[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31488-31490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10483]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-552-834]


Paper File Folders From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that paper file folders from the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam (Vietnam) are being, or likely to be, sold in the United States 
at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is 
April 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable May 17, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janae Martin or William Horn, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0238 or (202) 
482-4868, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on November 8, 
2022.\1\ On February 13, 2023, Commerce postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation until May 10, 2023.\2\
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    \1\ See Paper File Folders from the People's Republic of China, 
India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Less-
Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 87 FR 67441 (November 8, 2022) 
(Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Paper File Folders from the People's Republic of China, 
India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement of 
Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 88 FR 9226 (February 13, 2023).
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II 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 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Paper File Folders from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,'' 
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is paper file folders 
from Vietnam. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ we 
set aside a period of time, as stated in the Initiation Notice, for 
parties to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ 
Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation 
as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product 
coverage comments on the record of this investigation, and accompanying 
discussion and analysis of all comments timely received, see the 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ As discussed in the 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, Commerce is preliminarily 
modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. 
See the revised scope in Appendix I to this notice.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27323 (May 19, 1997) (Preamble).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice, 87 FR at 67442.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping Duty Investigations and 
Countervailing Duty Investigation of Paper File Folders from the 
People's Republic of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated concurrently 
with this notice (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
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    The deadline to submit scope case briefs is established in the 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum. There will be no further 
opportunity to comment on scope-related issues.\7\

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Because Vietnam is a non-
market economy country, within the meaning of section 771(18) of the 
Act, Commerce has calculated normal value in accordance with section 
773(c) of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of 
the Act, Commerce preliminarily has relied upon facts otherwise 
available, with adverse inferences, for CRE8 Direct (HK) Co., Limited 
(CRE8 Direct HK) and Fairton Asia Limited (Fairton), among other 
companies which did not establish their eligibility for a separate rate 
and are considered part of the Vietnam-wide entity. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying Commerce's preliminary 
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Vietnam-Wide Entity

    Commerce finds that eight companies, including CRE8 Direct HK and 
Fairton, have not established eligibility for a separate rate and are 
considered to be part of the Vietnam-wide entity for the preliminary 
determination.\7\ For a complete list of these companies, see Appendix 
III.
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    \7\ Case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted in response to 
this preliminary LTFV determination should not include scope-related 
issues. See Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum; and the ``Public 
Comment'' section of this notice, infra.

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[[Page 31489]]

Combination Rates

    In the Initiation Notice,\8\ Commerce stated that it would 
calculate producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that 
are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin 
05.1 describes this practice.\9\
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    \8\ See Initiation Notice, 87 FR at 67446.
    \9\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1, 
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination 
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy 
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on 
Commerce's website at https://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Estimated weighted-
            Exporter                  Producer         average dumping
                                                      margin  (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three-Color Stone Stationary     Three-Color Stone                324.70
 (Viet Nam) Company Limited.      Stationary (Viet
                                  Nam) Company
                                  Limited.
Vietnam-wide Entity............  .................                324.70
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will 
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation 
of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I, entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, as discussed below. 
Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal 
to the weighted-average amount by which normal value exceeds U.S. 
price, as indicated in the chart above as follows: (1) for the 
producer/exporter combination listed in the table above, the cash 
deposit rate is equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
listed for that combination in the table; (2) for all combinations of 
Vietnam producers/exporters of subject merchandise that have not 
established eligibility for their own separate rates, the cash deposit 
rate will be equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
established for the Vietnam-wide entity; and (3) for all third-county 
exporters of subject merchandise not listed in the table above, the 
cash deposit rate is the cash deposit rate applicable to the Vietnam 
producer/exporter combination (or the Vietnam-wide entity) that 
supplied that third-country exporter. These suspension of liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with this preliminary determination within five 
days of its 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).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the last final verification report is 
issued in this investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised 
in case briefs, may be submitted no later than seven days after the 
deadline date for case briefs.\10\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 
(d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
investigation 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.\11\
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
    \11\ 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, within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list 
of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, 
Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a date and time to be 
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and 
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner.\12\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), Commerce requires 
that requests by respondents for postponement of a final antidumping 
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months 
in duration.
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    \12\ The petitioner is the Coalition of Domestic Folder 
Manufacturers. The members of the Coalition of Domestic Folder 
Manufacturers are: Smead Manufacturing Company, Inc.; and TOPS 
Products LLC.
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    On May 9, 2023, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Three-Color Stone 
Stationery (Viet Nam) Company Limited (TCS) requested that Commerce 
postpone the final determination and that provisional measures be 
extended to a period not to exceed six months.\13\ In accordance with 
section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: 
(1) the preliminary determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting 
exporter accounts for a significant proportion of exports of the 
subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling reasons for denial exist, 
Commerce is postponing the final

[[Page 31490]]

determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month 
period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, Commerce's 
final determination will be issued no later than 135 days after the 
date of publication of this preliminary determination.
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    \13\ See TCS's Letter, ``Three-Color Stone Stationery (Viet Nam) 
Company Limited: Postponement of Final Determination and Extension 
of Provisional Measures Period,'' dated May 9, 2023.
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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination of sales at LTFV. If the final determination is 
affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after 
the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final 
determination whether imports of the subject merchandise are materially 
injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: May 10, 2023.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The products within the scope of the investigation are file 
folders consisting primarily of paper, paperboard, pressboard, or 
other cellulose material, whether coated or uncoated, that has been 
folded (or creased in preparation to be folded), glued, taped, 
bound, or otherwise assembled to be suitable for holding documents. 
The scope includes all such folders, regardless of color, whether or 
not expanding, whether or not laminated, and with or without tabs, 
fasteners, closures, hooks, rods, hangers, pockets, gussets, or 
internal dividers. The term ``primarily'' as used in the first 
sentence of this scope means 50 percent or more of the total product 
weight, exclusive of the weight of fasteners, closures, hooks, rods, 
hangers, removable tabs, and similar accessories, and exclusive of 
the weight of packaging.
    Subject folders have the following dimensions in their folded 
and closed position: lengths and widths of at least 8 inches and no 
greater than 17 inches, regardless of depth.
    The scope covers all varieties of folders, including but not 
limited to manila folders, hanging folders, fastener folders, 
classification folders, expanding folders, pockets, jackets, and 
wallets.
    Excluded from the scope are:
     mailing envelopes with a flap bearing one or more 
adhesive strips that can be used permanently to seal the entire 
length of a side such that, when sealed, the folder is closed on all 
four sides;
     binders, with two or more rings to hold documents in 
place, made from paperboard or pressboard encased entirely in 
plastic;
     binders consisting of a front cover, back cover, and 
spine, with or without a flap; to be excluded, a mechanism with two 
or more metal rings must be included on or adjacent to the interior 
spine;
     non-expanding folders with a depth exceeding 2.5 inches 
and that are closed or closeable on the top, bottom, and all four 
sides (e.g., boxes or cartons);
     expanding folders that have (1) 13 or more pockets, (2) 
a flap covering the top, (3) a latching mechanism made of plastic 
and/or metal to close the flap, and (4) an affixed plastic or metal 
carry handle;
     folders that have an outer surface (other than the 
gusset, handles, and/or closing mechanisms, if any) that is covered 
entirely with fabric, leather, and/or faux leather;
     fashion folders, which are defined as folders with all 
of the following characteristics: (1) plastic lamination covering 
the entire exterior of the folder, (2) printing, foil stamping, 
embossing (i.e., raised relief patterns that are recessed on the 
opposite side), and/or debossing (i.e., recessed relief patterns 
that are raised on the opposite side), covering the entire exterior 
surface area of the folder, (3) at least two visible and printed or 
foil stamped colors (other than the color of the base paper), each 
of which separately covers no less than 10 percent of the entire 
exterior surface area, and (4) patterns, pictures, designs, or 
artwork covering no less than thirty percent of the exterior surface 
area of the folder;
     portfolios, which are folders having (1) a width of at 
least 16 inches when open flat, (2) no tabs or dividers, and (3) one 
or more pockets that are suitable for holding letter size documents 
and that cover at least 15 percent of the surface area of the 
relevant interior side or sides; and
     report covers, which are folders having (1) no tabs, 
dividers, or pockets, and (2) one or more fasteners or clips, each 
of which is permanently affixed to the center fold, to hold papers 
securely in place.
    Imports of the subject merchandise are provided for under 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) category 
4820.30.0040. Subject imports may also enter under other HTSUS 
classifications. While the HTSUS subheading is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
scope of the investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Selection of Respondents
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Currency Conversion
VII. Recommendation

Appendix III

Companies Preliminarily Not Eligible for a Separate Rate and Treated as 
Part of the Vietnam-Wide Entity

1. Changyuan Vietnam Co., Ltd.
2. CRE8 Direct (HK) Co., Limited
3. Deli Vietnam Co., Ltd.
4. Fairton Asia Limited
5. Fuda Stationery (Vietnam) Factory
6. Guangbo Vietnam Company, Ltd.
7. Vietnam Cailan Industry Co., Ltd.
8. Teamade Stationery Vietnam Co., Ltd.

[FR Doc. 2023-10483 Filed 5-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P