[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 158 (Thursday, August 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66343-66346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18286]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-052]


Certain Hardwood Plywood Products From the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Review, Preliminary Determination of No Shipments, and Partial 
Rescission; 2021-2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and/or exporters of certain hardwood plywood products 
(hardwood plywood) from the People's Republic of China (China) during 
the period of review (POR) September 26, 2021, through December 31, 
2022. Commerce also preliminarily finds that 18 companies had no 
subject shipments of hardwood plywood and that these companies will be 
eligible to participate in the certification program previously 
established with respect to the countervailing duty (CVD) order on 
certain hardwood plywood products from China. Finally, we are also 
rescinding this review with respect to nine companies. We invite 
interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable August 15, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Galantucci, 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) 482-2923.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 4, 2018, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
CVD order on hardwood plywood from China.\1\ On January 3, 2023, 
Commerce published in the Federal Register a notice of opportunity to 
request an administrative review of the Order covering entries of 
hardwood plywood from China from January 1, 2022, through December 31, 
2022.\2\ On March 14, 2023, based on timely requests for an 
administrative review, Commerce initiated the administrative review 
with respect to 32 companies.\3\
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    \1\ See Certain Hardwood Plywood Products from the People's 
Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Order, 83 FR 513 (January 4, 
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 45 (January 3, 
2023).
    \3\ We note that Commerce listed 40 company names in the 
initiation notice. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 15642 (March 14, 2023) 
(Initiation Notice); see also Initiation of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 21609 (April 11, 
2023) (containing a correction to add an additional company name). 
However, in the Circumvention Final Determination, we found that a 
number of companies were duplicated via minor name variations. See 
Certain Hardwood Plywood Products from the People's Republic of 
China: Final Scope Determination and Affirmative Final Determination 
of Circumvention of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, 
88 FR 46740 (July 20, 2023) (Circumvention Final Determination), and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum (IDM) at 76; and 
Memorandum, ``Notice of Intent to Rescind Review, In Part,'' dated 
July 3, 2024 (Intent to Rescind Memorandum). For further discussion, 
see Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of 
the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Certain Hardwood 
Plywood Products from the People's Republic of China; 2021-2022,'' 
dated concurrently with this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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    On July 20, 2023, we published in the Federal Register the 
Circumvention Final Determination, in which we: (1) determined that 
certain hardwood plywood exported from Socialist Republic of Vietnam 
(Vietnam) and entered into the United States was circumventing the 
Order and therefore is now covered by the Order; and (2) established a 
certification program to allow eligible producers and exporters of 
hardwood plywood exported from Vietnam to certify that entries of 
hardwood plywood exported from Vietnam are not subject to the Order.\4\ 
We also indicated that we would: (1) expand the POR for this 
administrative review to begin on September 26, 2021, in order to 
capture the first entry suspended as a result of the circumvention 
determination; and (2) allow interested parties to request reviews of 
unliquidated/suspended entries of merchandise from Vietnam that entered 
from September 26, 2021, through December 31, 2021.\5\
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    \4\ See Circumvention Final Determination.
    \5\ See Circumvention Final Determination IDM at Comment 13.
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    On August 11, 2023, Commerce notified parties that we received no 
additional requests for administrative reviews as a result of 
Commerce's decision to expand the POR,\6\ and on August 28, 2023, 
Commerce released entry data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) to interested parties for comment.\7\ Subsequently, we notified 
parties of our intent to rescind this administrative review with 
respect to certain companies subject to this review.\8\
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    \6\ See Memorandum ``Companies Under Review for the Expanded 
POR,'' dated August 11, 2023.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``CBP Data Release,'' dated August 28, 2023.
    \8\ See Intent to Rescind Memorandum at Attachment I.
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    On January 31, 2024, Commerce deferred the deadline for completing 
the preliminary results of this review until July 30, 2024.\9\ On July 
22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative 
proceeding by seven days.\10\ The deadline for the preliminary results 
is now August 6, 2024. For details regarding the events that occurred 
subsequent to the initiation of the review, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.
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    \9\ See Memorandum, ``Deferral of the Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews; 2022,'' 
dated January 31, 2024.
    \10\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the scope of this Order is hardwood 
plywood from China. A complete description of the scope of the Order is 
contained in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), when there are no reviewable 
entries of

[[Page 66344]]

subject merchandise during the POR subject to the CVD order for which 
liquidation is suspended, Commerce may rescind an administrative 
review, in whole or only with respect to a particular exporter or 
producer.\11\ At the end of the administrative review, any suspended 
entries are liquidated at the assessment rate computed for the review 
period.\12\ Therefore, for an administrative review to be conducted, 
there must be a reviewable, suspended entry to be liquidated at the 
newly calculated assessment rate. On July 3, 2024, Commerce notified 
all interested parties of its intent to rescind this review with 
respect to certain companies because those companies had no reviewable, 
suspended entries of subject merchandise and invited parties to 
comment.\13\ We received no comments on our intent to rescind the 
review with respect to these companies. Accordingly, in the absence of 
suspended entries of subject merchandise during the POR for three 
companies \14\ for which this review was initiated, we are hereby 
rescinding this administrative review, in part, with respect to these 
companies, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).
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    \11\ See, e.g., Lightweight Thermal Paper from the People's 
Republic of China: Notice of Rescission of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review; 2015, 82 FR 14349 (March 20, 2017); see also 
Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic 
of China: Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 
2017, 84 FR 14650 (April 11, 2019).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2).
    \13\ See Intent to Rescind Memorandum.
    \14\ The companies are: (1) BAC Son Woods Processing Joint Stock 
Company; (2) Huong Son Wood Group Co., Ltd.; and (3) Long Phat 
Construction Investment and Trade Joint Stock Company.
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    In addition, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce will 
rescind an administrative review, in whole or in part, if the party 
that requested a review withdraws the request within 90 days of the 
date of publication of the notice of initiation. All parties timely 
withdrew their review requests for: (1) Fulin Wood Import Export 
Company Limited; (2) Greatwood Joint Stock Company; (3) Greentech 
Investment Co., Ltd.; (4) Long Dat Import and Export Production 
Company; (5) Star Light Multimedia Co., Ltd.; and (6) VietBac Plywood 
LLC. Because the review requests were timely withdrawn, and no other 
party requested a review of these companies, we are rescinding the 
review with respect to these six companies (see Appendix II for a list 
of all companies for which Commerce is rescinding this review).

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) and 19 CFR 
351.213. For a full description of the methodology underlying these 
preliminary results, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. See 
Appendix III for a complete list of topics discussed in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum. The Preliminary 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 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is available at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

    In this administrative review, we issued questionnaires to all 
companies under review to gather information on the quantity and value 
(Q&V) of their shipments of hardwood plywood to the United States.\15\ 
We received responses to these questionnaires from 21 companies, all of 
which reported that their suspended entries consisted exclusively of 
non-subject merchandise. We issued additional questionnaires to these 
companies and received complete responses from only 15 of them. We have 
analyzed the information in these responses and preliminarily find that 
these 15 companies have provided information to support their claims 
that the hardwood plywood they exported to the United States was not 
assembled using any of the Chinese hardwood plywood input scenarios 
subject to this Order.\16\ We are also preliminarily accepting the 
claims of three additional companies from which Commerce is awaiting 
additional information, pending the receipt of the requested 
information.\17\
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    \15\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Quantity and Value 
Questionnaire,'' dated November 20, 2023; see also Memorandum, 
``Clarification of Companies Required to Submit Responses to Q&V 
Questionnaire,'' dated November 28, 2023; and Commerce's Letters, 
``Request for Entry Information,'' dated February 5, 2024 
(collectively, Q&V Questionnaire).
    \16\ See Circumvention Final Determination, 88 FR at 46742.
    \17\ The responses to the questionnaires issued to the following 
companies are currently due on or after the date of these 
preliminary results: An An Plywood Joint Stock Company, Greatwood 
Hung Yen Joint Stock Company, and Thang Long Wood Panel Company 
(Thang Long).
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    We also preliminarily find it appropriate to permit the 15 
companies referenced above, as well as Thang Long, to participate in 
the certification program at the conclusion of this administrative 
review. The other two companies are currently eligible to participate 
in this certification program, and we preliminarily find no basis to 
alter their status.\18\
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    \18\ See Appendix I for a complete list of companies subject to 
this review that are preliminarily eligible to certify their entries 
of hardwood plywood exported from Vietnam.
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Use of Adverse Facts Available

    Groll Ply and Cabinetry Co., Ltd. (Groll Ply), Hoang Lam Plywood 
Joint Stock Co. (Hoang Lam), Plywood Sunshine Co., Ltd. (Plywood 
Sunshine), Quang Phat Wood Joint Stock Company (Quang Phat), and Quoc 
Thai Forestry Import Export Limited Company (Quoc Thai) had entries of 
plywood during the POR that they claimed were of non-subject 
merchandise. We required these companies to provide information related 
to these entries, but they did not respond to these requests for 
information, and therefore, we are preliminary finding that Groll Ply, 
Hoang Lam, Plywood Sunshine, Quang Phat, and Quoc Thai failed to 
support their claims that their entries of plywood during the POR were 
not of subject merchandise.
    Pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce has 
assigned Groll Ply, Hoang Lam, Plywood Sunshine, Quang Phat, and Quoc 
Thai a subsidy rate of 100.11 percent based on facts available with 
adverse inferences (AFA). These five companies ceased participating in 
this review and did not provide information requested by Commerce; 
accordingly, we find that necessary information is not available on the 
record, they failed to provide the requested information in the form 
and manner requested, and significantly impeded the proceeding, 
pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act. Additionally, we find that Groll 
Ply, Hoang Lam, Plywood Sunshine, Quang Phat, and Quoc Thai had 
necessary information in their possession and elected not to submit the 
information and, thus, that the five companies did not act to the best 
of their abilities in responding to Commerce's information request by 
the applicable deadline, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act. For 
additional information regarding this determination, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    Commerce preliminary determines that the following net 
countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period of

[[Page 66345]]

September 26, 2021, through December 31, 2022:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                            (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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Groll Ply and Cabinetry Co., Ltd........................        * 100.11
Plywood Sunshine Co., Ltd...............................        * 100.11
Quoc Thai Forestry Import Export Limited Company........        * 100.11
Hoang Lam Plywood Joint Stock Co........................        * 100.11
Quang Phat Wood Joint Stock Company.....................        * 100.11
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* This rate is based on AFA.

Disclosure

    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in 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 the notice of preliminary results in the 
Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, 
because Commerce is applying AFA to the above companies, there are no 
additional calculations to disclose.

Certification Eligibility

    Due to their failure to provide necessary information for 
determining certification eligibility, we preliminarily determine that 
Groll Ply, Hoang Lam, Plywood Sunshine, Quang Phat, and Quoc Thai 
remain barred from participating in the certification program in this 
proceeding.

Verification

    From July 1, through July 10, 2024, we conducted verification of 
the questionnaire responses of five exporters/producers under review, 
Arrow Forest International Co., Ltd., Hai Hien Bamboo Wood Joint Stock 
Company, Lechenwood Viet Nam Company Limited, Long Luu Plywood 
Production Co., Ltd., and TL Trung Viet Company Limited. We intend to 
verify the information submitted by the remaining exporters listed in 
Appendix I after the preliminary results.

Public Comment

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(c), 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. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after 
the deadline for case briefs.\19\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 
(d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
review are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) a statement of 
the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of 
authorities.
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    \19\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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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 briefs 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.\20\ 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).\21\
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    \20\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \21\ See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other 
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 
67069, 67077 (September 29, 2023).
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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.

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results of this review, Commerce shall 
determine, and CBP shall assess, countervailing duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review. For all entries of 
merchandise exported by the companies listed in Appendix I, we intend 
to instruct CBP to liquidate the entries without regard to 
countervailing duties if these preliminary results are unchanged for 
the final results. For entries of merchandise exported by Groll Ply, 
Hoang Lam, Plywood Sunshine, Quang Phat, and Quoc Thai, we will 
instruct CBP to liquidate their entries at the assigned rate of 100.11 
percent. 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).
    For the companies (see Appendix II) 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 September 26, 2021, through December 31, 2022, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(l)(i).
    Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP for these 
companies no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the 
preliminary 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

    In accordance with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce 
intends upon publication of the final results, to instruct 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 shipments of 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

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company-specific rate applicable to the company, as appropriate. These 
cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.

Final Results of Review

    Unless otherwise extended, Commerce intends to issue the final 
results of this administrative review, which will include the results 
of its analysis of issues raised in any briefs, within 120 days of 
publication of these preliminary results of review, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results of administrative review are issued and 
published in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(l) of the 
Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: August 6, 2024.
Scot Fullerton,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Operations.

Appendix I

Participating Companies Which Reported No POR Shipments of Subject 
Merchandise

1. An An Plywood Joint Stock Company
2. Arrow Forest International Co., Ltd.
3. Cam Lam Vietnam Joint Stock Company \22\
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    \22\ We also initiated a review of this company under the minor 
name variation Camlam Vietnam Joint Stock Company. See Intent to 
Rescind Memorandum.
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4. Eagle Industries Company Limited
5. Golden Bridge Industries Pte. Ltd.
6. Govina Investment Joint Stock Company
7. Greatriver Wood Co., Ltd.\23\
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    \23\ We also initiated a review of Cong Ty TNHH Greatriver Wood. 
We have preliminarily treated these companies as the same entity.
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8. Greatwood Hung Yen Joint Stock Company \24\
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    \24\ We also initiated a review of this company under its former 
name Greatwood Company Limited. See Circumvention Final 
Determination IDM at 76.
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9. Hai Hien Bamboo Wood Joint Stock Company
10. Her Hui Wood (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.
11. Innovgreen Thanh Hoa Co. Ltd.
12. Lechenwood Vietnam Company Limited \25\
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    \25\ We also initiated a review of Lechenwood Viet Nam Company 
Limited. See Intent to Rescind Memorandum.
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13. Long LUU Plywood Production Co., Ltd.
14. TEKCOM Corporation
15. Thang Long Wood Panel Company Ltd.\26\
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    \26\ We also initiated a review of this company under the minor 
name variation Thang Long Wood Panel Company. See Intent to Rescind 
Memorandum.
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16. TL Trung Viet Company Limited
17. Vietnam Zhongjia Wood Co., Ltd
18. Win Faith Trading Limited \27\
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    \27\ We also initiated a review of this company under the minor 
name variation Win Faith Trading. See Intent to Rescind Memorandum.
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Appendix II

Companies Rescinded From Review

A. Withdrawals of Requests for Review:
    1. Fulin Wood Import Export Company Limited
    2. Greentech Investment Co., Ltd.
    3. Star Light Multimedia Co., Ltd.
    4. Long Dat Import and Export Production Company
    5. VietBac Plywood LLC
    6. Greatwood Joint Stock Company
B. No Suspended Entries during the POR
    1. BAC Son Woods Processing Joint Stock Company
    2. Huong Son Wood Group Co., Ltd.
    3. Long Phat Construction Investment and Trade Joint Stock 
Company

Appendix III

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Rescission of Administrative Review, In Part
V. Discussion of Methodology
VI. Certification Program
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-18286 Filed 8-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P