[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 165 (Monday, August 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68390-68394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19071]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-154, C-570-155]


Certain Pea Protein From the People's Republic of China: 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders

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

SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. 
Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade 
Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing antidumping duty (AD) and 
countervailing duty (CVD) orders on certain pea protein (pea protein) 
from the People's Republic of China (China).

DATES: Applicable August 26, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sofia Pedrelli (AD) or Kristen Johnson 
(CVD), AD/CVD Operations, Offices II and III, Enforcement and 
Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-4310 or (202) 482-4793, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In accordance with sections 705(d), 735(d), and 777(i) of the 
Tariff Act of

[[Page 68391]]

1930, as amended (the Act), on July 5, 2024, Commerce published in the 
Federal Register its affirmative final determination of sales at less-
than-fair-value (LTFV) of pea protein from China \1\ and its 
affirmative final determination that countervailable subsidies are 
being provided to producers and exporters of pea protein from China.\2\ 
As part of these determinations, Commerce made affirmative critical 
circumstances findings for the separate rate companies and the China-
wide entity in the AD investigation and for all producers and/or 
exporters and non-responsive companies in the CVD investigation.
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    \1\ See Certain Pea Protein from the People's Republic of China: 
Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Final Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, 89 FR 55559 
(July 5, 2024) (LTFV Final Determination).
    \2\ See Certain Pea Protein from the People's Republic of China: 
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Final 
Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, 89 FR 55557 (July 
5, 2024) (CVD Final Determination).
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    On August 15, 2024, pursuant to sections 735(d) and 705(d) of the 
Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its affirmative final determinations 
that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the 
meaning of sections 735(b)(1)(A)(i) and 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by 
reason of LTFV imports of pea protein from China and subsidized imports 
of pea protein from China.\3\ In addition, the ITC found that critical 
circumstances exist with regard to imports from China.\4\
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    \3\ See ITC's Letter, ``Notice of ITC Final Determinations,'' 
dated August 15, 2024; see also Certain Pea Protein from China, Inv. 
Nos. 701-TA-692 and 731-TA-1628 (Final), USITC Pub. 5529 (August 
2024) (ITC Final Determination Publication), at 3.
    \4\ See ITC Final Determination Publication.
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Scope of the Orders

    The product covered by these orders is pea protein from China. For 
a complete description of the scope of these orders, see the appendix 
to this notice.

AD Order

    Based on the above-referenced affirmative final determination, in 
accordance with section 735(c)(2) and 736 of the Act, Commerce is 
issuing this AD order. Because the ITC determined that imports of pea 
protein from China are materially injuring a U.S. industry, 
unliquidated entries of such merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption, are subject to the assessment of ADs. In 
addition, the ITC found that critical circumstances exist with respect 
to imports subject to Commerce's affirmative critical circumstances 
finding within the meaning of section 735(b)(4)(A) of the Act. As a 
result of Commerce's affirmative critical circumstances determination 
under section 735(a)(3) of the Act, and the ITC's affirmative critical 
circumstances determination under section 735(b)(4)(A) of the Act, 
retroactive duties will be applied to the relevant imports for a period 
of 90 days prior to the suspension of liquidation (i.e., 90 days prior 
to the date of publication of the affirmative LTFV Preliminary 
Determination).\5\
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    \5\ See section 735(c)(4) of the Act; see also Statement of 
Administrative Action Accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, 
H.R. Doc. 103-316, Vol. 1 (1994) (SAA), at 876 (``If both agencies 
make affirmative critical circumstances determinations in their 
final investigations, retroactive duties will be applied for a 
period ninety days prior to suspension of liquidation.''); Certain 
Pea Protein from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 89 FR 10038 (February 13, 2024) (LTFV Preliminary 
Determination).
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, 
Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties equal 
to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the 
export price (or constructed export price) of the merchandise, for all 
relevant entries of pea protein from China entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption, on or after November 15, 2023, which is 90 
days prior to the date of publication of the affirmative LTFV 
Preliminary Determination, in accordance with the critical 
circumstances finding in the LTFV Final Determination, but will not 
include entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional 
measures period and before publication of the ITC's final affirmative 
injury determination, as further described below.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits--AD

    Except as noted in the ``Provisional Measures--AD'' section of this 
notice, in accordance with section 736 of the Act, Commerce intends to 
instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation on all relevant entries 
of pea protein from China, in accordance with section 736 of the Act. 
These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until 
further notice.
    Commerce also intends to instruct CBP to require cash deposits 
equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins, with offsets 
for export subsidies where appropriate, as indicated in the tables 
below. Accordingly, effective the date of publication of the ITC's 
final affirmative injury determination, CBP will suspend the 
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise, and require, at the same 
time that importers would normally deposit estimated duties on the 
merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the rates listed below. The 
relevant China-wide entity rate applies to all producers or exporters 
not specifically listed, as appropriate.

Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margins

    The estimated weighted-average dumping margins as published in 
Commerce's LTFV Final Determination are as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                Estimated      Cash deposit rate
                                                                             weighted-average    (adjusted for
                  Exporter                              Producer              dumping margin    subsidy offset)
                                                                                (percent)          (percent)
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Fenchem Biotek Ltd.........................  Yantai Shuangta Food Co., Ltd             122.19             111.65
Jianyuan International Co., Ltd............  Shandong Jianyuan                         122.19             111.65
                                              Bioengineering Co., Ltd.
Jianyuan International Co., Ltd............  Hengyuan Biotechnology Co.,               122.19             111.65
                                              Ltd.
KTL Pharmaceutical Co., Limited............  Jiujiang Tiantai Food Co.,                122.19             111.65
                                              Ltd.
Linyi Yuwang Vegetable Protein Co., Ltd....  Linyi Yuwang Vegetable                    122.19             111.65
                                              Protein Co., Ltd.
Nutracean Co., Ltd.........................  Yantai Shuangta Food Co., Ltd             122.19             111.65
Nutracean Co., Ltd.........................  Zhaoyuan Junbang Trading Co.,             122.19             111.65
                                              Ltd.
Shandong Yuwang Ecological Food Industry     Linyi Yuwang Vegetable                    122.19             111.65
 Co., Ltd.                                    Protein Co., Ltd.

[[Page 68392]]

 
Yantai T. Full Biotech Co., Ltd............  Yantai T. Full Biotech Co.,               122.19             111.65
                                              Ltd.
Yosin Biotechnology (Yantai) Co., Ltd......  Yosin Biotechnology (Yantai)              122.19             111.65
                                              Co., Ltd.
Yosin Import and Export (Yantai) Co., Ltd..  Yosin Biotechnology (Yantai)              122.19             111.65
                                              Co., Ltd.
Hainan Zhongxin Chemical Co., Ltd..........  Shandong Hua-Thai Food                    122.19             111.65
                                              Products Co., Ltd.
Hainan Zhongxin Chemical Co., Ltd..........  Shandong Jundu Talin Foods                122.19             111.65
                                              Co., Ltd.
Hainan Zhongxin Chemical Co., Ltd..........  Yosin Biotechnology (Yantai)              122.19             111.65
                                              Co., Ltd.
Hainan Zhongxin Chemical Co., Ltd..........  Yosin Import and Export                   122.19             111.65
                                              (Yantai) Co., Ltd.
Hainan Zhongxin Chemical Co., Ltd..........  Yantai Shuangta Food Co., Ltd             122.19             111.65
China-wide Entity..........................  .............................             280.31             269.77
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Provisional Measures--AD

    Section 733(d) of the Act states that instructions issued under 
section 733(d)(1) and (2) of the Act pursuant to an affirmative 
preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four 
months, except where exporters representing a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise request that Commerce extends the 
four-month period to no more than six months. At the request of 
exporters that account for a significant proportion of exports of pea 
protein from China, Commerce extended the four-month period to six 
months in this investigation.\6\ Commerce published the LTFV 
Preliminary Determination on February 13, 2024.\7\
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    \6\ See LTFV Preliminary Determination.
    \7\ Id.
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    The extended provisional measures period, beginning on the date of 
publication of the LTFV Preliminary Determination, ended on August 10, 
2024. Pursuant to section 737(b) of the Act, the collection of cash 
deposits at the rates listed above will begin on the date of 
publication of the ITC's final injury determination. Therefore, in 
accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act and our practice, Commerce 
intends to instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and 
to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, unliquidated 
entries of pea protein from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption, on or after August 11, 2024, the first day provisional 
measures were no longer in effect, until and through the day preceding 
the date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination in the 
Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation and the collection of cash 
deposits will resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final 
determination in the Federal Register.

CVD Order

    As stated above, based on the above-referenced affirmative final 
determination by the ITC that an industry in the United States is 
materially injured within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the 
Act by reason of subsidized imports of pea protein from China, in 
accordance with section 705(c)(2) of the Act, Commerce is issuing this 
CVD order. Because the ITC determined that imports of pea protein from 
China are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption, are subject to the assessment of CVDs. In addition, the 
ITC found that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports 
from China subject to Commerce's affirmative critical circumstances 
finding within the meaning of section 705(b)(4)(A) of the Act. As a 
result of Commerce's affirmative critical circumstances determination 
under section 705(a)(2) of the Act, and the ITC's affirmative critical 
circumstances determination under section 705(b)(4)(A) of the Act, 
retroactive duties will be applied to the relevant imports for a period 
of 90 days prior to the suspension of liquidation, (i.e., 90 days prior 
to the date of publication of the affirmative CVD Preliminary 
Determination).\8\
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    \8\ See section 705(c)(4) of the Act; see also SAA at 876 (``If 
both agencies make affirmative critical circumstances determinations 
in their final investigations, retroactive duties will be applied 
for a period ninety days prior to suspension of liquidation.'').
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce 
will direct CBP to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, 
countervailing duties on all relevant entries of pea protein from 
China. With respect to entries for Yantai Oriental Protein Tech Co., 
Ltd., Zhaoyuan Junbang Trading Co., Ltd., all other producers and/or 
exporters, and the non-responsive companies,\9\ CVDs will be assessed 
on unliquidated entries of pea protein from China entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption, on or after September 19, 2023, which 
is 90 days prior to the date of publication of the CVD Preliminary 
Determination.\10\ CVDs will not be assessed on entries occurring after 
the expiration of the provisional measures period and before the 
publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination, as 
further described in the ``Provisional Measures--CVD'' section of this 
notice.
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    \9\ The non-responsive companies are: Focusherb LLC; Golden 
Protein Limited; Shandong Jianyuan Bioengineering Co.; and Yantai 
Wanpy International Trade.
    \10\ See Certain Pea Protein from the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 
Preliminary Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, and 
Alignment of Final Determination with Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination, 88 FR 87403 (December 18, 2023) (CVD Preliminary 
Determination).
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits--CVD

    In accordance with section 706 of the Act, Commerce intends to 
instruct CBP to reinstitute the suspension of liquidation of pea 
protein from China, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's 
final affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register. These 
instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further 
notice.

[[Page 68393]]

    Commerce also intends, pursuant to section 706(a)(1) of the Act, to 
instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the amounts as indicated 
below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's 
final affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register, CBP 
will require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit 
estimated customs duties on the subject merchandise, a cash deposit for 
each entry of subject merchandise equal to the subsidy rates listed 
below.\11\ The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters 
not specifically listed below, as appropriate.
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    \11\ See section 706(a)(3) of the Act.
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Estimated Countervailing Duty Subsidy Rates

    The estimated countervailing duty subsidy rates as published in 
Commerce's CVD Final Determination are as follows:
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    \12\ Commerce finds the following companies to be cross owned 
with Yantai Oriental Protein Tech Co., Ltd: Jiujiang Tiantai Food 
Co., Ltd.; Shandong Sanjia Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd.; 
Yantai Yiyuan Bioengineering Co., Ltd.; and Yantai Zhongzhen Trading 
Co., Ltd.
    \13\ Commerce finds Yantai Shuangta Food Co. Ltd. to be cross 
owned with Zhaoyuan Junbang Trading Co., Ltd.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Subsidy rate (percent
                    Company                            ad valorem)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yantai Oriental Protein Tech Co., Ltd.\12\.....                    16.52
Zhaoyuan Junbang Trading Co., Ltd.\13\.........                    15.15
Focusherb LLC..................................                   355.89
Golden Protein Limited.........................                   355.89
Shandong Jianyuan Bioengineering Co............                   355.89
Yantai Wanpy International Trade...............                   355.89
All Others.....................................                    15.84
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Provisional Measures--CVD

    Section 703(d) of the Act states that the suspension of liquidation 
pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in 
effect for more than four months. Commerce published the CVD 
Preliminary Determination on December 18, 2023.\14\ As such, the four-
month period beginning on the date of publication of the CVD 
Preliminary Determination ended on April 15, 2024.
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    \14\ See CVD Preliminary Determination.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, we 
instructed CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to 
liquidate, without regard to CVDs, unliquidated entries of pea protein 
from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or 
after April 16, 2024, the date on which the provisional measures 
expired, until and through the day preceding the date of publication of 
the ITC's final injury determination in the Federal Register. 
Suspension of liquidation and the collection of cash deposits will 
resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determination in 
the Federal Register.

Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service List

    On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the Final Rule in the 
Federal Register.\15\ On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published 
the Procedural Guidance in the Federal Register.\16\ The Final Rule and 
Procedural Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual 
inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any 
interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for 
circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request 
on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as 
well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same 
country of origin.
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    \15\ See Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement 
of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws, 86 FR 52300 (September 
20, 2021) (Final Rule).
    \16\ See Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; 
and Informational Sessions, 86 FR 53205 (September 27, 2021) 
(Procedural Guidance).
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    In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in 
the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an 
annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and 
document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at https://access.trade.gov, within five business days of publication of the 
order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in ACCESS, under 
each case number, and under a specific segment type called ``AISL-
Annual Inquiry Service List.'' \17\
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    \17\ This segment will be combined with the ACCESS Segment 
Specific Information (SSI) field, which will display the month in 
which the notice of the order or suspended investigation was 
published in the Federal Register, also known as the anniversary 
month. For example, for an order under case number A-000-000 that 
was published in the Federal Register in January, the relevant 
segment and SSI combination will appear in ACCESS as ``AISL-January 
Anniversary.'' Note that there will be only one annual inquiry 
service list segment per case number, and the anniversary month will 
be pre-populated in ACCESS.
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    Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry 
service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the 
annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30 
days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of 
administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one 
attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead 
attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce 
will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days 
thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance, the new annual 
inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when 
the opportunity notice for the anniversary month of the order is 
published.
    Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as 
needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of 
appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and 
representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or 
announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the 
ACCESS website.

Special Instructions for Petitioners and Foreign Governments

    In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, ``after an initial request 
and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and 
foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry 
service list in the years that follow.'' \18\ Accordingly, as stated 
above, the petitioner and the Government of China should submit their 
initial entries of appearance after publication of this notice in order 
to appear in the first annual inquiry service list for those

[[Page 68394]]

orders for which they qualify as an interested party. Pursuant to 19 
CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioner and the Government of China will not 
need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to 
be included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioner 
and the Government of China are responsible for making amendments to 
their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual 
inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.
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    \18\ See Final Rule, 86 FR at 52335.
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Notifications to Interested Parties

    This notice constitutes the AD and CVD orders with respect to pea 
protein from China, pursuant to section 736(a) and 706(a) of the Act. 
Interested parties can find a list of AD and CVD orders currently in 
effect at https://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
    These orders are published in accordance with sections 736(a) and 
706(a) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

    Dated: August 20, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistance Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Orders

    The product within the scope of these orders is high protein 
content (HPC) pea protein, which is a protein derived from peas 
(including, but not limited to, yellow field peas and green field 
peas) and which contains at least 65 percent protein on a dry weight 
basis. HPC pea protein may also be identified as, for example, pea 
protein concentrate, pea protein isolate, hydrolyzed pea protein, 
pea peptides, and fermented pea protein. Pea protein, including HPC 
pea protein, has the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry 
number 222400-29-5.
    The scope covers HPC pea protein in all physical forms, 
including all liquid (e.g., solution) and solid (e.g., powder) 
forms, regardless of packaging or the inclusion of additives (e.g., 
flavoring, suspension agents, preservatives).
    The scope also includes HPC pea protein described above that is 
blended, combined, or mixed with non-subject pea protein or with 
other ingredients (e.g., proteins derived from other sources, 
fibers, carbohydrates, sweeteners, and fats) to make products such 
as protein powders, dry beverage blends, and protein fortified 
beverages. For any such blended, combined, or mixed products, only 
the HPC pea protein component is covered by the scope of these 
orders. HPC pea protein that has been blended, combined, or mixed 
with other products is included within the scope, regardless of 
whether the blending, combining, or mixing occurs in third 
countries.
    HPC pea protein that is otherwise within the scope is covered 
when commingled (i.e., blended, combined, or mixed) with HPC pea 
protein from sources not subject to these orders. Only the subject 
component of the commingled product is covered by the scope.
    A blend, combination, or mixture is excluded from the scope if 
the total HPC pea protein content of the blend, combination, or 
mixture (regardless of the source or sources) comprises less than 
five percent of the blend, combination, or mixture on a dry weight 
basis.
    All products that meet the written physical description are 
within the scope of these orders unless specifically excluded. The 
following products, by way of example, are outside and/or 
specifically excluded from the scope of these orders:
     burgers, snack bars, bakery products, sugar and gum 
confectionary products, milk, cheese, baby food, sauces and 
seasonings, and pet food, even when such products are made with HPC 
pea protein;
     HPC pea protein that has gone through an extrusion 
process to alter the HPC pea protein at the structural and 
functional level, resulting in a product with a fibrous structure 
which resembles muscle meat upon hydration. These products are 
commonly described as textured pea protein or texturized pea 
protein;
     HPC pea protein that has been further processed to 
create a small crunchy nugget commonly described as a pea protein 
crisp;
     protein derived from chickpeas.
    The merchandise covered by the scope is currently classified 
under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
categories 3504.00.1000, 3504.00.5000, and 2106.10.0000. Such 
merchandise may also enter the U.S. market under HTSUS category 
2308.00.9890. Although HTSUS categories and the CAS registry number 
are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2024-19071 Filed 8-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P