[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 182 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52888-52890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20536]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-523-816]
Certain Aluminum Foil From the Sultanate of Oman: Final
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters
of certain aluminum foil (aluminum foil) from the Sultanate of Oman
(Oman) during the period of investigation, January 1, 2019, through
December 31, 2019.
DATES: Applicable September 23, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Conniff, AD/CVD Operations,
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1009.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 5, 2021, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination
in the Federal Register.\1\ In the Preliminary Determination, and in
accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act), and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), Commerce aligned the final
determination of this countervailing duty (CVD) investigation with the
final determination in the companion antidumping duty (AD)
investigation of aluminum foil from Oman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Certain Aluminum Foil from the Sultanate of Oman:
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty
Determination; 86 FR 12913 (March 5, 2021) (Preliminary
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum
(PDM).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the
Preliminary Determination, may be found in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum.\2\ 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/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of
Certain Aluminum Foil from the Republic of Oman,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and
Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is aluminum foil from
Oman. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations,\3\ the
Initiation Notice \4\ set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain interested
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in
the Initiation Notice, and we addressed the comments in the Preliminary
Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ Interested parties were provided an
opportunity to comment on the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\7\
We received
[[Page 52889]]
no scope case briefs requesting changes to the scope of the AD or CVD
investigations of aluminum foil from the Republic of Armenia, Brazil,
the Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of
Turkey. Additionally, we received a letter from the petitioners \8\
urging Commerce to maintain the same scope language which was set forth
in both the Initiation Notice or Preliminary Determination.\9\
Accordingly, Commerce is not modifying the scope language as it
appeared in the Preliminary Determination. See Appendix I for the final
scope of the investigation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) (Preamble).
\4\ See Certain Aluminum Foil from the Sultanate of Oman and the
Republic of Turkey: Initiation of Countervailing Duty
Investigations, 85 FR 68287 (October 28, 2020) (Initiation Notice).
\5\ Id., 85 FR at 68288.
\6\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Scope Determination and
Comment Period,'' dated September 3, 2021 (Preliminary Scope
Decision Memorandum).
\7\ Id.
\8\ The Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group and
its individual members, Granges America Inc., JW Aluminum Company
and Novelis Corporation constitute the petitioners.
\9\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Petitioners' Final Scope
Comments,'' dated September 8, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verification
Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verification of the
information relied upon in making its final determination in this
investigation. However, we took additional steps in lieu of on-site
verification to verify the information relied upon in making this final
determination, in accordance with section 782(i) of the Act.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Countervailing Duty Investigation
of Certain Aluminum Foil from the Sultanate of Oman: In Lieu of
Verification Questionnaire,'' dated July 13, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received
The subsidy programs under investigation, and the issues raised in
the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation, are
discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For a list of the
issues raised by parties, and to which we responded in the Issues and
Decision Memorandum, see Appendix II of this notice.
Methodology
Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section
701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable,
Commerce determines that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial
contribution by an ``authority'' that gives rise to a benefit to the
recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\11\ For a full description
of the methodology underlying our final determination, see the Issues
and Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our review and analysis of the comments received from
parties, we made certain changes to the subsidy rate calculations for
Oman Aluminium Rolling Company LLC (OARC). For a discussion of these
changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
All-Others Rate
Section 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that in the final
determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-others rate
for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be an amount
equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates
established for those companies individually examined, excluding any
rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely under section 776 of
the Act.
In this investigation, we continue to calculate the all-others rate
using the estimated weighted-average rate calculated for OARC and its
cross-owned affiliates.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ OARC identified three companies as cross-owned companies
with a reporting obligation: Takamul Investment Company LLC
(Takamul), OQ SAOC (OQ) (formerly known as Oman Oil Company SAOC),
and Sohar Paper Cores LLC (SPC). See Preliminary Determination PDM
at 6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated countervailable
subsidy rates exist:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subsidy rate
Producer/exporter (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oman Aluminium Rolling Company LLC...................... 1.93
All Others.............................................. 1.93
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties its calculations
and analysis performed in this final determination within five days of
its public announcement, or if there is no public announcement, within
five days of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with
19 CFR 351.224(b).
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
As a result of our Preliminary Determination and pursuant to
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, Commerce instructed U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries
of subject merchandise as described in the scope of the investigation
section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or
after March 5, 2021, the date of publication of the Preliminary
Determination in the Federal Register. In accordance with section
703(d) of the Act, effective July 3, 2021, we instructed CBP to
discontinue the suspension of liquidation of all entries at that time,
but to continue the suspension of liquidation of all entries from March
5, 2021, through July 2, 2021.
If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a CVD order and require
a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties for such entries of
subject merchandise in the amounts indicated above, in accordance with
section 706(a) of the Act. If the ITC determines that material injury,
or threat of material injury, does not exist, this proceeding will be
terminated, and all estimated duties deposited, or securities posted as
a result of the suspension of liquidation will be refunded or canceled.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of its final affirmative determination that countervailable
subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of aluminum
foil from Oman. As Commerce's final determination is affirmative, in
accordance with section 705(b) of the Act, the ITC will determine,
within 45 days, whether the domestic industry in the United States is
materially injured or threatened with material injury. In addition, we
are making available to the ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary
information related to this investigation. 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.
Notification Regarding APO
In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties
subject to the APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction
of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19
CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of the return/
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 violation which is subject to sanction.
[[Page 52890]]
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
705(d) and 771(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
Dated: September 16, 2021.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is aluminum foil
having a thickness of 0.2 mm or less, in reels exceeding 25 pounds,
regardless of width. Aluminum foil is made from an aluminum alloy
that contains more than 92 percent aluminum. Aluminum foil may be
made to ASTM specification ASTM B479, but can also be made to other
specifications. Regardless of specification, however, all aluminum
foil meeting the scope description is included in the scope,
including aluminum foil to which lubricant has been applied to one
or both sides of the foil.
Excluded from the scope of this investigation is aluminum foil
that is backed with paper, paperboard, plastics, or similar backing
materials on one side or both sides of the aluminum foil, as well as
etched capacitor foil and aluminum foil that is cut to shape. Where
the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is within the
scope if application of either the nominal or actual measurement
would place it within the scope based on the definitions set forth
above. The products under investigation are currently classifiable
under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)
subheadings 7607.11.3000, 7607.11.6090, 7607.11.9030, 7607.11.9060,
7607.11.9090, and 7607.19.6000.
Further, merchandise that falls within the scope of this
proceeding may also be entered into the United States under HTSUS
subheadings 7606.11.3060, 7606.11.6000, 7606.12.3045, 7606.12.3055,
7606.12.3091, 7606.12.3096, 7606.12.6000, 7606.91.3095,
7606.91.6095, 7606.92.3035, and 7606.92.6095. Although the HTSUS
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the
written description of the scope of this 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. Period of Investigation
V. Subsidies Valuation Information
VI. Analysis of the Programs
VII. Discussion of the Comments
Comment 1: Whether Commerce Should Amend its Preliminary Finding
Regarding OARC's Financing
Comment 2: Whether Commerce Should Revise Its Preliminary
Subsidy Findings Regarding the Provision of Land for LTAR Program
Comment 3: Selection of the Benchmark for the Provision of Land
for LTAR Program
Comment 4: Whether Commerce Should Revise its Preliminary
Subsidy Findings Regarding the Provision of Electricity for LTAR
Program
Comment 5: Calculation of the Benefit for the Provision of
Electricity for LTAR Program
Comment 6: Whether Commerce Should Revise OARC's Sales
Denominator
VIII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2021-20536 Filed 9-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P