[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 96 (Thursday, May 20, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27384-27387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10674]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-129]


Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof 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 that imports 
of certain walk-behind lawn mowers and parts thereof (lawn mowers) 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 May 20, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Baker or Marc Castillo, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2924 or (202) 482-0519, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 30, 2020, Commerce published its Preliminary 
Determination of sales at LTFV of lawn mowers from China.\1\ For a 
complete description of the events that followed the Preliminary 
Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof from 
the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of 
Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 85 FR 
86529 (December 30, 2020) (Preliminary Determination), and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Determination in the Antidumping Investigation of Certain 
Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof from the People's Republic 
of China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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    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/.

Scope Comments

    On December 22, 2020, Commerce issued the Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum in which it determined to modify the language of 
the scope by excluding from the scope of these investigations 
lawnmowers that contain an engine covered by the scope of the ongoing 
AD and CVD proceedings on small vertical engines from China to address 
the overlap in the scopes of these proceedings.\3\ Subsequently, we 
received comments from interested parties regarding the Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum; we address these comments in the Final Scope 
Decision Memorandum.\4\ As a result of our analysis, the scope of the 
investigation, as contained in the Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum, remains unchanged.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Investigations of Lawn Mowers from the People's Republic of China 
and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum,'' dated December 22, 2020 (Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum), uploaded to ACCESS on February 9, 2021.
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty 
Investigations of Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof 
from the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Determinations,'' dated concurrently with this memorandum (Final 
Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain walk-behind 
lawn mowers and parts thereof from the People's Republic of China. For 
a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix 
I.

Verification

    Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verification of the 
information relied upon in making its final determination in this 
investigation.

[[Page 27385]]

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 Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act).\5\
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    \5\ See Commerce's Letter, dated February 26, 2021; see also 
Ningbo Daye Letter, ``Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts 
Thereof from the People's Republic of China, Case No. A-570-129: 
Response to Questions 1-4 of Questionnaire in Lieu of 
Verification,'' dated March 8, 2021; ``Certain Walk-Behind Lawn 
Mowers and Parts Thereof from the People's Republic of China, Case 
No. A-570-129: Response to Questionnaire in Lieu of Verification,'' 
dated March 8, 2021.
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All 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 in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is 
attached to this notice as Appendix II.

Separate Rate Companies

    No party commented on our preliminary separate rate determinations 
with respect to the mandatory respondent and the non-individually 
examined companies, or on the methodology applied to calculate the 
margin for separate rate companies.\6\ Thus, there is no basis to 
reconsider our preliminary determinations with respect to separate rate 
status, and we have continued to grant these parties a separate rate in 
this final determination.
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    \6\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 10-15.
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China-Wide Entity Rate and the Use of Adverse Facts Available

    Commerce continues to find that the use of facts available is 
warranted in determining the rate for the China-wide entity pursuant to 
sections 776(a)(1) and (a)(2)(A)-(C) of the Act. As discussed in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum, Commerce finds that the use of adverse 
facts available (AFA) is warranted with respect to the China-wide 
entity because the China-wide entity did not cooperate to the best of 
its ability to comply with our requests for information and, 
accordingly, we applied adverse inferences in selecting from the facts 
available, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.308(a). 
For the final determination, as AFA, we are assigning to the China-wide 
entity a rate of 274.29 percent, which is a rate from the Petition.\7\ 
We find this rate to be corroborated in accordance with section 776(c) 
of the Act.\8\
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    \7\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitions for the Imposition of 
Antidumping Duties on Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers from the 
People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and 
Countervailing Duties on Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers from the 
People's Republic of China,'' dated May 26, 2020; and Petitioner's 
Letter, ``Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties on 
Imports of Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers from the People's 
Republic of China: Supplemental Questionnaire Response Volume II,'' 
dated June 2, 2020 at Exhibit S-II-6.
    \8\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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Combination Rates

    Consistent with the Preliminary Determination and Policy Bulletin 
05.1,\9\ Commerce calculated combination (producer/exporter) rates for 
the respondents that are eligible for a separate rate in this 
investigation.
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    \9\ 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 on 
Commerce's website at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins exist:

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                                                                                               Cash deposit rate
                                                                          Estimated weighted-    (adjusted for
                 Producer                             Exporter              average dumping    subsidy offsets)
                                                                           margin (percent)        (percent)
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Ningbo Daye Garden Machinery Co., Ltd.....  Ningbo Daye Garden Machinery               98.73               88.14
                                             Co., Ltd.
Chongqing Dajiang Power Equipment Co., Ltd  Chongqing Dajiang Power                    98.73               88.17
                                             Equipment Co., Ltd.
MTD Machinery (Suzhou) Co., Ltd...........  MTD Machinery (Suzhou) Co.,                98.73               88.17
                                             Ltd.
Qianjiang Group Wenling Jennfeng Industry   Sumec Hardware & Tools Co.,                98.73               88.17
 Inc.                                        Ltd.
Sumec Hardware & Tools Co., Ltd...........  Sumec Hardware & Tools Co.,                98.73               88.17
                                             Ltd.
Zhejiang KC Mechanical & Electrical Co.,    Sumec Hardware & Tools Co.,                98.73               88.17
 Ltd.                                        Ltd.
Zhejiang Dobest Power Tools Co., Ltd......  Zhejiang Amerisun Technology               98.73               88.17
                                             Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Dobest Power Tools Co., Ltd......  Zhejiang Dobest Power Tools                98.73               88.17
                                             Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang YAT Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd  Zhejiang YAT Electrical                    98.73               88.17
                                             Appliance Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Zhongjian Technology Co., Ltd....  Zhejiang Zhongjian                         98.73               88.17
                                             Technology Co., Ltd.
China-Wide Entity.........................  ............................              274.29              263.75
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Disclosure

    We intend to disclose to parties in this proceeding the 
calculations performed for this 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).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of lawn mowers from 
China, as described in the appendix to this notice, which were entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after December 30, 
2020, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination of this 
investigation in the Federal Register. 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 the normal value exceeds U.S. price as 
follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the exporter/producer 
combinations listed in the table above will be the rate identified in 
the table; (2) for all combinations of Chinese exporters/producers of 
subject merchandise that have not received their own separate rate 
above, the cash deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate established 
for the China-wide entity; and (3) for all non-Chinese exporters of 
subject merchandise which have not received their own separate rate 
above, the cash deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate applicable 
to the Chinese exporter/producer combination that supplied that non-
Chinese exporter. These suspension of liquidation instructions will 
remain in effect until further notice.
    To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the 
estimated weighted--average dumping

[[Page 27386]]

margin by the amount of domestic subsidy pass-through and export 
subsidies determined in a companion countervailing duty (CVD) 
proceeding when CVD provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly, 
where Commerce makes an affirmative determination for domestic subsidy 
pass-through or export subsidies, Commerce offsets the calculated 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate rates. In 
this final determination, we have determined that parties have not met 
the criteria to qualify for a domestic pass-through adjustment.\10\ 
However, we have continued to adjust the cash deposit rates for Ningbo 
Daye, all non-individually-examined companies, and the China-wide 
entity for export subsidies found in the companion CVD investigation by 
the appropriate export subsidy rates \11\ as indicated in the above 
chart. However, suspension of liquidation of provisional measures in 
the companion CVD case has been discontinued effective February 27, 
2021; \12\ therefore, we are not instructing CBP to collect cash 
deposits based upon the adjusted estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin for those export subsidies at this time.
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    \10\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain 
Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers from the People's Republic of China; Post-
Preliminary Determination,'' dated February 11, 2021 at 3; Issues 
and Decision Memorandum at ``Adjustment under Section 777A(f) of the 
Act.''
    \11\ See Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof from 
the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination, dated concurrently with this notice.
    \12\ See instructions issued to CBP, Message Number 1060404, 
dated 03/01/2021, publicly available at https://aceservices.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb/#.
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. We will 
allow the ITC access to all privileged and business proprietary 
information in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not 
disclose such information, either publicly or under an administrative 
protective order (APO), without the written consent of the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance. Because the final 
determination in this proceeding 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 of 
subject merchandise from China no later than 45 days after our 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 AD 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.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 
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 the 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 violation 
subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: May 14, 2021.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation consists of 
certain rotary walk-behind lawn mowers, which are grass-cutting 
machines that are powered by internal combustion engines. The scope 
of this investigation covers certain walk-behind lawn mowers, 
whether self-propelled or non-self-propelled, whether finished or 
unfinished, whether assembled or unassembled, and whether containing 
any additional features that provide for functions in addition to 
mowing.
    Walk-behind lawn mowers within the scope of this investigation 
are only those powered by an internal combustion engine with a power 
rating of less than 3.7 kilowatts. These internal combustion engines 
are typically spark ignition, single or multiple cylinder, air 
cooled, internal combustion engines with vertical power take off 
shafts with a maximum displacement of 196cc. Walk-behind lawn mowers 
covered by this scope typically must be certified and comply with 
the Consumer Products Safety Commission Safety Standard For Walk-
Behind Power Lawn Mowers under 16 CFR part 1205. However, lawn 
mowers that meet the physical descriptions above, but are not 
certified under 16 CFR part 1205 remain subject to the scope of this 
proceeding.
    The internal combustion engines of the lawn mowers covered by 
this scope typically must comply with and be certified under 
Environmental Protection Agency air pollution controls title 40, 
chapter I, subchapter U, part 1054 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations standards for small non-road spark-ignition engines and 
equipment. However, lawn mowers that meet the physical descriptions 
above but that do not have engines certified under 40 CFR part 1054 
or other parts of subchapter U remain subject to the scope of this 
proceeding.
    For purposes of this investigation, an unfinished and/or 
unassembled lawn mower means, at a minimum, a sub-assembly comprised 
of an engine and a cutting deck shell attached to one another. A 
cutting deck shell is the portion of the lawn mower--typically of 
aluminum or steel--that houses and protects a user from a rotating 
blade. Importation of the subassembly whether or not accompanied by, 
or attached to, additional components such as a handle, blade(s), 
grass catching bag, or wheel(s) constitute an unfinished lawn mower 
for purposes of this investigation. The inclusion in a third country 
of any components other than the mower subassembly does not remove 
the lawn mower from the scope. Lawn mowers that meet the physical 
description above are covered by the scope of this investigation 
regardless of the origin of its engine, unless such lawn mowers 
contain an engine that is covered by the scope of the ongoing 
proceedings on certain vertical shaft engines between 99cc and up to 
225cc, and parts thereof (small vertical engines) from China. If the 
proceedings on small vertical engines from China are terminated, the 
lawn mowers containing small vertical engines from China will be 
covered by the scope of this proceeding.
    The lawn mowers subject to this investigation are typically at 
subheading: 8433.11.0050. Lawn mowers subject to this investigation 
may also enter under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) 8407.90.1010 and 8433.90.1090. The HTSUS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes only, and the written 
description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.

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

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope Comments
V. Scope of the Investigation
VI. China-Wide Rate
VII. Adjustment Under Section 777A(f) of the Act
VIII. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies
IX. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
X. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Financial Statements
    Comment 2: Global Trade Atlas (GTA) Data from Turkey
    Comment 3: Surrogate Value for Grass Catcher Bags

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    Comment 4: Movement Expense Adjustments to Import Statistics
    Comment 5: Surrogate Value for Triangle Belt
    Comment 6: Ministerial Errors
    Comment 7: Close-Supplier Relationship
    Comment 8: Due Process
    Comment 9: Assignment of Fujian Spring to the China-Wide Entity
XI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-10674 Filed 5-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P