[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15816-15818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04624]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-118]


Wood Mouldings and Millwork Products From the People's Republic 
of China: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing 
Duty Administrative Review; 2022

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 and exporters of wood moulding and millwork products 
(millwork products) from the People's Republic of China (China) during 
the period of review (POR), January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. 
In addition, Commerce is rescinding this review with respect to 17 
companies. Interested parties are invited to comment on these 
preliminary results of review.

DATES: Applicable March 5, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Matney or Faris Montgomery, 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) 482-2429 or (202) 
482-1537, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 16, 2021, Commerce published a countervailing duty 
(CVD) order on millwork products from China.\1\ The Coalition of 
American Millwork Producers (the petitioner) and other interested 
parties requested that Commerce conduct an administrative review of the 
Order. On April 11, 2023, Commerce published in the Federal Register a 
notice of initiation of an administrative review of the Order.\2\ We 
initiated an administrative review of 41 producers/exporters of 
millwork products from China for the POR. On July 10, 2023, Commerce 
selected Fujian Jinquan Trade Co., Ltd. (Jinquan) and Fujian Yinfeng 
Imp & Exp Trading Co., Ltd. (Yinfeng) as the mandatory respondents in 
this administrative review.\3\
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    \1\ See Wood Mouldings and Millwork Products from the People's 
Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Order, 86 FR 9484 (February 
16, 2021) (Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 21609 (April 11, 2023) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated July 10, 
2023.
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    On October 2, 2023, Commerce extended the deadline for the 
preliminary results of this review to no later than February 28, 
2024.\4\
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022,'' dated 
October 2, 2023.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included at Appendix I. 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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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Wood 
Mouldings and Millwork Products from the People's Republic of China; 
2022,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the Order are millwork products 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 a party who requested 
the review withdraws the request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of notice of initiation of the requested review. On July 7, 
2023, Jeld-Wen, Inc. timely withdrew its request for review for two of 
the eight companies for which it had requested a review.\6\ On July 10, 
2023, the petitioner timely withdrew its requests for review of four 
companies.\7\ For each of the companies for which all requests for 
review were timely withdrawn and which are not cross-owned with a 
mandatory respondent, we are rescinding this review, in part, with 
respect to these companies pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1).\8\
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    \6\ See Jeld-Wen's Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated July 7, 2023.
    \7\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated July 10, 2023.
    \8\ See Appendix II for a list of companies for which we are 
rescinding the review due to the timely withdrawal of the requests 
for review.
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    On September 14, 2023, Commerce notified interested parties that it 
intended to rescind this administrative review with respect to certain 
companies, in the absence of suspended entries during the POR.\9\ Two 
companies listed in our Intent to Rescind Memorandum, Anji Huaxin 
Bamboo & Wood Products Co., Ltd. and Composite Technology 
International, Limited, submitted comments claiming that they had 
entries of subject merchandise during the POR.\10\ As we require more 
time to fully examine the companies' claims and request additional 
information, if necessary, we are not rescinding the review of these 
two companies at this time, and will make a determination in the final 
results. With respect to the remaining 13 companies noted in our Intent 
to Rescind Memorandum and for which all review requests were not timely 
withdrawn,\11\ we find that there were no reviewable entries of subject 
merchandise during the POR. As a result, we are rescinding this review, 
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), with respect to these companies. On 
May 11, 2023, Homebuild Industries Co., Ltd.

[[Page 15817]]

(Homebuild) certified that it had no reviewable entries during the 
POR.\12\ Commerce solicited information from U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) regarding this claim and placed CBP's response on the 
record on February 15, 2024; \13\ no party commented on this 
information. We are preliminarily not rescinding this review regarding 
Homebuild at this time, and will fully examine the record evidence on 
this issue for the final results.
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    \9\ See Memorandum, ``Notice of Intent to Rescind Review, In 
Part,'' dated September 14, 2023 (Intent to Rescind Memorandum).
    \10\ See Anji Huaxin's Letter, ``Comments on Notice of Intent to 
Rescind Review, In Part,'' dated September 28, 2023; see also 
Composite Technology International's Letter, ``Comments on Notice of 
Intent to Rescind Review, In Part,'' dated September 28, 2023.
    \11\ See Appendix III for a list of these 13 companies.
    \12\ See Homebuild Industries Letter, ``Certification of No 
Sales, Shipments, or Entries,'' dated May 11, 2023.
    \13\ See Memorandum, ``Entry Documents Requested,'' dated 
February 15, 2024, at Attachments 1 and 2.
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    For further information regarding this determination, see ``Final 
Rescission of Administrative Review, In Part'' section in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this 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 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.\14\ For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary 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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    \14\ 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

    As discussed above, Commerce initiated this administrative review 
with respect to 41 producers/exporters. We are rescinding the review 
for four companies for which all requests for administrative review 
were timely withdrawn and for 13 companies that had no suspended 
entries during the POR. Commerce selected two mandatory respondents, 
Jinquan and Yinfeng, for individual examination.\15\ For the remaining 
21 non-selected companies subject to this review, because the rates 
calculated for mandatory respondents Jinquan and Yinfeng were above de 
minimis and not based entirely on facts available, we applied a 
preliminary subsidy rate based on a weighted average of the rates 
calculated for the two mandatory respondents using the publicly-ranged 
sales data they submitted on the record. This methodology is consistent 
with our practice for establishing an all-others subsidy rate pursuant 
to section 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act. For further information on the 
calculation of the non-selected respondent rate, refer to the section 
in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum entitled ``Non-Selected 
Companies Under Review.'' For a list of the non-selected companies, see 
Appendix IV to this notice.
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    \15\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce preliminarily finds that Fujian Province Youxi City 
Mangrove Wood Machining Co., Ltd., which was listed separately in 
the Initiation Notice, is cross-owned with Yinfeng.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we calculated a 
countervailable subsidy rate for each of the mandatory respondents, 
Jinquan and Yinfeng, and their cross-owned affiliates, where 
applicable. We preliminarily find the following estimated 
countervailable subsidy rates exist:
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    \16\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
consistent with the prior administrative review, Commerce continues 
to find Fujian Province Youxi County Baiyuan Wood Machining Co., 
Ltd. to be cross-owned with Jinquan. Fujian Province Youxi County 
Baiyuan Wood Machining Co., Ltd. was listed separately in the 
Initiation Notice.
    \17\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce preliminarily finds the following companies to be cross-
owned with Yinfeng: Fujian Province Youxi City Mangrove Wood 
Machining Co., Ltd.; and Fujian Province Youxi City Mangrove Wood 
Machining Co., Ltd. Youxi Xicheng Branch. Fujian Province Youxi City 
Mangrove Wood Machining Co., Ltd. was listed separately in the 
Initiation Notice.
    \18\ See Appendix IV for a list of the non-selected companies 
under review.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                    Producer/exporter                       (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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Fujian Jinquan Trade Co., Ltd.\16\......................           20.65
Fujian Yinfeng Imp & Exp Trading Co., Ltd.\17\..........           23.22
Non-Selected Companies Under Review \18\................           22.82
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Verification

    Commerce received a timely request from the petitioner to verify 
the information submitted in this administrative review, pursuant to 19 
CFR 351.307(b)(1)(iv).\19\ Commerce does not intend to verify the 
information submitted by the mandatory respondents in the course of 
this administrative review.\20\
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    \19\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request for Verification,'' 
dated July 20, 2023.
    \20\ Commerce conducted verification in the previous 
administrative review. See Wood Mouldings and Millwork Products from 
the People's Republic of China: Final Results and Partial Rescission 
of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2020-2021, 88 FR 62319 
(September 11, 2023).
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties within 
five days after the date of publication of this notice.\21\ 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 the publication of 
this notice.\22\ 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.\23\ 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.\24\
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    \21\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \22\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
    \23\ 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 Service Final Rule).
    \24\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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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.\25\ 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 administrative review. 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).\26\
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    \25\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \26\ See APO and Service Final 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

[[Page 15818]]

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.

Final Results

    Unless the deadline is 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).

Assessment Rates

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily 
assigned subsidy rates in the amounts 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, countervailing duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review.
    For the companies for which this review is rescinded, Commerce 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, 2022, through December 31, 
2022, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(l)(i). Commerce intends to 
issue assessment instructions to CBP for these companies no earlier 
than 35 days after the publication of the preliminary results of this 
review in the Federal Register.
    For the companies for which this review is not rescinded, Commerce 
intends 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).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    In accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends, 
upon publication of the final results, to instruct CBP to collect cash 
deposits of estimated countervailing duties in the amounts shown for 
each of the respective companies listed above and in Appendix IV 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, we 
will instruct CBP to continue to collect cash deposits at the most 
recent company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company. 
These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect 
until further notice.

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 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: February 28, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Final Rescission of Review, in Part
IV. Non-Selected Companies Under Review
V. Scope of the Order
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, Inputs, Land-Use and 
Electricity Benchmarks
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Recommendation

Appendix II

Companies for Which All Review Requests Were Timely Withdrawn \27\
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    \27\ Commerce received timely requests to withdraw the review 
for Fujian Province Youxi County Baiyuan Wood Machining Co., Ltd. 
(Baiyuan) and Suqian Sulu Import & Export Trading Co., Ltd. (Sulu). 
As discussed above, Baiyuan is the cross-owned affiliate of 
mandatory respondent Jinquan. In addition, Commerce received review 
requests for Sulu from both the petitioner and Sulu; but only the 
petitioner's request was withdrawn. Accordingly, we are not 
rescinding this review for either Baiyuan or Sulu.
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1. Fujian Sanming City Donglai Wood Co., Ltd.
2. Xiamen Jinxi Building Material Co., Ltd.
3. Zhangzhou Green Wood Industry and Trade Co., Ltd.
4. Zhejiang Senya Board Industry Co., Ltd.

Appendix III

Companies for Which the Review Is Rescinded Due to No Reviewable 
Entries

1. Aventra Inc.
2. Baixing Import and Export Trading Co., Ltd Youxi Fujian
3. Bel Trade Wood Industrial Co.
4. Bel Trade Wood Industrial Co., Ltd Youxi Fujian
5. Cao County Hengda Wood Products Co., Ltd.
6. China Cornici Co. Ltd.
7. Fujian Shunchang Shengsheng Wood Industry Limited Company
8. Fujian Zhangping Kimura Forestry Products Co., Ltd.
9. Jiangsu Chensheng Forestry Development Co., Ltd.
10. Omni One Co., Limited
11. Raoping HongRong Handicrafts Co., Ltd. (d.b.a. Chen Chui Global 
Corp.)
12. Shenzhen Xinjintai Industrial Co., Ltd.
13. Wuxi Boda Bamboo & Wood Industrial Co., Ltd.

Appendix IV

Non-Selected Companies Under Review

1. Anji Huaxin Bamboo & Wood Products Co., Ltd.
2. Composite Technology International, Limited \28\
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    \28\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, this 
company objected to Commerce's Intent to Rescind Memorandum; 
Commerce will continue to consider this company's entry claim and 
whether or not it is appropriate to rescind the review with respect 
to this company for the final results.
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3. Fotiou Frames Limited \29\
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    \29\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, this 
company objected to Commerce's Intent to Rescind Memorandum; 
Commerce will continue to consider this company's entry claim and 
whether or not it is appropriate to rescind the review with respect 
to this company for the final results.
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4. Fujian Hongjia Craft Products Co., Ltd.
5. Fujian Wangbin Decorative Material Co., Ltd.
6. Fujian Youxi Best Arts & Crafts Co. Ltd.
7. Homebuild Industries Co., Ltd.
8. Huaan Longda Wood Industry Co., Ltd.
9. Jiangsu Wenfeng Wood Co., Ltd.
10. Longquan Jiefeng Trade Co., Ltd.
11. Nanping Huatai Wood & Bamboo Co., Ltd.
12. Nanping Huatai Wood and Bamboo Co., Ltd.
13. Putian Yihong Wood Industry Co., Ltd.
14. Shandong Miting Household Co., Ltd.
15. Shaxian Hengtong Wood Industry Co., Ltd.
16. Shaxian Shiyiwood, Ltd.
17. Shuyang Kevin International Co., Ltd.
18. Shuyang Zhongding Decoration Materials Co., Ltd.
19. Suqian Sulu Import & Export Trading Co., Ltd.
20. Zhangzhou Wangjiamei Industry & Trade Co., Ltd.
21. Zhangzhou Yihong Industrial Co., Ltd.

[FR Doc. 2024-04624 Filed 3-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P