[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 42 (Thursday, March 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12081-12084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04505]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-137; C-570-138]


Pentafluoroethane (R-125) From the People's Republic of China: 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders

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

SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. 
Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade 
Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing antidumping duty (AD) and 
countervailing duty (CVD) orders on pentafluoroethane (R-125) from the 
People's Republic of China (China).

DATES: Applicable March 3, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex Wood (AD) or Adam Simons (CVD), 
AD/CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1959 or (202) 
482-6172, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    In accordance with sections 705(d) and 735(d) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act), on January 10, 2022, Commerce published its 
affirmative final determination of sales at less than fair value (LTFV) 
\1\ and its affirmative final determination that countervailable 
subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of R-125 from 
China.\2\ On February 23, 2022, the ITC notified Commerce of its final 
affirmative determinations that an industry in the United States is 
materially injured by reason of LTFV imports and subsidized imports of 
R-125 from China, within the meaning of sections 705(b)(1)(A)(i) and 
735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act.\3\
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    \1\ See Pentafluoroethane (R-125) from the People's Republic of 
China: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 
in Part, 87 FR 1117 (January 10, 2022) (LTFV Final Determination).
    \2\ See Pentafluoroethane (R-125) from the People's Republic of 
China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 87 FR 
1110 (January 10, 2022) (CVD Final Determination).
    \3\ See ITC's Letter, Notification of ITC Final Determinations, 
dated February 23, 2022 (ITC Notification).
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Scope of the Orders

    The products covered by these orders are R-125 from China. For a 
complete description of the scope of the orders, see Appendix I to this 
notice.

Antidumping Duty Order

    On February 23, 2022, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, 
the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination that an industry 
in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of 
section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of imports of R-125 from 
China.\4\ Therefore, Commerce is issuing this AD order in accordance 
with sections 735(c)(2) and 736 of the Act. Because the ITC determined 
that imports of R-125 from China are materially injuring a U.S. 
industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from China entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption are subject to the 
assessment of antidumping duties.
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    \4\ Id.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, 
Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties equal 
to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the 
export price (or constructed export price) of the merchandise for all 
relevant entries of R-125 from China. Antidumping duties will be 
assessed on unliquidated entries of R-125 from China entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after August 17, 2021, 
the date of publication of the LTFV Preliminary Determination, but will 
not be assessed on entries occurring after the expiration of the 
provisional measures period and before publication of the ITC's final 
affirmative injury determination, as further described below.\5\
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    \5\ See Pentafluoroethane (R-125) from the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, in Part, Postponement of Final Determination, and 
Extension of Provisional Measures, 86 FR 45959 (August 17, 2021) 
(LTFV Preliminary Determination).
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation--AD

    In accordance with section 736 of the Act, we will instruct CBP to 
continue to suspend liquidation on all relevant entries of R-125 from 
China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury 
determinations in the Federal Register. These instructions suspending 
liquidation will remain in effect until further notice. For each 
producer and exporter combination, Commerce will also instruct CBP to 
require cash deposits for estimated antidumping duties equal to the 
cash deposit rates listed below.
    Accordingly, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's 
final affirmative injury determination, CBP will require, at the same 
time as an importer of record would normally deposit estimated duties 
on the subject merchandise, a cash deposit for each entry of subject 
merchandise equal to the cash deposit rates listed below.\6\ As stated 
in the LTFV Final Determination, Commerce made certain adjustments for 
export subsidies from the CVD Final Determination to the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins to determine each of the cash deposit 
rates.
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    \6\ See section 736(a)(3) of the Act.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                Estimated      Cash deposit rate
                                                                             weighted-average     (adjusted for
                  Producer                              Exporter              dumping margin    subsidy offsets)
                                                                                (percent)          (percent)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind. Co., Ltd.....  Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind.             277.95             267.41
                                              Co., Ltd.
Fujian Qingliu Dongying Chemical Ind. Co.,   Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind.             277.95             267.41
 Ltd.                                         Co., Ltd.

[[Page 12082]]

 
Producers Supplying the Non-Individually-    Non-Individually-Examined                 277.95             267.41
 Examined Exporters Receiving Separate        Exporters Receiving Separate
 Rates (see Appendix II).                     Rates (see Appendix II).
China-Wide Entity \7\......................  .............................             278.05             267.51
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Provisional Measures--AD

    Section 733(d) of the Act states that suspension of liquidation 
pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in 
effect for more than four months, except that Commerce may extend the 
four-month period to no more than six months at the request of 
exporters representing a significant proportion of exports of the 
subject merchandise. Commerce published its LTFV Preliminary 
Determination on August 17, 2021.\8\ Therefore, the six-month period 
beginning on the date of publication of the LTFV Preliminary 
Determination ended on February 12, 2022.
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    \7\ The China-wide entity also includes Zhejiang Quzhou Juxin 
Fluorine Chemical Co., Ltd.
    \8\ See LTFV Preliminary Determination.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 733(d) of the Act, Commerce 
will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to 
liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, unliquidated entries 
of R-125 from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption after February 12, 2022, the date on which the provisional 
measures expired, through the day preceding the date of publication of 
the ITC's final affirmative injury determination in the Federal 
Register. Suspension of liquidation will resume on the date of 
publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination in the 
Federal Register.

Critical Circumstances--AD

    With regard to the ITC's negative critical circumstances 
determination on R-125 from China, we will instruct CBP to lift 
suspension and to refund all cash deposits made to secure the payment 
of estimated antidumping duties with respect to entries of R-125 from 
China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
May 19, 2021 (i.e., 90 days prior to the date of publication of the 
LTFV Preliminary Determination), but before August 17, 2021 (i.e., the 
date of publication of the LTFV Preliminary Determination).

Countervailing Duty Order

    On February 23, 2022, in accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, 
the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination that an industry 
in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of 
section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of imports of R-125 from 
China.\9\ Therefore, Commerce is issuing this CVD order in accordance 
with sections 705(c)(2) and 706 of the Act. Because the ITC determined 
that imports of R-125 from China are materially injuring a U.S. 
industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from China entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption are subject to the 
assessment of countervailing duties.
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    \9\ See ITC Notification.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a)(1) of the Act, 
Commerce will direct CBP to assess, upon further instruction by 
Commerce, countervailing duties on all relevant entries of R-125 from 
China. Countervailing duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries 
of R-125 from China which are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after June 25, 2021, the date of publication of the 
CVD Preliminary Determination,\10\ but will not be assessed on entries 
occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and 
before publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination, 
as further described below.
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    \10\ See Pentafluoroethane (R-125) from the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and 
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination, 86 FR 33648 (June 25, 2021) (CVD Preliminary 
Determination).
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Suspension of Liquidation--CVD

    In accordance with section 706 of the Act, we will instruct CBP to 
reinstitute suspension of liquidation on all relevant entries of R-125 
from China, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's final 
affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register, and to 
assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, pursuant to section 
706(a)(1) of the Act, countervailing duties for each entry of the 
subject merchandise in an amount based on the net countervailable 
subsidy rate for the subject merchandise. These instructions suspending 
liquidation will remain in effect until further notice. Commerce will 
also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the amounts as 
indicated below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication of 
the ITC's final affirmative injury determination, CBP will require, at 
the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties on 
the subject merchandise, a cash deposit for each entry of subject 
merchandise equal to the subsidy rates listed below.\11\ The all-others 
rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed 
below, as appropriate.
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    \11\ See section 706(a)(3) of the Act.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
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Arkema Daikin Advanced Fluorochemicals (Changsu) Co.,             291.26
 Ltd....................................................
Daikin Fluorochemicals (China) Co., Ltd.................          291.26
Hongkong Richmax Ltd....................................          291.26
Weitron International Refrigeration Equipment (Kunshan)           291.26
 Co., Ltd...............................................
Zhejiang Quzhou Juxin Fluorine Chemical Co., Ltd.\12\...            3.23
Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind. Co., Ltd.\13\.............            2.31
All Others..............................................            3.12
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Provisional Measures--CVD

    Section 703(d) of the Act states that suspension of liquidation 
instructions issued pursuant to an affirmative preliminary 
determination may not remain in effect for more than four months. 
Commerce published its CVD Preliminary Determination on June 25, 2021. 
Therefore, the provisional measures period, beginning on the date of 
publication of the CVD Preliminary

[[Page 12083]]

Determination, ended on October 22, 2021. Pursuant to section 707(b) of 
the Act, the collection of cash deposits at the rate listed above will 
begin on the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury 
determinations.
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    \12\ Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-
owned with Zhejiang Quzhou Juxin Fluorine Chemical Co., Ltd.: Juhua 
Group Corporation; Zhejiang Juhua Co., Ltd.; Ningbo Juhua Chemical & 
Science Co., Ltd.; Zhejiang Quzhou Fluoxin Chemicals Co., Ltd.; and 
Zhejiang Juhua Chemical Mining Co., Ltd.
    \13\ Commerce has found the following company to be cross-owned 
with Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind. Co., Ltd.: Fujian Qingliu 
Dongying Chemical Ind. Co. Ltd.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, Commerce 
instructed CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to 
liquidate, without regard to countervailing duties, unliquidated 
entries of R-125 from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption after October 22, 2021, the date on which the provisional 
measures expired, through the day preceding the date of publication of 
the ITC's final injury determination in the Federal Register. 
Suspension of liquidation will resume on the date of publication of the 
ITC's final affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register.

Critical Circumstances--CVD

    With regard to the ITC's negative critical circumstances 
determination on imports of R-125 from China, we intend to instruct CBP 
to lift suspension and to refund any cash deposits made to secure the 
payment of estimated countervailing duties with respect to entries of 
the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after March 27, 2021 (i.e., 90 days prior to the date 
of the publication of the CVD Preliminary Determination), but before 
June 25, 2021 (i.e., the date of publication of the CVD Preliminary 
Determination).

Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service List

    On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the final rule titled 
``Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Laws'' in the Federal Register.\14\ On 
September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the notice titled ``Scope 
Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational 
Sessions'' in the Federal Register.\15\ The Final Rule and Procedural 
Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual inquiry service 
list for each order or suspended investigation, and any interested 
party submitting a scope ruling application or request for 
circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request 
on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as 
well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same 
country of origin.\16\
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    \14\ See Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement 
of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws, 86 FR 52300 (September 
20, 2021) (Final Rule).
    \15\ See Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; 
and Informational Sessions, 86 FR 53205 (September 27, 2021) 
(Procedural Guidance).
    \16\ Id.
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    In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in 
the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an 
annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and 
document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at https://access.trade.gov, within five business days of publication of the 
notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in 
ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type 
called ``AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.'' \17\
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    \17\ This segment will be combined with the ACCESS Segment 
Specific Information (SSI) field, which will display the month in 
which the notice of the order or suspended investigation was 
published in the Federal Register, also known as the anniversary 
month. For example, for an order under case number A-000-000 that 
was published in the Federal Register in January, the relevant 
segment and SSI combination will appear in ACCESS as ``AISL-January 
Anniversary.'' Note that there will be only one annual inquiry 
service list segment per case number, and the anniversary month will 
be pre-populated in ACCESS.
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    Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry 
service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the 
annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30 
days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of 
administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one 
attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead 
attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce 
will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days 
thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance, the new annual 
inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when 
the Opportunity Notice for the anniversary month of the order is 
published.
    Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as 
needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of 
appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and 
representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or 
announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the 
ACCESS website at https://access.trade.gov.

Special Instructions for Petitioners and Foreign Governments

    In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, ``after an initial request 
and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and 
foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry 
service list in the years that follow.'' \18\ Accordingly, as stated 
above, the petitioner and the Government of China should submit their 
initial entry of appearance after publication of this notice in order 
to appear in the first annual inquiry service list. Pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.225(n)(3), the petitioner and the Government of China will not need 
to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to be 
included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioner 
and the Government of China are responsible for making amendments to 
their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual 
inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.
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    \18\ See Final Rule, 86 FR at 52335.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice constitutes the AD and CVD orders with respect to R-125 
from China pursuant to sections 706(a) and 736(a) of the Act. 
Interested parties can find a list of duty orders currently in effect 
at https://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
    These orders are published in accordance with sections 706(a) and 
736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

    Dated: February 25, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Orders

    The merchandise covered by these orders is pentafluoroethane (R-
125), or its chemical equivalent, regardless of form, type or purity 
level. R-125 has the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry 
number of 354-33-6 and the chemical formula 
C2HF5. R-125 is also referred to as 
Pentafluoroethane, Genetron HFC 125, Khladon 125, Suva 125, Freon 
125, and Fc-125.
    R-125 contained in blends that do not conform to ANSI/ASHRAE 
Standard 34 is included in the scope of these orders when R-125 
constitutes the largest relative component by volume, on an actual 
percentage basis, of the blend.\19\ However, R-

[[Page 12084]]

125 incorporated into a blend that conforms to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 
34 is excluded from the scope of these orders. When R-125 is blended 
with other products and otherwise falls under the scope of these 
orders, only the R-125 component of the mixture is covered by the 
scope of these orders.
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    \19\ ``Largest relative component by volume, on an actual 
percentage basis'' means that the percentage of R-125 contained in a 
blend is larger than the individual percentages of all the other 
components. For example, R-125 contained in a blend that does not 
conform to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 34 and which contains 35% R-125 by 
volume is covered by the scope of the orders if no other component 
part of the blend equals or exceeds 35% of the volume of the blend.
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    Subject merchandise also includes purified and unpurified R-125 
that is processed in a third country or otherwise outside the 
customs territory of the United States, including, but not limited 
to, purifying, blending, or any other processing that would not 
otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the orders if 
performed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope R-125. The 
scope also includes R-125 that is commingled with R-125 from sources 
not subject to these orders. Only the subject component of such 
commingled products is covered by the scope of these orders.
    Excluded from the scope is merchandise covered by the scope of 
the antidumping order on Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from the People's 
Republic of China, including merchandise subject to the affirmative 
anti-circumvention determination in Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from 
the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Final Determination of 
Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty Order; Unfinished R-32/R-125 
Blends, 85 FR 15428 (March 18, 2020). See Hydrofluorocarbon Blends 
from the People's Republic of China: Antidumping Duty Order, 81 FR 
55436 (August 19, 2016) (the Blends Order).
    R-125 is classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) subheading 2903.49.1010. Merchandise subject 
to the scope may also be entered under HTSUS subheadings 
2903.49.0000 and 3827.11.0000, or 3827.39.0000. The HTSUS 
subheadings and CAS registry number are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes. The written description of the scope of the orders 
is dispositive.

Appendix II--Separate Rate Companies
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    \20\ Commerce determined that T.T. International Co., Ltd. and 
T.T. International Co., Limited are a single entity (collectively, 
TTI).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Exporter                             Producer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Producers supplying the non-
  Non-individually-examined exporters    individually-examined exporters
        receiving separate rates             receiving separate rates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huantai Dongyue International Trade Co.  Jinhua Binglong Chemical
 Ltd.                                     Technology Co., Ltd.
Shandong Dongyue Chemical Co., Ltd.....  Shandong Dongyue Chemical Co.,
                                          Ltd.
Shandong Huaan New Material Co., Ltd...  Shandong Huaan New Material
                                          Co., Ltd.
T.T. International Co., Ltd./T.T.        Sinochem Environmental
 International Co., Limited \20\.         Protection Chemicals (Taicang)
                                          Co., Ltd.
T.T. International Co., Ltd./T.T.        Zhejiang Quhua Fluor-Chemistry
 International Co., Limited.              Co., Ltd.
T.T. International Co., Ltd./T.T.        Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical
 International Co., Limited.              Industry. Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Yonghe Refrigerant Co., Ltd...  Jinhua Yonghe Fluorochemical
                                          Co., Ltd.
Zibo Feiyuan Chemical Co., Ltd.........  Zibo Feiyuan Chemical Co., Ltd.
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[FR Doc. 2022-04505 Filed 3-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P