[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 102 (Friday, May 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45834-45837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11481]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-918]


Certain Paper Shopping Bags From India: Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Final Affirmative Critical 
Circumstances Determination, in Part

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters 
of certain paper shopping bags (paper bags) from India. The period of 
investigation (POI) is January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022.

DATES: Applicable May 24, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Drew Jackson or Paul Kebker, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4406 or (202) 482-2254, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 45835]]

Background

    On November 6, 2023, Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register.\1\ Commerce invited parties to 
comment on the Preliminary Determination.\2\ For a complete description 
of the events that followed the Preliminary Determination, see the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\3\ 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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    \1\ See Certain Paper Shopping Bags from India: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Countervailable Subsidies, Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances in Part, and 
Alignment of Final Determination With the Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination, 88 FR 76185 (November 6, 2023)(Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
(PDM).
    \2\ Id.
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Certain Paper Shopping Bags from India,'' 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 
India. For a complete description of the scope of the 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.\4\ We received comments from interested parties on the 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, which we addressed in the Final 
Scope Decision Memorandum.\5\ As a result of these comments, we made 
certain changes to the scope of this investigation from that published 
in the Preliminary Determination. See Appendix I.
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    \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: Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated December 27, 
2023 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \5\ 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 
(Final Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received

    The subsidy programs under investigation, and the issues raised in 
the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation, are 
discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For a list of the 
issues raised by parties, and to which we responded in the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum, see Appendix II.

Methodology

    Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section 
701 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each of the 
subsidy programs found to be countervailable, Commerce 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.\6\ For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
final determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \6\ 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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Verification

    Consistent with section 782(i) of the Act, in January 2024, 
Commerce verified all information reported by Aeroplast Packaging 
Solution Private Limited (Aeroplast Packaging),\7\ Velvin Paper 
Products (Velvin Paper), and the Government of India (GOI). We used 
standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
account records and original source documents provided by the 
respondents.\8\
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    \7\ In the Preliminary Determination, Commerce identified this 
respondent as ``Aero Plast Packaging Solutions Private Limited.'' 
Commerce has corrected the name of this respondent. See Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 5.
    \8\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Questionnaire Responses 
of the Government of India,'' dated March 22, 2024; ``Verification 
of the Questionnaire Responses of Aeroplast Packaging Solution 
Private Limited,'' dated March 22, 2024; and ``Verification of the 
Questionnaire Responses of Velvin Paper Products,'' dated March 22, 
2024.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

    In accordance with sections 705(a)(2), and 776(a) and (b) of the 
Act, and 19 CFR 351.206, as well as our analysis of comments received 
regarding our affirmative preliminary determination of critical 
circumstances,\9\ Commerce continues to find that critical 
circumstances exist with respect to imports of paper bags from India 
for one of the mandatory respondents, Velvin Paper. In addition, we 
continue to find that critical circumstances do not exist with respect 
to imports of paper bags from Aeroplast Packaging Solution Private 
Limited (Aeroplast Packaging) and all other companies not individually 
examined. For a full description of the methodology and results of 
Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \9\ See Preliminary Determination PDM.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination and Post-Preliminary 
Analysis

    Based on our review and analysis of the information received during 
verification and comments received from parties, for this final 
determination, we made certain changes to the countervailable subsidy 
rate calculations for Aeroplast Packaging, Velvin Paper, and for all 
other producers/exporters. For a discussion of these changes, see the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    In accordance with section 705(c)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated an individual estimated countervailable subsidy rate for the 
two mandatory respondents, Aeroplast Packaging and Velvin Paper. 
Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act states that, for companies not 
individually investigated, Commerce will determine an all-others rate 
equal to the weighted-average countervailable subsidy rates established 
for exporters and/or producers individually investigated, excluding any 
zero and de minimis countervailable subsidy rates, and any rates 
determined entirely under section 776 of the Act.
    We continue to calculate individual estimated countervailable 
subsidy rates for Aeroplast Packaging and Velvin Paper that are not 
zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available. We, 
therefore, continue to calculate the all-others rate using a weighted 
average of the individual estimated subsidy rates calculated for the 
examined respondents (Aeroplast Packaging and Velvin Paper) using each 
company's publicly-ranged sales value for their exports to the United 
States of subject merchandise,\10\ in accordance with section 
705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act.
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    \10\ 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 
Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances 
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 
(September 1, 2010); see also Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from 
Italy: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 
and Alignment of Final Determination with Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination, 85 FR 31460, 31461 (May 26, 2020), unchanged in 
Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from Italy: Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination, 85 80022, 80023 (December 11, 
2020).

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[[Page 45836]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated net 
countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period January 1, 2022, 
through December 31, 2022:
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    \11\ Aeroplast Packaging Solution Private Limited is cross-owned 
with Aero Business Solutions Private Limited and Aero Plast Limited.
    \12\ Velvin Paper Products is cross-owned with Velvin Packaging 
Solutions Private Limited.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                            (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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Aeroplast Packaging Solution Private Limited \11\.......            4.81
Velvin Paper Products \12\..............................            2.38
All Others..............................................            3.39
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Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this final determination within five 
days of its public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, 
within five days of the date of the publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register, accordance with 19 CFR 351.244(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    As a result of our Preliminary Determination, and pursuant to 
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, Commerce instructed U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits and 
suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise as described in 
the scope of the investigation section entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after November 6, 2023, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. 
Because we preliminarily determined that critical circumstances existed 
with respect to Velvin Paper, we instructed CBP to suspend such entries 
on or after August 8, 2023, which is 90 days prior to the date of the 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal 
Register.\13\ In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, on March 4, 
2024, we instructed CBP to discontinue the suspension of liquidation of 
all entries of subject merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse, 
on or after March 5, 2024, but to continue the suspension of 
liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise on or before March 4, 
2024.
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    \13\ See Preliminary Determination.
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    If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final 
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a countervailing duty 
order, reinstate the suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of 
the Act, and require a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties 
for such entries of subject merchandise in the amounts indicated above. 
If the ITC determines that material injury, or threat of material 
injury, does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, and all 
estimated duties deposited or securities posted as a result of the 
suspension of liquidation will be refunded or cancelled.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the ITC of its final affirmative determination that countervailable 
subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of paper bags 
from India. As Commerce's final determination is affirmative, in 
accordance with section 705(b) of the Act, the ITC will determine, 
within 45 days, whether the domestic industry in the United States is 
materially injured, or threated with material injury, by reason of 
import of certain paper shopping bags from India. In addition, we are 
making available to the ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary 
information in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not 
disclose such information, either publicly or under administrative 
protective order (APO), without the written consent of the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
    If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material 
injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated and all cash 
deposits will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such injury does 
exist, Commerce will issue a countervailing duty order directing CBP to 
assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties on 
all imports of the subject merchandise that are entered, or withdrawn, 
for consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Administrative Protective Order

    In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury 
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties 
subject to the 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/
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 violation which is subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
705(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

[[Page 45837]]

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 \14\ 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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    \14\ 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. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part
V. Subsidies Valuation
VI. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
VII. Analysis of Programs
VIII. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Whether Commerce Correctly Calculated the Benefits 
Under Advance License Program (AAP)
    Comment 2(a):Whether Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export 
Products (RODTEP) Is Countervailable
    Comment 2(b):Whether Commerce Incorrectly Calculated the 
Benefits Under the RODTEP Program
    Comment 3: Whether Duty Drawback (DDB) Is Countervailable
    Comment 4: Whether Commerce Has Incorrectly Calculated Benefits 
Under the Government of Haryana's Freight Assistance Scheme (FAS)
    Comment 5: Whether Commerce Should Correct the Spelling of 
Aeroplast Packaging Solution Private Limited
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-11481 Filed 5-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P