[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 102 (Friday, May 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45837-45839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11527]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-475-819]


Certain Pasta From Italy: Preliminary Results and Partial 
Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies were provided to producers 
and exporters of certain pasta (pasta) from Italy, during the period of 
review (POR) January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. In addition, 
Commerce is rescinding the review with respect to one company. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable May 24, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stefan Smith or Nicholas Czajkowski, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4342 or (202) 
482-1395, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On July 24, 1998, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
countervailing duty order on pasta from Italy.\1\ On July 3, 2023, 
Commerce published in the Federal Register the notice of initiation of 
an administrative review of the Order.\2\ On October 6, 2023, Commerce 
selected Gruppo Alimentare Mediterraneo Milo S.r.l. (Milo) and 
Pastificio Gentile S.r.l. (Gentile) as the mandatory respondents in 
this review.\3\ On October 26, 2023, Milo withdrew its request for a 
review.\4\ On November 13, 2023, we also selected Sgambaro SpA. 
(Sgambaro) for individual examination as a mandatory respondent.\5\ On 
March 21, 2024, we extended the deadline for the preliminary results of 
this administrative review until May 21, 2024.\6\
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    \1\ See Notice of Countervailing Duty order and Amended Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain Pasta from 
Italy, 61 FR 38544 (July 24, 1996) (Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 62322 (September 11, 2023).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection Memorandum,'' dated 
October 6, 2023.
    \4\ See Milo's Letter, ``Withdraw Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated October 26, 2023 (Milo's Withdrawal of Review 
Request).
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Second Respondent Selection Memorandum,'' 
dated November 13, 2023.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated March 
21, 2024.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\7\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included in the Appendix 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 http://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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    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty 
Order on Certain Pasta from Italy; 2022,'' dated concurrently with, 
and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the Order is pasta from Italy. For a 
complete description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this administrative review in accordance 
with section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). 
For each of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, Commerce 
preliminarily determines that there is a subsidy (i.e., a government-
provided financial contribution that gives rise to a benefit to the 
recipient, and that the subsidy is specific).\8\ For a full description 
of the methodology underlying our conclusions, including our reliance, 
in part, on facts otherwise available with an adverse inference 
pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.
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    \8\ 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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Recission 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 parties that 
requested a

[[Page 45838]]

review withdraw the request within 90 days of the date of publication 
of the notice of initiation. On October 26, 2023, Milo withdrew its 
request for an administrative review.\9\ Because the withdrawal request 
was timely filed, and no other party requested a review of this 
company, we are rescinding this review of the Order with respect to 
Milo, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1).
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    \9\ See Milo's Withdrawal of Review Request.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    We preliminary find that the following net countervailable subsidy 
rates exist for the period January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                            (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pastificio Gentile S.r.l................................            0.94
Sgambaro SpA............................................            2.37
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cash Deposit Requirements

    In accordance with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce also 
intends upon publication of the final results, to instruct U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits of the estimated 
countervailing duties in the amounts calculated in the final results of 
this review for the respective companies listed above with regard to 
shipment of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after the date of publication of the final 
results of this review. If the rate calculated in the final results is 
zero or de minimis, no cash deposit will be required on shipments of 
the subject merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of 
this review.
    For all non-reviewed firms, CBP will continue to collect cash 
deposits of estimated countervailing duties at the all-others rate or 
the most recent company-specific rate applicable to the company, as 
appropriate. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.

Assessment Rates

    In accordance with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminary determined subsidy rates in the 
amounts shown above for the producer/exporters shown above. Upon 
issuance of the final results of the administrative review, consistent 
with section 751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2), Commerce 
shall determine, and CBP shall assess, countervailing duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review.
    For the company for which this review is rescinded with these 
preliminary results, we 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)(1)(i). For the companies remaining in the 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).

Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties for these preliminary results within 
five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii), interested parties may submit 
case briefs no later than 30 days after the date of publication of this 
notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, 
may be filed no later than five days after the date for filing case 
briefs.\10\ Interested parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs in 
this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each 
issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\11\
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    \10\ 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 Procedures).
    \11\ 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.\12\ Further, 
we request that interested parties limit their public executive summary 
of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We 
intend to use the public 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).\13\
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    \12\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \13\ See APO and Service Procedures.
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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, filed electronically via 
ACCESS. Hearing requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, 
and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of 
the issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be 
limited to those raised in the respective case briefs. An 
electronically filed hearing request must be received successfully in 
its entirety by Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. 
Eastern Time within 30 days after the date of publication of this 
notice.

Final Results

    Unless extended, we intend to issue the final results of this 
administrative review, which will include the results of our analysis 
of the issues raised in the case briefs, within 120 days of publication 
of these preliminary results in the Federal Register, pursuant to 
section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h).

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results of review are issued and published 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: May 20, 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

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order

[[Page 45839]]

IV. Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part
V. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VI. Subsidies Valuation
VII. Analysis of Programs
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-11527 Filed 5-23-24; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P