[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 105 (Thursday, May 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46857-46860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11898]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-331-805]


Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Ecuador: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final 
Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily finds 
that frozen warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from Ecuador is being, or is 
likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). 
The period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 2022,

[[Page 46858]]

through September 30, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment 
on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable May 30, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle Clahane, Matthew Palmer, or Megan 
Goins, AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5449, (202) 482-
1678, and (202) 482-0884, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on November 
21, 2023.\1\ On March 7, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation until May 22, 2024.\2\
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    \1\ See Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 88 FR 81043 
(November 21, 2023) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia: 
Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigations, 89 FR 16535 (March 7, 2024).
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II 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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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Frozen 
Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is shrimp from Ecuador. 
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ No interested party 
commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice. Commerce is not preliminarily modifying the scope 
language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the scope in 
Appendix I to this notice.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice, 88 FR at 81043.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Constructed export prices 
have been calculated in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. 
Normal value is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. 
For a full description of the methodology underlying the preliminary 
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in 
the preliminary determination Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted-average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero 
and de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under 
section 776 of the Act. In this investigation, Commerce preliminarily 
calculated a de minimis rate for Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila 
S.A. (Santa Priscila)/Tropical Packing Ecuador Tropack S.A.(Tropack) 
(Santa Priscila/Tropack).\6\ Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, 
de minimis or based entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate 
calculated for Sociedad Nacional de Gal[aacute]pagos C.A./Marina del 
Rey (SONGA/Marina del Ray).\7\ Consequently, the preliminary rate 
calculated for SONGA/Marina del Ray is also the preliminary rate 
assigned to all other producers and exporters.
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    \6\ Commerce preliminarily determines that these companies are a 
single entity. See Preliminary Decision Memorandum; see also 
Memorandum, ``Preliminary Affiliation and Collapsing Memorandum,'' 
dated concurrently with this notice (Preliminary Affiliation and 
Collapsing Memorandum).
    \7\ Commerce preliminarily determines that these companies are a 
single entity. See Preliminary Decision Memorandum; see also 
Preliminary Affiliation and Collapsing Memorandum.
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Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Cash deposit rate
                                   Weighted-average      (adjusted for
        Exporter/producer           dumping margin    subsidy offset(s))
                                       (percent)           (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sociedad Nacional de                           10.58               10.58
 Gal[aacute]pagos C.A./Marina
 del Rey........................
Industrial Pesquera Santa                     * 1.54                 N/A
 Priscila S.A./Tropical Packing
 Ecuador Tropack S.A............
All Others......................               10.58               10.18
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* (de minimis).

    Consistent with section 733(b)(3) of the Act, Commerce disregards 
de minimis rates and preliminarily determines that individually 
examined respondents with de minimis rates have not made sales of 
subject merchandise at LTFV.

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will 
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation 
of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I, entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Further, pursuant 
to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will 
instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted 
average dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: 
(1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents listed

[[Page 46859]]

above will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins determined in this preliminary 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, except as explained below; and (3) the cash 
deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be equal to the 
all-others estimated weighted-average dumping margin.
    Because the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for Santa 
Priscila/Tropack is de minimis, entries of shipments of subject 
merchandise from Santa Priscila/Tropack will not be subject to 
suspension of liquidation or cash deposit requirements. In such 
situations, Commerce applies the exclusion to the provisional measures 
to the producer/exporter combination that was examined in the 
investigation. Accordingly, Commerce is directing CBP not to suspend 
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise from Santa Priscila/
Tropack. Entries of shipments of subject merchandise from these 
companies in any other producer/exporter combination, or by third 
parties that sourced subject merchandise from the excluded producer/
exporter combination, are subject to the provisional measures at the 
all-others rate.
    Should the final estimated weighted-average dumping margin be zero 
or de minimis for the producer/exporter combination identified above, 
entries of shipments of subject merchandise from this producer/exporter 
combination will be excluded from the potential antidumping duty order. 
Such exclusions are not applicable to merchandise exported to the 
United States by these respondents in any other producer/exporter 
combinations or by third parties that sourced subject merchandise from 
the excluded producer/exporter combination.
    Commerce normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated antidumping 
duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a companion 
countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding, when CVD provisional measures are 
in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce preliminarily made an 
affirmative determination for countervailable export subsidies, 
Commerce has offset the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by 
the appropriate CVD rate. Any such adjusted cash deposit rate may be 
found in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section above.
    Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation 
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV 
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting estimated 
antidumping duty cash deposits unadjusted for countervailed export 
subsidies at the time that the provisional CVD measures expire. These 
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
performed in this preliminary determination 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).
    Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if 
appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial 
errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent 
with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete 
allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR 
351.224(g) following the preliminary determination. Instead, Commerce 
will address such allegations in the final determination together with 
issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in 
this investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the 
case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the date for 
filing case brief.\8\ 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.\9\
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    \8\ 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).
    \9\ 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 investigation, we instead request 
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a 
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\10\ 
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 determination in this 
investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for 
relevant citations in the public 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).\11\
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    \10\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \11\ 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, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list 
of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, 
Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be 
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and 
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2)(B) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. Section 351.210(e)(2) of Commerce's regulations 
requires that a request by exporters for postponement of the final

[[Page 46860]]

determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months 
in duration.
    On April 17, 2024 and May 20, 2024, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), 
American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA, or the petitioner), and 
Santa Priscila/Tropack and SONGA, respectively, requested that Commerce 
postpone the final determination and that provisional measures be 
extended to a period not to exceed six months.\12\ In accordance with 
section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: 
(1) the preliminary determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting 
exporters account for a significant proportion of exports of the 
subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling reasons for denial exist, 
Commerce is postponing the final determination and extending the 
provisional measures from a four-month period to a period not greater 
than six months. Accordingly, Commerce's final determination will be 
issued no later than 135 days after the date of publication of this 
preliminary determination.
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    \12\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador 
and Indonesia: Petitioner's Requests to Postpone Final 
Determinations,'' dated April 17, 2024; see also Santa Priscila and 
SONGA's Letter, ``Request to Extend the Deadline for the Final 
Determination,'' dated May 20, 2024.
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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination. If the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will 
determine before the later of 120 days after the date of this 
preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination 
whether imports of these imports are materially injuring, or threaten 
material injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: May 22, 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 scope of this investigation includes certain frozen 
warmwater shrimp and prawns whether wild-caught (ocean harvested) or 
farm-raised (produced by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, shell-on 
or peeled, tail-on or tail-off, deveined or not deveined, cooked or 
raw, or otherwise processed in frozen form. ``Tails'' in this 
context means the tail fan, which includes the telson and the 
uropods.
    The frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products included in the 
scope, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (HTSUS), are products which are processed from 
warmwater shrimp and prawns through freezing and which are sold in 
any count size.
    The products described above may be processed from any species 
of warmwater shrimp and prawns. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are 
generally classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae 
family. Some examples of the farmed and wild-caught warmwater 
species include, but are not limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus 
vannemei), banana prawn (Penaeus merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus 
chinensis), giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant 
tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), redspotted shrimp (Penaeus 
brasiliensis), southern brown shrimp (Penaeus subtilis), southern 
pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus 
curvirostris), southern white shrimp (Penaeus schmitti), blue shrimp 
(Penaeus stylirostris), western white shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis), 
and Indian white prawn (Penaeus indicus).
    Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed with marinade, spices 
or sauce are included in the scope. In addition, food preparations, 
which are not ``prepared meals,'' that contain more than 20 percent 
by weight of shrimp or prawn are also included in the scope.
    Excluded from the scope are: (1) breaded shrimp and prawns 
(HTSUS subheading 1605.21.1020); (2) shrimp and prawns generally 
classified in the Pandalidae family and commonly referred to as 
coldwater shrimp, in any state of processing; (3) fresh shrimp and 
prawns whether shell-on or peeled (HTSUS subheadings 0306.36.0020 
and 0306.36.0040); (4) shrimp and prawns in prepared meals (HTSUS 
subheadings 1605.21.0500 and 1605.29.0500); (5) dried shrimp and 
prawns; (6) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns (HTSUS subheading 
1605.29.1040); and (7) certain battered shrimp. Battered shrimp is a 
shrimp-based product: (1) that is produced from fresh (or thawed-
from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; (2) to which a ``dusting'' layer of 
rice or wheat flour of at least 95 percent purity has been applied; 
(3) with the entire surface of the shrimp flesh thoroughly and 
evenly coated with the flour; (4) with the non-shrimp content of the 
end product constituting between four and ten percent of the 
product's total weight after being dusted, but prior to being 
frozen; and (5) that is subjected to individually quick frozen (IQF) 
freezing immediately after application of the dusting layer. When 
dusted in accordance with the definition of dusting above, the 
battered shrimp product is also coated with a wet viscous layer 
containing egg and/or milk, and par-fried.
    The products covered by the scope are currently classified under 
the following HTSUS subheadings: 0306.17.0004, 0306.17.0005, 
0306.17.0007, 0306.17.0008, 0306.17.0010, 0306.17.0011, 
0306.17.0013, 0306.17.0014, 0306.17.0016, 0306.17.0017, 
0306.17.0019, 0306.17.0020, 0306.17.0022, 0306.17.0023, 
0306.17.0025, 0306.17.0026, 0306.17.0028, 0306.17.0029, 
0306.17.0041, 0306.17.0042, 1605.21.1030, and 1605.29.1010. These 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and for customs 
purposes only and are not dispositive, but rather the written 
description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Affiliation and Single Entity Treatment
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in the 
Companion Countervailing Duty Investigation
VII. Currency Conversion
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-11898 Filed 5-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P