[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 148 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62718-62721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-549-833]


Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts From Thailand: Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2022-2023

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that certain producers/

[[Page 62719]]

exporters subject to this administrative review did not make sales of 
subject merchandise at less than normal value (NV) during the July 1, 
2022, through June 30, 2023, period of review (POR). Interested parties 
are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable August 1, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joy Zhang or Matthew Palmer, 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) 482-1168 or (202) 482-1678, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On July 25, 2018, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
antidumping duty order on citric acid from Thailand.\1\ On July 3, 
2023, Commerce published in the Federal Register a notice of 
opportunity to request an administrative review of the Order.\2\ On 
September 11, 2023, based on timely requests for review, in accordance 
with section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), 
and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(1)(i), Commerce initiated an administrative 
review of the Order covering three companies.\3\ Pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, Commerce extended the deadline for the 
preliminary results until July 30, 2024.\4\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce 
tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven 
days.\5\ The deadline for the preliminary results of this 
administrative review is now August 6, 2024. For a complete description 
of the events that followed the initiation of this review, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\6\
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    \1\ See Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from Belgium, 
Colombia and Thailand: Antidumping Duty Orders, 83 FR 35214 (July 
25, 2018) (Order).
    \2\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review and Join Annual Inquiry Service List, 88 FR 42693 (July 3, 
2023).
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 62322 (September 11, 2023).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,'' dated March 1, 
2024.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Citric Acid and 
Certain Citrate Salts from Thailand; 2022-2023,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by this Order is citric acid from Thailand. 
For a full description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a) of the Act. Export price and constructed export price are 
calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. NV is calculated 
in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full description of 
the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum. 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. A list of the topics 
discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached as an 
appendix to this notice.

Rate for Non-Selected Companies

    The Act and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the 
establishment of a rate to be applied to individual companies not 
selected for examination when Commerce limits its examination in an 
administrative review pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. 
Generally, Commerce looks to section 735(c)(5) of the Act, which 
provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in a market 
economy investigation, for guidance when calculating the rate for 
companies which were not selected for individual review in an 
administrative review. Under section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the all-
others rate is normally ``an amount equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero 
or de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely {on the 
basis of facts available{time} .''
    In this administrative review, we preliminarily calculated dumping 
margins of zero percent for both COFCO Biochemical (Thailand) Co., Ltd. 
(COFCO) and Sunshine Biotech International Co., Ltd. (Sunshine). Thus, 
in accordance with the expected method, and consistent with the Court 
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's decision in Albemarle,\7\ we 
preliminarily assigned to the non-selected company a zero percent rate, 
based on the rates calculated for the two mandatory respondents.
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    \7\ See Albemarle Corp. v. United States, 821 F.3d 1345, 1352 
(Fed. Cir. 2016) (Albemarle) (holding that Commerce may only use 
``other reasonable methods'' if it reasonably concludes that the 
expected method is ``not feasible'' or ``would not be reasonably 
reflective of potential dumping margins'').
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Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the 
following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period July 1, 
2022, through June 30, 2023:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                      Producer/exporter                         dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
COFCO Biochemical (Thailand) Co., Ltd.......................        0.00
Sunshine Biotech International Co., Ltd.....................        0.00
Xitrical Group Co. LTD......................................        0.00
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
performed for these preliminary results within five days of the date of 
publication of this notice.\8\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), 
interested parties may submit case briefs to Commerce 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 not later 
than five days after the date for filing case briefs.\9\ 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.\10\
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
    \10\ See 19 351.309(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.\11\ Further, 
we request that interested parties limit their public executive summary 
of each issue

[[Page 62720]]

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 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).\12\
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    \11\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \12\ See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other 
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final 
Rule, 88 FR 67069 (September 29, 2023).
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must submit a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, using Enforcement and 
Compliance's ACCESS system within 30 days of publication of this 
notice.\13\ Requests should contain the party's name, address, and 
telephone number, the number of participants, and a list of the issues 
to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those 
raised in the case and rebuttal briefs. If a request for a hearing is 
made, we will inform parties of the scheduled date for the hearing at a 
time and location to be determined.\14\ Parties should confirm by 
telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing no fewer than two 
days before the scheduled date. Parties are reminded that all briefs 
and hearing requests must be filed electronically using ACCESS and 
received successfully in their entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 
the due date.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
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    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2), Commerce will issue the final results 
of this administrative review, including the results of our analysis of 
the issues raised by the parties in their case briefs, not later than 
120 days after the date of publication of this notice, pursuant to 
section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Verification

    On December 18, 2023, the petitioners, Archer Daniels Midland 
Company, Cargill, Incorporated, and Primary Products Ingredients 
Americas LLC, requested that Commerce conduct verification of COFCO's 
and Sunshine's responses.\15\ Accordingly, in accordance with section 
782(i) of the Act, Commerce conducted on-site verifications of the 
information and data submitted by COFCO and Sunshine.\16\
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    \15\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Petitioners' Request For 
Verification,'' dated December 18, 2023.
    \16\ See Memoranda, ``Sales Verification of Sunshine Biotech 
International Co., Ltd.,'' dated June 20, 2024; and ``Verification 
of the Sales Response of COFCO in the Antidumping Administrative 
Review of Citric Acid from Thailand,'' dated June 20, 2024.
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Assessment Rates

    Upon issuing the final results, Commerce shall determine, and U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on 
all appropriate entries. If the weighted-average dumping margin for 
companies listed above are not zero or de minimis (i.e., less than 0.5 
percent), we will calculate importer-specific ad valorem AD assessment 
rates based on the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for 
the importer's examined sales to the total entered value of those same 
sales in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).\17\ If the respondent 
has not reported entered values, we will calculate a per-unit 
assessment rate for each importer by dividing the total amount of 
dumping calculated for the examined sales made to that importer by the 
total quantity associated with those sales. To determine whether an 
importer-specific, per-unit assessment rate is de minimis, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2), we also will calculate an 
importer-specific ad valorem ratio based on estimated entered values. 
Where either the respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is zero 
or de minimis, or an importer-specific assessment rate is zero or de 
minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries 
without regard to antidumping duties. The final results of this review 
shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries 
of merchandise covered by the final results of this review and for 
future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable.\18\
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    \17\ In the preliminary results, Commerce applied the assessment 
rate calculation method adopted in Antidumping Proceedings: 
Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and Assessment 
Rate in Certain Antidumping Proceedings; Final Modification, 77 FR 
8101 (February 14, 2012).
    \18\ See section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act.
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    In accordance with Commerce's ``automatic assessment'' practice, 
for entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by each 
respondent which did not know that its merchandise was destined for the 
United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate entries not reviewed 
at the all-others rate established in the original less-than-fair value 
(LTFV) investigation (i.e., 11.25 percent) if there is no rate for the 
intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.
    Commerce intends 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).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following deposit requirements will be effective for all 
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for the companies 
listed above will be that established in the final results of this 
review, except if the rate is less than 0.50 percent and, therefore, de 
minimis within the meaning of 19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), in which case the 
cash deposit rate will be zero; (2) for previously investigated or 
reviewed companies not covered in this review, the cash deposit rate 
will continue to be the company-specific cash deposit rate published 
for the most recently completed segment of this proceeding in which the 
company participated; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this 
review, or the LTFV investigation, but the manufacturer is, then the 
cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recent 
segment for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash 
deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will continue to 
be 11.25 percent, the all-others rate established in the LTFV 
investigation.\19\ These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.
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    \19\ See Order.
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Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.

[[Page 62721]]

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these preliminary results in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, 19 CFR 
351.213(h)(2), and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: July 25, 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
IV. Application of Facts Available
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Currency Conversion
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-16994 Filed 7-31-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P