[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 102 (Friday, May 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45843-45845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11479]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-301-805]


Certain Paper Shopping Bags From Colombia: Final Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
certain paper shopping bags (paper bags) from Colombia are being, or 
are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2022, through May 
31, 2023.

DATES: Applicable May 24, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurel LaCivita, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4243.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 3, 2024, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary determination in the LTFV investigation of paper bags from 
Colombia, in which we also postponed the final determination until May 
17,

[[Page 45844]]

2024.\1\ We invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary 
Determination.
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    \1\ See Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Colombia: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 89 FR 319 (January 3, 2024) (Preliminary Determination), 
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues 
raised by parties for this final determination, may be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\ The Issues and 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 Issues 
and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Colombia,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are paper bags from 
Colombia. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation, Commerce received scope 
comments from parties. Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum to address these comments and set aside a period of time for 
parties to address scope issues in scope-specific case and rebuttal 
briefs.\3\ We received comments from interested parties on the 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, which we address in the Final 
Scope Decision Memorandum.\4\ We made no changes to the scope of the 
investigation from the scope published in the Preliminary 
Determination, as noted in Appendix I to this notice.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value and Countervailing 
Duty Investigations of Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Cambodia, 
the People's Republic of China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, 
Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated December 27, 
2023.
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair Value and Countervailing 
Duty Investigations of Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Cambodia, 
the People's Republic of China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, 
Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Final Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated March 11, 2024.
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), we conducted verifications of the sales and cost information 
submitted by Ditar, S.A. (Ditar) for use in our final determination. We 
used standard verification procedures, including an examination of 
relevant sales and accounting records, and original source documents 
provided by Ditar.\5\
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    \5\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Sales Questionnaire 
Responses of Ditar, S.A.,'' dated March 11, 2024; and ``Verification 
of the Cost Response of Ditar S.A. in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Paper Shopping Bags from Colombia,'' dated April 
15, 2024.
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs submitted by 
interested parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum is attached as Appendix II to this notice.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    We have made certain changes to the margin calculations for Ditar 
since the Preliminary Determination. For a discussion of these changes, 
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    As discussed in the Preliminary Determination, Commerce assigned to 
the mandatory respondents in this investigation, Industria Colombiana 
de Papeles (Incolpa SAS) and F[aacute]brica de Bolsas de Papel (Unibol 
SAS), estimated weighted-average dumping margins on the basis of 
adverse facts available (AFA), pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of 
Act.\6\ There is no new information on the record that would cause us 
to revisit our decision in the Preliminary Determination. Accordingly, 
for this final determination, we continue to find that the application 
of AFA pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act is warranted with 
respect to Incolpa SAS and Unibol SAS in this investigation.
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    \6\ See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR at 320.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and/or 
exporters not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted 
average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established 
for exporters and producers individually investigated excluding rates 
that are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of 
the Act.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters and 
producers individually examined are zero, de minimis, or determined 
based entirely on facts otherwise available, Commerce may use any 
reasonable method to establish the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin for all other producers or exporters.
    Commerce assigned a rate based entirely on facts available to 
Incolpa SAS and Unibol SAS. Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, 
de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate 
calculated for Ditar. Consequently, the rate calculated for Ditar is 
also assigned as the rate for all other producers and exporters, 
pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Determination

    The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Estimated
                                                               weighted-
                                                                average
                      Producer/exporter                         dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
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Ditar, S.A..................................................       11.06
Industria Colombiana de Papeles.............................     * 56.14
F[aacute]brica de Bolsas de Papel...........................     * 56.14
All Others..................................................       11.06
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Rate based on AFA.

Disclosure

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed in this final 
determination within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise, as described 
in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered or withdrawn from 
warehouse for consumption on or after January 3, 2024, the date of 
publication in the Federal Register of the Preliminary Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), upon the publication of this notice, we will instruct CBP 
to require a cash deposit

[[Page 45845]]

for estimated antidumping duties for such entries of merchandise as 
follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above 
will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin determined in this final determination; (2) if the 
exporter is not a respondent identified above but the producer is, then 
the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-specific estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin established for that producer of the 
subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other 
producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin. These suspension of liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this 
proceeding is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the 
Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured or 
threatened with material injury by reason of imports or sales (or the 
likelihood of sales) for importation of paper bags from Colombia no 
later than 45 days after our final determination. If the ITC determines 
that such injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, 
all cash deposits posted will be refunded, and suspension of 
liquidation will be lifted. If the ITC determines that such injury does 
exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP to 
assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all 
imports of the subject merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse 
for consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation, as discussed in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Administrative Protective Order

    This notice will serve as the final reminder to parties subject to 
an administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the destruction of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of the return or destruction of APO materials or 
conversion to judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to 
comply with the regulations and terms of an APO is a sanctionable 
violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: May 17, 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--Scope of the Investigation

    The products within the scope of this investigation are paper 
shopping bags with handles of any type, regardless of whether there 
is any printing, regardless of how the top edges are finished (e.g., 
folded, serrated, or otherwise finished), regardless of color, and 
regardless of whether the top edges contain adhesive or other 
material for sealing closed. Subject paper shopping bags have a 
width of at least 4.5 inches and depth of at least 2.5 inches.
    Paper shopping bags typically are made of kraft paper but can be 
made from any type of cellulose fiber, paperboard, or pressboard 
with a basis weight less than 300 grams per square meter (GSM).
    A non-exhaustive illustrative list of the types of handles on 
shopping bags covered by the scope include handles made from any 
materials such as twisted paper, flat paper, yarn, ribbon, rope, 
string, or plastic, as well as die-cut handles (whether the punchout 
is fully removed or partially attached as a flap).
    Excluded from the scope are:
     Paper sacks or bags that are of a \1/6\ or \1/7\ barrel 
size (i.e., 11.5-12.5 inches in width, 6.5-7.5 inches in depth, and 
13.5-17.5 inches in height) with flat paper handles or die-cut 
handles;
     Paper sacks or bags with die-cut handles, a grams per 
square meter paper weight of less than 86 GSM, and a height of less 
than 11.5 inches; and
     Paper sacks or bags (i) with non-paper handles made 
wholly of woven ribbon or other similar woven fabric \7\ and (ii) 
that are finished with folded tops or for which tied knots or t-bar 
aglets (made of wood, metal, or plastic) are used to secure the 
handles to the bags.
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    \7\ Paper sacks or bags with handles made of braided or twisted 
materials, such as rope or cord, do not qualify for this exclusion.
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    The above-referenced dimensions are provided for paper bags in 
the opened position. The height of the bag is the distance from the 
bottom fold edge to the top edge (i.e., excluding the height of 
handles that extend above the top edge). The depth of the bag is the 
distance from the front of the bag edge to the back of the bag edge 
(typically measured at the bottom of the bag). The width of the bag 
is measured from the left to the right edges of the front and back 
panels (upon which the handles typically are located).
    This merchandise is currently classifiable under Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 
4819.30.0040 and 4819.40.0040. The HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes only; the written description 
of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Commerce Should Determine Ditar's Final Dumping 
Margin Based on Total Adverse Facts Available (AFA)
    Comment 2: Alternatively, Commerce Should Determine Ditar's 
Margin Based on Partial AFA
    Comment 3: Level of Trade (LOT) Adjustment for Ditar
    Comment 4: Freight Revenue Cap for Ditar
    Comment 5: Whether To Revise Ditar's General and Administrative 
(G&A) and Financial Expenses
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-11479 Filed 5-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P