[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 173 (Thursday, September 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54961-54963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19340]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-017]


Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires From the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review and Rescission of Review, in Part; 2020

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers/exporters of certain passenger vehicle and light truck tires 
(passenger tires) from the People's Republic of China (China) during 
the period of review (POR), January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. 
In addition, we are rescinding the review with respect to 12 companies. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable September 8, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas Czajkowski or Richard 
Roberts, AD/CVD Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1395 
or (202) 482-2631, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On October 6, 2020, Commerce published the notice of initiation of 
an administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on 
passenger tires from China.\1\ On March 30, 2022, Commerce exercised 
its discretion to extend the preliminary results of this administrative 
review by 120 days, until August 31, 2022.\2\
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    \1\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 86 FR 55811 (October 7, 2021) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires 
from the People's Republic of China: Extension of Deadline for 
Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 
2020,'' dated March 30, 2022.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as the appendix 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.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the 2020 Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of 
Certain Passenger Vehicles and Light Truck Tires from the People's 
Republic of China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, 
this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order 4
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    \4\ See Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping 
Duty Determination and Antidumping Duty Order; and Amended Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Countervailing 
Duty Order, 80 FR 47902 (August 10, 2015) (Order).
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    The products covered by the Order are certain passenger vehicle and 
light truck tires from China. For a complete description of the scope 
of the Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if the parties that 
requested a review withdraw the request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation. Commerce received timely-filed 
withdrawal requests with respect to the following nine companies: (1) 
Sailun Group Co., Ltd., formerly known as Sailun Jinyu Group Co., Ltd.; 
(2) Sailun Group (HongKong) Co., Limited., formerly known as Sailun 
Jinyu Group (Hong Kong) Co., Limited; (3) Sailun Tire Americas Inc., 
formerly known as SJI North America Inc; \5\ (4)

[[Page 54962]]

Zhongce Rubber Group Co., Ltd.; \6\ (5) Qingdao Lakesea Tyre Co., Ltd.; 
\7\ (6) Safe & Well (HK) International Trading Limited; \8\ (7) 
Zhaoqing Junhong Co., Ltd; \9\ (8) Shandong Wanda Boto Tyre Co., Ltd.; 
\10\ and (9) Hankook Tire China Co., Ltd.,\11\ pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(1). Because the withdrawal requests were timely filed, and 
no other parties requested a review of these companies, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce is rescinding this review of the 
Order with respect to these nine companies.
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    \5\ See Sailum's Letter, ``Countervailing Duty Order on 
Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires (`PVLT') from the People's 
Republic of China,'' dated November 12, 2021.
    \6\ See Zhongce Rubber Group Co., Ltd.'s Letter, ``Passenger 
Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the People's Republic of China: 
Withdrawal of Request for Administrative Review,'' dated October 26, 
2021.
    \7\ See Qingdao Lakesea Tyre Co., Ltd., Safe & Well (HK) 
International Trading Limited, and Zhaoqing Junhong Co., Ltd.'s 
Letter, ``Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the People's 
Republic of China: Withdrawal of Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated December 14, 2021.
    \8\ Id.
    \9\ Id.
    \10\ See Shandong Wanda Boto Tyre Co., Ltd.'s Letter, ``Certain 
Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the People's Republic 
of China--Withdrawal of Request for Administrative Review,'' dated 
December 30, 2021.
    \11\ See Hankook Tire China Co., Ltd.'s Letter, ``Withdrawal of 
Request for Administrative Review,'' dated January 5, 2022.
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    In addition, it is Commerce's practice is to rescind an 
administrative review of a CVD order, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), 
when there are no reviewable entries of subject merchandise during the 
POR for which liquidation is suspended.\12\ Normally, upon completion 
of an administrative review, the suspended entries are liquidated at 
the CVD assessment rate calculated for the review period.\13\ 
Therefore, for an administrative review of a company to be conducted, 
there must be a reviewable, suspended entry that Commerce can instruct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to liquidate at the calculated 
CVD assessment rate calculated for the review period.\14\
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    \12\ See, e.g., Lightweight Thermal Paper from the People's 
Republic of China: Notice of Rescission of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review; 2015, 82 FR 14349 (March 20, 2017); see also 
Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic 
of China: Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 
2017, 84 FR 14650 (April 11, 2019).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2).
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).
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    On June 21, 2022, we issued a memorandum declaring our intent to 
rescind the reviews of six companies: (1) Kumho Tire Co., Inc.; (2) 
Kumho Tire (Changchun) Co., Inc.; (3) Kumho Tire (Tanjin) Co., Inc.; 
(4) Mayrun Tyre (Hong Kong) Limited; (5) Nanjing Kumho Tire Co., Ltd.; 
and (6) Qingdao Nexen Tire Corporation.\15\ According to the CBP import 
data, these companies did not have reviewable entries of subject 
merchandise during the POR for which liquidation is suspended. However, 
on July 1, 2022, we received objections to rescind this review from 
five of six companies.\16\ Qingdao Nexen Tire Corporation, Kumho Tire 
Co., Inc., and Kumho Tire (Tianjin) Co., Inc., submitted evidence that 
they manufactured or exported certain suspended entries during the POR. 
Based on the additional information, we find that these three companies 
had suspended entries during the POR. See the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum for a full discussion. Therefore, these three companies will 
continue in the review as non-selected respondents. Mayrun Tyre (Hong 
Kong) Limited did not object to the intent to rescind, while the other 
two companies who objected did not show evidence that they produced 
and/or exported any of the suspended entries during the POR. 
Accordingly, in the absence of reviewable, suspended entries of subject 
merchandise during the POR, we are rescinding this administrative 
review with respect to three companies, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(3): (1) Kumho Tire (Changchun) Co., Inc.; (2) Mayrun Tyre 
(Hong Kong) Limited; and (3) Nanjing Kumho Tire Co., Ltd. As a result, 
we are rescinding the review with respect to 12 companies.
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    \15\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Notice of Intent to Rescind 
Review, In Part,'' dated June 21, 2022.
    \16\ See Qingdao Nexen Tire Corporation's Letter, ``Response to 
the Notice of Intent to Rescind Review, In Part,'' dated July 1, 
2022; see also Kumho Tire Co., Inc.; Kumho Tire (Changchun) Co., 
Inc.; Kumho Tire (Tianjin) Co., Inc.; and Nanjing Kumho Tire Co., 
Ltd.'s Letter, ``Request for Correction and Comments on the 
Department's June 21 Notice of Intent to Rescind Review,'' dated 
July 1, 2022 (Correction and Comment Letter).
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this administrative review in accordance 
with section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act). For each of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, we 
preliminarily determine that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial 
contribution by an ``authority'' that confers a benefit to the 
recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\17\ For a full description 
of the methodology underlying our conclusions), including our reliance, 
in part, on adverse facts available pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) 
of the Act, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \17\ 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.
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Preliminary Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review

    There are eight companies for which a review was requested and not 
rescinded, and which were not selected for individual examination as 
mandatory respondents or found to be cross-owned with a mandatory 
respondent. The statute and Commerce's regulations do not directly 
address the establishment of rates to be applied to companies not 
selected for individual examination where Commerce limits its 
examination in an administrative review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) 
of the Act. However, Commerce normally determines the rates for non-
selected companies in reviews in a manner that is consistent with 
section 705(c)(5) of the Act, which provides the basis for calculating 
the all-others rate in an investigation.
    Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act instructs Commerce, as a general 
rule, to calculate an all-others rate equal to the weighted average of 
the countervailable subsidy rates established for exporters and/or 
producers individually examined, excluding any rates that are zero, de 
minimis, or based entirely on facts available. In this review, only one 
mandatory respondent, Sumitomo Rubber (Hunan) Co., Ltd. (Sumitomo 
Rubber), had a rate which was not zero, de minimis, or based entirely 
on facts available. Thus, for the companies for which a review was 
requested that were not selected as mandatory company respondents and 
for which Commerce is not rescinding the review, Commerce is basing the 
subsidy rate on the rate calculated for Sumitomo Rubber.

Preliminary Results of Review

    We preliminarily find the following net countervailable subsidy 
rates exist for the period January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020:
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    \18\ Commerce finds the following companies to be cross owned 
with Sumitomo Rubber (Hunan) Co., Ltd.: Sumitomo Rubber (China) Co., 
Ltd. and Sumitomo Rubber (Changshu) Co. Ltd.
    \19\ This rate is based on the rate for the respondent that was 
selected for individual review, excluding rates that are zero, de 
minimis, or based entirely on facts available. See section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.
    \20\ The company originally requested a review of Kumho Tire 
(Tanjin) Co., Inc. See Kumho's Letter, ``Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated August 31, 2021. We accordingly initiated a review 
of Kumho Tire (Tanjin) Co., Inc. See Initiation Notice. On July 1, 
2022, Kumho noted that it made a typographical error in its review 
request, and its name is actually Kumho Tire (Tianjin) Co., Inc. See 
Correction and Comment Letter. This notice corrects the company's 
name as listed in the Initiation Notice to Kumho Tire (Tianjin) Co., 
Inc.

[[Page 54963]]



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                                                           Subsidy rate
                    Producer/exporter                       (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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Sumitomo Rubber (Hunan) Co., Ltd. and its cross-owned              29.28
 affiliates \18\........................................
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 Review-Specific Average Rate Applicable to the Following Companies \19\
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Jiangsu Hankook Tire Co., Ltd...........................           29.28
Kumho Tire Co., Inc.....................................           29.28
Kumho Tire (Tianjin) Co., Inc \20\......................           29.28
Prinx Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Company Ltd.............           29.28
Qingdao Nexen Tire Corporation..........................           29.28
Shandong Haohua Tire Co., Ltd...........................           29.28
Shandong Province Sanli Tire Manufactured Co., Ltd......           29.28
Triangle Tyre Co., Ltd..................................           29.28
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We will disclose to parties in this review, the calculations 
performed for these preliminary results within five days after the date 
of publication of this notice.\21\ Interested parties may submit case 
briefs no later than 30 days after the date of publication of these 
preliminary results of review.\22\ Rebuttals to case briefs may be 
filed no later than seven days after the case briefs are filed, and all 
rebuttal comments must be limited to comments raised in the case 
briefs.\23\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who 
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this review 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. Note that 
Commerce has temporarily modified certain of its requirements for 
serving documents containing business proprietary information, until 
further notice.\24\
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    \21\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \22\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c).
    \23\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
    \24\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 
10, 2020).
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    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, filed 
electronically using ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Hearing requests should 
contain: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the 
number of participants, whether any participant is a foreign national; 
and (3) a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a 
hearing is made, parties will be notified of the date and time for the 
hearing to be determined. Parties should confirm the date and time of 
the hearing two days before the schedule date.
    Unless extended, we intend to issue the final results of this 
administrative review, which will include the results of our analysis 
of the issues raised in the case briefs, within 120 days of publication 
of these preliminary results in the Federal Register, pursuant to 
section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties in the amounts shown for each of the respondents listed above on 
shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after the date of publication of the final 
results of this administrative review.
    For all non-reviewed firms, CBP will continue to collect cash 
deposits of estimated countervailing duties at the all-others rate or 
the most recent company-specific rate applicable to the company, as 
appropriate. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.

Assessment Rates

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily 
assigned subsidy rates in the amounts shown above for the producer/
exporters shown above. Upon completion of the administrative review, 
consistent with section 751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2), 
Commerce shall determine, and CBP shall assess, CVDs on all appropriate 
entries covered by this review.
    For the companies for which this review is rescinded, we will 
instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries 
at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties 
required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for 
consumption, during the period January 1, 2020, through December 31, 
2020, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(l)(i). For the companies 
remaining in the review, we intend to issue assessment instructions to 
CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final 
results of this review in the Federal Register.
    If a timely summons is filed at the U.S. Court of International 
Trade, the assessment instructions will direct CBP not to liquidate 
relevant entries until the time for parties to file a request for a 
statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within 90 days of publication).

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results are issued and published pursuant to 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.213 and 
351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: August 31, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Non-Selected Companies Under Review
V. Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
VI. Diversification of China's Economy
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Interest Rate Benchmarks, Discount Rates, Input, Electricity, 
and Land Benchmarks
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2022-19340 Filed 9-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P