[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22465-22467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09563]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 28, 2025 /
Notices
[[Page 22465]]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-570-195]
Active Anode Material From the People's Republic of China:
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment
of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination
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 exporters of active anode material from the People's
Republic of China (China). The period of investigation is January 1,
2023, through December 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to
comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES: Applicable May 28, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin Nathan or Gorden Struck, AD/
CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3834 or (202)
482-8151, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on January 15,
2025.\1\ On February 19, 2025, Commerce postponed the preliminary
determination of this investigation until May 19, 2025.\2\
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\1\ See Active Anode Material from the People's Republic of
China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 90 FR 3788
(January 15, 2025) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Active Anode Material from the People's Republic of
China: Postponement of Preliminary Determination in the
Countervailing Duty Investigation, 90 FR 9888 (February 19, 2025).
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum is included in Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary
Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically
via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to
registered users at https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly
at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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\3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation
of Active Anode Material from the People's Republic of China,''
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is active anode material
from China. For a complete description of the scope of this
investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ in
the Initiation Notice Commerce set aside a period of time for parties
to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain
interested parties commented on the scope of the less-than-fair-value
(LTFV) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations as it appeared in
the Initiation Notice. Commerce intends to issue its preliminary
decision regarding comments concerning the scope of the LTFV and CVD
investigations on or before the preliminary determination of the
companion AD investigation.
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\4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) (Preamble).
\5\ See Initiation Notice, 90 FR 3789.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a
subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives
rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is
specific.\6\ For a full description of the methodology underlying our
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\6\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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Commerce notes that, in making these findings, it relied, in part,
on facts available, and, because it finds that one or more respondents
did not act to the best of their ability to respond to Commerce's
requests for information, it drew an adverse inference where
appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise available.\7\
For further information, see the ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and
Adverse Inferences'' section in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\7\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Alignment
In accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the final CVD determination in this
investigation with the final determination in the concurrent LTFV
investigation of active anode material from China based on a request
made by American Active Anode Material Producers (i.e., the
petitioner).\8\ Consequently, the final CVD determination will be
issued on the same date as the final determination in the LTFV
investigation, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than
September 29, 2025, unless postponed.
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\8\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request to Align Final
Countervailing Duty Determination with the Companion Antidumping
Duty Final Determination,'' dated May 13, 2025.
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All-Others Rate
Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in the
preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-
others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be
an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates
established for those companies individually examined, excluding any
zero and de
[[Page 22466]]
minimis rates and any rates based entirely under section 776 of the
Act.
In this investigation, Commerce preliminarily assigned a rate based
entirely on facts available to Shanghai Shaosheng Knitted Sweat
(Shaosheng). Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, de minimis, or
based entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate calculated for
Panasonic Global Procurement China Co., Ltd. and Panasonic Corporation
of China (collectively, Panasonic). Accordingly, we are assigning the
rate calculated for Panasonic to all other producers and exporters,
pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act. On that basis, we are
assigning 6.55 percent as the ad valorem all others rate.
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\9\ Panasonic is a trading company that sold subject merchandise
produced by an unaffiliated supplier BTR New Material Group Co.,
Ltd., BTR (Jiangsu) New Energy Material Co., Ltd., and BTR New
Material Group Sales Co., Ltd., (collectively, BTR) and BTR's
affiliates. We are preliminarily cumulating the benefits received by
BTR and BTR's affiliates with the benefits received by Panasonic
into one rate for Panasonic. For further explanation, see
Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 2-4 and 28-29.
\10\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.304(c)(2), the bracketing of
business proprietary information in the original business
proprietary document or, if a corrected version is timely filed, the
corrected business proprietary document will become final. Once
bracketing has become final, Commerce will not accept any further
corrections to the bracketing of information in a submission, and
the Secretary will treat non-bracketed information as public
information. As the name of Huzhou Kaijin New Energy Technology
Corp., Ltd. was unbracketed in the public version of Panasonic's
supplemental questionnaire response, Commerce is treating this name
as public information. See Panasonic's Letter, ``1st Supplemental
Section III Questionnaire Response,'' dated May 1, 2025, at Exhibit
S-4a (i.e., ACCESS barcode 4754928-01); see also Preliminary
Decision Memorandum at 8-9.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
countervailable subsidy rates exist:
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Subsidy rate
Company (percent ad
valorem)
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Panasonic Global Procurement China Co., Ltd.; Panasonic 6.55
Corporation of China \9\...............................
Shanghai Shaosheng Knitted Sweat........................ * 721.03
Huzhou Kaijin New Energy Technology Corp., Ltd.\10\..... * 721.03
All Others.............................................. 6.55
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* Rate is based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act,
Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to
suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise as described in
the scope of the investigation entered, or withdrawn from warehouse,
for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in
the Federal Register. Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce
will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the rates
indicated above.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination
within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public
announcement, within five days of the date 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-filed allegations of significant
ministerial errors by amending the preliminary determination. However,
consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider
incomplete allegations that do not address the significance standard
under 19 CFR 351.224(g) following the preliminary determination.
Instead, Commerce will address such allegations in the final
determination together with issues raised in the case briefs or other
written comments.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.
Public Comment
All interested parties will have the opportunity to submit scope
case and rebuttal briefs on the preliminary decision regarding the
scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations. The deadlines to submit scope
case and rebuttal briefs will be provided in the preliminary scope
decision memorandum accompanying the preliminary determination of the
LTFV investigation. For all scope case and rebuttal briefs, parties
must file identical documents simultaneously on the records of the
ongoing LTFV and CVD investigations. No new factual information or
business proprietary information may be included in either scope case
or rebuttal briefs.
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. Rebuttal briefs, limited to
issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no 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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\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 an
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages
total, including footnotes. In this investigation, we instead request
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a
public executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\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 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
[[Page 22467]]
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 (1) the party's name, address, and telephone
number; (2) the number of participants and whether any participant is a
foreign national; and (3) 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.
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of its determination. If the final determination is
affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after
the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final
determination whether imports of active anode material from China are
materially injuring, or threaten material injury, to the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: May 19, 2025.
Christopher Abbott,
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 covered by this investigation is active anode
material, which is an anode grade graphite material with a graphite
minimum purity content of 90 percent carbon by weight, whether
containing synthetic graphite, natural graphite, or a blend of
synthetic and natural graphite; with or without coating. Subject
merchandise may be in the form of powder, dry, liquid, or block form
and is covered irrespective of the form in which it enters. Subject
merchandise typically has a maximum size of 80 microns when in
powder form. Subject merchandise has an energy density of 330
milliamp hours per gram or greater and a degree of graphitization of
80 percent or greater, where graphitization refers to the extent of
the graphite crystal structure.
Subject merchandise is covered regardless of whether it is mixed
with silicon based active materials, e.g., silicon-oxide (SiOx),
silicon-carbon (SiC), or silicon, or additives such as carbon black
or carbon nanotubes. Subject merchandise is covered regardless of
the combination of compounds that comprise the graphite material.
Subject merchandise is covered regardless of whether it is imported
independently, as part of a compound, in a battery, as a component
of an anode slurry, or in a subassembly of a battery such as an
electrode. Only the anode grade graphite material is covered when
entered as part of a mixture with silicon based active materials, as
part of a compound, in a battery, as a component of an anode slurry,
or in a subassembly of a battery such as an electrode.
Active anode material subject to the investigation may be
classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) subheadings 2504.10.5000 and 3801.10.5000. Subject
merchandise may also enter under HTSUS subheadings 2504.10.1000 and
3801.90.0000. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and
customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the
investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Alignment
IV. Injury Test
V. Analysis of China's Financial System
VI. Diversification of China's Economy
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Benchmarks and Interest Rates
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-09563 Filed 5-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P