[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 102 (Thursday, May 29, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22708-22710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09702]
[[Page 22708]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-552-847]
Hard Empty Capsules From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
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 hard empty capsules (capsules) 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 April 1, 2024, through September 30, 2024.
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination.
DATES: Applicable May 29, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jinny Ahn or Harrison Tanchuck, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0339 or (202) 482-7421,
respectively.
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 on November
20, 2024.\1\ On March 5, 2025, Commerce postponed the preliminary
determination of this investigation until May 22, 2025.\2\ For a
complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this
investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\ 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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\1\ See Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil, the People's Republic
of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation
of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 89 FR 91684 (November 20,
2024) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil, the People's Republic
of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement
of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair Value
Investigations, 90 FR 11257 (March 5, 2025).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation
of Hard Empty Capsules 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 merchandise covered by this investigation is capsules 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,\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 investigation as it
appeared in the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product
coverage comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for
this investigation, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all
comments timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum.\6\ Commerce is not preliminarily modifying the scope
language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the scope in
Appendix I to this notice. In the Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum, Commerce established the deadline for parties to submit
scope case and rebuttal briefs.\7\
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\4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) (Preamble).
\5\ See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 91685.
\6\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value and Countervailing
Duty Investigations of Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil, the People's
Republic of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination,'' dated March 24, 2025 (Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum).
\7\ Id. at 10.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated constructed export
prices in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. Because Vietnam is
a non-market economy (NME), within the meaning of section 771(18) of
the Act, Commerce has calculated normal value in accordance with
section 773(c) of the Act. For a full description of the methodology
underlying Commerce's preliminary determination, see the Preliminary
Decision Memorandum.
Combination Rates
In the Initiation Notice, Commerce stated that it would calculate
producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that are
eligible for a separate rate in this investigation.\8\ Policy Bulletin
05.1 describes this practice.\9\
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\8\ See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 80202.
\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://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Separate Rate Companies and the Vietnam-Wide Entity
In this investigation, Commerce received one separate rate
application, from Suheung Vietnam Co., Ltd. (SHVN), and we are
preliminarily granting a separate rate to SHVN. In calculating the rate
for non-individually examined separate rate respondents in an NME LTFV
investigation, Commerce normally looks to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the
Act, which pertains to the calculation of the all-others rate in a
market economy LTFV investigation, for guidance. Pursuant to section
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, normally this rate shall be an amount equal to
the weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins
established for those companies individually examined, excluding zero
and de minimis estimated weighted-average dumping margins and any
estimated weighted-average dumping margins based entirely under section
776 of the Act.
SHVN is the only respondent that Commerce individually examined in
this investigation and Commerce preliminarily calculated an estimated
weighted-average dumping margin for SHVN that is not zero, de minimis,
or based entirely on facts available. Accordingly, while there are no
separate rate respondents in this investigation, because we
preliminarily do not find that the Vietnam-wide entity failed to
cooperate in this investigation, we preliminarily assigned the
estimated weighted-average dumping margin calculated for SHVN to the
Vietnam-wide entity.\10\
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\10\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at the section,
``Separate Rate Determinations,'' for further discussion.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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\11\ We are applying an export subsidy offset to the mandatory
respondent. See Hard Empty Capsules from the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
and Alignment of Final Determination with Final Antidumping Duty
Determination, 90 FR 14240 (March 31, 2025) (CVD Preliminary
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
For the Vietnam-wide entity, we have determined the amount of the
offset based on the CVD Preliminary Determination.
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Cash deposit rate
Weighted-average (adjusted for
Producer Exporter dumping margin subsidy offset(s))
(percent) (percent) \11\
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Suheung Vietnam Co., Ltd.................. Suheung Vietnam Co., Ltd.... 9.99 8.35
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Vietnam-Wide Entity..................................................... 9.99 8.35
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Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation
of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I, entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, as discussed below.
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 chart above as follows: (1) for the
producer/exporter combinations listed in the table above, the cash
deposit rate is equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin
listed for that combination in the table; (2) for all combinations of
Vietnam producers/exporters of merchandise under consideration that
have not established eligibility for their own separate rates, the cash
deposit rate will be equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping
margin established for the Vietnam-wide entity; and (3) for all third-
county exporters of merchandise under consideration not listed in the
table above, the cash deposit rate is the cash deposit rate applicable
to the Vietnam producer/exporter combination (or the Vietnam-wide
entity) that supplied that third-country exporter.
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'' 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
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, excluding scope 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 in this investigation.\12\ A timeline for
the submission of case briefs and written comments will be notified to
interested parties at a later date. 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.\13\ Interested parties who submit case
or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of
contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\14\
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\12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for
general filing requirements).
\13\ 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).
\14\ 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.\15\
Further, we request that interested parties limit their executive
summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including
citations. We
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intend to use the 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).\16\
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\15\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\16\ 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. 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 date and time to be
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone 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 petitioners. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), Commerce requires
that requests by exporters for postponement of the final 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.
In May 2025, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), the petitioner \17\
and SHVN requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and
that provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six
months.\18\ Additionally, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(i) and
(e)(1), the petitioner and SHVN requested that Commerce postpone the
final determination and that provisional measures be extended up to 135
days contingent upon negative preliminary determinations in these
investigations.\19\ 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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\17\ The petitioner in this proceeding is Lonza Greenwood LLC.
\18\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil,
the People's Republic of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam: Lonza's Request for Postponement of the Department's
Antidumping Duty Final Determinations'' dated May 9, 2025; see also
SHVN's Letter, ``Hard Empty Capsules from Vietnam,'' dated May 13,
2025.
\19\ Id.
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U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the 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 date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the
final determination whether imports of the subject merchandise are
materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This 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: May 22, 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 subject to the scope of the investigation is
hard empty capsules, which are comprised of two prefabricated,
hollowed cylindrical sections (cap and body). The cap and body
pieces each have one closed and rounded end and one open end, and
are constructed with different or equal diameters at their open
ends.
Hard empty capsules are unfilled cylindrical shells composed of
at least 80 percent by weight of a water soluble polymer that is
considered non-toxic and appropriate for human or animal consumption
by the United States Pharmacopeia--National Formulary (USP-NF), Food
Chemical Codex (FCC), or equivalent standards. The most common
polymer materials in hard empty capsules are gelatin derived from
animal collagen (including, but not limited to, pig, cow, or fish
collagen), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), and pullulan.
Hard empty capsules may also contain water and additives, such
as opacifiers, colorants, processing aids, controlled release
agents, plasticizers, and preservatives. Hard empty capsules may
also be imprinted or otherwise decorated with markings.
Hard empty capsules are covered by the scope of the
investigation regardless of polymer material, additives,
transparency, opacity, color, imprinting, or other markings.
Hard empty capsules are also covered by the scope of the
investigation regardless of their size, weight, length, diameter,
thickness, and filling capacity.
Cap and body pieces of hard empty capsules are covered by the
scope of the investigation regardless of whether they are imported
together or separately, and regardless of whether they are imported
in attached or detached form.
Hard empty capsules covered by the scope of the investigation
are those that disintegrate in water within 2 hours under tests
specified in Chapter 701 of the USP-NF, or equivalent disintegration
tests.
Hard empty capsules are classifiable under subheadings
9602.00.1040 and 9602.00.5010 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (HTSUS). In addition, hard empty capsules may be
imported under HTSUS subheading 1905.90.9090; gelatin hard empty
capsules may be imported under HTSUS subheading 3503.00.5510; HPMC
hard empty capsules may be imported under HTSUS subheading
3923.90.0080; and pullulan hard empty capsules may be imported under
HTSUS subheading 2106.90.9998. Although the HTSUS subheadings are
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the merchandise covered by the investigation is
dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Selection of Respondents
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Currency Conversion
VII. Adjustment Under Section 777A(f) of the Act
VIII. Adjustments to the Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in
the Companion Countervailing Duty Investigation
IX. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-09702 Filed 5-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P