[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5785-5787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02061]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-821-831]


Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions From the Russian Federation: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that urea ammonium nitrate solutions (UAN) from the Russian Federation 
are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than 
fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2020, 
through March 31, 2021. Interested parties are invited to comment on 
this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable February 2, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Krisha Hill or Drew Jackson, 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 or (202) 482-4406, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on July 26, 
2021.\1\ On November 23, 2021, Commerce postponed the preliminary 
determination in this investigation until January 26, 2022.\2\ For a 
complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this 
investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\ A list of 
the sections in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is in Appendix II 
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 https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from the Russian 
Federation and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago: Initiation of 
Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 86 FR 40008 (July 26, 2021) 
(Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from the Republic of 
Trinidad and Tobago and the Russian Federation: Postponement of 
Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 86 FR 66530 November 23, 2021).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Urea 
Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from the Russian Federation,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are UAN from Russia. For 
a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix 
I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ in 
the Initiation Notice, Commerce set aside a period of time for parties 
to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ No 
interested party commented on the scope of the investigation as it 
appeared in the Initiation Notice. Commerce is not preliminarily 
modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Commerce calculated constructed export prices 
in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. Commerce calculated 
normal value in accordance with section 773 of the Act. Furthermore, 
pursuant to section 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce preliminarily 
based the dumping margins for PJSC Kuibyshev Azot and SBU Azot upon 
facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences, because these 
companies failed to timely respond to Commerce's quantity and value 
questionnaire. For a full description of the methodology underlying the 
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in 
the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This rate shall be equal to the weighted average of the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters 
and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero and de 
minimis dumping margins, and any dumping margins determined entirely 
under section 776 of the Act.
    In this investigation, Commerce calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping margins for the mandatory respondents, Public Joint 
Stock Company Acron (Acron) and EuroChem,\6\ that are not zero, de 
minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available. Commerce 
calculated the all-others rate by weight averaging the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins that it calculated for the 
individually examined respondents. Commerce weight averaged these 
dumping margins by the publicly-ranged total values of their sales of 
subject merchandise to the United States during the POI.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ We used ``EuroChem'' to refer to the collapsed entity 
comprising the following companies: Azot, Joint Stock Company; Joint 
Stock Company ``Nevinnomyssky Azot''; Mineral and Chemical Company 
EuroChem, Joint Stock Company; and EuroChem Trading Rus, Limited 
Liability Company.
    \7\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally 
calculates (A) a weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a 
simple average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a weighted-average 
of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the 
examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S. sale 
quantities for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then 
compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) as 
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. See 
Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, 
and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances 
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 
(September 1, 2010). As complete publicly ranged sales data was 
available, Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly ranged 
sales data of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of 
the data, please see the All-Others Rate Calculation Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Determination

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

    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Urea 
Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from the Russian Federation: Preliminary 
Calculations and Analysis for PJSC Acron,'' dated concurrently with 
this memorandum; see also Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from the Russian 
Federation: Preliminary Calculations and Analysis for EuroChem,'' 
dated concurrently with this memorandum; and Memorandum, 
``Preliminary Determination Calculation for the All-Others,'' dated 
concurrently with this memorandum.

[[Page 5786]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Cash deposit rate
                                        Estimated         (adjusted for
         Exporter/producer           weighted-average       subsidy
                                      dumping margin       offset(s))
                                        (percent)        (percent) \8\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Joint Stock Company Acron..               9.15               9.01
Azot, Joint Stock Company/Joint                 23.98              23.98
 Stock Company ``Nevinnomyssky
 Azot''/Mineral and Chemical
 Company EuroChem, Joint Stock
 Company/EuroChem Trading Rus,
 Limited Liability Company........
PJSC Kuibyshev Azot *.............             127.19             127.10
SBU Azot *........................             127.19             127.10
All Others........................              15.48              15.39
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Rate is based on facts otherwise available with an adverse inference.

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will 
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation 
of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I, entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Further, pursuant 
to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will 
instruct CBP to require the following cash deposits for such entries: 
(1) The cash deposit rate for each of the respondents listed in the 
table above is the company-specific cash deposit rate listed for the 
respondent in the table; (2) if the exporter is not a respondent listed 
in the table above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate is 
the company-specific cash deposit rate listed for the producer of the 
subject merchandise in the table above; and (3) the cash deposit rate 
for all other producers and exporters is the ``All Others'' cash 
deposit rate listed in the table above.
    Commerce normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated antidumping 
duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a companion 
countervailing duty (CVD) investigation when CVD provisional measures 
are in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce made a preliminary 
affirmative determination of countervailable export subsidies in the 
companion CVD investigation, we offset the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins listed in the table above by the appropriate CVD rates 
to determine the cash deposit rates. Any such adjusted cash deposit 
rate may be found in the table in the ``Preliminary Determination'' 
section above.
    Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation 
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV 
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting estimated 
antidumping duty cash deposits unadjusted for countervailed export 
subsidies at the time that the provisional CVD measures expired. These 
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its preliminary calculations and 
related analysis to interested parties within five days of any public 
announcement of the preliminary determination or, if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination. 
Normally, Commerce verifies information using standard procedures, 
including an on-site examination of original accounting, financial, and 
sales documentation. However, due to current travel restrictions in 
response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Commerce is unable to conduct 
on-site verification in this investigation. Accordingly, we intend to 
verify the information relied upon in making the final determination 
through alternative means in lieu of an on-site verification.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance. A timeline for the 
submission of case briefs and written comments will be provided to 
interested parties at a later date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than seven days after 
the deadline date for case briefs.\9\ Note that Commerce has 
temporarily modified certain of its requirements for serving documents 
containing business proprietary information, until further notice.\10\ 
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who submit case 
briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
    \10\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to COVID-19, 85 FR 17006 (March 26, 2020) (Temporary Rule); and 
Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements Due to COVID-
19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 10, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
Requests for a hearing should contain: (1) The requesting party's name, 
address, and telephone number; (2) the number of individuals from the 
requesting party that will attend the hearing, including, whether any 
individuals are foreign nationals; and (3) a list of the issues the 
party intends to discuss at the hearing. If a request for a hearing is 
made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be 
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date and time of 
the hearing two days before the scheduled hearing date.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination in the Federal Register 
if, in the event of an affirmative preliminary determination, a request 
for such postponement is made by exporters who account for a 
significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise, or in the 
event of a negative preliminary determination, a request for such 
postponement is made by the petitioner. Section 351.210(e)(2) of 
Commerce's regulations requires that a request by exporters for 
postponement of the final determination be accompanied by a request for 
extension of provisional measures from a four-

[[Page 5787]]

month period to a period not more than six months in duration.
    On January 14, 2022, and January 20, 2022, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.210(e), Acron and EuroChem, respectively, requested that Commerce 
postpone the final determination in this investigation up to 135 days 
after publication of this notice and that provisional measures be 
extended to a period not to exceed six months.\11\ Additionally, on 
January 21, 2022, the petitioner requested that Commerce postpone the 
final determination in this investigation in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination.\12\ In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) The preliminary 
determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting exporters account for 
a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) 
no compelling reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the 
final determination in this investigation and extending the provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not greater than six 
months. Accordingly, Commerce will make its final determination in this 
investigation no later than 135 days after the date of publication of 
this preliminary determination in the Federal Register.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ See Acron's Letter, ``Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from 
the Russian Federation: Request for Extension of Final Determination 
an Provisional Measures,'' dated January 14, 2022; see also 
EuroChem's Letter, ``Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from the 
Russian Federation,'' dated January 21, 2022.
    \12\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions 
from the Russian Federation (A-821-831): Petitioner's Request for 
Postponement of Final Antidumping Determination,'' dated January 21, 
2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination. If the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will 
determine before the later of 120 days after the date of this 
preliminary determination, or 45 days after the final determination, 
whether U.S. imports of UAN are materially injuring, or threaten 
material injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: January 26, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is all mixtures of 
urea and ammonium nitrate in aqueous or ammonia solution, regardless 
of nitrogen concentration by weight, and regardless of the presence 
of additives, such as corrosion inhibiters and soluble micro or 
macronutrients (UAN).
    Subject merchandise includes merchandise matching the above 
description that has been processed in a third country, including by 
commingling, diluting, adding or removing additives, or performing 
any other processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise 
from the scope of the investigations if performed in the subject 
country.
    The scope also includes UAN that is commingled with UAN from 
sources not subject to this investigation. Only the subject 
component of such commingled products is covered by the scope of 
this investigation.
    The covered merchandise is currently classified in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) at 
subheading 3102.80.0000. Although the HTSUS subheading is provided 
for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
scope is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Sections in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inferences
VI. Affiliation/Single Entity
VII. Discussion of the Methodology
VIII. Currency Conversion
IX. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in 
Companion CVD Investigation
X. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2022-02061 Filed 2-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P