[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:

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