[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 139 (Friday, July 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47105-47107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15511]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-840]


Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From India: Notice of Initiation 
of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a 
changed circumstances review (CCR) to determine if Elque Ventures 
Private Limited (Elque) is the successor-in-interest to Elque & Co. in 
the context of the antidumping duty (AD) order on certain frozen 
warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from India.

DATES: Applicable July 21, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terre Keaton Stefanova or Christopher 
Viers, AD/CVD Operations, Office IX, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1280 
or (202) 482-0519, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 1, 2005, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
AD order on shrimp from India.\1\ On June 6, 2023, Elque requested 
that, pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), 19 CFR 351.216, and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3), Commerce 
conduct an expedited CCR to determine that it is the successor-in-
interest to Elque & Co. and assign it the cash deposit rate of the 
Elque Group.\2\ In its submission, Elque stated that in 2022 it changed 
its name from Elque & Co. and also changed its corporate structure to 
become a limited liability company.\3\ In addition, Elque notes that, 
because Commerce determined in the 2017-2018 administrative review to 
treat Calcutta Seafoods Pvt. Ltd. (Calcutta), Bay Seafood Pvt. Ltd. 
(Bay Seafood), and Elque & Co. as a collective entity (i.e., the Elque 
Group), Commerce should also determine that the Elque Group is

[[Page 47106]]

now comprised of Calcutta, Bay Seafood, and Elque.
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    \1\ See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from India, 70 FR 5147 (February 1, 2005) (Order).
    \2\ See Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India: Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2017-2018, 78 FR 
61843 (April 23, 2019), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum, unchanged in Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India: 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2017-2018, 
84 FR 57847 (October 29, 2019).
    \3\ See Elque's Letter, ``Request for an Expedited Changed 
Circumstances Review,'' dated June 6, 2023.
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Scope of the Order

    The scope of this Order includes certain frozen warmwater shrimp 
and prawns, whether wild-caught (ocean harvested) or farm-raised 
(produced by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, shell-on or peeled, 
tail-on or tail-off,\4\ deveined or not deveined, cooked or raw, or 
otherwise processed in frozen form.
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    \4\ ``Tails'' in this context means the tail fan, which includes 
the telson and the uropods.
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    The frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products included in the 
scope of this Order, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), are products which are processed 
from warmwater shrimp and prawns through freezing and which are sold in 
any count size.
    The products described above may be processed from any species of 
warmwater shrimp and prawns. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are generally 
classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae family. Some 
examples of the farmed and wild-caught warmwater species include, but 
are not limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannemei), banana prawn 
(Penaeus merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus chinensis), giant river 
prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), 
redspotted shrimp (Penaeus brasiliensis), southern brown shrimp 
(Penaeus subtilis), southern pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern 
rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris), southern white shrimp 
(Penaeus schmitti), blue shrimp (Penaeus stylirostris), western white 
shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis), and Indian white prawn (Penaeus 
indicus).
    Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed with marinade, spices or 
sauce are included in the scope of this Order. In addition, food 
preparations, which are not ``prepared meals,'' that contain more than 
20 percent by weight of shrimp or prawn are also included in the scope 
of this Order. Excluded from the scope are: (1) breaded shrimp and 
prawns (HTSUS subheading 1605.20.10.20); (2) shrimp and prawns 
generally classified in the Pandalidae family and commonly referred to 
as coldwater shrimp, in any state of processing; (3) fresh shrimp and 
prawns whether shell-on or peeled (HTSUS subheadings 0306.23.00.20 and 
0306.23.00.40); (4) shrimp and prawns in prepared meals (HTSUS 
subheading 1605.20.05.10); (5) dried shrimp and prawns; (6) canned 
warmwater shrimp and prawns (HTSUS subheading 1605.20.10.40); (7) 
certain battered shrimp. Battered shrimp is a shrimp-based product: (1) 
that is produced from fresh (or thawed-from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; 
(2) to which a ``dusting'' layer of rice or wheat flour of at least 95 
percent purity has been applied; (3) with the entire surface of the 
shrimp flesh thoroughly and evenly coated with the flour; (4) with the 
non-shrimp content of the end product constituting between four and ten 
percent of the product's total weight after being dusted, but prior to 
being frozen; and (5) that is subjected to IQF freezing immediately 
after application of the dusting layer. When dusted in accordance with 
the definition of dusting above, the battered shrimp product is also 
coated with a wet viscous layer containing egg and/or milk, and par-
fried. The merchandise subject to the Order is certain frozen warmwater 
shrimp.
    The products covered by this Order are currently classified under 
the following (HTSUS) subheadings: 0306.17.00.04, 0306.17.00.05, 07, 
0306.17.00.08, 0306.17.00.10, 0306.17.00.11, 0306.17.00.13, 
0306.17.00.14, 0306.17.00.16, 0306.17.00.17, 0306.17.00.19, 
0306.17.00.20, 0306.17.00.22, 0306.17.00.23, 0306.17.00.25, 
0306.17.00.26, 0306.17.00.28, 0306.17.00.29, 0306.17.00.41, 
0306.17.00.42, 1605.21.10.30, and 1605.29.10.10. These HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and for customs purposes only 
and are not dispositive, but rather the written description of the 
scope of this Order is dispositive.\5\
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    \5\ On April 26, 2011, Commerce amended the antidumping duty 
order to include dusted shrimp, pursuant to the U.S. Court of 
International Trade decision in Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee 
v. United States, 703 F. Supp. 2d 1330 (CIT 2010) and the U.S. 
International Trade Commission determination, which found the 
domestic like product to include dusted shrimp. See Certain Frozen 
Warmwater Shrimp from Brazil, India, the People's Republic of China, 
Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Amended Antidumping 
Duty Orders in Accordance with Final Court Decision, 76 FR 23277 
(April 26, 2011); see also Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee v. 
United States, 703 F. Supp. 2d 1330 (CIT 2010); and Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from Brazil, China, India, Thailand, and France 
(Investigation Nos. 731-TA-1063, 1064, 1066-1068) (Review), USITC 
Publication 4221 (March 2011).
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Initiation of CCR

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d), 
Commerce conducts a CCR upon receipt of information concerning, or 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. The information submitted by Elque regarding its claim that it 
is the successor-in-interest to Elque & Co. demonstrates changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant the initiation of such a review.\6\ 
Therefore, in accordance with section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.216(d) and (e), we are initiating a CCR.
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    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.216(d).
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    In making a successor-in-interest determination, Commerce examines 
several factors, including, but not limited to, changes in the 
following: (1) management; (2) production facilities; (3) supplier 
relationships; and (4) customer base.\7\ While no single factor or 
combination of factors will necessarily provide a dispositive 
indication of a successor-in-interest relationship, generally, Commerce 
will consider the new company to be the successor to the previous 
company if the new company's resulting operation is not materially 
dissimilar to that of its predecessor.\8\ Thus, if the record evidence 
demonstrates that, with respect to the production and sale of the 
subject merchandise, the new company operates as the same business 
entity as the predecessor company, Commerce may assign the new company 
the cash deposit rate of its predecessor.\9\
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    \7\ See, e.g., Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India: 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review, 81 FR 75376 (October 31, 2016) (Shrimp from 
India Preliminary CCR), unchanged in Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp 
from India: Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review, 81 FR 90774 (December 15, 2016) (Shrimp from 
India Final CCR).
    \8\ See, e.g., Shrimp from India Preliminary CCR, 81 FR at 
75377, unchanged in Shrimp from India Final CCR, 81 FR at 90774.
    \9\ Id.; see also Notice of Final Results of Changed 
Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: 
Polychloroprene Rubber from Japan, 67 FR 58, 59 (January 2, 2002); 
Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France: Final Results of 
Changed-Circumstances Review, 75 FR 34688, 34689 (June 18, 2010); 
and Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe from the Republic of Korea; 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances 
Review, 63 FR 14679 (March 26, 1998), unchanged in Circular Welded 
Non-Alloy Steel Pipe from Korea; Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, 63 FR 20572 (April 27, 1998) (in which 
Commerce found that a company which only changed its name and did 
not change its operations is a successor-in-interest to the company 
before it changed its name).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii), Commerce may combine the 
notices of initiation and preliminary results of a CCR into a single 
notice if it concludes that expedited action is warranted. However, we 
are not combining this notice of initiation with the preliminary 
results, because we require additional information from the other 
companies in the Elque Group regarding the effect

[[Page 47107]]

of Elque & Co.'s name change and change in corporate structure on the 
operation of the Elque Group. Commerce intends to publish in the 
Federal Register a notice of the preliminary results of this CCR, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4) and (c)(3)(i), which will set 
forth Commerce's preliminary factual and legal conclusions. Pursuant to 
19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(ii), interested parties will have an opportunity 
to comment on the preliminary results.
    Unless extended, Commerce intends to issue the final results of 
this CCR within 270 days after the date of initiation, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.216(e).

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing this notice in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(b) and 351.221(b)(1).

    Dated: July 17, 2023.
James Maeder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2023-15511 Filed 7-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P