[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10925-10926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03620]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-919]


Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide From the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Rescission of the Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review; 2018-2019

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is preliminarily 
rescinding this administrative review. The period of review (POR) is 
October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on this preliminary rescission.

DATES: Applicable February 23, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Krisha Hill, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4037.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 11, 2019, Commerce published a notice of initiation of 
the 2018--2019 administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order 
on electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) from the People's Republic of 
China (China) with respect to one company, Duracell (China) Limited 
(DCL).\1\ Commerce subsequently issued an AD questionnaire, and 
supplemental questionnaires, to DCL and received timely responses 
thereto. For additional background, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 84 FR 67712 (December 11, 2019).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the 2018-2019 Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of 
Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide from the People's Republic of 
China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the order includes all manganese dioxide 
(MnO2) that has been manufactured in an electrolysis process, whether 
in powder, chip, or plate form. Excluded from the scope are natural 
manganese dioxide (NMD) and chemical manganese dioxide (CMD). The 
merchandise subject to the order is classified in the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) at subheading 2820.10.00.00. 
While the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the written description of the scope of the order is 
dispositive.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(B) and (2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). 
For a full description of the methodology underlying our decision, see 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of the sections in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached in the appendix to this 
notice. The Preliminary 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 Preliminary Decision Memorandum can 
be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed 
and electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.

Preliminary Rescission of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

    As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce 
preliminarily finds that DCL, and its U.S. affiliates, did not sell 
subject merchandise to unaffiliated U.S. customers during the POR and 
could not trace the POR entry of EMD, which was used to manufacture 
batteries in the United States, to particular battery sales to 
unaffiliated U.S. customers.\3\ Therefore, we are preliminarily 
rescinding this review, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).
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    \3\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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Public Comment

    Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary 
results of this review. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii), 
interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 30 days after 
the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be 
filed no later than seven days after the deadline for filing case 
briefs.\4\ Parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs are requested to 
submit with each brief: (1) A statement of the issue, (2) a brief 
summary of the argument, and (3) a table of authorities.\5\ Executive 
summaries should be limited to five pages total, including 
footnotes.\6\ All submissions, with limited exceptions, must be filed 
electronically using ACCESS.\7\ Electronically filed documents must be 
received successfully in their entirety by Commerce's electronic 
records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the due date. 
Note that Commerce has temporarily modified certain of its requirements 
for serving documents

[[Page 10926]]

containing business proprietary information, until further notice.\8\
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    \4\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements Due 
to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 10, 
2020) (Temporary Rule).
    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \6\ Id.
    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
    \8\ See Temporary Rule.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), any interested party may request a 
hearing within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register. If a hearing is requested, Commerce will notify 
interested parties of the hearing date and time. Interested parties who 
wish to request a hearing must submit a written request to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed 
electronically via ACCESS within 30 days after the date of publication 
of this notice in the Federal Register. Hearing requests should 
contain: (1) The requestor company's name, address, and telephone 
number; (2) the number of hearing participants from the company; and 
(3) a list of the issues the company will discuss in the hearing. 
Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to issues covered in the 
case and rebuttal briefs.
    Unless otherwise extended, Commerce intends to issue the final 
results of this review, which will include the results of its analysis 
of issues raised in any case and rebuttal briefs, no later than 120 
days after the date these preliminary results of review are published 
in the Federal Register, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

    If Commerce proceeds to a final rescission of this administrative 
review, any suspended entries of subject merchandise from DCL will be 
liquidated at the rate at which they entered, which was the China-wide 
entity rate (i.e., 149.92 percent). If Commerce does not proceed to a 
final rescission of this administrative review, pursuant to section 
751(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), Commerce will 
calculate importer-specific (or customer-specific) assessment rates 
based on the final results of this review. However, pursuant to 
Commerce's practice in non-market economy cases, if Commerce does not 
proceed to a final rescission of this administrative review, for POR 
entries of EMD not related to sales reported in DCL's U.S. sales 
database, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) to liquidate such entries at the China-wide entity rate.
    Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier 
than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results of this 
review in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at the 
U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will 
direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties 
to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within 
90 days of publication).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    If Commerce proceeds to a final rescission of this administrative 
review, DCL's cash deposit rate will continue to be the China-wide 
entity rate of 149.92 percent. If Commerce does not proceed to a final 
rescission of this administrative review, but calculates a dumping 
margin for DCL, Commerce will instruct CBP to collect a cash deposit 
upon publication of the final results of review in the Federal 
Register, equal to the dumping margin calculated for DCL.

Notification to Importers

    This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of doubled antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

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

Appendix

List of Sections in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Preliminary Rescission of the Review
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-03620 Filed 2-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P