[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 165 (Monday, August 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40746-40748]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18167]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-560-831]
Biodiesel From the Republic of Indonesia: Preliminary Affirmative
Countervailing Duty Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to
producers and/or exporters of biodiesel from the Republic of Indonesia
(Indonesia). The period of investigation is January 1, 2016, through
December 31, 2016. Interested parties are invited to comment on this
preliminary determination.
DATES: August 28, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gene Calvert or Joseph Traw, 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) 482-3586 or (202) 482-6079,
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). The Department
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on April 19,
2017.\1\ On June 5, 2017, the Department postponed the preliminary
determination of this investigation until no later than August 20,
2017. However, because August 20, 2017, falls on a Sunday, the
preliminary determination was postponed until August 21, 2017.\2\ A
complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this
investigation can be found in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\ A
list of topics discussed 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 http://access.trade.gov, and is available to
parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department
of Commerce building. A complete version of the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum can also be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the
[[Page 40747]]
Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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\1\ See Biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia: Initiation of
Countervailing Duty Investigations, 82 FR 18423 (April 19, 2017)
(Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Biodiesel From Argentina and Indonesia: Postponement of
Preliminary Determinations of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 82
FR 25773 (June 5, 2017); see also Notice of Clarification:
Application of ``Next Business Day'' Rule for Administrative
Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, As
Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
\3\ See Department Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Biodiesel from the Republic of Indonesia,'' 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 biodiesel from
Indonesia. A complete description of the scope of this investigation is
included as Appendix I to this notice.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the Preamble to the Department's regulations,\4\
the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for interested parties
to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ No
interested party commented on the scope of this investigation as it
appeared in the Initiation Notice.
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\4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties: Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) (Preamble).
\5\ See Initiation Notice at the section, ``Comments on Scope of
the Investigations.''
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Methodology
The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be
countervailable, the Department preliminarily determines that there is
a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution provided by an ``authority''
that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is
specific.\6\
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\6\ See sections 771(5)(B) and 771(D) of the Act (regarding
financial contribution); see also section 771(5)(E) of the Act
regarding benefit, and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding
specificity.
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Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation
We preliminarily determine that countervailable subsidies are being
provided with respect to the manufacture, production, or exportation of
the subject merchandise. In accordance with sections 703(d) and
705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, for companies not individually examined, we
apply an ``all-others'' rate, which is normally calculated by weighting
the subsidy rates of the individually-examined company respondents by
those companies' exports of the subject merchandise to the United
States during the period of investigation. Under section
705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, the ``all-others'' rate should exclude zero
and de minimis rates or any rates based solely on the facts otherwise
available calculated for the producers/exporters individually
investigated. Neither of the individually-examined company respondents'
rates in in this preliminary determination is zero, de minimis, or
based entirely on facts otherwise available. Accordingly, in this
preliminary determination, we have calculated the ``all-others'' rate
by weight averaging the calculated subsidy rates of the two
individually examined company respondents. In order to ensure that
business proprietary information is not disclosed through the all-
others rate, we are using a weighted average of the publicly-ranged
information provided by Musim Mas and Wilmar Trading for their sales of
subject merchandise to the United States during the POI. The Department
preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable
subsidy rates exist:
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Subsidy rate
Company (percent)
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PT Musim Mas............................................ 68.28
Wilmar Trading PTE Ltd.................................. 41.06
All-Others.............................................. 44.92
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In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(B) and 703(d)(2) of the Act,
we are directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend
liquidation of all entries of biodiesel from Indonesia that are
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the
date of the publication of this notice in the Federal Register, and to
require a cash deposit equal to the subsidy rates indicated above.
Disclosure
The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the
calculations performed in connection of this preliminary determination
within five days of its public announcement.\7\
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\7\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
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Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we intend to verify
the information submitted by the respondents prior to making our final
determination.
Public Comment and Request for Hearing
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance via ACCESS 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 case briefs, may be submitted by no later than five days after the
deadline for case briefs.\8\ A table of contents, list of authorities
used, and an executive summary of issues should accompany any briefs
submitted to the Department, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 19
CFR 351.309(d)(2). This summary should be limited to five pages,
including footnotes.
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\8\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 for general
filing requirements.
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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c) interested parties who wish to
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in case and rebuttal
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, via ACCESS. An
electronically-filed request must be successfully received, in its
entirety, by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, within 30 days after the
date of the publication of this notice. Requests should contain the
party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list
of the issues to be discussed. If a hearing is requested, the
Department intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a date
and time to be determined. Parties will be notified of the date, time,
and location of any hearing via ACCESS. Parties should confirm by
telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing date two days
before the scheduled date of the hearing.
U.S. International Trade Commission
Pursuant to section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the U.S.
International Trade Commission (ITC) of this preliminary determination.
In addition, we are making available to the ITC all non-privileged and
non-proprietary information relating to this investigation. We will
allow the ITC access to all privileged and business proprietary
information in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not
disclose such information, either publicly or under an administrative
protective order, without the written consent of the Assistant
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
In accordance with section 705(b)(2) of the Act, if our final
determination is affirmative,\9\ the ITC will make its final
determination within 45 days after the Department makes its final
determination.
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\9\ As of the signing of this notice, the petitioner (the
National Biodiesel Fair Trade Coalition) had not requested that the
date of the final determination of this investigation be aligned
with the date of the final determination of the companion
antidumping investigation, pursuant to section 705(a)(1) of the Act.
Therefore, the current date for the final determination of this
investigation is 75 days from the signature of this preliminary
determination, November 6, 2017.
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This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
[[Page 40748]]
Dated: August 21, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Injury Test
VI. New Subsidy Allegation
VII. Subsidies Valuation
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Calculation of All-Others Rate
X. ITC Notification
XI. Disclosure and Public Comment
XII. Verification
XIII. Conclusion
Appendix I--List of Additional Companies Preliminarily Found to
be Cross-Owned with Musim Mas and Intibenua
Appendix II--List of Additional Companies Preliminarily Found to
be Cross-Owned with Wilmar Trading
Appendix II--Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is biodiesel, which is
a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids
derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, including biologically-
based waste oils or greases, and other biologically based oil or fat
sources. This investigation covers biodiesel in pure form (B100) as
well as fuel mixtures containing at least 99 percent biodiesel by
volume (B99). For fuel mixtures containing less than 99 percent
biodiesel by volume, only the biodiesel component of the mixture is
covered by the scope of this investigation.
Biodiesel is generally produced to American Society for Testing
and Materials International (ASTM) D6751 specifications, but it can
also be made to other specifications. Biodiesel commonly has one of
the following Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers, generally
depending upon the feedstock used: 67784-80-9 (soybean oil methyl
esters); 91051-34-2 (palm oil methyl esters); 91051-32-0 (palm
kernel oil methyl esters); 73891-99-3 (rapeseed oil methyl esters);
61788-61-2 (tallow methyl esters); 68990-52-3 (vegetable oil methyl
esters); 129828-16-6 (canola oil methyl esters); 67762-26-9
(unsaturated alkylcarboxylic acid methyl ester); or 68937-84-8
(fatty acids, C12-C18, methyl ester).
The B100 product subject to this investigation is currently
classifiable under subheading 3826.00.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), while the B99 product is
currently classifiable under HTSUS subheading 3826.00.3000. Although
the HTSUS subheadings, ASTM specifications, and CAS numbers are
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the scope is dispositive.
[FR Doc. 2017-18167 Filed 8-25-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P