[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 86 (Thursday, May 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35790-35792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09587]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-054]


Certain Aluminum Foil From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review and 
Rescission of Review, in Part; 2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that producers and exporters of certain aluminum foil 
(aluminum foil) from the People's Republic of China (China) received 
countervailable subsidies during the period of review, January 1, 2022, 
through December 31, 2022.

DATES: Applicable May 2, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Natasia Harrison or Harrison Tanchuck, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1240 or (202) 
482-7421, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On June 12, 2023, Commerce published a notice of initiation of an 
administrative review of the countervailing duty order on aluminum foil 
from China,\1\ covering the requested companies.\2\ As explained below, 
between July 20 and September 11, 2023, certain interested parties 
withdrew their review requests with respect to certain companies.\3\ On 
July 24, 2023, Commerce selected Hangzhou Five Star Aluminium Co., Ltd. 
(Five Star) and Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co., (HK) Limited 
(Zhongji HK) for individual examination as the mandatory respondents in 
this administrative review.\4\ On November 30, 2023, Commerce extended 
the deadline for these preliminary results until April 26, 2024.\5\
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    \1\ See Certain Aluminum Foil from the People's Republic of 
China: Amended Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination 
and Countervailing Duty Order, 83 FR 17360 (April 19, 2018); see 
also Certain Aluminum Foil from the People's Republic of China: 
Notice of Court Decision Not in Harmony With the Amended Final 
Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation, and Notice 
of Amended Final Determination and Amended Countervailing Duty 
Order, 85 FR 47730 (August 6, 2020) (collectively, Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 38021, 38030 (June 12, 2023) 
(Initiation Notice).
    \3\ See Printpack, Inc.'s Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review (Period of Review 1/1/2022-12/3112022),'' 
dated July 20, 2023; see also Novolex Bagcraft Inc.'s Letter, 
``Withdrawal of Review Requests,'' dated July 27, 2023; and Sankyu-
Thai Co., Ltd.'s Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated September 11, 2023 (collectively, Withdrawals of 
Review Requests).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated July 24, 
2023.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022,'' dated 
November 30, 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 Appendix I 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 Administrative Review of Countervailing Duty Order on 
Certain Aluminum Foil 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 product covered by the Order is aluminum foil from China. For a 
complete description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(l)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each 
of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, we preliminarily 
determine 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 accompanying 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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    Commerce notes that, in making these findings, it relied, in part, 
on facts available and, because it finds that the Government of China 
did not act to the

[[Page 35791]]

best of its ability to respond to Commerce's requests for certain 
information, it drew an adverse inference, where appropriate, in 
selecting from among the facts otherwise available. For further 
information, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum at the section 
titled ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences.''

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 the party or parties 
that requested a review withdraw the request within 90 days of the 
publication date of the notice of initiation of the requested review. 
As noted above certain interested parties timely withdrew their 
requests for review of specific companies.\8\
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    \8\ See Withdrawals of Review Requests.
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    Because no other party requested a review of these 11 companies, 
and in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), we are rescinding the 
review with respect to these companies (see Appendix II).

Companies Not Selected for Individual Review

    There are 20 companies for which a review was requested and not 
rescinded, and which were not selected as mandatory respondents or 
found to be cross-owned with a mandatory respondent. The statute and 
Commerce's regulations do not directly address the establishment of 
rates to be applied to companies not selected for individual 
examination where Commerce limits its examination in an administrative 
review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act. However, Commerce 
normally determines the rates for non-selected companies in reviews in 
a manner that is consistent with section 705(c)(5) of the Act, which 
provides the basis for calculating the all-others rate in an 
investigation.
    Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act instructs Commerce, as a general 
rule, to calculate an all-others rate equal to the weighted average of 
the countervailable subsidy rates established for exporters and/or 
producers individually examined, excluding any rates that are zero, de 
minimis, or based entirely on facts available. In this review, the 
preliminary rates calculated for Five Star and Zhongji HK are above de 
minimis and not based entirely on facts available. Therefore, we are 
applying to the non-selected companies the average of the net subsidy 
rates calculated for Five Star and Zhongji HK, which we calculated 
using the publicly-ranged sales data submitted by Five Star and Zhongji 
HK.\9\ This methodology to establish the rate for the non-selected 
companies uses section 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, which governs the 
calculation of the ``all-others'' rate in an investigation, as 
guidance. 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 III to this 
notice.
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    \9\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally 
calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates 
calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average of the 
estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents; and 
(C) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for 
the examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S. 
sale quantities for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce 
then compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) 
as the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. 
See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, 
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances 
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 
(September 1, 2010).
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Preliminary Results of Review

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following 
countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period January 1, 2022, 
through December 31, 2022:
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    \10\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce finds the following companies to be to be cross-owned with 
Five Star: Jiangsu Dingsheng New Materials Joint-Stock Co., Ltd. 
(Jiangsu Dingsheng); Dingsheng Aluminium Industries (Hong Kong) 
Trading Co.; Limited or Dingsheng Aluminium Industries (Hong Kong) 
Trading Co., Ltd. (Dingsheng HK); Hangzhou Dingsheng Import & Export 
Co., Ltd. or Hangzhou Dingsheng Import and Export Co., Ltd. 
(Dingsheng IE); Hangzhou Teemful Aluminium Co., Ltd. (Teemful); 
Inner Mongolia Liansheng New Energy Material Joint-Stock Co., Ltd. 
(Liansheng); Inner Mongolia Xinxing New Material Co., Ltd. 
(Xinxing); Hangzou Dingsheng Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (Dingsheng 
Group); Hangzhou Dingcheng Aluminum Co., Ltd. (Dingcheng); Luoyang 
Longding Aluminium Co., Ltd. (Longding); and Walson (HK) Trading 
Co., Limited (Walson HK). Longding and Walson HK were listed 
separately in the Initiation Notice.
    \11\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce finds finds the following companies to be to be cross-owned 
with Zhongji HK: Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co., Ltd. 
(Zhongji) (FKA Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co., Ltd.); 
Jiangsu Huafeng Aluminium Industry Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu Huafeng); 
Shantou Wanshun New Material Group Co., Ltd. (Shantou Wanshun) (FKA 
Shantou Wanshun Package Material Stock Co., Ltd.); Anhui Zhongji 
Battery Foil Sci&Tech Co., Ltd. (Anhui Zhongji) (FKA Anhui Maximum 
Aluminium Industries Company Limited); and Sichuan Wanshun Zhongji 
Aluminium Industry Co., Ltd. (Sichuan Wanshun). Anhui Zhongji, Anhui 
Maximum Aluminium Industries Company Limited, Jiangsu Huafeng, 
Zhongji, and Shantou Wanshun Package Material Stock Co., Ltd. were 
listed separately in the Initiation Notice. See Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum at the ``Attribution'' section for further discussion 
regarding Zhongji, Shantou Wanshun and Anhui Zhongji's company name 
changes.
    \12\ See Appendix III for a list of the non-selected companies 
under review.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                            (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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Hangzhou Five Star Aluminium Co., Ltd.\10\..............           30.66
Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co., (HK) Limited             19.23
 \11\...................................................
Non-Selected Companies Under Review \12\................           24.95
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Assessment Rates

    Consistent with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, upon issuance of 
the final results, Commerce shall determine, and U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, countervailing duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review. 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).
    For the companies for which this review is rescinded with these 
preliminary results, 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 appropriate assessment 
instructions directly to CBP no later than 35 days after publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(1) of the Act, upon issuance of the 
final results, Commerce intends to instruct CBP to collect cash 
deposits of estimated countervailing duties for each of the companies 
listed above 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, except where the

[[Page 35792]]

rate calculated in the final results is zero or de minimis, no cash 
deposit will be required. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct 
CBP to continue to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties at the most recent company-specific or all-others rate 
applicable to the company, as appropriate. These cash deposit 
instructions, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further 
notice.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed for these 
preliminary results to interested parties within five days of the date 
of publication of this notice 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 no later than 30 
days after the date of publication of these preliminary results of 
review in the Federal Register.\13\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after 
the deadline for filing case briefs.\14\ 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.\15\
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \14\ 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).
    \15\ 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.\16\ 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).\17\
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    \16\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \17\ 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, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
filed electronically via ACCESS. An electronically-filed request must 
be received successfully, and in its entirety, by ACCESS within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. 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. All submissions, including case and rebuttal briefs, as well as 
hearing requests, should be filed using ACCESS.\18\ An electronically-
filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS 
by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the established deadline.
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    \18\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
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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.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213 and 
351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: April 26, 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. Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part
IV. Non-Selected Companies Under Review
V. Scope of the Order
VI. Diversification of China's Economy
VII. Subsidies Valuation
VIII. Interest Rate Benchmarks, Discount Rates, and Benchmarks for 
Measuring the Adequacy of Remuneration
IX. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Recommendation

Appendix II

Companies Rescinded From the Review

1. Aluminum Corporation of China Limited
2. Dong-IL Aluminium Co., Ltd.
3. Dongwon Systems Corp.
4. Eastern Valley Co. Ltd.
5. Henan Mingtai Al. Industrial
6. Lotte Aluminium Co., Ltd.
7. SAM-A Aluminum Co., Ltd.
8. Sankyu-Thai Co., Ltd.
9. Shandong Nanshan Aluminium Co., Ltd.
10. Shanghai Sunho Aluminum Foil Co., Ltd.
11. Zhejiang Yongjie Aluminum Co., Ltd.

Appendix III

Non-Selected Companies Under Review

1. Alcha International Holdings Limited
2. Baotou Alcha Aluminum Co., Ltd.
3. Dingheng New Materials Co., Ltd.
4. Gr[auml]nges Aluminum (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
5. Guangxi Baise Xinghe Aluminum Industry Co., Ltd.
6. Hunan Suntown Marketing Limited
7. Jiangyin Dolphin Pack Ltd. Co.
8. Luoyang Longding Aluminium Industries Co., Ltd.
9. Shandong Yuanrui Metal Material Co., Ltd.
10. Shanghai Huafon Aluminium Corporation
11. Shanghai Shenhuo Aluminium Foil Co., Ltd.
12. Shanghai Shenyan Packaging Materials Co., Ltd.
13. SNTO International Trade Limited
14. Suntown Technology Group Corporation Limited
15. Thai Ding Li New Materials Co., Ltd.
16. Xiamen Xiashun Aluminium Foil Co., Ltd.
17. Yangtai Jintai International Trade Co., Ltd.
18. Yantai Donghai Aluminum Co., Ltd.
19. Yinbang Clad Material Co., Ltd.
20. Zhejiang Zhongjin Aluminum Industry Co., Ltd.

[FR Doc. 2024-09587 Filed 5-1-24; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P