[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 68 (Monday, April 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24433-24435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07346]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-157]


Aluminum Lithographic Printing Plates From the People's Republic 
of China: Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part, 
in the Countervailing Duty Investigation

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
critical circumstances exist, in part, with respect to imports of 
aluminum lithographic printing plates (printing plates) from certain 
producers and exporters from the People's Republic of China (China).

DATES: Applicable April 8, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ajay Menon, 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) 482-0208.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In response to a countervailing duty (CVD) petition filed on 
September 28, 2023, Commerce published the initiation of a CVD 
investigation on printing plates from China.\1\ Further, on March 1, 
2024, Commerce published its affirmative Preliminary Determination.\2\ 
In the Preliminary Determination, we examined one participating 
mandatory respondent, Fujifilm Printing Plate (China) Co., Ltd. (FFPS), 
and assigned a second respondent which failed to participate, Shanghai 
National Ink Co. Ltd. (Shanghai National), a rate based on adverse 
facts available (AFA).\3\
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    \1\ See Aluminum Lithographic Printing Plates from the People's 
Republic of China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 
88 FR 73313 (October 25, 2023) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Aluminum Lithographic Printing Plates from the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination, and Alignment of Final Determination with Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination, 89 FR 15134 (March 1, 2024) 
(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary 
Determination Memorandum (PDM).
    \3\ Id.
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    On March 8, 2024, the petitioner, Eastman Kodak Company, filed a 
timely allegation, pursuant to section 703(e)(1) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.206, that critical 
circumstances exist with respect to imports of printing plates from 
China.\4\ On March 14, 2024, FFPS filed comments on the petitioner's 
critical circumstances allegation,\5\ to which the petitioner responded 
on March 18, 2024.\6\
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    \4\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitioner's Allegation of 
Critical Circumstances,'' dated March 8, 2024 (Critical 
Circumstances Allegation).
    \5\ See FFPS' Letter, ``FFPS Response to Critical Circumstances 
Allegation,'' dated March 14, 2024 (FFPS' Critical Circumstances 
Response).
    \6\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitioner's Comments on 
FUJIJFILM Printing Plate (China) Co., Ltd.'s Response to Critical 
Circumstances Allegation,'' dated March 18, 2024 (Petitioner's 
Critical Circumstances Rebuttal Comments).
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    In accordance with section 703(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.206(c)(1) and (2)(ii), because the petitioner submitted its 
critical circumstances allegation more than 30 days before the 
scheduled date of the final determination, Commerce will make a 
preliminary finding as to whether there is a reasonable basis to 
believe or suspect that critical circumstances exist and will issue a 
preliminary critical circumstances determination within 30 days after 
the allegation is filed.

Critical Circumstances Allegation

    The petitioner alleges that there was a massive increase of imports 
of printing plates from China and provided monthly import data 
comparing a base period of May 2023 through September 2023 to a 
comparison period of October 2023 through February 2024.\7\ The 
petitioner asserts that this comparison shows that imports of printing 
plates from China increased by 56.10 percent,\8\ which is ``massive'' 
under 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2). The petitioner also alleges that there is a 
reasonable basis to believe that there are subsidies in this 
investigation which are inconsistent with the World Trade 
Organization's Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures 
Agreement (SCM Agreement).\9\
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    \7\ See Critical Circumstances Allegation at Attachment 1.
    \8\ Id. at 7.
    \9\ Id. at 4.
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Critical Circumstances Analysis

    Section 703(e)(1) of the Act provides that Commerce will 
preliminarily

[[Page 24434]]

determine that critical circumstances exist in a CVD investigation if 
there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that: (A) the alleged 
countervailable subsidy is inconsistent with the SCM Agreement; \10\ 
and (B) there have been massive imports of the subject merchandise over 
a relatively short period. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2), imports 
must increase by at least 15 percent during the ``relatively short 
period'' to be considered ``massive,'' and 19 CFR 351.206(i) defines a 
``relatively short period'' as normally being the period beginning on 
the date the proceeding begins (i.e., the date the petition is filed) 
and ending at least three months later.\11\ However, the regulations 
also provide that if Commerce finds that importers, or exporters or 
producers, had reason to believe, at some time prior to the beginning 
of the proceeding, that a proceeding was likely, Commerce may consider 
a period of not less than three months from the earlier time.\12\
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    \10\ Commerce limits its critical circumstances findings to 
those subsidies contingent upon export performance or use of 
domestic over imported goods (i.e., those prohibited under Article 3 
of the SCM Agreement). See, e.g., Final Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination and Final Negative Critical Circumstances 
Determination: Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire from Germany, 67 
FR 55808, 55809-10 (August 30, 2002).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.206.
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.206(i).
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Alleged Countervailable Subsidies Are Inconsistent With the SCM 
Agreement

    To determine whether an alleged countervailable subsidy is 
inconsistent with the SCM Agreement, in accordance with section 
703(e)(1)(A) of the Act, Commerce considered the evidence currently on 
the record of this investigation. As discussed in the Preliminary 
Determination, we applied AFA to find that the non-cooperating 
mandatory respondent Shanghai National received countervailable 
subsidies under the following programs which the record indicates are 
export-contingent, rendering them inconsistent with the SCM Agreement: 
Export Buyer's Credit from China Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank, Export 
Loans from State-Owned Banks, Export Seller's Credit from China Ex-Im 
Bank, Development of Famous Brands and China World Top Brands, Foreign 
Trade Development Fund Grants, and Export Assistance Grants.\13\
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    \13\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at Appendix I.
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    In the Preliminary Determination, we found that FFPS' unaffiliated 
producer JRT received countervailable subsidies under the Foreign Trade 
Development Fund Grants program during the POI and average useful life 
period.\14\ As discussed in the Preliminary Determination, because the 
Government of China failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of 
its ability to respond to our requests for information regarding the 
Foreign Trade Development Fund Grants program, we relied on sections 
776(a)(1), (a)(2)(A)-(C), and 776(b) of the Act to find that this 
program constitutes a financial contribution and meets the specificity 
requirements of the Act.\15\ However, information from the petition 
indicates that this program is export contingent.\16\ Thus, because we 
find that the Foreign Trade Development Fund Grants program is export 
contingent, we primarily find that the criterion under section 
703(e)(1)(A) of the Act has been met for FFPS.\17\
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    \14\ As discussed in the PDM, FFPS provided responses from 
Huangshan Jinruitai Technology Co., Ltd., an unaffiliated producer 
of subject merchandise and the parent of Zhejiang Jinruitai New 
Material Co., Ltd., a trading company and producer of subject 
merchandise (collectively, JRT). See Preliminary Determination PDM 
at 2-3.
    \15\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 6-7.
    \16\ Id. at 48; see also Checklist, ``Countervailing Duty 
Investigation Initiation Checklist,'' dated October 18, 2023, at 16.
    \17\ We disagree with FFPS that there is an error in Commerce's 
attribution of the benefit JRT received under this program. See 
FFPS' Critical Circumstances Response; see also Petitioner's 
Critical Circumstances Rebuttal Comments. Commerce attributed the 
benefit JRT received under this program in the manner intended; 
thus, our attribution of JRT's benefits is a methodological 
decision, not an error that would lead us to determine that the 
benefits attributed to FFPS under this program are not measurable.
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    Therefore, Commerce preliminarily determines for purposes of this 
critical circumstances determination that there are subsidies in this 
investigation that are inconsistent with the SCM Agreement.

Massive Imports

    In determining whether there have been ``massive imports'' over a 
``relatively short period,'' pursuant to section 703(e)(1)(B) of the 
Act, Commerce normally compares the import volumes of the subject 
merchandise for at least three months immediately preceding the filing 
of the petition (i.e., the ``base period'') to a comparable period of 
at least three months following the filing of the petition (i.e., the 
``comparison period''). In this case, Commerce compared the import 
volumes of subject merchandise, as provided by the cooperating 
mandatory respondent FFPS, for the four months immediately preceding 
and four months following the filing of the petition. Imports normally 
will be considered massive when imports during the comparison period 
have increased by 15 percent or more compared to imports during the 
base period.\18\
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    \18\ See 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2).
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    Because the petition was filed on September 28, 2023, to determine 
whether there was a massive surge in imports for FFPS, Commerce 
compared the total volume of shipments during the period of June 2023 
through September 2023 with the volume of shipments during the period 
of October 2023 through January 2024.\19\ Based on this analysis, we 
primarily determine that there was a massive surge in imports between 
the base and comparison periods for FFPS.\20\
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    \19\ See FFPS's Letter, ``Fujifilm's Response to Request for 
Quantity & Value Data,'' dated March 19, 2024.
    \20\ See Memorandum, ``Critical Circumstances Analysis,'' dated 
concurrently with this memorandum at Attachment 1 (Critical 
Circumstances Analysis Memo).
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    For all other exporters and producers, in accordance with our 
practice,\21\ we examined monthly shipment data for the same time 
periods noted above using import data from Global Trade Atlas (GTA), 
adjusted to remove FFPS' shipment data.\22\ After subtracting FFPS' 
shipment data from the GTA data, we analyzed the overall shipment data 
by comparing the base and comparison periods, respectively. Based on 
this analysis, we find that there were no massive imports for all other 
exporters and producers from China.\23\
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    \21\ See Countervailing Duty Investigation of Tin Mill Products 
from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Determination of 
Critical Circumstances, in Part, 88 FR 46738 (July 20, 2023).
    \22\ Id.
    \23\ Id.
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    Finally, as explained in the Preliminary Determination,we 
preliminarily applied AFA to Shanghai National because it failed to 
cooperate in this proceeding.\24\ Therefore, for Shanghai National, we 
preliminarily determine, in accordance with section 776(b) of the Act, 
that there was a massive surge in imports between the base and 
comparison periods.
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    \24\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 7.
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Conclusion

    Based on the criteria and findings discussed above, we 
preliminarily determine that critical circumstances exist with respect 
to imports of printing plates from China produced or exported by FFPS 
and Shanghai National. We preliminarily determine that critical 
circumstances do not exist with respect to imports of printing plates 
from China with respect to all other exporters and producers.

[[Page 24435]]

Final Critical Circumstances Determination

    We will make a final critical circumstances determination in the 
final CVD determination, which is currently scheduled for July 9, 2024.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments related to this preliminary 
determination of critical circumstances may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in 
this investigation. 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.\25\ 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.\26\
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    \25\ 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).
    \26\ 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 investigation, 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 public 
executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not 
including citations. We intend to use the public executive summaries as 
the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision 
memorandum that will accompany the final determination in this 
investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for 
relevant citations in the public 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 Service Final Rule, 88 FR at 67069.
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    Electronically filed documents must be received successfully in 
their entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the due dates 
established.\29\
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    \29\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1).
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, for FFPS and 
Shanghai National, we intend to direct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of any unliquidated entries of 
subject merchandise from the China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse 
for consumption, on or after December 1, 2023, which is 90 days prior 
to the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the 
Federal Register. For such entries, CBP shall require a cash deposit 
equal to the estimated preliminary subsidy rates established in the 
Preliminary Determination. This suspension of liquidation will remain 
in effect until further notice.

U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we intend to notify 
the ITC of this preliminary determination of critical circumstances.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: April 1, 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.
[FR Doc. 2024-07346 Filed 4-5-24; 8:45 am]
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