[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63850-63853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25088]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-097]
Polyester Textured Yarn From the People's Republic of China:
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Final
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports
of polyester textured yarn (yarn) from the People's Republic of China
(China) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at
less than fair value (LTFV).
DATES: Applicable November 19, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irene Gorelik, AD/CVD Operations,
Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6905.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 1, 2019, Commerce published in the Federal Register its
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of yarn
from China and invited parties to comment.\1\ A summary of the events
that occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary Determination
may be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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\1\ See Polyester Textured Yarn from the People's Republic of
China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of
Provisional Measures, 84 FR 31297 (July 1, 2019) (Preliminary
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Polyester Textured Yarn from the People's Republic
of China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this
notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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The Issues and 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 http://access.trade.gov and
to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main
Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the
Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
Period of Investigation
The period of investigation is April 1, 2018 through September 30,
2018.
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is polyester textured
yarn from China. For a complete description of the scope of this
investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
During the course of this investigation and the concurrent
countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of yarn from China, and
concurrent antidumping duty (AD) and CVD investigations of yarn from
India, certain interested parties commented on the scope of the
investigations as it appeared in the Initiation Notice.\3\ Commerce
addressed
[[Page 63851]]
these comments in the Preliminary Determination, wherein Commerce
preliminarily modified the scope language as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice to exclude bulk continuous filament yarn.\4\ No
interested parties commented on the preliminary exclusion of bulk
continuous filament yarn. Thus, we have made no changes to the scope
language from the Preliminary Determination with regard to bulk
continuous filament yarn.
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\3\ See Polyester Textured Yarn from India and the People's
Republic of China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigations, 83 FR 58223, 58233 (November 19, 2018) (Initiation
Notice).
\4\ See Preliminary Determination, 84 FR at 31298.
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In the Preliminary Determination, we also noted that, on May 2,
2019, the petitioners \5\ requested that Commerce include an additional
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading in
the scope language.\6\ We stated our intent to address this request in
the final determinations of this and the above-referenced concurrent
investigations. Specifically, the petitioners requested that Commerce
add HTSUS 5402.52.00 covering twisted yarn to the scope of the
investigations.\7\ As no interested parties rebutted the petitioners'
request to add this HTSUS subheading, and Commerce finds the
petitioners' request is reasonable, we have revised the scope of the
investigations to include HTSUS 5402.52.00. See Appendix I for the
final scope of the investigation.
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\5\ Unifi Manufacturing, Inc., and Nan Ya Plastics Corporation,
America are, collectively, the petitioners.
\6\ See Preliminary Determination, 84 FR at 31298.
\7\ See Petitioners' Comments, ``Request to Include HTSUS
Subheading 5402.52 in the Scope of These Investigations,'' dated May
2, 2019.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
On April 18, 2019, Commerce issued its preliminary determination
that critical circumstances exist for imports from all producers and
exporters of yarn from China.\8\ In accordance with section
733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of liquidation shall apply to
unliquidated entries from all exporters and producers of yarn from
China that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption
on or after the date which is 90 days before the publication of the
Preliminary Determination, April 2, 2019.\9\ For this final
determination, we continue to find that critical circumstances exist
for all imports of yarn from China, pursuant to section 735(a)(3) of
the Act and 19 CFR 351.206.
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\8\ See Polyester Textured Yarn from the People's Republic of
China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances in the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Investigations, 84 FR 16840 (April 23, 2019).
\9\ See Preliminary Determination, 84 FR at 31299.
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Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues
and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice at Appendix II.
China-Wide Entity
For the final determination, we continue to find that the China-
wide entity, which includes certain Chinese exporters and/or producers
that did not respond to Commerce's requests for information, failed to
provide necessary information, failed to provide information in a
timely manner, and significantly impeded the proceeding. Commerce
continues to rely upon facts otherwise available, with adverse
inferences (AFA), for the China-wide entity pursuant to sections 776(a)
and (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The China-wide
entity includes each of the following companies selected for individual
examination: Fujian Zhengqi Hi-tech Fiber Technology Co., Ltd; Suzhou
Shenghong Fiber Co., Ltd.; and the single entity comprising Fujian
Billion Polymerization Fiber Technology Industrial Co., Ltd. and its
affiliate Fujian Baikai Textile Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. As AFA, we
continue to assign the highest margin alleged in the Petition of 77.15
percent.\10\
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\10\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Polyester Textured Yarn from the
People's Republic of China and India--Petition for the Imposition of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties,'' dated October 18, 2018
(Petition); see also Petitioners' Letter, ``Polyester Textured Yarn
from the People's Republic of China--Petitioners' Supplement for
Volume II Regarding China Antidumping Duties,'' dated October 29,
2018, at 7 and Exhibit AD-PRC-Supp-5; and Initiation Checklist,
dated November 7, 2018, at 12.
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Separate Rates
For the final determination, we continue to find that one exporter,
Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. (Hengli), which was not
selected for individual examination in this investigation, demonstrated
eligibility for a separate rate. In the Preliminary Determination, we
stated that, because none of the mandatory respondents received a
separate rate and we determined the China-wide rate based on AFA, we
looked to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act for guidance and, consistent
with that provision, used ``any reasonable method'' to determine the
rate for exporters that are not being individually examined and found
to be entitled to a separate rate. As ``any reasonable method,'' we
found it appropriate to assign the simple average of the Petition rates
(i.e., 76.07 percent) \11\ to Hengli, the separate rate applicant not
individually examined, consistent with our practice.\12\ For the final
determination, we continue to find the method applied in the
Preliminary Determination to be the most reasonable, and thus, continue
to assign the simple average of the Petition rates to Hengli.
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\11\ See Preliminary Determination, 84 FR at 31298. The
individual Petition rates, as initiated, are 74.98 percent and 77.15
percent. The simple average of these two Petition margins is 76.07
percent.
\12\ See, e.g., Certain Steel Wheels 12 to 16.5 Inches in
Diameter from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 84
FR 16643 (April 22, 2019) (``As `any reasonable method,' we find it
appropriate to assign the simple average of the Petition rates . . .
to Chungang Machinery, the separate rate applicant not individually
examined.''), unchanged in Certain Steel Wheels 12 to 16.5 Inches in
Diameter From the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Final
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 84 FR 32707
(July 9, 2019).
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Combination Rates
As explained in the Initiation Notice and implemented in the
Preliminary Determination, we have continued to calculate producer/
exporter combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a
separate rate.\13\ Policy Bulletin 05.1 describes this practice.\14\
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\13\ See Initiation Notice, 83 FR at 58227; see also Preliminary
Determination, 84 FR at 31299.
\14\ 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 http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Final Determination
The final estimated dumping margins are as follows:
[[Page 63852]]
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Cash deposit rate
Estimated dumping (adjusted for
Producer Exporter margin (percent) export subsidy
offset) (percent)
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Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd..... Jiangsu Hengli Chemical Fiber 76.07 65.39
Co., Ltd.
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
China-Wide Entity \15\ 77.15 66.47
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Disclosure
As we stated in the Preliminary Determination, because Commerce has
continued to apply AFA to the China-wide entity, of which mandatory
respondents are a part, in accordance with section 776 of the Act, and
the applied AFA rate is based solely on the Petition, and the rate
assigned to the sole separate rate company was a simple average of the
Petition rates, there are no calculations to disclose.\16\
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\15\ The China-wide entity includes: (1) The single entity
comprising Fujian Billion Polymerization Fiber Technology Industrial
Co., Ltd. and its affiliate Fujian Baikai Textile Chemical Fiber
Co., Ltd.; (2) Suzhou Shenghong Fiber Co., Ltd. (3) Fujian Zhengqi
Hi-tech Fiber Technology Co., Ltd.; (4) Chori (China) Co., Ltd.; (5)
Jinjiang Jinfu Chemical Fiber and Polymer Co., Ltd.; (6) Jiangsu
Guowang High-Technique Fiber Co., Ltd.; and (7) Pujiang Fairy Home
Textile Co., Ltd. In addition, 33 companies named in the Petition
did not respond to our request for quantity and value information
and two companies that submitted quantity and value data did not
submit separate rate applications. Those companies are also part of
the China-wide entity and are identified in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.
\16\ See Preliminary Determination, 84 FR at 31298-99.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of yarn from China, as
described in Appendix I, from the separate rate company, Hengli, and
the China-wide entity, and, in accordance with section 735(c)(4) of the
Act, because we continue to find that critical circumstances exist, we
will instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation of all appropriate
entries of yarn from China which were entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after April 2, 2019, which is 90 days
prior to the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in
the Federal Register.
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 CVD
proceeding when CVD provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly,
where Commerce makes an affirmative determination for domestic subsidy
pass-through or export subsidies, Commerce offsets the calculated
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate rate(s).
We have made an affirmative final determination for export subsidies
for certain respondents and all others in the companion CVD
investigation.\17\ However, suspension of liquidation for provisional
measures in the companion CVD case has been discontinued; therefore, we
are not instructing CBP to collect cash deposits based upon the
adjustment for those export subsidies at this time.
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\17\ The following subsidy programs in the final determination
of the concurrent CVD investigation are export subsidies calculated
for Fujian Billion: 0.14 percent (Export Assistance Grants) and
10.54 percent (Export Buyer's Credit), resulting in a total export
subsidy rate of 10.68 percent. See Polyester Textured Yarn from the
People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances (unpublished), and accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum. The final determination in this companion CVD proceeding
will be concurrently released on the same day as this final
determination.
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Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, Commerce will
instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the weighted-average
amount by which normal value exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) The
cash deposit rate for the exporter/producer combination listed in the
table above will be the rate identified for that combination in the
table; (2) for all combinations of exporters/producers of merchandise
under consideration that have not received their own separate rate
above, the cash-deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate established
for the China-wide entity; and (3) for all non-Chinese exporters of the
merchandise under consideration which have not received their own
separate rate above, the cash-deposit rate will be the cash deposit
rate applicable to the Chinese exporter/producer combination that
supplied that non-Chinese exporter. These suspension of liquidation
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination
is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the
ITC will make its final determination as to whether the domestic
industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with
material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the likelihood of
sales) for importation of yarn from China, no later than 45 days after
this final determination. If the ITC determines that such injury does
not exist, this proceeding will be terminated and all cash deposits
posted will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such injury does
exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP to
assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all
imports of yarn from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of
liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of
Liquidation'' section.
Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders
This notice will serve as a final reminder to the parties subject
to administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility
concerning the disposition of propriety information disclosed under APO
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely written notification of
return or destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial
protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the
regulations and terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
[[Page 63853]]
Dated: November 13, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation, polyester
textured yarn, is synthetic multifilament yarn that is manufactured
from polyester (polyethylene terephthalate). Polyester textured yarn
is produced through a texturing process, which imparts special
properties to the filaments of the yarn, including stretch, bulk,
strength, moisture absorption, insulation, and the appearance of a
natural fiber. This scope includes all forms of polyester textured
yarn, regardless of surface texture or appearance, yarn density and
thickness (as measured in denier), number of filaments, number of
plies, finish (luster), cross section, color, dye method, texturing
method, or packing method (such as spindles, tubes, or beams).
Excluded from the scope of the investigation is bulk continuous
filament yarn that: (a) Is polyester synthetic multifilament yarn;
(b) has denier size ranges of 900 and above; (c) has turns per meter
of 40 and above; and (d) has a maximum shrinkage of 2.5 percent.
The merchandise subject to this investigation is properly
classified under subheadings 5402.33.3000 and 5402.33.6000 of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Merchandise
subject to this investigation may also enter under HTSUS subheading
5402.52.00. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the
merchandise is dispositive.
Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Separate Rate Status of Fujian Billion Polymerization
Fiber Technology Industrial Co., Ltd.
Comment 2: Authority to Collect Cash Deposits Based Upon an
Affirmative Preliminary Critical Circumstances Determination
IV. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2019-25088 Filed 11-18-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P