[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.
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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]
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