[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 102 (Friday, May 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45845-45847]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11483]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-471-808]


Certain Paper Shopping Bags From Portugal: Final Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances

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 Portugal are being, or 
are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV) for the period of investigation April 1, 2022, through March 31, 
2023.

DATES: Applicable May 24, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colin Thrasher, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3004.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

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

[[Page 45846]]

the final determination until May 17, 2024.\1\ We invited interested 
parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Portugal: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Preliminary Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances, and 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 89 FR 341 (January 3, 2024) (Preliminary Determination), 
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR at 341.
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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.\3\ The Issues and Decision Memorandum 
is a public document and is made available to the public via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at http://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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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Portugal,'' 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 
Portugal. 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.\4\ We received comments from parties on the Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum, which we addressed in the Final Scope Decision 
Memorandum.\5\ 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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    \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.
    \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.
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Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    We continue to find that critical circumstances do not exist for 
imports of paper bags from Portugal for the mandatory respondent 
(Finieco Ind[uacute]stria e Com[eacute]rcio de Embalagens, S.A. 
(Finieco)) and for all other producers and exporters pursuant to 
sections 735(a)(3)(A) and (B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), and 19 CFR 351.206. For further discussion of this issue, 
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we conducted 
verifications of the sales and cost information submitted by Finieco 
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 Finieco.\6\
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Verification of the Sales Responses of 
Finieco Ind[uacute]stria e Com[eacute]rcio de Embalagens, SA in the 
Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Certain Paper Shopping Bags 
from Portugal,'' dated March 21, 2024; and Memorandum, 
``Verification of the Cost Responses of Finieco Ind[uacute]stria e 
Com[eacute]rcio de Embalagens, SA in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Portugal,'' dated 
April 22, 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 Finieco 
since the Preliminary Determination. For a discussion of these changes, 
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Facts Available

    For the purposes of this final determination, we find that pursuant 
to section 776(a)(1) of the Act, that the use of facts available is 
warranted in determining the calculation of commission expenses in the 
U.S. market because necessary information is missing from the record. 
For a further discussion of these issues, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.

All Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and 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 calculated an individual estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for Finieco, the only individually examined exporter/
producer in this investigation. Because the only individually 
calculated dumping margin is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on 
facts otherwise available, the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin calculated for Finieco is the margin assigned to 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:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                      Exporter/producer                         dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finieco Ind[uacute]stria e Com[eacute]rcio de Embalagens,           6.14
 S.A........................................................
All Others..................................................        6.14
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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, we will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend

[[Page 45847]]

liquidation of subject merchandise entries, as described in Appendix I 
of this notice, which are 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), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal 
to the amount by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price as 
follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the exporter/producer 
combination listed in the table above will be the rate identified in 
the table; (2) for all combinations of Portuguese exporters/producers 
of subject merchandise that have not received their own cash deposit 
rate above, the cash deposit rate will be the all-others rate; and (3) 
for all non-Portuguese exporters of subject merchandise which have not 
received their own cash deposit rate above, the cash deposit rate will 
be the cash deposit rate applicable to the Portuguese exporter/producer 
combination that supplied that non-Portuguese exporter. 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 our 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 of paper bags 
from Portugal no later than 45 days after this final determination. If 
the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material injury 
does not exist, the proceeding will be terminated and all cash deposits 
will be refunded or canceled, 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 that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
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

    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 the terms of an APO is a violation 
which is subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) 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. Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: How To Treat Administrative Fees Paid in the U.S. 
Market
    Comment 2: How To Classify ``Fixed'' Commissions
    Comment 3: Minor Corrections to Finieco's Data
    Comment 4: General and Administrative and Financial Expense 
Rates Calculation
    Comment 5: Unreconciled Cost Difference
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-11483 Filed 5-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P