 
publication of this notice, Commerce will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by which normal value 
exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the 
exporter/producer combination listed in the table above will be the 
rate identified for that combination; (2) for all combinations of 
producers/exporters of merchandise under consideration that have not 
received their own separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be the 
cash deposit rate established for the China-wide entity; and (3) for 
all non-Chinese exporters of the merchandise under consideration which 
have not received their own separate rate, the cash deposit rate will 
be the cash deposit rate applicable to the Chinese exporter/producer 
combination that supplied that non-Chinese exporter.
    To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of domestic 
subsidy pass-through and export subsidies determined in a companion CVD 
proceeding where appropriate. Accordingly, because Commerce made a 
final affirmative determination for export subsidies in the companion 
CVD investigation, we offset the calculated estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins by the appropriate export subsidy rates \19\ as 
indicated in the above chart. These suspension-of-liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \19\ The export subsidy rate determined in the final 
determination of the companion CVD investigation is 10.54 percent. 
See Twist Ties from the People's Republic of China: Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination (unpublished and dated 
concurrently with this memorandum); unchanged from Twist Ties From 
the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final 
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 85 FR 77167 
(December 1, 2020), and accompanying PDM at 13-14.
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination 
is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) 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 or sales (or the likelihood of 
sales) for importation of twist ties from China, no later than 45 days 
after this final determination. If the ITC determines that such injury 
does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated and all cash 
deposits posted will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such 
injury does exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order 
directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, 
antidumping duties on all imports of twist ties from China 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

    This notice will serve as a final reminder to the parties subject 
to administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the

[[Page 10539]]

disposition of propriety information disclosed under APO in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely written notification of 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 sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: February 16, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation consists of twist 
ties, which are thin, bendable ties for closing containers, such as 
bags, bundle items, or identifying objects. A twist tie in most 
circumstances is comprised of one or more metal wires encased in a 
covering material, which allows the tie to retain its shape and bind 
against itself. However, it is possible to make a twist tie with 
plastic and no metal wires. The metal wire that is generally used in 
a twist tie is stainless or galvanized steel and typically measures 
between the gauges of 19 (.0410' diameter) and 31 (.0132') (American 
Standard Wire Gauge). A twist tie usually has a width between .075' 
and 1' in the cross-machine direction (width of the tie--measurement 
perpendicular with the wire); a thickness between .015' and .045' 
over the wire; and a thickness between .002' and .020' in areas 
without wire. The scope includes an all-plastic twist tie containing 
a plastic core as well as a plastic covering (the wing) over the 
core, just like paper and/or plastic in a metal tie. An all-plastic 
twist tie (without metal wire) would be of the same measurements as 
a twist tie containing one or more metal wires. Twist ties are 
commonly available individually in pre-cut lengths (``singles''), 
wound in large spools to be cut later by machine or hand, or in 
perforated sheets of spooled or single twist ties that are later 
slit by machine or by hand (``gangs'').
    The covering material of a twist tie may be paper (metallic or 
plain), or plastic, and can be dyed in a variety of colors with or 
without printing. A twist tie may have the same covering material on 
both sides or one side of paper and one side of plastic. When 
comprised of two sides of paper, the paper material is bound 
together with an adhesive or plastic. A twist tie may also have a 
tag or label attached to it or a pre-applied adhesive attached to 
it.
    Excluded from the scope of the investigation are twist ties 
packaged with bags for sale together where the quantity of twist 
ties does not exceed twice the number of bags in each package. Also 
excluded are twists ties that constitute part of the packaging of 
the imported product, for example, merchandise anchored/secured to a 
backing with twist ties in the retail package or a bag of bread that 
is closed with a twist tie.
    Twist ties are imported into the United States under Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 
8309.90.0000 and 5609.00.3000. Subject merchandise may also enter 
under HTSUS subheadings 3920.51.5000, 3923.90.0080, 3926.90.9990, 
4811.59.6000, 4821.10.2000, 4821.10.4000, 4821.90.2000, 
4821.90.4000, and 4823.90.8600. These HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for reference only. The written description of the scope of the 
investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Determining the Separate Rate
    Comment 2: Respondent Selection
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-03513 Filed 2-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P