[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 221 (Thursday, November 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69004-69006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25075]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-122-857]


Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada: Initiation of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review

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

SUMMARY: In response to a request from GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. 
(GFFP) and GreenFirst Forest Products (QC) Inc. (GFFP (QC)) 
(collectively, GreenFirst), the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is 
initiating a changed circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty 
(AD) order on certain softwood lumber products from Canada. This review 
will determine whether GFFP (QC) is the successor-in-interest to 
Rayonier A.M. Canada G.P. (RYAM).

DATES: Applicable November 17, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zachary Shaykin, 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) 482-2638.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 9, 2022, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
final results of the third administrative review of the AD Order \1\ on 
certain softwood lumber products from Canada.\2\ As a result of this 
administrative review, Commerce assigned a cash deposit rate of 4.76 
percent to RYAM based on the non-selected respondent rate (i.e., the 
weighted-average of the mandatory respondents' weighted-average dumping 
margins).\3\
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    \1\ See Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: 
Antidumping Duty Order and Partial Amended Final Determination, 83 
FR 350 (January 3, 2018) (Order).
    \2\ See Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Final 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Final 
Determination of No Shipments; 2020, 87 FR 48465 (August 9, 2022) 
(Lumber V AR3).
    \3\ See Order, 83 FR at 351.
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    The CCR Request explains that on August 28, 2021, GFFP (QC) 
acquired six lumber mills and one newsprint mill from RYAM. The CCR 
Request further explains that RYAM previously held an ownership stake 
in GreenFirst but that, in May 2022, RYAM sold all of its shares in 
GreenFirst, and as a result RYAM no longer has ties to the lumber 
industry. Thus, GreenFirst requests that Commerce initiate an expedited 
CCR to determine that GFFP (QC) is the successor-in-interest to RYAM 
and, thus, that the AD margin in effect for RYAM under the Order should 
be applied to entries from GFFP (QC).\4\
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    \4\ See GreenFirst's letter, ``Softwood Lumber from Canada: 
GreenFirst Forest Products Request for Changed Circumstances 
Review,'' dated September 29, 2022 (CCR Request), at 3 and 4.
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    In its October 18, 2022, submission the Committee Overseeing Action 
for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations 
(COALITION, the petitioner) argues that Commerce should reject 
GreenFirst's request to conduct an expedited CCR of GFFP (QC) pursuant 
to 19 CFR 351.216(e).\5\ The petitioner contends that GFFP (QC) is not 
the successor-in-interest to RYAM because the lumber assets RYAM sold 
to GFFP (QC) experienced significant changes to their ownership and 
management prior to their sale to GFFP (QC).\6\ Further, the petitioner 
argues that the CCR Request improperly treated the names of certain 
GFFP (QC) officials as business proprietary information and for this 
reason the CCR Request should be rejected by Commerce.
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    \5\ See Petitioner's letter, ``Certain Softwood Lumber Products 
from Canada: Comments on GreenFirst's Request for Changed 
Circumstances Review,'' dated October 18, 2022 (Petitioner 
Comments), at 3.
    \6\ See Petitioner Comments at 9 and 10.
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    On October 20, 2022, Commerce held an ex-parte meeting with certain 
government officials from the Government of Canada (GOC) in which 
Canadian government officials expressed their support for GreenFirst's 
CCR Request \7\ and, on October 24, 2022, the GOC submitted a letter to 
Commerce expressing its support for GreenFirst's CCR Request.\8\
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    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Ex Parte Meeting with the Government of 
Canada,'' dated October 21, 2022.
    \8\ See GOC's Letter submitted on October 24, 2022 (ACCESS 
Barcode: 4303828-01).

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[[Page 69005]]

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the Order is softwood lumber, siding, 
flooring and certain other coniferous wood (softwood lumber products). 
The scope includes:
     Coniferous wood, sawn, or chipped lengthwise, sliced or 
peeled, whether or not planed, whether or not sanded, or whether or not 
finger-jointed, of an actual thickness exceeding six millimeters.
     Coniferous wood siding, flooring, and other coniferous 
wood (other than moldings and dowel rods), including strips and friezes 
for parquet flooring, that is continuously shaped (including, but not 
limited to, tongued, grooved, rebated, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, 
molded, rounded) along any of its edges, ends, or faces, whether or not 
planed, whether or not sanded, or whether or not end-jointed.
     Coniferous drilled and notched lumber and angle cut 
lumber.
     Coniferous lumber stacked on edge and fastened together 
with nails, whether or not with plywood sheathing.
     Components or parts of semi-finished or unassembled 
finished products made from subject merchandise that would otherwise 
meet the definition of the scope above.
    Finished products are not covered by the scope of this Order. For 
the purposes of this scope, finished products contain, or are comprised 
of, subject merchandise and have undergone sufficient processing such 
that they can no longer be considered intermediate products, and such 
products can be readily differentiated from merchandise subject to this 
Order at the time of importation. Such differentiation may, for 
example, be shown through marks of special adaptation as a particular 
product. The following products are illustrative of the type of 
merchandise that is considered ``finished'' for the purpose of this 
scope: I-joists; assembled pallets; cutting boards; assembled picture 
frames; garage doors.
    The following items are excluded from the scope of this Order:
     Softwood lumber products certified by the Atlantic Lumber 
Board as being first produced in the Provinces of Newfoundland and 
Labrador, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island from logs harvested in 
Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island.
     U.S.-origin lumber shipped to Canada for processing and 
imported into the United States if the processing occurring in Canada 
is limited to one or more of the following: (1) Kiln drying; (2) 
planing to create smooth-to-size board; or (3) sanding.
     Box-spring frame kits if they contain the following wooden 
pieces--two side rails, two end (or top) rails and varying numbers of 
slats. The side rails and the end rails must be radius-cut at both 
ends. The kits must be individually packaged and must contain the exact 
number of wooden components needed to make a particular box-spring 
frame, with no further processing required. None of the components 
exceeds 1'' in actual thickness or 83'' in length.
     Radius-cut box-spring-frame components, not exceeding 1'' 
in actual thickness or 83'' in length, ready for assembly without 
further processing. The radius cuts must be present on both ends of the 
boards and must be substantially cut so as to completely round one 
corner.
    Softwood lumber product imports are generally entered under Chapter 
44 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). This 
chapter of the HTSUS covers ``Wood and articles of wood.'' Softwood 
lumber products that are subject to this Order are currently 
classifiable under the following ten-digit HTSUS subheadings in Chapter 
44: 4406.91.0000; 4407.10.01.01; 4407.10.01.02; 4407.10.01.15; 
4407.10.01.16; 4407.10.01.17; 4407.10.01.18; 4407.10.01.19; 
4407.10.01.20; 4407.10.01.42; 4407.10.01.43; 4407.10.01.44; 
4407.10.01.45; 4407.10.01.46; 4407.10.01.47; 4407.10.01.48; 
4407.10.01.49; 4407.10.01.52; 4407.10.01.53; 4407.10.01.54; 
4407.10.01.55; 4407.10.01.56; 4407.10.01.57; 4407.10.01.58; 
4407.10.01.59; 4407.10.01.64; 4407.10.01.65; 4407.10.01.66; 
4407.10.01.67; 4407.10.01.68; 4407.10.01.69; 4407.10.01.74; 
4407.10.01.75; 4407.10.01.76; 4407.10.01.77; 4407.10.01.82; 
4407.10.01.83; 4407.10.01.92; 4407.10.01.93; 4407.11.00.01; 
4407.11.00.02; 4407.11.00.42; 4407.11.00.43; 4407.11.00.44; 
4407.11.00.45; 4407.11.00.46; 4407.11.00.47; 4407.11.00.48; 
4407.11.00.49; 4407.11.00.52; 4407.11.00.53; 4407.12.00.01; 
4407.12.00.02; 4407.12.00.17; 4407.12.00.18; 4407.12.00.19; 
4407.12.00.20; 4407.12.00.58; 4407.12.00.59; 4407.13.0000; 
4407.14.0000; 4407.19.0001; 4407.19.0002; 4407.19.0054; 4407.19.0055; 
4407.19.0056; 4407.19.0057; 4407.19.0064; 4407.19.0065; 4407.19.0066; 
4407.19.0067; 4407.19.0068; 4407.19.0069; 4407.19.0074; 4407.19.0075; 
4407.19.0076; 4407.19.0077; 4407.19.0082; 4407.19.0083; 4407.19.0092; 
4407.19.0093; 4409.10.05.00; 4409.10.10.20; 4409.10.10.40; 
4409.10.10.60; 4409.10.10.80; 4409.10.20.00; 4409.10.90.20; 
4409.10.90.40; 4418.30.0100; 4418.50.0010; 4418.50.0030; 4418.50.0050; 
and 4418.99.10.00.
    Subject merchandise as described above might be identified on entry 
documentation as stringers, square cut box-spring-frame components, 
fence pickets, truss components, pallet components, flooring, and door 
and window frame parts. Items so identified might be entered under the 
following ten-digit HTSUS subheadings in Chapter 44: 4415.20.40.00; 
4415.20.80.00; 4418.99.9105; 4418.99.9120; 4418.99.9140; 4418.99.9195; 
4421.99.70.40; and 4421.99.9880.
    Although these HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this Order is 
dispositive.

Initiation of CCR

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.216(d), Commerce will conduct a CCR 
upon receipt of a request from an interested party for a review of an 
AD order which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a 
review of the order. In the past, Commerce has used CCRs to address the 
applicability of cash deposit rates after there have been changes in 
the name or structure of a respondent, such as a merger or spinoff 
(successor-in interest or successorship determinations).\9\ The 
information submitted by GreenFirst supporting its claim that GFFP (QC) 
is the successor-in-interest to RYAM demonstrates changed circumstances 
sufficient to warrant such a review.\10\ Therefore, in accordance with 
section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d) and (e), we are 
initiating this CCR based on the information contained in the 
GreenFirst's CCR Request.\11\
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    \9\ See, e.g., Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the 
People's Republic of China: Initiation and Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 82 FR 51605 and 51606 
(November 7, 2017), unchanged in Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof 
from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 82 FR 60177 (December 19, 2017).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.216(d).
    \11\ See CCR Request.
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    Commerce will issue a questionnaire requesting additional 
information for the review, and will publish in the Federal Register a 
notice of the

[[Page 69006]]

preliminary results, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(2) and (4), 
and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(i). The notice will set forth the factual and 
legal conclusions upon which our preliminary results are based and a 
description of any action proposed based on those results. Pursuant to 
19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(ii), interested parties will have an opportunity 
to comment on the preliminary results. In accordance with 19 CFR 
351.216(e), Commerce intends to issue the final results no later than 
270 days after the date on which the review is initiated. Note that 
Commerce has modified certain of its requirements for serving documents 
containing business proprietary information until July 17, 2020, unless 
extended.\12\
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    \12\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 29615 (May 18, 
2020).
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Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice is published in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 
777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.216(b), 351.221(b), and 
351.221(c)(3).

    Dated: November 14, 2022.
James Maeder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2022-25075 Filed 11-16-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P