[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 172 (Thursday, September 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72375-72378]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19964]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-552-839]
Certain Paper Plates From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in
Part, 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
determines that certain paper plates (paper plates) from the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) are being, or are likely to be, sold in
the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of
investigation (POI) is July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination.
DATES: Applicable September 5, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Hansen, AD/CVD Operations,
Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3683.
[[Page 72376]]
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 in the Federal
Register on February 26, 2024.\1\ On June 12, 2024, Commerce postponed
the preliminary determination of this investigation until August 22,
2024.\2\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this
administrative proceeding by seven days.\3\ The deadline for the
preliminary determination is now August 29, 2024.
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\1\ See Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of
China, Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation
of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 89 FR 14046 (February 26,
2024) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of
China, Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement
of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigations, 89 FR 49833 (June 12, 2024).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\4\ 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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\4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value of
Certain Paper Plates from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are certain paper plates
from Vietnam. For a complete description of the scope of this
investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\5\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\6\ 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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\5\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296,
27323 (May 19, 1997).
\6\ See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 14047.
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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. Because Vietnam is a non-
market economy country, within the meaning of section 771(18) of the
Act,\7\ Normal value is calculated in accordance with section 773(c) of
the Act. In addition, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act,
Commerce preliminarily relied upon facts otherwise available, with
adverse inferences, for the Vietnam-wide entity. For a full description
of the methodology underlying the preliminary determination, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\7\ See Raw Honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 89 FR
64411 (August 7, 2024).
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Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in
Part
In accordance with section 733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206,
Commerce preliminarily finds that critical circumstances exist for the
Vietnam-Wide entity but not for Go-Pak Paper Products Vietnam Co., Ltd.
For a full description of the methodology and results of Commerce's
analysis, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Combination Rates
In the Initiation Notice,\8\ Commerce stated that it would
calculate producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that
are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin
05.1 describes this practice.\9\ In this investigation, we assigned a
producer/exporter combination rate for Go-Pak Paper Products Vietnam
Co., Ltd., i.e., the sole respondent eligible for a separate rate.
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\8\ See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 14051.
\9\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1,
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on
Commerce's website at https://access.trade.gov/Resources/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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Cash deposit rate
Weighted-average (adjusted for
Exporter Producer dumping margin export subsidy
(percent) offset) (percent)
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Go-Pak Paper Products Vietnam Co., Ltd..... Go-Pak Paper Products Vietnam 0.00 0.00
Co., Ltd..
Vietnam-Wide Entity........................ ............................. * 165.27 159.79
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* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, for companies
included in the Vietnam-wide entity, 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 which is 90 days
before 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 weighted-average amount by which normal value exceeds U.S.
price, as indicated in the table above, as follows: (1) for the
Vietnam-wide entity, the cash deposit rate is equal to the estimated
weighted-average dumping margin listed in the table; (2) for all
combinations of Vietnamese producers/exporters of merchandise under
consideration that have not established eligibility for their own
separate rates, the cash deposit rate
[[Page 72377]]
will be equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin
established for the Vietnam-wide entity; and (3) for all third-country
exporters of merchandise under consideration not listed in the table
above, the cash deposit rate is the cash deposit rate applicable to the
Vietnamese producer/exporter combination that supplied that third-
country exporter, or, if the exporter/producer combination does not
have its own rate, the cash deposit rate will be the Vietnam-wide rate.
Because the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for a certain
producer/exporter combination is zero or de minimis (i.e., less than
0.5 percent), Commerce is directing CBP not to suspend liquidation of
entries of subject merchandise from that producer/exporter combination.
Entries of subject merchandise from this exporter supplied by any other
producer, or from this producer that supplied any other exporter, or
from third-country exporters that sourced from the excluded producer/
exporter combination, are not entitled to this exclusion from
suspension of liquidation and are subject to the provisional measures
at the cash deposit rate established for the Vietnam-wide entity.
Should the final estimated weighted-average dumping margin be zero
or de minimis for the producer/exporter combination identified above,
entries of merchandise from this producer/exporter combination will be
excluded from the order. Such exclusion will not be applicable to
merchandise exported to the United States by any other producer/
exporter combinations or by third-country exporters that sourced from
the excluded producer/exporter combination.
Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative
determination of critical circumstances, in part, any suspension of
liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered,
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of:
(a) the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension
of liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the date on which notice of
initiation of the investigation was published. Commerce preliminarily
finds that critical circumstances exist for imports of subject
merchandise from the Vietnam-wide entity. In accordance with section
733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of liquidation shall apply to
all unliquidated entries of merchandise from the Vietnam-wide entity
that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or
after the date which is 90 days before the publication of this notice.
To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of domestic
subsidy pass-through and export subsidies determined in a companion
countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding when CVD provisional measures are
in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce has made a preliminary
affirmative determination for domestic subsidy pass-through or export
subsidies, Commerce has offset the calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping margin by the appropriate rate(s). Any such adjusted
rates may be found in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section's chart
of estimated weighted-average dumping margins 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 cash
deposits at a rate equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping
margins calculated in this preliminary determination unadjusted for the
passed-through domestic subsidies or for export subsidies at the time
the CVD provisional measures expire.
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect
until further notice.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations
and analysis performed in connection with this preliminary
determination within five days of its 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 information relied upon in making its final determination.
Public Comment
Case briefs or other written comments on non-scope issues 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.\10\ 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.\11\ 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.\12\
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\10\ Case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted in response to
this preliminary determination should not include scope-related
issues.
\11\ 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).
\12\ 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 a public
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.\13\
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).\14\
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\13\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\14\ 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 in the Federal Register.
Requests should contain the party's name, address, and telephone
number, the number of
[[Page 72378]]
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 date and time to be
determined. Parties should confirm 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) 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. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), Commerce requires
that requests by respondents for postponement of a final antidumping
duty 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 August 22 and 28, 2024, Go-Pak Paper Products Vietnam Co., Ltd.
and the American Paper Plate Coalition \15\ (i.e., the petitioner)
requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and that the
provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six months,
respectively.\16\ 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 exporter accounts 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 will make its final determination no later than 135 days after
the date of publication of this preliminary determination.
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\15\ The members of the Coalition are: AJM Packaging
Corporation; Aspen Product Inc; Dart Container Corporation;
Hoffmaster Group, Inc.; Huhtamaki Americas, Inc.; and Unique
Industries, Inc.
\16\ See Go-Pak Paper Products Vietnam Co., Ltd.'s Letter,
``Request to Extend Final Determination,'' dated August 22, 2024;
and Petitioner's Letter, ``Request to Postpone the Deadline for
Final Determination,'' August 28, 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 of sales at LTFV. 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 these imports of certain paper plates from
Vietnam are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the
U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This preliminary 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: August 29, 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 merchandise subject to this investigation is certain paper
plates. Paper plates subject to this investigation may be cut from
rolls, sheets, or other pieces of paper and/or paper board. Paper
plates subject to this investigation have a depth up to and
including two (2.0) inches, as measured vertically from the base to
the top of the lip, or the edge if the plate has no lip. Paper
plates subject to this investigation may be uncolored, white,
colored, or printed. Printed paper plates subject to this
investigation may have any type of surface finish, and may be
printed by any means with images, text and/or colors on one or both
surfaces. Colored paper plates subject to this investigation may be
colored by any method, including but not limited to printing,
beater-dyeing, and dip-dyeing. Paper plates subject to this
investigation may be produced from paper of any type (including, but
not limited to, bamboo, straws, bagasse, hemp, kenaf, jute, sisal,
abaca, cotton inters and reeds, or from non-plant sources, such as
synthetic resin (petroleum)-based resins), may have any caliper or
basis weight, may have any shape or size, may have one or more than
one section, may be embossed, may have foil or other substances
adhered to their surface, and/or may be uncoated or coated with any
type of coating.
The paper plates subject to this investigation remain covered by
the scope of this investigation whether imported alone, or in any
combination of subject and non-subject merchandise. When paper
plates subject to this investigation are imported in combination
with non-subject merchandise, only the paper plates subject to this
investigation are subject merchandise.
The paper plates subject to this investigation include paper
plates matching the above description that have been finished,
packaged, or otherwise processed in a third country by performing
finishing, packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove
the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in
the country of manufacture of the paper plates. Examples of
finishing, packaging, or other processing in a third country that
would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the
investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the
paper plates include, but are not limited to, printing, application
of other surface treatments such as coatings, repackaging,
embossing, and application of foil surface treatments.
Excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper plates
molded or pressed directly from paper pulp (including but not
limited to unfelted pulp), which are currently classifiable under
subheading 4823.70.0020 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS).
Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are articles
that otherwise would be covered but which exhibit the following two
physical characteristics: (a) depth (measured vertically from the
base to the top of the lip, or edge if no lip) equal to or greater
than 1.25 inches but less than two (2.0) inches, and (b) a base not
exceeding five (5.0) inches in diameter if round, or not exceeding
20 square inches in area if any other shape.
Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper
bowls, paper buckets, and paper food containers with closeable lids.
Paper plates subject to this investigation are currently
classifiable under HTSUS subheading 4823.69.0040. Paper plates
subject to this investigation also may be classified under HTSUS
subheading 4823.61.0040. If packaged with other articles, the paper
plates subject to this investigation also may be classified under
HTSUS subheadings 9505.90.4000 and 9505.90.6000. While the HTSUS
subheading(s) are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the
written description of the subject merchandise is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Discussion of the Methodology
V. Currency Conversion
VI. Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
VII. Adjustment Under Section 777A(F) of the Act
VIII. Adjustment to the Cash Deposit Rate for Export Subsidies
IX. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-19964 Filed 9-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P