[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 168 (Thursday, September 2, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49306-49308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18991]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-095]


Aluminum Wire and Cable From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2019-
2020

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on aluminum 
wire and cable from the People's Republic of China (China) covering the 
period June 5, 2019, through November 30, 2020. We preliminarily 
determine that ICF Cable and Jin Tiong Electrical Materials 
Manufacturer PTE, Limited (Jin Tiong) are not eligible for a separate 
rate, and, therefore, are part of the China-wide entity. Interested 
parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable September 2, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean Carey, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3964.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 23, 2019, Commerce published the AD order on aluminum 
wire and cable from China.\1\ On February 4, 2021, Commerce initiated 
the administrative review of the AD order on aluminum wire and cable 
from China covering the period June 5, 2019, through November 30, 
2020.\2\ The petitioners in this proceeding are Encore Wire Corporation 
(Encore) and Southwire Company, LLC (Southwire).\3\ This review covers 
two producers or exporters of subject merchandise: ICF Cable and Jin 
Tiong.
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    \1\ See Aluminum Wire and Cable from the People's Republic of 
China: Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders, 84 FR 70496 
(December 23, 2019) (Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 86 FR 8166 (February 4, 2021) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \3\ See Aluminum Wire and Cable from the People's Republic of 
China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 83 FR 52811 
(October 18, 2018).
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    On February 10, 2021, Commerce released U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) entry data for U.S. imports of aluminum wire and cable 
from China during the POR that were subject to the Order during the 
POR.\4\ Encore, one of the petitioners, submitted comments on the CBP 
entry data and respondent selection on February 17, 2021.\5\
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Release of U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection Data,'' dated February 10, 2021.
    \5\ See Encore's Letter, ``Aluminum Wire and Cable from the 
People's Republic of China: Comments on Customs Data and Respondent 
Selection,'' dated February 17, 2021.
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    On July 28, 2021, Commerce determined that it had erroneously 
issued its questionnaire to Jin Tiong \6\ (see ``Preliminary Results of 
Administrative Review'' section, below), and, accordingly, withdrew the 
questionnaire and removed it from the record.\7\ Jin Tiong objected to 
Commerce's decision to withdraw the questionnaire on July 30, 2021.\8\ 
On August 5, 2021, Jin Tiong submitted a section A questionnaire 
response. Southwire, one of the petitioners, submitted comments on 
August 9, 2021, requesting Commerce to remove Jin Tiong's section A 
questionnaire response from the record.\9\ On August 16, 2021, Commerce 
rejected Jin Tiong's Section A questionnaire and removed it from the 
record.\10\
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Administrative Review of the Antidumping 
Duty Order of Aluminum Wire and Cable from the People's Republic of 
China; 2019-2020--Rescission of Questionnaire Issued to Jin Tiong 
Electrical Materials Manufacturer PTE, Limited,'' dated July 28, 
2020.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Administrative Review of the Antidumping 
Duty Order of Aluminum Wire and Cable from the People's Republic of 
China; Removal of Questionnaire Issued to Jin Tiong Electrical 
Materials Manufacturer PTE, Limited,'' dated July 29, 2021.
    \8\ See Jin Tiong's letter, ``Aluminum Wire and Cable from the 
People's Republic of China, A-570-095; Objection to Withdrawal of 
Questionnaire,'' dated July 30, 2021.
    \9\ See Southwire's Letter, ``Aluminum Wire and Cable from the 
People's Republic of China: Response to Jin Tiong's Objection to 
Withdrawal of Questionnaire; Request that the Department Reject Jin 
Tiong's Section A Questionnaire Response,'' dated August 9, 2021.
    \10\ See Memorandum, ``Administrative Review of the Antidumping 
Duty Order of Aluminum Wire and Cable from the People's Republic of 
China; Rejection and Removal of Jin Tiong Electrical Materials 
Manufacturer PTE, Limited's Unsolicited Section A Questionnaire 
Response,'' dated August 16, 2021.
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this Order are aluminum wire and cable from 
China. For a full description of the

[[Page 49307]]

scope of this Order, see ``Scope of the Order,'' in the attached 
appendix.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this administrative review in accordance 
with section 751(a)(1)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act), and 19 CFR 351.213.

Preliminary Results of Administrative Review

    Commerce considers China to be a non-market economy (NME) 
country.\11\ In accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, any 
determination that a foreign country is an NME country shall remain in 
effect until revoked by Commerce. Therefore, we continue to treat China 
as an NME country for the purposes of these preliminary results.
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    \11\ See Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Aluminum Foil 
from the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination, 82 FR 50858, 50861 (November 2, 2017), and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 8, unchanged in 
Certain Aluminum Foil from the People's Republic of China: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 83 FR 9282 (March 5, 
2018).
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    ICF Cable and Jin Tiong are the companies subject to this review. 
In the Initiation Notice, Commerce explained:

    In proceedings involving non-market economy (NME) countries, 
Commerce begins with a rebuttable presumption that all companies 
within the country are subject to government control and, thus, 
should be assigned a single antidumping duty deposit rate. It is 
Commerce's policy to assign all exporters of merchandise subject to 
an administrative review in an NME country this single rate unless 
an exporter can demonstrate that it is sufficiently independent so 
as to be entitled to a separate rate.
* * * * *
    All firms listed {in the Initiation Notice{time}  that wish to 
qualify for separate rate status in the administrative reviews 
involving NME countries must complete, as appropriate, either a 
separate rate application or certification, as described below.'' 
\12\
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    \12\ See Initiation Notice, 86 FR at 8167.

    Commerce also stated that either a separate rate certification or a 
separate rate application, as appropriate, is due from each company no 
later than 30 days after publication of the Initiation Notice, noting 
that the deadline ``applies equally to NME-owned firms, wholly foreign-
owned firms, and foreign sellers who purchase and export subject 
merchandise to the United States.'' \13\ Thus, the deadline for the 
submission of a separate rate certification or separate rate 
application in this review was March 16, 2021.
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    \13\ Id.
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    The instructions for filing a separate rate application clearly 
state that each exporter is required to submit the necessary 
information needed to determine a company's eligibility for separate 
rate consideration:

    Exporters, whether or not located in the NME country, owned 
wholly by entities located in market-economy countries, provided 
that the ultimate owners are also located in market-economy 
countries (``wholly market-economy owned firms''), need only fill 
out the certifications contained in this application and provide 
supporting documentation for the fields in the application that are 
marked with an asterisk, ``*.'' These marked fields pertain to the 
firm's eligibility for separate rates consideration and support the 
firm's claim that it is in fact wholly owned by a market-economy 
entity. This information is also necessary for administration once a 
separate rate has been issued.\14\
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    \14\ See ``People's Republic of China (`China') Separate Rate 
Application and Required Supporting Documentation,'' available at 
https://enforcement.trade.gov/nme/sep-rate-files/app-20190221/prc-sr-app-022119.pdf, at 3.

    Therefore, there is no basis for Jin Tiong's claim that it was 
exempt from filing a separate rate application based on it being 
located in Singapore, a market-economy country. The separate rate 
application clearly instructs such a company to provide the necessary 
information to demonstrate that it is wholly foreign owned.
    Further, in the Initiation Notice, Commerce explained that 
``{f{time} or exporters and producers who submit a Separate Rate 
Application or Certification and subsequently are selected as mandatory 
respondents, these exporters and producers will no longer be eligible 
for separate rate status unless they respond to all parts of the 
questionnaire as mandatory respondents.'' \15\ Commerce thus notified 
the respondents under review that it would select respondents for 
individual examination from those companies that had submitted a 
separate rate application or certification (as applicable). Commerce 
did not receive a separate rate application from either ICF Cable or 
Jin Tiong.\16\ Therefore, absent the submission of the required 
information necessary to establish whether any exporter is independent 
from the control of the government of the subject NME, i.e., China, Jin 
Tong was not eligible for individual examination in this administrative 
review. Commerce thus withdrew the antidumping questionnaire 
erroneously sent to Jin Tiong. Additionally, because neither Jin Tong 
nor ICF Cable attempted to demonstrate that they are entitled to a 
separate rate, the aforementioned presumption of government control is 
applicable, and Commerce preliminary determines that both companies 
subject to this review are part of the China-wide entity.\17\
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    \15\ Id.
    \16\ For ICF Cable and Jin Tiong, neither company had previously 
received a company-specific rate in the investigation, and, 
therefore, a separate rate application was the appropriate 
information which was required in this review for each company to 
demonstrate their eligibility for a separate rate.
    \17\ See Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review and Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, in 
Part; 2019-2020, 86 FR 24587 (May 7, 2021).
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    In addition, Commerce no longer considers the NME-wide entity as an 
exporter conditionally subject to an antidumping duty administrative 
review.\18\ Accordingly, the NME-wide entity is not under review unless 
Commerce specifically receives a request for and initiates, or self-
initiates, a review of the NME-wide entity. In this administrative 
review, no party requested a review of the China-wide entity. Moreover, 
we have not self-initiated a review of the China-wide entity. Because 
no review of the China-wide entity has been initiated, the China-wide 
entity's entries are not subject to the review, and the rate applicable 
to the China-wide entity is not subject to change as a result of this 
review. The existing weighted-average dumping margin, and, therefore, 
the applicable cash deposit rate and assessment rate for antidumping 
duties, is 52.79 percent, the rate established in the final 
determination of the less-than-fair-value investigation.\19\
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    \18\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Announcement of Change in 
Department Practice for Respondent Selection in Antidumping Duty 
Proceedings and Conditional Review of the Nonmarket Economy Entity 
in NME Antidumping Duty Proceedings, 78 FR 65963, 65970 (November 4, 
2013).
    \19\ See Order, 84 FR at 70497.
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Normally, Commerce discloses the calculations used in its analysis 
to parties in a review within five days of the date of publication of 
the notice of preliminary results, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b). However, for the preliminary results of review, there are 
no calculations on the record to disclose.
    Interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice.\20\ Rebuttal briefs, 
limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no later than 
seven days after the time limit for

[[Page 49308]]

filing case briefs.\21\ Parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs in 
this proceeding are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A 
statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a 
table of authorities.\22\
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    \20\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c).
    \21\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Temporary Rule Modifying 
AD/CVD Service Requirements Due to COVID-19, 85 FR 17006, 17007 
(March 26, 2020); and Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service 
Requirements Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 
41363 (July 10, 2020) (Temporary Rule).
    \22\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
filed electronically via ACCESS within 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice.\23\ Hearing requests should contain: (1) 
The party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of 
participants; and (3) a list of issues to be discussed. Issues raised 
in the hearing will be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If a 
request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at 
a date and time to be determined.\24\ Parties should confirm by 
telephone the date and time of the hearing two days before the 
scheduled date.
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    \23\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \24\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    All submissions should be filed using Enforcement and Compliance's 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service 
System (ACCESS).\25\ ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov. An electronically-filed document must be received 
successfully in its entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the 
established deadline.\26\ Note that Commerce has temporarily modified 
certain of its requirements for serving documents containing business 
proprietary information, until further notice.\27\
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    \25\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
    \26\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1).
    \27\ See Temporary Rule.
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Final Results of Review

    Unless otherwise extended, Commerce intends to issue the final 
results of this administrative review, which will include the results 
of its analysis of all issues raised in the case briefs, within 120 
days of publication of these preliminary results, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results of the administrative review, 
Commerce will determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on 
all appropriate entries covered by this review.\28\ If Commerce 
continues to find in the final results that ICF Cable and Jin Tiong are 
both part of the China-wide entity, we intend to instruct CBP to 
liquidate entries of subject merchandise exported by ICF Cable and Jin 
Tiong at the rate applicable to the China-wide entity, 52.79 percent.
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    \28\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
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    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

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this review for shipments of the 
subject merchandise from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after the publication date, as provided by 
sections 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) For companies that have a 
separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be that established in the 
final results of this review (except, if the rate is zero or de 
minimis, then zero cash deposit will be required); (2) for previously 
investigated or reviewed Chinese or non-Chinese exporters not listed 
above that received a separate rate in a prior segment of this 
proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the existing 
exporter-specific rate; (3) for all exporters of subject merchandise 
that have not been found to be entitled to a separate rate, the cash 
deposit rate will be that for the China-wide entity (i.e., 52.79 
percent); and (4) for all exporters of subject merchandise that are not 
located in China which have not received their own rate, the cash 
deposit rate will be the rate applicable to the exporter located in 
China that supplied the exporters not located in China.
    These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect 
until further notice.

Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping and countervailing 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 and countervailing duties 
occurred and the subsequent assessment of double 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, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: August 27, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Order

    The scope of the Order covers aluminum wire and cable, which is 
defined as an assembly of one or more electrical conductors made 
from 8000 Series Aluminum Alloys (defined in accordance with ASTM 
B800), Aluminum Alloy 1350 (defined in accordance with ASTM B230/
B230M or B609/B609M), and/or Aluminum Alloy 6201 (defined in 
accordance with ASTM B398/B398M), provided that: (1) At least one of 
the electrical conductors is insulated; (2) each insulated 
electrical conductor has a voltage rating greater than 80 volts and 
not exceeding 1000 volts; and (3) at least one electrical conductor 
is stranded and has a size not less than 16.5 thousand circular mil 
(kcmil) and not greater than 1000 kcmil. The assembly may: (1) 
Include a grounding or neutral conductor; (2) be clad with aluminum, 
steel, or other base metal; or (3) include a steel support center 
wire, one or more connectors, a tape shield, a jacket or other 
covering, and/or filler materials.
    Most aluminum wire and cable products conform to National 
Electrical Code (NEC) types THHN, THWN, THWN-2, XHHW-2, USE, USE-2, 
RHH, RHW, or RHW-2, and also conform to Underwriters Laboratories 
(UL) standards UL-44, UL-83, UL-758, UL-854, UL-1063, UL-1277, UL-
1569, UL-1581, or UL-4703, but such conformity is not required for 
the merchandise to be included within the scope.
    The scope of the Order specifically excludes aluminum wire and 
cable products in lengths less than six feet, whether or not 
included in equipment already assembled at the time of importation.
    The merchandise covered by the Order is currently classifiable 
under subheading 8544.49.9000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS). Products subject to the scope may also 
enter under HTSUS subheading 8544.42.9090. The HTSUS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes. The written 
description of the scope is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2021-18991 Filed 9-1-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P