[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 14 (Monday, January 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3907-3909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01087]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-840]


Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From India: Preliminary Results 
of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that Elque Ventures Private Limited (EVPL) is the successor-
in-interest to Elque & Co. in the context of the antidumping duty order 
on certain frozen warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from India.

DATES: Applicable January 22, 2024.

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, the Commerce published the order in the 
Federal Register.\1\ In the 2017-2018 administrative review of the 
Order, Commerce determined that the Elque Group (i.e., Elque & Co., 
Calcutta Seafoods Pvt. Ltd. (Calcutta Seafoods), and Bay Seafood Pvt. 
Ltd. (Bay Seafood)) should be treated as a single entity for purposes 
of antidumping duties.\2\ In the 2021-2022 administrative review, 
Commerce assigned the Elque Group a cash deposit rate of 3.88 
percent.\3\ On July 21, 2023, in response to a request by EVPL,\4\ 
Commerce published a notice of initiation of changed circumstances 
review (CCR) to consider whether EVPL is the successor-in-interest to 
Elque & Co.\5\
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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, 84 FR 
16843 (April 23, 2019), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum at 3 (Shrimp from India AR 2017-2018 Prelim), 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 Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India: Final 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022, 88 FR 
60431 (September 1, 2023) (Shrimp from India AR 2021-2022).
    \4\ See EVPL's Letter, ``Request for an Expedited Changed 
Circumstances Review,'' dated June 6, 2023 (EVPL CCR Request).
    \5\ See Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India: Notice of 
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 88 FR 
47105 (July 21, 2023).
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    On September 13, 2023, we issued a supplemental questionnaire to 
EVPL, to which we received a response on September 25, 2023.\6\ EVPL 
stated in its response that there were no material changes in the 
ownership and management structure, production facilities, and supplier 
and customer base of Calcutta Seafoods and Bay Seafood (i.e., the other 
companies comprising the Elque Group) as a result

[[Page 3908]]

of Elque & Co.'s conversion to EVPL.\7\ No interested party filed 
comments on EVPL's CCR request.
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    \6\ See EVPL's Letter, ``Response to Changed Circumstances 
Review Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated September 25, 2023 (SQR).
    \7\ Id.
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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,\8\ deveined or not deveined, cooked or raw, or 
otherwise processed in frozen form.
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    \8\ ``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 products covered by this Order are currently classified under 
the following HTSUS subheadings: 0306.17.00.04, 0306.17.00.05, 
0306.17.00.07, 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.\9\
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    \9\ On April 26, 2011, Commerce amended the Order to include 
dusted shrimp, pursuant to the U.S. Court of International Trade 
(CIT) 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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Preliminary Results

    In this CCR, pursuant to section 751(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 
as amended (the Act), Commerce conducted a successor-in-interest 
analysis. 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.\10\ 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.\11\ 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.\12\
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    \10\ See, e.g., Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India: 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review, 83 FR 37784 (August 2, 2018) (Shrimp from 
India 2018 CCR Prelim), unchanged in Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp 
from India: Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review, 83 FR 49909 (October 3, 2018) (Shrimp from 
India 2018 CCR Final).
    \11\ See, e.g., Shrimp from India 2018 CCR Prelim, 83 FR at 
37784, unchanged in Shrimp from India 2018 CCR Final, 83 FR at 
49909.
    \12\ See, e.g., Shrimp from India 2018 CCR Prelim, 83 FR at 
37784, unchanged in Shrimp from India 2018 CCR Final, 83 FR at 
49909; 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); 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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    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216, we preliminarily determine that 
EVPL is the successor-in-interest to Elque & Co, based on the analysis 
of the information EVPL provided in its CCR request regarding the 
factors listed above.

Management

    EVPL was incorporated in 2019.\13\ In April 2022, Elque & Co. and 
EVPL signed a takeover agreement to transfer all of Elque & Co.'s 
assets and liabilities to EVPL.\14\ After the takeover, EVPL 
demonstrated that the managers of Elque & Co. continued to be the 
directors of EVPL and that there was no change in the company's 
ownership.\15\
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    \13\ See EVPL's CCR Request at 3.
    \14\ Id. at 3 and Exhibit 1.
    \15\ See Memorandum, ``Business Proprietary Information 
Accompanying the Preliminary Results,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice (BPI Memo).

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[[Page 3909]]

Production Facilities

    EVPL stated that it operates all of the same production facilities 
that Elque & Co. used to produce shrimp.\16\ According to EVPL, the 
company's factories are in the same locations they were under Elque & 
Co. before the company restructured.\17\
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    \16\ See EVPL's CCR Request at 6 and Exhibit 3.
    \17\ Id. at 6 and Exhibit 4.
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Supplier Relationships

    EVPL stated that there were no material changes in the raw material 
suppliers of Elque & Co. as a result of the restructuring. EVPL 
provided a list of Elque & Co.'s raw material suppliers during the 
three months prior to the takeover, as compared to EVPL's suppliers for 
the three months after the takeover.\18\ This information demonstrates 
that EVPL continued to use certain of the same suppliers as Elque & 
Co.\19\
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    \18\ Id. at 8 and Exhibit 7.
    \19\ See BPI Memo for the business proprietary details of our 
analysis.
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Customer Base

    EVPL stated that there were no material changes in the customer 
base of Elque & Co. as a result of the restructuring. EVPL provided a 
list of Elque & Co.'s shrimp customers during the three months prior to 
the takeover, as compared to EVPL's customers during the three months 
after the takeover.\20\ This information demonstrates that EVPL 
continued to sell to certain of the same customers as Elque & Co.\21\
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    \20\ See EVPL's CCR Request at Exhibit 7.
    \21\ See BPI Memo for the business proprietary details of our 
analysis.
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    Thus, record evidence, as submitted by EVPL, indicates that EVPL 
operates as essentially the same business entity as Elque & Co. with 
respect to the subject merchandise.\22\ Moreover, Commerce previously 
determined that it was appropriate to treat Calcutta Seafoods Pvt. Ltd. 
(Calcutta Seafoods), Bay Seafood Pvt. Ltd. (Bay Seafood), and Elque & 
Co. as a single entity (the Elque Group).\23\ Because EVPL demonstrated 
that there were no material changes in the ownership and management 
structure, production facilities, and supplier and customer base of 
Calcutta Seafoods and Bay Seafood (the other companies in the Elque 
Group), we preliminarily find that the Elque Group now consists of 
EVPL, Calcutta Seafoods, and Bay Seafood.
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    \22\ See EVPL's CCR Request and SQR.
    \23\ See Shrimp from India AR 2017-2018 Prelim.
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Public Comment

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii), interested parties may submit 
case briefs to Commerce no later than 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised 
in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the 
date for filing case briefs.\24\ Interested parties who submit case 
briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table 
of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\25\ All 
comments are to be filed electronically using Enforcement and 
Compliance's Antidumping and CVD Centralized Electronic Service System 
(ACCESS). An electronically filed document must be received 
successfully in its entirety by ACCESS by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the 
day it is due.\26\
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    \24\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective 
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 
2023) (APO and Final Service Rule).
    \25\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \26\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b).
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    As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an 
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In this review, we instead request that 
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, 
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\27\ Further, 
we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of 
each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We 
intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment 
summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will 
accompany the final results in this CCR. We request that interested 
parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the executive 
summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain of its 
requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 
351.303(f).\28\
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    \27\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \28\ See APO and Final Service Rule.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via 
ACCESS. Requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and 
telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of 
issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to 
those raised in the respective case briefs. An electronically filed 
hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by 
Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time 
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.
    Consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), we will issue the final results 
of this CCR no later than 270 days after the date on which the review 
was initiated, or within 45 days if all parties agree to our 
preliminary finding. If we continue to find that EVPL is the successor-
in-interest to Elque & Co. in this CCR, we will assign EVPL the cash 
deposit rate currently assigned to Elque & Co. as part of the Elque 
Group (i.e., 3.88 percent).\29\
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    \29\ See Shrimp from India AR 2021-2022.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing this notice in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) 
and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(b) and 351.221(b)(1).

    Dated: January 12, 2024.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2024-01087 Filed 1-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P