[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 93 (Monday, May 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26697-26699]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10264]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-427-831]


Methionine From France: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value and Final Partial Determination of Critical Circumstances

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports 
of methionine from France are being, or are likely to be, sold in the 
United States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period of 
investigation July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020. Further, Commerce 
determines that critical circumstances exist for Adisseo France SAS and 
Commentary.

DATES: Applicable May 17, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zachary Shaykin, 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) 482-2638.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 26698]]

Background

    On March 4, 2021, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of 
methionine from France.\1\ Commerce invited interested parties to 
comment on the Preliminary Determination. A summary of the events that 
occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, may be 
found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value and Partial Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, 86 FR 12627 (March 4, 2021) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Methionine from France,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is methionine from 
France. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    Commerce did not receive scope comments from interested parties 
during the course of this investigation. Therefore, Commerce is not 
modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Preliminary 
Determination. See Appendix I for the final scope of the investigation.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the sections of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum are in Appendix II of this notice. The Issues and 
Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically 
via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete 
version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn.

Verification

    Because Adisseo France SAS and Commentry (collectively, Adisseo) 
stated prior to the Preliminary Determination that it would not 
continue to respond to Commerce's request for information, we did not 
conduct a verification of Adisseo's information.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    In the Preliminary Determination, Commerce found that Adisseo 
failed to comply with Commerce's request for information, which 
significantly impeded the investigation. Further, Commerce found that 
Adisseo failed to cooperate to the best of its ability in this 
investigation. Therefore, in the Preliminary Determination, pursuant to 
sections 776(a) and (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act), Commerce assigned Adisseo an estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin based on adverse facts available (AFA). We have continued to 
find that the application of AFA, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) 
of the Act is warranted in determining Adisseo's estimated weighted-
average dumping margin.
    In the Preliminary Determination, as AFA, we assigned Adisseo, as 
an estimated weighted-average dumping margin, a rate equal to the 
highest individual dumping margin based on an average-to-average 
comparison and based on the record information submitted by Adisseo. 
Because this rate is not secondary information, but rather is based on 
information obtained in the course of the investigation, Commerce need 
not corroborate this rate pursuant to section 776(c) of the Act.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters 
not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated excluding rates that 
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act. Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters and 
producers individually examined are zero, de minimis or determined 
based entirely on facts otherwise available, Commerce may use any 
reasonable method to establish the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin for all other producers or exporters.
    Commerce has determined the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin for the sole respondent, Adisseo, entirely under section 776 of 
the Act. Consequently, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, 
Commerce's normal practice under these circumstances has been to 
calculate the all-others rate as a simple average of the alleged 
dumping margins from the petition.\3\ However, there is only one 
dumping margin alleged in the petition (i.e., 16.17 percent) for this 
investigation. Therefore, we used that rate as the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters, (i.e., 
all-others rate).
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    \3\ See, e.g., Notice of Preliminary Determinations of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of 
Germany, 73 FR 21909, 21912 (April 23, 2008), unchanged in Notice of 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite 
from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 38986, 38987 (July 8, 
2008), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2; 
see also Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Raw Flexible Magnets from Taiwan, 73 FR 39673, 39674 (July 
10, 2008); Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 
79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from 
Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 
14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014); and Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin 
from Pakistan: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
83 FR 48281, 48282 (September 24, 2018).
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Final Partial Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    Consistent with the Preliminary Determination \4\ and in accordance 
with section 773(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, Commerce continues 
to determine that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports 
of methionine produced and exported by Adisseo. Furthermore, Commerce 
continues to find that critical circumstances do not exist with respect 
to imports of methionine produced and exported by all other producers 
and exporters from France.\5\
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    \4\ See Preliminary Determination at 12628.
    \5\ Id.
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Final Determination

    Pursuant to section 735 of the Act, the final estimated weighted-
average dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Estimated
                                                               weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter or producer                        dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adisseo France SAS and Commentry............................       43.82
All Others..................................................       16.17
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Disclosure

    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with a final determination, in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because

[[Page 26699]]

Commerce made no changes to the margin calculations in the Preliminary 
Determination, there are no new calculations to disclose.\6\
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    \6\ See Commerce's Memorandum, ``Final Determination in the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Methionine from France: AFA Rate 
for Adisseo France SAS,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of methionine from 
France, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after March 4, 2021 
the date of publication in the Federal Register of the affirmative 
Preliminary Determination.
    Section 735(c)(4) of the Act provides that if there is an 
affirmative determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of 
liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
later of: (a) The date which is 90 days before the date on which the 
suspension of liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the date on which 
notice of initiation of the investigation was published. As noted 
above, Commerce finds that critical circumstances exist for imports of 
subject merchandise produced and exported by Adisseo. Therefore, in 
accordance with section 735(c)(4) of the Act, suspension of liquidation 
shall continue to apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise 
produced and exported by Adisseo that were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date which is 90 days before 
the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal 
Register.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), we will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for such 
entries of merchandise equal to the following: (1) The cash deposit 
rate for Adisseo will be equal to the respondent-specific estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin listed for Adisseo in the table; (2) if 
the exporter is not identified in the table above but Adisseo is the 
producer, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the respondent-
specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for 
Adisseo; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and 
exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin listed in the table above.
    These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of this 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 methionine from France no later than 45 days 
after this final determination. If the ITC determines that such injury 
does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, all cash deposits 
posted will be refunded, and suspension of liquidation will be lifted. 
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 the 
subject merchandise 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 disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). 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 the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

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

    Dated: May 10, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is methionine and 
dl-Hydroxy analogue of dl-methionine, also known as 2-Hydroxy 4-
(Methylthio) Butanoic acid (HMTBa), regardless of purity, particle 
size, grade, or physical form. Methionine has the chemical formula 
C5H11NO2S, liquid HMTBa has the 
chemical formula C5H10O3S, and dry 
HMTBa has the chemical formula 
(C5H9O3S)2Ca.
    Subject merchandise also includes methionine processed in a 
third country including, but not limited to, refining, converting 
from liquid to dry or dry to liquid form, or any other processing 
that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of 
this investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the 
in-scope methionine or dl-Hydroxy analogue of dl-methionine.
    The scope also includes methionine that is commingled (i.e., 
mixed or combined) with methionine from sources not subject to this 
investigation. Only the subject component of such commingled 
products is covered by the scope of this investigation.
    Excluded from this investigation is United States Pharmacopoeia 
(USP) grade methionine. In order to qualify for this exclusion, USP 
grade methionine must meet or exceed all of the chemical, purity, 
performance, and labeling requirements of the United States 
Pharmacopeia and the National Formulary for USP grade methionine.
    Methionine is currently classified under subheadings 
2930.40.00.00 and 2930.90.46.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS). Methionine has the Chemical Abstracts 
Service (CAS) registry numbers 583-91-5, 4857-44-7, 59-51-8 and 922-
50-9. While the HTSUS subheadings and CAS registry number are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Sections in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Final Partial Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances
IV. Discussion of the Issue: Whether To Retain Adisseo's BPI on the 
Record
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-10264 Filed 5-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P