[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89050-89053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29569]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-831]
Fresh Garlic From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary
Results and Partial Rescission of the 21st Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review; 2014-2015
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Department) is conducting the 21st
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic
from the People's Republic of China (PRC), covering the period of
review (POR) November 1, 2014, through October 31, 2015. This review
covers 42 manufacturers/exporters of subject merchandise. We
preliminarily find that the mandatory respondents Zhengzhou Harmoni
Spice Co., Ltd (Harmoni) and Qingdao Tiantaixing Foods Co., Ltd. (QTF)
each failed to cooperate to the best of its ability. As a result, we
preliminarily find that Harmoni has not rebutted the presumption that
it is part of the PRC-wide entity, and we preliminarily base QTF's
dumping margin on adverse facts available. In addition, we
preliminarily find that voluntary respondent Shenzhen Xinboda
Industrial Co., Ltd. (Xinboda) made sales of subject merchandise at
less than normal value (NV). We invite interested parties to comment on
these preliminary results.
DATES: Effective December 9, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathryn Wallace or Alexander Cipolla,
AD/CVD Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance,
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
6251 or (202) 482-4956.
Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by the order includes all grades of garlic,
whole or separated into constituent cloves. Fresh garlic that are
subject to the order are currently classified under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 0703.20.0010,
0703.20.0020, and 0703.20.0090. Although the HTSUS numbers are provided
for convenience and customs purposes, the written product description
remains dispositive. For a full description of the scope of this order,
please see ``III. Scope of the Order'' in the accompanying Preliminary
Decision Memorandum.\1\
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\1\ See Memorandum to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations,
``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of the 2014-2015
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Fresh Garlic From the
People's Republic of China'' (December 5, 2016) (Preliminary
Decision Memorandum).
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Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
On January 7, 2016, the Department initiated a review of 42
companies in this proceeding.\2\ On March 11, 2016, withdrawal requests
were timely filed for 14 companies.\3\ The Department is, therefore,
partially rescinding this review with respect to the companies listed
in Appendix I, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1).
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\2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 81 FR 736 (January 7, 2016) (Initiation
Notice). For a list of the 42 companies, see id. at 81 FR 738-739.
\3\ See Letter from Petitioners, ``21st Administrative Review of
the Antidumping Duty Order on Fresh Garlic From the People's
Republic of China--Petitioners' Withdrawal of Certain Requests for
Administrative Review,'' (March 11, 2016).
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Affiliation
For the reasons set forth in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
and in accordance with 19 CFR 351.401(f), and the Department's
practice, we are treating QTF, Qingdao Tianhefeng Foods Co., Ltd.
(QTHF), Qingdao Beixing Trading Co., Ltd. (QBT), Qingdao Lianghe
International Trade Co., Ltd. (Lianghe), and Qingdao Xintianfeng Foods
Co., Ltd (QXF) as a single entity, for the purposes of this preliminary
determination.\4\
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\4\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum ``Affiliations''
section.
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Methodology
The Department is conducting this review in accordance with section
751(a)(1)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Export
prices were calculated in accordance with section 772(a) of the Act.
Because the PRC is a non-market economy (NME) within the meaning of
section 771(18) of the Act, NV has been calculated in accordance with
section 773(c) of the Act. We relied, in part, on the facts available,
with adverse inferences, for our preliminary determination, in
accordance with section 776 of the Act.
For a full description of the methodology underlying our
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, which is hereby
adopted by this notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public
document and is on file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's
[[Page 89051]]
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service
System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Central
Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building.
In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
can be accessed directly on the internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum
and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are
identical in content.
PRC-Wide Entity
The Department's policy regarding conditional review of the PRC-
wide entity applies to this administrative review.\5\ Under this
policy, the PRC-wide entity will not be under review unless a party
specifically requests, or the Department self-initiates, a review of
the entity. Because no party requested a review of the PRC-wide entity
in this review, the entity is not under review and the entity's rate
(i.e., $4.71/kg) is not subject to change. Aside from the no shipments
companies discussed below, and the companies for which the review is
being rescinded, the Department considers all other companies for which
a review was requested, and which did not preliminarily qualify for a
separate rate, to be part of the PRC-wide entity. For additional
information, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\5\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Announcement of Change in
Department Practice for Respondent Selection in Antidumping Duty
Proceedings and Conditional Review of the Nonmarket Economy Entity
in NME Antidumping Duty Proceedings, 78 FR 65963 (November 4, 2013).
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Preliminary Determination of Separate Rates for Non-Selected Companies
In accordance with section 777A(c)(2)(B) of the Act, the Department
employed a limited examination methodology, as it determined that it
would not be practicable to examine individually all companies for
which a review request was made.\6\ There were five exporters of
subject merchandise from the PRC that have demonstrated their
eligibility for a separate rate but were not selected for individual
examination in this review. These five exporters are listed in Appendix
II.
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\6\ See Memorandum to Edward Yang, ``Administrative Review of
the Antidumping Duty Order on Fresh Garlic From the People's
Republic of China: Respondent Selection Memorandum,'' dated March 1,
2016.
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Neither the Act nor the Department's regulations address the
establishment of the rate applied to individual companies not selected
for examination where the Department limited its examination in an
administrative review pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. The
Department's practice in cases involving limited selection based on
exporters accounting for the largest volume of imports has been to look
to section 735(c)(5) of the Act for guidance, which provides
instructions for calculating the all-others rate in an investigation.
Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act instructs the Department to use rates
established for individually investigated producers and exporters,
excluding any rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on
facts available in investigations. In this review, we calculated a
preliminary weighted-average dumping margin for Xinboda, while we
preliminarily determined that the application of facts available with
adverse inferences is warranted for Harmoni and QTF. Therefore for the
preliminary results, the Department has preliminarily determined to
assign Xinboda's rate to the non-selected separate-rate companies.
Preliminary Determination of No Shipments
The companies listed in Appendix III timely filed ``no shipment''
certifications stating that they had no entries into the United States
of subject merchandise during the POR. Consistent with its practice,
the Department asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to
conduct a query of potential shipments made by these companies. CBP
provided information \7\ that indicated that one of the companies had
shipments into the United States during the POR. In addition, the
Department has found two of these companies to be a part of the QTF
entity, discussed further in the ``Affiliations'' section of the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum. Based on the certifications by the
remaining companies and our analysis of CBP information, we
preliminarily determine that the companies listed in Appendix III did
not have any reviewable transactions during the POR. In addition, the
Department finds that consistent with its refinement to its assessment
practice in NME cases, further discussed below, it is appropriate not
to preliminarily rescind the review, in part, in these circumstances,
but rather to complete the review with respect to these 10 companies,
and issue appropriate instructions to CBP based on the final results of
the review.\8\
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\7\ See Memorandum from Alexander Cipolla, ``21st Administrative
Review of Fresh Garlic From the People's Republic of China:
Concerning Shenzhen Yuting Foodstuff Co., Ltd.'s No Shipment
Certification,'' dated December 5, 2016.
\8\ See Non-Market Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment
of Antidumping Duties, 76 FR 65694, 65694-95 (October 24, 2011); see
also ``Assessment Rates'' section below.
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Preliminary Results of Review
The Department preliminarily determines that the following
weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period November 1, 2014,
through October 31, 2015:
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Weighted- average
Exporter margin (dollars
per kilogram)
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Shenzhen Xinboda Industrial Co., Ltd................. 2.27
Jinan Farmlady Trading Co., Ltd...................... 2.27
Jining Alpha Food Co., Ltd........................... 2.27
Shandong Jinxiang Zhengyang Import & Export Co., Ltd. 2.27
Shenzhen Bainong Co., Ltd............................ 2.27
Weifang Hongqiao International Logistics Co., Ltd.... 2.27
Qingdao Tiantaixing Foods Co., Ltd................... 4.71
PRC-Wide Rate........................................ 4.71
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[[Page 89052]]
Disclosure, Public Comment and Opportunity To Request a Hearing
The Department intends to disclose the calculations used in our
analysis to parties in this review within five days of the date of
publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Interested parties may submit written comments (case briefs) no
later than 30 days after the date of publication of these preliminary
results of review, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(ii) and rebuttal
comments (rebuttal briefs) within five days after the time limit for
filing case briefs, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.(d)(1). Pursuant to 19 CFR
351.309(d)(2), rebuttal briefs must be limited to issues raised in the
case briefs. Parties who submit arguments are requested to submit with
the argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the
argument; and, (3) a table of authorities. See 19 CFR 351.303 (for
general filing requirements). All electronically filed documents must
be received successfully in its entirety by the Department's electronic
records system, ACCESS.
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310, any interested party may request a
hearing within 30 days of publication of this notice. Hearing requests
should contain the following information: (1) The party's name,
address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3)
a list of the issues to be discussed. Oral presentations will be
limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs. Id. If a
party requests a hearing, the Department will inform parties of the
scheduled date for the hearing which will be held at the U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20230, at a time and location to be determined. Parties
should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the
hearing.
The Department intends to issue the final results of this review,
including the results of its analysis of the issues raised in any
written briefs, not later than 120 days after the date of publication
of this notice, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.
Assessment Rates
Upon issuance of the final results, the Department will determine,
and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries
covered by this review, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b). For the
companies for which this review is rescinded, antidumping duties shall
be assessed at rates equal to the cash deposit of estimated antidumping
duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for
consumption, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(l)(i).\9\ The
Department will direct CBP to assess rates based on the per-unit (i.e.,
per kilogram) amount on each entry of the subject merchandise during
the POR. The Department intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP
15 days after the publication date of the final results of review.
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\9\ If our determination in the final results is to rescind this
administrative review with respect to Kaihua, then we will not issue
liquidation instructions for Jinxiang Kaihua Import & Export Co.,
unless the preliminary injunction entered on October 22, 2015, in
Court of International Trade case number 15-00289 has lifted.
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The Department announced a refinement to its assessment practice in
NME cases. Pursuant to this refinement in practice, for merchandise
that was not reported in the U.S. sales databases submitted by an
exporter individually examined during this review, but that entered
under the case number of that exporter (i.e., at the individually-
examined exporter's cash deposit rate), the Department will instruct
CBP to liquidate such entries at the NME-wide rate. In addition, if the
Department determines that an exporter under review had no shipments of
the subject merchandise, any suspended entries that entered under that
exporter's case number (i.e., at that exporter's rate) will be
liquidated at the PRC-wide rate.\10\
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\10\ For a full discussion of this practice, see Non-Market
Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties,
76 FR 65694 (October 24, 2011).
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Cash Deposit Requirements
The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon
publication of the final results of this review for shipments of the
subject merchandise from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from warehouse,
for consumption on or after the publication date, as provided by
sections 751(a)(2) of the Act: (1) For the companies listed above, the
cash deposit rate will be the rate established in these final results
of review (except, if the rate is zero or de minimis, then zero cash
deposit will be required for that company); (2) for previously
investigated or reviewed PRC and non-PRC exporters not listed above
that have separate rates, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the
exporter-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) for
all PRC exporters of subject merchandise which have not been found to
be entitled to a separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be the PRC-
wide rate of 4.71 U.S. dollars per kilogram; and (4) for all non-PRC
exporters of subject merchandise which have not received their own
rate, the cash deposit rate will be the rate applicable to the PRC
exporter that supplied that non-PRC exporter. These requirements, when
imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.
Notification to Importers
This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply
with this requirement could result in the Department's presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent
assessment of double antidumping duties.
We are issuing and publishing these preliminary results in
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR
351.213(h) and 351.221(b)(4).
Dated: December 5, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Companies For Which Reviews Have Been Rescinded
1. Anqiu Friend Food Co., Ltd.
2. Jinxiang Chengda Import & Export Co., Ltd.
3. Jinxiang Infarm Fruits & Vegetables Co., Ltd.
4. Jinxiang Tianma Freezing Storage Co., Ltd.
5. Nanyang Nianfeng Food Co., Ltd.
6. Qingdao Jia Shan Trade Co.
7. Qingdao Ritai Food Co., Ltd.
8. Shandong Helu International Trade Co., Ltd.
9. Shandong Libaqiang
10. Shandong Longtai Fruits and Vegetables Co., Ltd.
11. Weifang Naike Foodstuffs Co., Ltd.
12. Weifang Shennong Foodstuff Co., Ltd.
13. Weifang Wangyuan Food Co., Ltd.
14. Zhengzhou Xiwannian Food Co., Ltd.
Appendix II--Non-Selected Separate Rate Companies
1. Jinan Farmlady Trading Co., Ltd.
2. Jining Alpha Food Co., Ltd.
3. Shandong Jinxiang Zhengyang Import & Export Co., Ltd.
4. Shenzhen Bainong Co., Ltd.
5. Weifang Hongqiao International Logistics Co., Ltd.
Appendix III--Companies That Have Certified No Shipments
1. Jining Yifa Garlic Produce Co., Ltd.
2. Jining Shengtai Fruits & Vegetables Co., Ltd.
3. Jining Shunchang Import & Export Co., Ltd.
4. Jinxiang Guihua Food Co., Ltd.
5. Jinxiang Richfar Fruits & Vegetables Co., Ltd.
6. Qingdao Maycarrier Import & Export Co., Ltd.
7. Qingdao Sea-Line International Trading
[[Page 89053]]
Co., Ltd.
8. Shandong Chenhe International Trading Co., Ltd.
9. Shijiazhuang Goodman Trading Co., Ltd.
10. Yantai Jinyan Trading, Inc.
[FR Doc. 2016-29569 Filed 12-8-16; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P