[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 68 (Monday, April 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24428-24429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07348]



[[Page 24428]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-900]


Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From India: Preliminary 
Results and Partial Recission of the Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Review; 2021-2022

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 Gujarat 
Fluorochemicals Limited (GFCL), a producer and exporter of granular 
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin from India. The period of review 
(POR) is July 6, 2021, through December 31, 2022.

DATES: Applicable April 8, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Subler or Robert Palmer, 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) 482-6241 or (202) 
482-9068, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 31, 2023, we received a timely request for an 
administrative review from GFCL.\1\ On May 9, 2023, Commerce published 
a notice of initiation of an administrative review of the 
countervailing duty (CVD) order \2\ on granular PTFE.\3\ On May 15, 
2023, Commerce released U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entry 
data and stated that because only one company (GFCL) was identified in 
the Initiation Notice and it had entries during the POR, we selected 
GFCL as the only mandatory respondent in this review.\4\ On November 
17, 2023, Commerce extended the deadline for the preliminary results of 
this review until March 28, 2024.\5\
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    \1\ See GFCL's Letter, ``Request for Administrative Review,'' 
dated March 31, 2023.
    \2\ See Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India and 
the Russian Federation: Countervailing Duty Orders, 87 FR 14509 
(March 15, 2022) (Order), as amended in Granular 
Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India: Notice of Court Decision 
Not in Harmony With the Final Determination of Countervailing Duty 
Investigation; Notice of Amended Final Determination and Amended 
Countervailing Duty Order, 88 FR 74153 (October 30, 2023).
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 29881, 29885 (May 9, 2023) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Release of U.S. Customs Entry Data for 
Respondent Selection,'' dated May 15, 2023.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for the Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated 
November 17, 2023.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\6\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as an appendix 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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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022: 
Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The product covered by the Order is granular 
polytetrafluoroethylene resin from India. For a complete description of 
the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this CVD administrative 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 to be countervailable, 
Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a subsidy, i.e., a 
financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives rise to a benefit 
to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\7\ For a full 
description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \7\ 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 Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the 
following net countervailable subsidy rates for the period July 6, 
2021, through December 31, 2022:
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    \8\ This subsidy rate applies to the period July 6, 2021, to 
December 31, 2021.
    \9\ This subsidy rate applies to the period January 1, 2022, to 
December 31, 2022.
    \10\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce found Inox Leasing and Finance Limited to be cross-owned 
with GFCL.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Subsidy rate     Subsidy rate
                                          (percent ad      (percent ad
                Company                  valorem) 2021    valorem) 2022
                                              \8\              \9\
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Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited \10\..            4.89             4.70
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to 
interested parties for these preliminary results within five days of 
any public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within 
five days of the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.\11\ A timeline for 
the submission of case briefs and written comments will be notified to 
interested parties at a later date. 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.\12\ 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.\13\
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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii); see also 19 CFR 351.303 for 
general filing requirements.
    \12\ 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).
    \13\ 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

[[Page 24429]]

instead request that interested parties provide at the beginning of 
their briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their 
briefs.\14\ 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).\15\
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    \14\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \15\ 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 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 pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2), Commerce intends to issue the final 
results of this administrative review, including the results of its 
analysis of the issues raised by the parties in any written briefs, no 
later than 120 days after the date of publication of these preliminary 
results.

Assessment Rate

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily 
assigned a subsidy rate in the amount shown above for GFCL. 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 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, 
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review 
at the applicable ad valorem assessment rates listed for the 
corresponding time period (i.e., July 6, 2021, to December 31, 2021, 
and January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022).
    For GFCL, we intend 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 amount shown for 
GFCL (and its cross-owned affiliate) listed above for 2022, the second 
year covered by the period of review, 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 (i.e., 5.39 percent),\16\ applicable to 
the company. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.
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    \16\ See Order.
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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: 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.

Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Diversification of India's Economy
V. Subsidies Valuation Information
VI. Interest Rate Benchmarks and Benchmarks for Measuring the 
Adequacy of Remuneration
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-07348 Filed 4-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P