[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 121 (Friday, June 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37833-37835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13560]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-427-832]
Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber From France: Final Affirmative
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Final Affirmative
Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (AB rubber) from France is being, or is
likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV).
The period of investigation is April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021.
DATES: Applicable June 24, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Barton, 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) 482-0012.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 2, 2022, Commerce published its Preliminary
[[Page 37834]]
Determination.\1\ Commerce invited interested parties to comment on the
Preliminary Determination.
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\1\ See Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber from France: Preliminary
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and
Partial Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances,
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional
Measures, 87 FR 5787 (February 2, 2022) (Preliminary Determination),
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is
available 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 https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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\2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Determination of the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of
Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber from France,'' dated concurrently
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision
Memorandum).
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part
In the Preliminary Determination, Commerce preliminarily
determined, pursuant to section 733(e) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.206, that critical circumstances do
not exist with respect to imports of AB rubber produced and exported by
Arlanxeo Emulsion Rubber France S.A.S. (Arlanxeo France). However, we
preliminarily determined that critical circumstances exist with respect
to imports of AB rubber produced and exported by all other producers
and exporters from France. For this final determination, we continue to
find that critical circumstances do not exist for Arlanxeo France and
do exist for all other producers and exporters from France, pursuant to
section 735(a)(3) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206. For a full description
of methodology and results of Commerce's final affirmative critical
circumstances analyses, see Issues and Decision Memorandum.
Scope Comments
On January 26, 2022, we issued the Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum.\3\ Interested parties submitted case and rebuttal briefs
concerning the scope of this investigation.\4\ For a summary of the
product coverage comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the
record of this investigation, and accompanying analysis of all comments
timely received, see the Final Scope Memorandum.\5\ Based on the
comments received from interested parties, we are revising the scope of
this investigation as it appeared in the Preliminary Determination.\6\
The scope in the Appendix I reflects these changes.
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\3\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,''
dated January 26, 2022 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
\4\ See ARLANXEO Emulsion Rubber France S.A.S.'s Letter, ``Scope
Brief,'' dated February 25, 2022; see also Zeon Chemicals L.P. and
Zeon GP, LLC (collectively, the petitioner)'s Letter, ``Petitioner's
Rebuttal Scope Brief,'' dated March 4, 2022.
\5\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping Duty Investigations of
Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber from France, the Republic of Korea,
and Mexico: Final Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated concurrently
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Final Scope Memorandum).
\6\ See Preliminary Determination, 87 FR at 5792. Specifically,
we added language to the scope that clarified that AB rubber
products that include a third component that is not methacrylic acid
or isoprene are not covered by the scope. See Final Scope
Memorandum.
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is AB rubber from France.
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. 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 Act.\7\
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\7\ See Commerce's Letter, ``In Lieu of Verification
Questionnaire,'' dated March 17, 2022; see also Arlanxeo France's
Letter, ``Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber from France, Case No. A-
427-832: Arlanxeo's In Lieu of On Site Verification Questionnaire
Response,'' dated March 25, 2022.
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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.
Changes From the Preliminary Determination
Based on our analysis of the comments received, we made certain
changes to the margin calculation for Arlanxeo France since the
Preliminary Determination. See the Issues and Decision Memorandum for a
discussion of these changes.
All-Others Rate
Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers or exporters
not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for
exporters and producers individually investigated excluding rates that
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the
Act. In this investigation, Commerce calculated an individual estimated
weighted-average dumping margin for Arlanxeo France, the sole mandatory
respondent, that is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts
otherwise available. Consequently, the rate calculated for Arlanxeo
France is assigned as the rate for all other producers or exporters,
pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.
Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average
dumping margins exist:
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Estimated
weighted-
average
Exporter or producer dumping
margin
(percent)
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Arlanxeo Emulsion Rubber France S.A.S....................... 81.86
All Others.................................................. 81.86
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Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose the calculations performed in 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 this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
Consistent with the Preliminary Determination, Commerce will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of AB rubber from
France, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered
or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after February 2,
2022, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination of this
investigation in the Federal Register.
Section 735(c)(4) of the Act provides that if there is an
affirmative determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of
liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or
[[Page 37835]]
after the later of: (a) the date which is 90 days before the date on
which the suspension of liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the date
on which notice of initiation of the investigation was published. As
noted above, Commerce finds that critical circumstances exist for
imports of subject merchandise produced and/or exported by all other
producers and exporters of AB rubber from France. Therefore, in
accordance with section 735(c)(4) of the Act, suspension of liquidation
shall continue to apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise
produced or exported by all other producers or exporters that were
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the
date which is 90 days before the date of publication of the Preliminary
Determination in the Federal Register.
Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(d), upon the publication of this notice, we will instruct CBP
to require a cash deposit for such entries of merchandise equal to the
following: (1) the cash deposit rate for the individual companies
listed in the table above will be equal to the company-specific
estimated weighted-average dumping margin determined in this final
determination; (2) if the exporter is not a company identified above
but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the
company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin established
for that producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit
rate for all other producers or exporters will be equal to the all-
others estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed in the table
above. These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in
effect until further notice.
International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our 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 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 investigation 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 AB rubber from France no later than 45
days after this 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 antidumping duty 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, as discussed above in the
``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation'' section.
Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order
This notice will serve as the only reminder to the 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 terms of an APO is a sanctionable
violation.
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: June 17, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is commonly referred
to as acrylonitrile butadiene rubber or nitrile rubber (AB Rubber).
AB Rubber is a synthetic rubber produced by the emulsion
polymerization of butadiene and acrylonitrile with or without the
incorporation of a third component selected from methacrylic acid or
isoprene. AB Rubber products that include a third component that is
not methacrylic acid or isoprene are not covered by the scope. This
scope covers AB Rubber in solid or non-aqueous liquid form. The
scope also includes carboxylated AB Rubber.
Excluded from the scope of this investigation is AB Rubber in
latex form (commonly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (HTSUS) subheading 4002.51.0000). Latex AB Rubber
is commonly either (a) acrylonitrile/butadiene polymer in latex form
or (b) acrylonitrile/butadiene/methacrylic acid polymer in latex
form. The broader definition of latex refers to a water emulsion of
a synthetic rubber obtained by polymerization.
Also excluded from the scope of this investigation is: (a) AB
Rubber containing additives incorporated during the compounding,
mixing, molding, or use of AB Rubber comprising greater than twenty
percent of the total weight of the product. Additives would include,
but are not limited to, fillers (e.g., carbon black, silica, clay);
reinforcement agents (e.g., fibers, carbon black, silica);
vulcanization agents (e.g., sulfur, sulfur complexes, peroxide); or
AB Rubber containing extension oils making up greater than forty
percent of the total weight of the product. Such products would be
generally classified under HTSUS subheading 4005; (b) AB Rubber
containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) making up greater than twenty
percent of total weight of the product; (c) hydrogenated AB Rubber
(commonly referred to as HNBR) produced by subsequent dissolution
and hydrogenation of AB Rubber; (d) reactive liquid polymers
containing acrylonitrile and butadiene with amine, epoxy, carboxyl
or methacrylate vinyl chemical functionality.
Subject merchandise includes material matching the above
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed
in a third country, including by modifying physical form or
packaging with another product, or performing any other finishing,
packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove the
merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the
country of manufacture of the AB Rubber.
The merchandise subject to this investigation is classified in
the HTSUS at subheading 4002.59.0000. While the HTSUS subheading
numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, 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. Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in
Part
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Whether to Include Stabilizer Type as a Physical
Characteristic
Comment 2: Whether Certain Home Market Sales are Outside of the
Ordinary Course of Trade
Comment 3: Whether to Include Further Manufactured Sales in the
Margin Calculations
Comment 4: Whether to Exclude Fixed Overhead Volume Variance
Costs from the Margin Calculations
Comment 5: Whether to Use the Quarterly Cost Methodology
VI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2022-13560 Filed 6-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P