Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination, 9591-9604 [E9-4612]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 42 / Thursday, March 5, 2009 / Notices
Review, 74 FR 430, (January 6, 2009).
The final results are currently due on
March 6, 2009.
Extension of Time Limits for Final
Results
Section 751(a)(2)(B)(iv) of the Tariff
Act of 1930, as amended (‘‘the Act’’),
and 19 CFR 351.214(i)(1) require the
Department to issue the final results of
a new shipper review within 90 days
after the date on which the preliminary
results were issued. The Department
may, however, extend the 90-day period
for completion of the final results of a
new shipper review to 150 days if it
determines that the case is
extraordinarily complicated. See section
751(a)(2)(B)(iv) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.214(i)(2).
As a result of the complex issues
raised in this new shipper review,
including by-product offsets and
separate rate eligibility, the Department
determines that this new shipper review
is extraordinarily complicated and it
cannot complete this new shipper
review within the current time limit.
Accordingly, the Department is
extending the time limit for the
completion of the final results by an
additional 30 days until April 6, 2009,1
in accordance with section
751(a)(2)(B)(iv) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.214(i)(2).
We are issuing and publishing this
notice in accordance with sections
751(2)(B) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: February 26, 2009.
John M. Andersen,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations.
[FR Doc. E9–4742 Filed 3–4–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A–570–941]
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving
and Racks From the People’s Republic
of China: Preliminary Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and
Postponement of Final Determination
AGENCY: Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
DATES: Effective Date: March 5, 2009.
SUMMARY: We preliminarily determine
that certain kitchen appliance shelving
1 An extension of an additional 30 days would
result in a new deadline of April 5, 2009. As April
5, 2009, falls on a Sunday, the final results will now
be due no later than April 6, 2009, the next business
day.
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and racks from the People’s Republic of
China (‘‘PRC’’) are being, or are likely to
be, sold in the United States at less than
fair value (‘‘LTFV’’), as provided in
section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (‘‘Act’’). The estimated
margins of sales at LTFV are shown in
the ‘‘Preliminary Determination’’
section of this notice. Interested parties
are invited to comment on this
preliminary determination.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia
Hancock or Katie Marksberry, AD/CVD
Operations, Office 9, Import
Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington DC 20230;
telephone: (202) 482–1394 or (202) 482–
7906, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Initiation
On July 31, 2008, Nashville Wire
Products Inc., SSW Holding Company,
Inc., United Steel, Paper and Forestry,
Rubber Manufacturing, Energy, AlliedIndustrial and Service Workers
International Union, and the
International Association of Machinists
& Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 6
(Clinton IA) (hereafter referred to as the
‘‘Petitioners’’) filed a antidumping duty
petition on PRC imports of kitchen
appliance shelving and racks. See
Petition for the Imposition of
Antidumping Duties: Certain Kitchen
Appliance Shelving and Racks From the
People’s Republic of China (in two
volumes), dated July 31, 2008
(‘‘Petition’’). The Department of
Commerce (‘‘Department’’) initiated this
investigation on August 20, 2008. See
Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and
Racks From the People’s Republic of
China: Initiation of Antidumping Duty
Investigation, 73 FR 50596 (August 27,
2008) (‘‘Initiation Notice’’).
On September 22, 2008, the United
States International Trade Commission
(‘‘ITC’’) issued its affirmative
preliminary determination that there is
a reasonable indication that an industry
in the United States is materially
injured by reason of imports from the
PRC of certain kitchen appliance
shelving and racks. The ITC’s
determination was published in the
Federal Register on September 24, 2008.
See Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving
and Racks From China, 73 FR 55132
(September 24, 2008); see also Certain
Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks
From China: Investigation No. 731–TA–
458 and 731–TA–1154 (Preliminary),
USITC Publication 4035 (September
2008).
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Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to
our regulations, we set aside a period of
time for parties to raise issues regarding
product coverage and encouraged all
parties to submit comments within 20
calendar days of publication of the
Initiation Notice. See Antidumping
Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final
Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19,
1997). See also Initiation Notice, 73 FR
at 50596. We received no comments
from interested parties on issues related
to the scope. However, on February 5,
2009, we placed a memorandum to the
file on the record of this investigation
stating that the companion
countervailing duty investigation team
at the Department spoke with the
National Import Specialist at U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (‘‘CBP’’)
who indicated the Department should
include the additional Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States
(‘‘USHTS’’) number 8418.99.80.60 to the
scope of the investigation. See
Memorandum to the File from Katie
Marksberry dated February 5, 2009.
Therefore, we are adding the HTS
number 8418.99.80.60 to the scope of
this investigation for this preliminary
determination. The Department did not
receive any comments on the change to
the scope of this investigation. See
‘‘Scope of Investigation’’ section below.
Period of Investigation
The period of investigation (‘‘POI’’) is
January 1, 2008, through June 30, 2008.
This period corresponds to the two most
recent fiscal quarters prior to the month
of the filing of the petition (July 31,
2008). See 19 CFR 351.204(b)(1).
Respondent Selection
In the Initiation Notice, the
Department stated that it intended to
select respondents based on quantity
and value (‘‘Q&V’’) questionnaires. See
Initiation Notice, 73 FR at 50598–50599.
On September 8, 2008, the Department
requested Q&V information from the 12
companies that Petitioners identified as
potential exporters or producers of
certain kitchen appliance shelving and
racks from the PRC. See Petition at Vol
1., Exhibit 3. Additionally, the
Department also posted the Q&V
questionnaire for this investigation on
its Web site at www.trade.gov/ia.
The Department received timely Q&V
responses from six exporters that
shipped merchandise under
investigation to the United States during
the POI, and from one company who
stated it had no shipments of
merchandise under investigation to the
United States during the POI. On
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October 8, 2008, the Department
selected Guandong Wireking
Housewares & Hardware Co., Ltd.
(‘‘Wireking’’) and Asber Enterprise Co.,
Ltd. (China) (‘‘Asber’’) as mandatory
respondents in this investigation. See
October 8, 2008, Memorandum to the
File, from Julia Hancock, Senior
International Trade Analyst, through
Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager,
and James C. Doyle, Director, to Stephen
J. Claeys, Deputy Assistant Secretary,
regarding Selection of Respondents for
the Antidumping Investigation of
Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and
Racks from the People’s Republic of
China (‘‘Respondent Selection Memo’’).
The Department sent its antidumping
duty questionnaire to Asber and
Wireking on October 8, 2008. On
October 23, 2008, Asber filed a letter
stating that it will not participate as a
mandatory respondent in this
investigation. See Letter to the
Department from Asber dated October
23, 2008. On November 19, 2008, the
Department selected New King Shan
(Zhu Hai) Co., Ltd. (‘‘New King Shan’’)
as an additional mandatory respondent
because it was the next largest
producer/exporter of those companies
that submitted Q&V responses. See
November 19, 2008, Memorandum to
the File, from Julia Hancock, Senior
International Trade Analyst and Blaine
Wiltse, International Trade Analyst,
through Catherine Bertrand, Program
Manager, and James C. Doyle, Director,
to Stephen J. Claeys, Deputy Assistant
Secretary, regarding Selection of an
Additional Mandatory Respondent.
(‘‘Additional Respondent Selection
Memo’’).
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Separate Rates Applications
Between October 23, 2008, and
October 29, 2008, we received timely
filed separate-rate applications (‘‘SRA’’)
from three companies: Jiangsu Weixi
Group Co., Marmon Retail Services
Asia, and Hangzhou Dunli Import &
Export Co., Ltd.
Product Characteristics &
Questionnaires
In the Initiation Notice, the
Department asked all parties in this
investigation for comments on the
appropriate product characteristics for
defining individual products. On
September 29, 2008, we received
comments from Petitioners regarding
product characteristics. On October 8,
2008 the Department issued its
antidumping duty questionnaire to
Asber and Wireking, and on November
21, 2008, the Department issued its
antidumping duty questionnaire to New
King Shan. Wireking and New King
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
Jkt 217001
Shan submitted responses to the
Department’s questionnaire. As stated
above, Asber did not submit
questionnaire responses.
Surrogate Country Comments
On September 29, 2008, the
Department determined that India,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Colombia,
and Thailand are countries comparable
to the PRC in terms of economic
development. See Letter to All
Interested Parties, from Catherine
Bertrand, Program Manager, Office 9,
AD/CVD Operations, regarding
‘‘Antidumping Duty Investigation of
Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks
From the People’s Republic of China,’’
(‘‘Surrogate Country Letter’’), attaching
September 29, 2008, Memorandum to
Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager,
Office 9, AD/CVD Operations, from
Carole Showers, Acting Director, Office
of Policy, regarding ‘‘Antidumping Duty
Investigation of Kitchen Appliance
Shelving and Racks from the People’s
Republic of China (PRC): Request for
List of Surrogate Countries.’’
On September 29, 2008, the
Department requested comments on
surrogate country selection from the
interested parties in this investigation.
On January 26, 2009, Petitioners
submitted surrogate country comments.
No other interested parties commented
on the selection of a surrogate country.
For a detailed discussion of the
selection of the surrogate country, see
‘‘Surrogate Country’’ section below.
Surrogate Value Comments
On December 4, 2008, December 17,
2008, and January 21, 2009, the
Department extended the deadline for
interested parties to submit surrogate
information with which to value the
factors of production in this proceeding.
On January 26, 2009, Petitioners and
Wireking submitted surrogate value
comments. On February 2, 2009,
Petitioners and Wireking submitted
clarifying surrogate value comments.
Postponement of Preliminary
Determination
Pursuant to section 733(c) of the Act
and 19 CFR 351.205(f)(1), the
Department extended the preliminary
determination by 50 days. The
Department published a postponement
of the preliminary determination on
December 23, 2008. See Certain Kitchen
Appliance Shelving and Racks From the
People’s Republic of China:
Postponement of Preliminary
Determination of the Antidumping Duty
Investigation, 73 FR 78721 (December
23, 2008).
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Scope of Investigation
The scope of this investigation
consists of shelving and racks for
refrigerators, freezers, combined
refrigerator-freezers, other refrigerating
or freezing equipment, cooking stoves,
ranges, and ovens (‘‘certain kitchen
appliance shelving and racks’’ or ‘‘the
merchandise under investigation’’).
Certain kitchen appliance shelving and
racks are defined as shelving, baskets,
racks (with or without extension slides,
which are carbon or stainless steel
hardware devices that are connected to
shelving, baskets, or racks to enable
sliding), side racks (which are welded
wire support structures for oven racks
that attach to the interior walls of an
oven cavity that does not include
support ribs as a design feature), and
subframes (which are welded wire
support structures that interface with
formed support ribs inside an oven
cavity to support oven rack assemblies
utilizing extension slides) with the
following dimensions:
— Shelving and racks with
dimensions ranging from 3 inches by 5
inches by 0.10 inch to 28 inches by 34
inches by 6 inches; or
— Baskets with dimensions ranging
from 2 inches by 4 inches by 3 inches
to 28 inches by 34 inches by 16 inches;
or
— Side racks from 6 inches by 8
inches by 0.1 inch to 16 inches by 30
inches by 4 inches; or
— Subframes from 6 inches by 10
inches by 0.1 inch to 28 inches by 34
inches by 6 inches.
The merchandise under investigation
is comprised of carbon or stainless steel
wire ranging in thickness from 0.050
inch to 0.500 inch and may include
sheet metal of either carbon or stainless
steel ranging in thickness from 0.020
inch to 0.2 inch. The merchandise
under investigation may be coated or
uncoated and may be formed and/or
welded. Excluded from the scope of this
investigation is shelving in which the
support surface is glass.
The merchandise subject to this
investigation is currently classifiable in
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (‘‘HTSUS’’) statistical
reporting numbers 8418.99.8050,
8418.99.8060, 7321.90.5000,
7321.90.6090, and 8516.90.8000.
Although the HTSUS subheadings are
provided for convenience and customs
purposes, the written description of the
scope of this investigation is dispositive.
Non-Market Economy Country
For purposes of initiation, Petitioners
submitted LTFV analyses for the PRC as
a non-market economy (‘‘NME’’). See
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Initiation Notice, 73 FR at 50598. The
Department considers the PRC to be a
NME country. See Preliminary
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value and Postponement of Final
Determination: Coated Free Sheet Paper
From the People’s Republic of China, 72
FR 30758, 30760 (June 4, 2007),
unchanged in Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Coated
Free Sheet Paper From the People’s
Republic of China, 72 FR 60632
(October 25, 2007). In accordance with
section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, any
determination that a foreign country is
an NME country shall remain in effect
until revoked by the administering
authority. No party has challenged the
designation of the PRC as an NME
country in this investigation. Therefore,
we continue to treat the PRC as an NME
country for purposes of this preliminary
determination.
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Surrogate Country
When the Department is investigating
imports from an NME, section 773(c)(1)
of the Act directs it to base normal
value, in most circumstances, on the
NME producer’s factors of production
(‘‘FOP’’) valued in a surrogate marketeconomy country or countries
considered to be appropriate by the
Department. In accordance with section
773(c)(4) of the Act, in valuing the
FOPs, the Department shall utilize, to
the extent possible, the prices or costs
of FOPs in one or more market-economy
countries that are at a level of economic
development comparable to that of the
NME country and are significant
producers of comparable merchandise.
The sources of the surrogate values we
have used in this investigation are
discussed under the ‘‘Normal Value’’
section below.
The Department’s practice with
respect to determining economic
comparability is explained in Policy
Bulletin 04.1,1 which states that ‘‘OP
(Office of Policy) determines per capita
economic comparability on the basis of
per capita gross national income, as
reported in the most current annual
issue of the World Development Report
(The World Bank).’’ The Department
considers the five countries identified in
its Surrogate Country List as ‘‘equally
comparable in terms of economic
development.’’ See Policy Bulletin 04.1
at 2. Thus, we find that India, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Colombia, and
Thailand are all at an economic level of
1 See Policy Bulletin 04.1: Non-Market Economy
Surrogate Country Selection Process, (March 1,
2004), (‘‘Policy Bulletin 04.1’’) at Attachment II of
the Department’s Surrogate Country Letter, also
available at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/policy/bull041.html
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
Jkt 217001
development equally comparable to that
of the PRC.
Policy Bulletin 04.1 provides some
guidance on identifying comparable
merchandise and selecting a producer of
comparable merchandise. As noted in
the Policy Bulletin, comparable
merchandise is not defined in the
statute or the regulations, since it is best
determined on a case-by-case basis. See
Policy Bulletin 04.1 at 2. As further
noted in Policy Bulletin 04.1, in all
cases, if identical merchandise is
produced, the country qualifies as a
producer of comparable merchandise.
Id.
The Department examined worldwide
export data for comparable
merchandise, using the six-digit level of
the HTS numbers listed in the scope
language for this investigation.2
Specifically, we reviewed the POI
export data from the World Trade Atlas
(‘‘WTA’’) for the HTS headings 7321.09,
8516.90, 8418.99. The Department
found that, of the countries provided in
the Surrogate Country List, all five
countries were exporters of comparable
merchandise. Thus, all countries on the
Surrogate Country List are considered as
appropriate surrogates because each
exported comparable merchandise.
The Policy Bulletin 04.1 also provides
some guidance on identifying
significant producers of comparable
merchandise and selecting a producer of
comparable merchandise. Further
analysis was required to determine
whether any of the countries which
produce comparable merchandise are
‘‘significant’’ producers of that
comparable merchandise. The data we
obtained shows that, during the POI,
worldwide exports for these HTS
numbers were: 2,396,007 kilograms
from Colombia; 1,758,325 kilograms
from India; 6,615,309 kilograms from
Indonesia; 450,110 kilograms from
Philippines; and 8,833,547 kilograms
from Thailand. Thus, all countries on
the Surrogate Country List are
considered as appropriate surrogates
because each exported significant
comparable merchandise. Finally, we
have reliable data from India on the
record that we can use to value the
FOPs. Petitioners and Wireking
submitted surrogate values using Indian
sources, suggesting greater availability
of appropriate surrogate value data in
India.
As noted above, the Department only
received surrogate country comments
from Petitioners, which favored
selection of India. The Department is
2 Because the Department was unable to find
production data, we relied on export data as a
substitute for overall production data in this case.
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preliminarily selecting India as the
surrogate country on the basis that: (1)
It is at a similar level of economic
development pursuant to section
773(c)(4) of the Act; (2) it is a significant
producer of comparable merchandise;
and (3) we have reliable data from India
that we can use to value the FOPs. Thus,
we have calculated NV using Indian
prices when available and appropriate
to the respondents’ FOPs. See
Memorandum to the File from Julia
Hancock, through Catherine Bertrand,
Program Manager, AD/CVD Operations,
Office 9, and James C. Doyle, Director,
AD/CVD Operations, Office 9: Certain
Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks
from the People’s Republic of China:
Surrogate Values for the Preliminary
Determination, (February 26, 2009)
(‘‘Surrogate Value Memorandum’’). In
accordance with 19 CFR
351.301(c)(3)(i), for the final
determination in an antidumping
investigation, interested parties may
submit publicly available information to
value the FOPs within 40 days after the
date of publication of the preliminary
determination.3
Affiliations
Section 771(33) of the Act, provides
that:
The following persons shall be
considered to be ‘‘affiliated’’ or
‘‘affiliated persons’’:
(A) Members of a family, including
brothers and sisters (whether by the
whole or half blood), spouse, ancestors,
and lineal descendants.
(B) Any officer or director of an
organization and such organization.
(C) Partners.
(D) Employer and employee.
(E) Any person directly or indirectly
owning, controlling, or holding with
power to vote, 5 percent or more of the
outstanding voting stock or shares of
any organization and such organization.
(F) Two or more persons directly or
indirectly controlling, controlled by, or
under common control with, any
person.
3 In accordance with 19 CFR 351.301(c)(1), for the
final determination of this investigation, interested
parties may submit factual information to rebut,
clarify, or correct factual information submitted by
an interested party less than ten days before, on, or
after, the applicable deadline for submission of
such factual information. However, the Department
notes that 19 CFR 351.301(c)(1) permits new
information only insofar as it rebuts, clarifies, or
corrects information recently placed on the record.
The Department generally will not accept the
submission of additional, previously absent-fromthe-record alternative surrogate value information
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.301(c)(1). See Glycine from
the People’s Republic of China: Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and
Final Rescission, in Part, 72 FR 58809 (October 17,
2007) and accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum at Comment 2.
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(G) Any person who controls any
other person and such other person.
Additionally, section 771(33) of the
Act stipulates that: ‘‘For purposes of this
paragraph, a person shall be considered
to control another person if the person
is legally or operationally in a position
to exercise restraint or direction over the
other person.’’
Wireking
Based on the evidence on the record
in this investigation and based on the
evidence presented in Wireking’s
questionnaire responses, we
preliminarily find that Wireking is
affiliated with Company G,4 which was
involved in Wireking’s sales process,
and other companies, pursuant to
sections 771(33)(E), (F) and (G) of the
Act, based on ownership and common
control. In addition to being affiliated,
there is a significant potential for price
manipulation based on the level of
common ownership and control, shared
management, shared offices, and an
intertwining of business operations. See
19 CFR 351.401(f)(1) and (2).
Accordingly, we find that Wireking and
Company G should be considered as a
single entity for purposes of this
investigation. See 19 CFR 351.401(f).
For a detailed discussion of this issue,
see Wireking Affiliation Memo.
New King Shan
Based on the evidence on the record
in this investigation and based on the
evidence presented in New King Shan’s
questionnaire responses, we
preliminarily find that New King Shan
is affiliated with Company A, Company
B, Company C, and Company D,5
pursuant to sections 771(33)(A), (E), (F),
and (G) of the Act, based on ownership
and common control. For a detailed
discussion of this issue, see New King
Shan Affiliation Memo.
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4 The
identity of this company is business
proprietary information; for further discussion of
this company, see Memorandum to Catherine
Bertrand, Program Manager, AD/CVD Operations,
Office 9, from Julia Hancock, Senior Case Analyst,
AD/CVD Operations, Office 9: Preliminary
Determination in the Antidumping Duty
Investigation of Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving
and Racks from the People’s Republic of China:
Affiliation Memorandum of Wireking, (February 26,
2009)(’’Wireking Affiliation Memo’’).
5 The identites of these companies are business
proprietary; for further discussion of these
companies, see Memorandum to the File from Katie
Marksberry, Case Analyst: Preliminary
Determination of Antidumping Duty Investigation
of Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks
from the People’s Republic of China: Affiliation
Memorandum of New King Shan (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd.,
(February 26, 2009) (‘‘New King Shan Affiliation
Memo’’).
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Separate Rates
In proceedings involving NME
countries, there is a rebuttable
presumption that all companies within
the country are subject to government
control and thus should be assessed a
single antidumping duty rate. See
Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet,
and Strip from the People’s Republic of
China: Final Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, 73 FR 55039,
55040 (Sept. 24, 2008) (PET Film LTFV
Final). It is the Department’s policy to
assign all exporters of merchandise
subject to investigation in an NME
country this single rate unless an
exporter can demonstrate that it is
sufficiently independent so as to be
entitled to a separate rate. See Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Sparklers From the People’s
Republic of China, 56 FR 20588 (May 6,
1991); see also Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Silicon Carbide From the
People’s Republic of China, 59 FR 22585
(May 2, 1994), and section 19 CFR
351.107(d) of the Department’s
regulations.
In the Initiation Notice, the
Department notified parties of the
application process by which exporters
and producers may obtain separate rate
status in NME investigations. See
Initiation Notice, 73 FR at 17321. The
process requires exporters and
producers to submit a separate-rate
status application. The Department’s
practice is discussed further in Policy
Bulletin 05.1: Separate-Rates Practice
and Application of Combination Rates
in Antidumping Investigations Involving
Non-Market Economy Countries, (April
5, 2005), (‘‘Policy Bulletin 05.1’’)
available at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/policy/
bull05–1.pdf.6
Jiangsu Weixi Group Co., Marmon
Retail Services Asia, Hangzhou Dunli
Import & Export Co., Ltd. (hereinafter
referred to as ‘‘Separate Rate
6 The Policy Bulletin 05.1, states: ‘‘{w}hile
continuing the practice of assigning separate rates
only to exporters, all separate rates that the
Department will now assign in its NME
investigations will be specific to those producers
that supplied the exporter during the period of
investigation. Note, however, that one rate is
calculated for the exporter and all of the producers
which supplied subject merchandise to it during
the period of investigation. This practice applies
both to mandatory respondents receiving an
individually calculated separate rate as well as the
pool of non-investigated firms receiving the
weighted-average of the individually calculated
rates. This practice is referred to as the application
of ‘‘combination rates’’ because such rates apply to
specific combinations of exporters and one or more
producers. The cash-deposit rate assigned to an
exporter will apply only to merchandise both
exported by the firm in question and produced by
a firm that supplied the exporter during the period
of investigation. See Policy Bulletin 05.1 at 6.
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Companies’’), and Wireking and New
King Shan, the mandatory respondents,
have provided company-specific
information to demonstrate that they
operate independently of de jure and de
facto government control or are wholly
foreign owned, and therefore satisfy the
standards for the assignment of a
separate rate.
We have considered whether each
PRC company that submitted a complete
application or complete Section A
Response as a mandatory respondent is
eligible for a separate rate. The
Department’s separate rate test is not
concerned, in general, with
macroeconomic/border-type controls,
e.g., export licenses, quotas, and
minimum export prices, particularly if
these controls are imposed to prevent
dumping. See Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Certain Preserved
Mushrooms from the People’s Republic
of China, 63 FR 72255, 72256
(December 31, 1998). The test focuses,
rather, on controls over the investment,
pricing, and output decision-making
process at the individual firm level. See
Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate
from Ukraine: Final Determination of
Sales at Less than Fair Value, 62 FR
61754, 61758 (November 19, 1997), and
Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts
Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, from
the People’s Republic of China: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review, 62 FR 61276,
61279 (November 17, 1997).
To establish whether a firm is
sufficiently independent from
government control of its export
activities to be entitled to a separate
rate, the Department analyzes each
entity exporting the merchandise under
investigation under a test arising from
the Notice of Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sparklers
from the People’s Republic of China, 56
FR 20588 (May 6, 1991) (‘‘Sparklers’’),
as further developed in Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Silicon Carbide from the
People’s Republic of China, 59 FR 22585
(May 2, 1994) (‘‘Silicon Carbide’’). In
accordance with the separate rate
criteria, the Department assigns separate
rates in NME cases only if respondents
can demonstrate the absence of both de
jure and de facto governmental control
over export activities.
1. Absence of De Jure Control
The Department considers the
following de jure criteria in determining
whether an individual company may be
granted a separate rate: (1) An absence
of restrictive stipulations associated
with an individual exporter’s business
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and export licenses; (2) any legislative
enactments decentralizing control of
companies; and (3) other formal
measures by the government
decentralizing control of companies. See
Sparklers, 56 FR at 20589.
The evidence provided by the
Separate Rate Companies, Wireking, and
New King Shan supports a preliminary
finding of de jure absence of
governmental control based on the
following: (1) An absence of restrictive
stipulations associated with the
individual exporter’s business and
export licenses; (2) the applicable
legislative enactments decentralizing
control of the companies; and (3) any
other formal measures by the
government decentralizing control of
companies. See, e.g., Jiangsu Weixi
Group Co.’s October 23, 2008, SRA at 5–
8; Jiangsu Weixi Group Co.’s December
19, 2008, SRA at 4; Hangzhou Dunli
Import & Export Co., Ltd.’s October 29,
2009, SRA at 12–17; New King Shan’s
October 27, 2008, SRA at 12–16; and
Wireking’s November 12, 2008 Section
A Response at 4–7.
2. Absence of De Facto Control
Typically the Department considers
four factors in evaluating whether each
respondent is subject to de facto
governmental control of its export
functions: (1) Whether the export prices
are set by or are subject to the approval
of a governmental agency; (2) whether
the respondent has authority to
negotiate and sign contracts and other
agreements; (3) whether the respondent
has autonomy from the government in
making decisions regarding the
selection of management; and (4)
whether the respondent retains the
proceeds of its export sales and makes
independent decisions regarding
disposition of profits or financing of
losses. See Silicon Carbide, 59 FR at
22586–87; see also Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Furfuryl Alcohol From the
People’s Republic of China, 60 FR
22544, 22545 (May 8, 1995). The
Department has determined that an
analysis of de facto control is critical in
determining whether respondents are,
in fact, subject to a degree of
governmental control which would
preclude the Department from assigning
separate rates.
We determine that, for the Separate
Rate Companies, Wireking, and New
King Shan, the evidence on the record
supports a preliminary finding of de
facto absence of governmental control
based on record statements and
supporting documentation showing the
following: (1) Each exporter sets its own
export prices independent of the
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government and without the approval of
a government authority; (2) each
exporter retains the proceeds from its
sales and makes independent decisions
regarding disposition of profits or
financing of losses; (3) each exporter has
the authority to negotiate and sign
contracts and other agreements; and 4)
each exporter has autonomy from the
government regarding the selection of
management. See, e.g., Jiangsu Weixi
Group Co.’s October 23, 2008, SRA at 9–
15; Jiangsu Weixi Group Co.’s December
19, 2008, SRA at 5; Hangzhou Dunli
Import & Export Co., Ltd.’s October 29,
2009, SRA at 21–25; New King Shan’s
October 27, 2008, SRA at 16–19; and
Wireking’s November 12, 2008 Section
A Response at 7–11.
3. Wholly Foreign-Owned
In its separate-rate application, one
separate rate company, Marmon Retail
Services Asia, reported that it is wholly
owned by individuals or companies
located in a market economy country.
Therefore, because it is wholly foreignowned, and we have no evidence
indicating that it is under the control of
the PRC, a separate rate analysis is not
necessary to determine whether this
company is independent from
government control. See Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Creatine Monohydrate From
the People’s Republic of China, 64 FR
71104–71105 (December 20, 1999)
(where the respondent was wholly
foreign-owned, and thus, qualified for a
separate rate). Accordingly, we have
preliminarily granted a separate rate to
this company.
The evidence placed on the record of
this investigation by the Separate Rate
Companies, Wireking, and New King
Shan demonstrates an absence of de jure
and de facto government control with
respect to each of the exporter’s exports
of the merchandise under investigation,
in accordance with the criteria
identified in Sparklers and Silicon
Carbide. As a result, we have granted
the Separate Rate Companies a
weighted-average margin based on the
experience of mandatory respondents
and excluding any de minimis or zero
rates or rates based on total adverse facts
available (‘‘AFA’’) for the purposes of
this preliminary determination. In
addition, for the reasons outlined above,
we have preliminarily granted Wireking
and New King Shan separate rate status.
Application of Adverse Facts Available,
the PRC-Wide Entity and PRC-Wide
Rate
The Department has data that indicate
there were more exporters of certain
kitchen appliance shelving and racks
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from the PRC than those indicated in
the response to our request for Q&V
information during the POI. See
Respondent Selection Memorandum.
We issued our request for Q&V
information to 12 potential Chinese
exporters of the merchandise under
investigation, in addition to posting the
Q&V questionnaire on the Department’s
Web site. While information on the
record of this investigation indicates
that there are other producers/exporters
of certain kitchen appliance shelving
and racks in the PRC, we received only
seven timely filed Q&V responses.
Although all exporters were given an
opportunity to provide Q&V
information, not all exporters provided
a response to the Department’s Q&V
letter. Furthermore, Asber, which did
respond to the Department’s Q&V
questionnaire and reported shipments
during the POI, did not respond to the
Department’s full anti-dumping duty
questionnaire. Therefore, the
Department has preliminarily
determined that there were exporters/
producers of the merchandise under
investigation during the POI from the
PRC that did not respond to the
Department’s request for information.
We have treated these PRC producers/
exporters, including Asber, as part of
the PRC-wide entity because they did
not qualify for a separate rate. See, e.g.,
Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of
Final Determination, and Preliminary
Partial Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Diamond Sawblades
and Parts Thereof From the People’s
Republic of China, 70 FR 77121, 77128
(December 29, 2005), and unchanged in
Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value and Final Partial
Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Diamond Sawblades
and Parts Thereof from the People’s
Republic of China, 71 FR 29303 (May
22, 2006).
Section 776(a)(2) of the Act provides
that, if an interested party (A) withholds
information that has been requested by
the Department, (B) fails to provide such
information in a timely manner or in the
form or manner requested, subject to
subsections 782(c)(1) and (e) of the Act,
(C) significantly impedes a proceeding
under the antidumping statute, or (D)
provides such information but the
information cannot be verified, the
Department shall, subject to subsection
782(d) of the Act, use facts otherwise
available in reaching the applicable
determination.
Information on the record of this
investigation indicates that the PRCwide entity was non-responsive. Certain
companies did not respond to our
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questionnaire requesting Q&V
information. As a result, pursuant to
section 776(a)(2)(A) of the Act, we find
that the use of facts available (‘‘FA’’) is
appropriate to determine the PRC-wide
rate. See Preliminary Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Affirmative Preliminary Determination
of Critical Circumstances and
Postponement of Final Determination:
Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 68 FR
4986 (January 31, 2003), unchanged in
Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value and Affirmative
Critical Circumstances: Certain Frozen
Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam, 68 FR 37116 (June 23,
2003).
Section 776(b) of the Act provides
that, in selecting from among the facts
otherwise available, the Department
may employ an adverse inference if an
interested party fails to cooperate by not
acting to the best of its ability to comply
with requests for information. See
Statement of Administrative Action,
accompanying the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (‘‘URAA’’), H.R. Rep.
No. 103–316, 870 (1994) (‘‘SAA’’); see
also Final Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value: Certain ColdRolled Flat-Rolled Carbon-Quality Steel
Products from the Russian Federation,
65 FR 5510, 5518 (February 4, 2000). We
find that, because the PRC-wide entity
did not respond to our requests for
information, it has failed to cooperate to
the best of its ability. Therefore, the
Department preliminarily finds that, in
selecting from among the facts available,
an adverse inference is appropriate.
When employing an adverse
inference, section 776 indicates that the
Department may rely upon information
derived from the petition, the final
determination from the LTFV
investigation, a previous administrative
review, or any other information placed
on the record. In selecting a rate for
AFA, the Department selects a rate that
is sufficiently adverse to ensure that the
uncooperative party does not obtain a
more favorable result by failing to
cooperate than if it had fully
cooperated. It is the Department’s
practice to select, as AFA, the higher of
the (a) highest margin alleged in the
petition, or (b) the highest calculated
rate of any respondent in the
investigation. See Final Determination
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Quality
Steel Products from the People’s
Republic of China, 65 FR 34660 (May
21, 2000) and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum, at Comment 1.
As AFA, we have preliminarily assigned
to the PRC-wide entity a rate of 96.45
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
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percent, the average of all margins. The
Department preliminarily determines
that this information is the most
appropriate from the available sources
to effectuate the purposes of AFA. The
Department’s reliance on the petition
rates to determine an AFA rate is subject
to the requirement to corroborate
secondary information.
Corroboration
Section 776(c) of the Act provides
that, when the Department relies on
secondary information rather than on
information obtained in the course of an
investigation as facts available, it must,
to the extent practicable, corroborate
that information from independent
sources reasonably at its disposal. The
SAA provides guidance as to what
constitutes secondary information. One
of the suggested sources of secondary
information is ‘‘information derived
from the petition that gave rise to the
investigation or review, the final
determination concerning the subject
merchandise, or any previous review
under section 751 concerning the
subject merchandise.’’ 7 The SAA
further suggests that to ‘‘corroborate’’
means that the Department will satisfy
itself that the secondary information to
be used has probative value. Id.
Independent sources used to corroborate
may include, for example, published
price lists, official import statistics, and
CBP data, and information obtained
from interested parties during the
particular investigation. Id. To
corroborate secondary information, the
Department will, to the extent
practicable, examine the reliability and
relevance of the information used.8
The AFA rate selected by the
Department is from the petition.9
Petitioners’ methodology for calculating
the export price (‘‘EP’’) and NV in the
petition is discussed in the Initiation
Notice at 73 FR 50598 and 50599. To
corroborate the AFA margin that we
selected, we compared the U.S. prices
and normal values of the two mandatory
respondents to the U.S. prices and
normal values of the margins contained
7 See
SAA at 870.
Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof,
Finished and Unfinished, from Japan, and Tapered
Roller Bearings, Four Inches or Less in Outside
Diameter, and Components Thereof, from Japan;
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Reviews and Partial Termination of
Administrative Reviews, 61 FR 57391, 57392
(November 6, 1996), unchanged in Tapered Roller
Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and
Unfinished, From Japan, and Tapered Roller
Bearings, Four Inches or Less in Outside Diameter,
and Components Thereof, From Japan: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative
Reviews and Termination in Part:, 62 FR 11825
(March 13, 1997).
9 See Petition, at Volume II, Exhibit 14.
8 See
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in the petition. All of the U.S. prices
and normal values in the margins
calculated in the petition are within the
range of the U.S. prices and normal
values of the mandatory respondents.
Therefore, we took the simple average of
all seven of the petition margins, which
results in a margin of 96.45 percent. We
find that the margin of 96.45 percent has
probative value because it is the average
of all petition margins which were
based on the corroborated U.S. price
and normal values in the petition which
were corroborated by comparison of the
U.S. price and normal values of the two
mandatory respondents. Accordingly,
we find that the rate of 96.45 percent is
corroborated within the meaning of
section 776(c) of the Act. Accordingly,
we determine that 96.45 percent is the
single antidumping rate for the PRCwide entity. The PRC-wide rate applies
to all entries of the merchandise under
investigation except for entries from
Wireking, New King Shan, and the
Separate Rate Companies.
Margin for the Separate Rate
Companies
The Department received timely and
complete separate rate applications from
the Separate Rate Companies, who are
all exporters of certain kitchen
appliance shelving and racks from the
PRC, which were not selected as
mandatory respondents in this
investigation. Through the evidence in
their applications, these companies
have demonstrated their eligibility for a
separate rate, see the ‘‘Separate Rates’’
section and in the Memorandum to the
File, from Katie Marksberry, Case
Analyst, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9:
Preliminary Determination in the
Antidumping Duty Investigation of
Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and
Racks from the People’s Republic of
China: Calculation of the Separate Rate
Weighted-Average Margin, (February 26,
2009). Consistent with the Department’s
practice, as the separate rate, we have
established a average margin for the
Separate Rate Companies based on the
rates we calculated for Wireking and
New King Shan, excluding any rates
that are zero, de minimis, or based
entirely on AFA.10 Jiangsu Weixi Group
Co., Marmon Retail Services Asia, and
Hangzhou Dunli Import & Export Co.,
Ltd. are the companies receiving this
10 See, e.g., Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value and Partial Affirmative
Determination of Critical Circumstances: Certain
Polyester Staple Fiber from the People’s Republic of
China, 71 FR 77373, 77377 (December 26, 2006)
(‘‘PSF’’), unchanged in Final Determination of Sales
at Less Than Fair Value and Partial Affirmative
Determination of Critical Circumstances: Certain
Polyester Staple Fiber from the People’s Republic of
China, 72 FR 19690 (April 19, 2007).
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rate and are listed in the ‘‘Suspension of
Liquidation’’ section of this notice.
Date of Sale
19 CFR 351.401(i) states that, ‘‘in
identifying the date of sale of the
merchandise under consideration or
foreign like product, the Secretary
normally will use the date of invoice, as
recorded in the exporter or producer’s
records kept in the normal course of
business.’’ In Allied Tube, the Court of
International Trade (‘‘CIT’’) noted that a
‘‘party seeking to establish a date of sale
other than invoice date bears the burden
of producing sufficient evidence to
‘satisf{y}’ the Department that ‘a
different date better reflects the date on
which the exporter or producer
establishes the material terms of sale.’ ’’
Allied Tube & Conduit Corp. v. United
States 132 F. Supp. 2d at 1090 (CIT
2001) (quoting 19 CFR 351.401(i))
(‘‘Allied Tube’’). Additionally, the
Secretary may use a date other than the
date of invoice if the Secretary is
satisfied that a different date better
reflects the date on which the exporter
or producer establishes the material
terms of sale. See 19 CFR 351.401(i); see
also Allied Tube, 132 F. Supp. 2d 1087,
1090–1092. The date of sale is generally
the date on which the parties agree
upon all substantive terms of the sale.
This normally includes the price,
quantity, delivery terms and payment
terms. See Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire
Rod from Trinidad and Tobago: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review, 72 FR 62824
(November 7, 2007) and accompanying
Issue and Decision Memorandum at
Comment 1; Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled FlatRolled Carbon Quality Steel Products
from Turkey, 65 FR 15123 (March 21,
2000) and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
New King Shan reported that the date
of sale was determined by the invoice
issued by the affiliated importer to the
unaffiliated United States customer. In
this case, as the Department found no
evidence contrary to New King Shan’s
claims that invoice date was the
appropriate date of sale, the Department
used invoice date as the date of sale for
this preliminary determination.
Wireking reported its U.S. sales as
constructed export price (‘‘CEP’’) sales
because the sales are not made until
after importation to the United States.
Wireking reported that while it issues a
commercial invoice to the U.S. customer
for the quantities of merchandise subject
to the investigation that it shipped, the
quantity of each sale is not fixed when
it issues the commercial invoice to the
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
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U.S. customer. See Wireking’s
Supplemental Section C, (February 18,
2009) at 20. According to Wireking, the
U.S. customer does not agree to
purchase the final quantity for each of
Wireking’s reported sales until the U.S.
customer issues document X 11 to
Wireking, upon which payment and the
total value of each sale is based. See id.,
at 17 and 20.
Wireking stated that it is not reporting
the date of the commercial/shipment
invoice issued to the U.S. customer as
the date of sale because this is not when
all the material terms of sale, i.e., final
quantity and total value/payment of
each sale, are fixed. See id., at 17.
According to Wireking, the U.S.
customer is not contractually obligated
to purchase the quantity shipped by
Wireking and thus Wireking’s
commercial/shipment invoice is a fair
retail value of the merchandise but not
a document establishing all material
terms of sale. See id., at 17. Instead,
Wireking stated that it has reported the
date of document X issued by the U.S.
customer as the date of sale because all
the material terms of sale, i.e., final
quantity, and total value and payment of
the sale, were not finalized until this
document was issued by the U.S.
customer. Moreover, Wireking has
reported that it does not record the
commercial/shipment invoice issued to
the U.S. customer in its accounting
records. See id., at 14. Wireking has
reported that it records the date of
document X in its accounting records,
as well as the payment received
pursuant to the sale.12 Accordingly,
based on the record evidence, the
Department preliminarily determines
that Wireking’s date of sale is the date
on which document X is issued because
all the material terms of sale, i.e., final
quantity, value, and payment, are not
fixed until the U.S. customer issues
document X to Wireking. Therefore, the
Department will calculate Wireking’s
price for its U.S. sales using the date of
document X as the date of sale.
However, based on the documents
currently on the record of this
proceeding, Wireking has not shown
that it will be able to reconcile its total
quantity of shipments to the total final
11 The description of this document is business
proprietary; for further discussion of this document,
see Wireking’s Section C Supp, at 14 and Wireking
Analysis Memo.
12 Although Wireking’s affiliate, Company G,
receives payment for the sale from the U.S.
customer and records the date of sale of document
X in its accounting records, because Wireking and
Company G have been found to be a single entity
(‘‘Wireking’’), the Department preliminarily
determines that the single entity, Wireking, records
document X as the date of sale in its accounting
records. See Wireking’s Section C Supp,
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quantity of merchandise purchased by
the U.S. customer. See Wireking’s
February 18, 2009, Letter, at 4. While
Wireking reported that it will be able to
support its reported U.S. sales by
reconciling the reported U.S. quantity
and value to document X, Wireking has
stated that it will be unable to tie its
total shipments to its total reported U.S.
sales database quantity because
Wireking does not have access to the
U.S. customer’s records, including
inventory records, that establish
whether Wireking’s reported U.S. sales
database is complete. The Department
preliminarily finds that there is a
difference between Wireking’s reported
total shipments to the U.S. customer
during the POI and its total reported
U.S. sales during the POI. See id., at 3;
Wireking’s Section C and D Response,
(December 2, 2009), at Exhibit R1;
Wireking Analysis Memo. Because
Wireking has not shown that the
reported total quantity and value of its
U.S. sales is complete, i.e., there are
unreported U.S. sales, we must
conclude that the application of facts
otherwise available is warranted for
Wireking’s unreported sales, pursuant to
section 776(a)(2)(D) of the Act because
Wireking is unable to reconcile the
reported total quantity of sales to a
verifiable source document. Because
Wireking has claimed that it has
provided all the information it can
regarding the unusual sales arrangement
with the U.S. customer, where the U.S.
customer dictates the final quantity and
value of the sale, and the Department
currently has no information on the
record to the contrary, the Department
preliminarily determines that the
application of AFA is not warranted,
pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act.
Accordingly, as FA, the Department
preliminarily determines that it will
apply the weighted-average margin of
Wireking’s reported U.S. sales to the
unreported quantity and value13 of
Wireking’s unreported sales.
Furthermore, after the preliminary
determination, the Department intends
to issue additional supplemental
questionnaires to Wireking to determine
whether Wireking’s reported quantity
and value can be verified. The
Department notes that all information
relied upon must be verifiable. See Final
13 Because the Department has used the total
shipments/purchases to Company G as Wireking’s
total shipments to the U.S. customer during the POI
and Wireking has reported that there is a difference
in the total value of these shipment/purchases to
the total value of Wireking’s shipments to the U.S.
customer, the Department has increased the total
value by this difference. See Wireking’s Section C
Supp, at 17, for further discussion of this difference,
which is business proprietary information. See also
Wireking’s Analysis Memo
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Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value and Affirmative
Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Small Diameter
Graphite Electrodes from the People’s
Republic of China, 74 FR 2049 (January
14, 2009) and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
Therefore, based on these supplemental
responses, the Department will make a
determination as to whether Wireking’s
reported U.S. sales are verifiable.
Fair Value Comparison
To determine whether sales of certain
kitchen appliance shelving and racks to
the United States by Wireking and New
King Shan were made at less than fair
value, we compared CEP to NV, as
described in the ‘‘U.S. Price’’ and
‘‘Normal Value’’ sections of this notice.
U.S. Price
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In accordance with section 772(b) of
the Act, we based the U.S. price for New
King Shan’s sales on CEP because these
sales were made by New King Shan’s
U.S. affiliate, which purchased the
merchandise under investigation
produced and sold by New King Shan
through two other affiliates,14 Company
A and Company B.15 In accordance with
section 772(c)(2)(A) of the Act, we
calculated CEP by deducting, where
applicable, the following expenses from
the gross unit price charged to the first
unaffiliated customer in the United
States, foreign movement expenses, and
U.S. movement expenses, including
U.S. duties, U.S. warehousing, and
14 The identity of these companies is business
proprietary; for further discussion of these
companies, see New King Shan Analysis Memo.
15 New King Shan reported these sales as CEP
sales. The Department finds that these sales are CEP
sales because New King Shan reported that its
affiliate in the United States performed sales
functions such as: sales negotiation, issuance of
invoices and receipt of payment from the ultimate
U.S. customer during the POI. Moreover, New King
Shan reported expenses incurred in the United
States that are normally deducted from the gross
unit price. See New King Shan’s Section C
Questionnaire Response, (January 12, 2009); see
also Glycine From the People’s Republic of China:
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review and Preliminary Rescission,
in Part, 72 FR 18457 (April 12, 2007) unchanged in
Glycine from the People’s Republic of China: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review and Final Rescission, In Part, 72 FR 58809
(October 17, 2007) (where the Department stated
that ‘‘we based U.S. price for certain sales on CEP
in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act,
because sales were made by Nantong Donchang’s
U.S. affiliate, Wavort, Inc. {‘‘Wavort’’} to
unaffiliated purchasers.’’); AK Steel Corp., et al v.
United States, 226 F.3d 1361, 1367 (Fed.Cir. 2000)
(where the court stated that ‘‘the purpose of these
additional deductions in the CEP methodology is to
prevent foreign producers from competing unfairly
in the U.S. market by inflating the U.S. price with
amounts spent by the U.S. affiliate on marketing
and selling the products in the United States’’).
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
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inventory carrying cost. Further, in
accordance with section 772(d)(1) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.402(b), where
appropriate, we deducted from the
starting price the following selling
expenses associated with economic
activities occurring in the United States:
credit expenses and other direct selling
expenses. In addition, pursuant to
section 772(d)(3) of the Act, we made an
adjustment to the starting price for CEP
profit. We based movement expenses on
either surrogate values or actual
expenses. For details regarding our CEP
calculations, and for a complete
discussion of the calculation of the U.S.
price for New King Shan, see New King
Shan Analysis Memo.16
Additionally, in accordance with
section 772(b) of the Act, we based the
U.S. price for Wireking’s sales on CEP
because these sales were sold (or agreed
to be sold) after the date of importation
into the United States by Wireking. In
accordance with section 772(c)(2)(A) of
the Act, we calculated CEP by
deducting, where applicable, the
following expenses from the gross unit
price charged to the first unaffiliated
customer in the United States, foreign
movement expenses, and U.S.
movement expenses, including U.S.
inland freight from port to warehouse,
U.S. inland insurance, U.S. duties, and
inventory carrying cost. Additionally, in
accordance with section 772(d)(1) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.402(b), where
appropriate, we deducted from the
starting price the following selling
expenses associated with economic
activities occurring in the United States:
credit expenses. We have based
Wireking’s imputed credit expenses on
the difference between the date of
shipment, which is when the
merchandise was withdrawn from the
U.S. warehouse, and the date that
Wireking received payment. See Certain
Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products
from India: Notice of Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 73 FR 31961 (June 5, 2008) and
accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum at Comment 23.
Moreover, pursuant to section 772(d)(3)
of the Act, we made an adjustment to
the starting price for CEP profit. For
discussion of our valuation of
Wireking’s movement expenses, see the
16 The identity of this company is business
proprietary information; for further discussion of
this company, see Memorandum to Catherine
Bertrand, Program Manager, AD/CVD Operations,
Office 9, from Katie Marksberry, Case Analyst, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 9: Preliminary
Determination in the Antidumping Duty
Investigation of Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving
and Racks from the People’s Republic of China:
Analysis Memorandum of New King Shan,
(February 26, 2008) (‘‘New King Shan Memo’’).
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section of this notice entitled ‘‘Use of
AFA for Wireking’s Movement
Expenses.’’ For a complete discussion of
the calculation of the U.S. price for
Wireking, see Wireking Analysis Memo.
Use of AFA for Wireking’s Movement
Expenses
In this investigation, Wireking
reported that it incurred certain freight
expenses for sales made under sales
term X and sales term Y 17 that were
purchased from a market economy
carrier and paid for in market economy
currency. See Wireking’s Section C
Supp, at 29–30 and Exhibit 17 at pages
26–33. However, for these freight
expenses, after twice being requested by
the Department to report these as market
economy purchases, Wireking
continued to report these freight
expenses as non-market economy
purchases because the market economy
carrier has a PRC branch office that
arranged these shipments. See id., at 30.
Because it is the Department’s practice
to treat expenses purchased from a
market economy supplier and paid for
in a market economy currency as market
economy purchases, and there is record
evidence showing that Wireking was
charged and paid the market economy
supplier of these expenses in market
economy currency under sales term X,
the Department preliminarily
determines to value these expenses as
market economy purchases under sales
term X. See 19 CFR 351.408(c)(1);
Certain Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires
from the People’s Republic of China:
Final Affirmative Determination of Sales
at Less Than Fair Value and Partial
Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances, 73 FR 40485 (July 15,
2008) and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum at Comment 35.
However, for freight expenses incurred
under sales term Y, the Department
preliminarily determines to value these
expenses as non-market economy
purchases because there is record
evidence showing that Wireking paid
the market economy supplier of these
expenses in non-market economy
currency. See Wireking’s Section C
Supp, at Exhibit 17 at pages 19–25.
Because Wireking was twice
requested by the Department to report
the price of its market economy freight
expenses but failed to provide such
information after being requested, the
Department preliminarily determines
that the application of facts otherwise
available to Wireking’s market economy
17 The details of sales term X and sales term Y
are business proprietary; for further discussion of
sales term X and sales term Y, see Wire King
Analysis Memo.
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freight expenses incurred under sales
term X is warranted, pursuant to
sections 776(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Act.
Where the Department determines that
a response to a request for information
does not comply with the request,
section 782(d) of the Act provides that
the Department shall promptly inform
the party submitting the response of the
nature of the deficiency and shall, to the
extent practicable, provide that party
with an opportunity to remedy or
explain the deficiency. After receipt of
Wireking’s response to Section C of the
Department’s initial questionnaire,
which clearly directed Wireking to
report the market economy price of any
freight expense that it incurred using a
market economy carrier and paid for in
market economy currency, the
Department issued Wireking a
supplemental Section C questionnaire.
This supplemental Section C
questionnaire granted Wireking an
additional opportunity to report the
price of its market economy freight
expenses. See the Department’s
Supplemental Section C Questionnaire
to Wireking (January 28, 2009) at
Questions 44, 46, 50, 51, and 56.
However, Wireking refused to comply
with the Department’s request and
instead argued that it was appropriate to
treat this market economy carrier as an
‘‘NME service provider’’ and did not
provide the requested information. See
Wireking’s Section C Supp, at 30.
Accordingly, section 782(d) of the Act
does not prevent application of partial
AFA under these circumstances. See
Reiner Brach GmbH & Co. KG v. United
States, 206 F. Supp. 2d 1323, 1332–38
(CIT 2002).
For these reasons, the Department has
preliminarily determined to apply
partial AFA to Wireking’s market
economy freight expenses incurred
under sales term X, as specified under
sections 776(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Act.
As stated above, Wireking had multiple
opportunities to report the price of these
market economy freight expenses to the
Department. Despite Wireking’s
categorization of these freight expenses
as non-market economy purchases, the
Department’s request for this
information was unambiguous.
Therefore, for the reasons stated above,
the Department finds that, pursuant to
section 776(b) of the Act, Wireking has
failed to cooperate to the best of its
ability with regard to its unreported
market economy freight expenses
incurred under sales term X. Because
Wireking failed to fully cooperate with
the Department in this matter, we find
it appropriate to use an inference that is
adverse to the interests of Wireking in
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
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selecting from among the facts
otherwise available. See section 776(b)
of the Act. By doing so, we ensure that
Wireking will not obtain a more
favorable result by failing to cooperate
than had it cooperated fully in this
investigation. See SAA at 870, reprinted
at 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 4199.
Consequently, as facts otherwise
available, the Department will use the
market economy price from one freight
invoice submitted by Wireking as the
basis for freight expenses for all
shipments made under sales term X.
Furthermore, because the freight invoice
is Wireking’s own information, the
Department preliminarily determines
that it is not secondary information and
does not need to be corroborated,
pursuant to section 776(c) of the Act.
See Wireking Analysis Memo.
Normal Value
Section 773(c)(1) of the Act provides
that the Department shall determine NV
using a FOP methodology if the
merchandise is exported from an NME
and the information does not permit the
calculation of NV using home-market
prices, third-country prices, or
constructed value under section 773(a)
of the Act. The Department bases NV on
the FOP because the presence of
government controls on various aspects
of non-market economies renders price
comparisons and the calculation of
production costs invalid under the
Department’s normal methodologies.
See e.g., Preliminary Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Affirmative Critical Circumstances, In
Part, and Postponement of Final
Determination: Certain Lined Paper
Products From the People’s Republic of
China, 71 FR 19695 (April 17, 2006)
(‘‘CLPP’’) unchanged in Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value, and Affirmative Critical
Circumstances, In Part: Certain Lined
Paper Products From the People’s
Republic of China, 71 FR 53079
(September 8, 2006).
As the basis for NV, both Wireking
and New King Shan provided FOPs
used in each stage for processing
kitchen appliance shelving and racks,
i.e., from the drawing of the steel wire
rod to completion of the final product.
Additionally, both Wireking and New
King Shan reported that they are
integrated producers because both
respondents draw the steel wire from
the steel wire rod and provided the FOP
information used in this production
stage.
Consistent with section 773(c)(1)(B) of
the Act, it is the Department’s practice
to value the FOPs that a respondent uses
to produce the merchandise under
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consideration. See Final Determination
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater
Shrimp From the People’s Republic of
China, 69 FR 70997 (December 8, 2004)
and accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum at Comment 9(E). If the
NME respondent is an integrated
producer, we take into account the
factors utilized in each stage of the
production process. See id. In this case,
we are valuing those inputs reported by
Wireking and New King Shan that were
used to produce the main input to the
processing stage (steel wire) when
calculating NV, regardless of whether
the FOPs were produced or purchased
by the respondents.
A portion of Wireking’s corrugated
packing FOP was produced by
Wireking’s Affiliate E.18 We are not,
however, valuing these inputs as selfproduced because Wireking and
Affiliate E operate independently of
each other, do not share business
transactions, do not share facilities, do
not share management/employees, and
do not share production and pricing
decisions. See Letter to Adams Lee,
counsel for Wireking, from Catherine
Bertrand, Program Manager, Office 9,
Import Administration, (January 29,
2009); Wireking’s Supplemental Section
D, (February 5, 2009) at Exhibit 24;
Wireking’s 2nd Supplemental Section A
Questionnaire Response, (January 23,
2009) at 20–23; Sinopec Sichuan
Vinylon Works v. United States, Slip
Op. 06–191 (December 28, 2007), at 5–
7. Additionally, Wireking’s Affiliate E is
not a producer of similar or identical
merchandise to that produced by
Wireking, and could not produce this
merchandise without substantial
retooling. Moreover, Wireking’s Affiliate
E is not involved in the export or sale
of merchandise under investigation and
thus, we find that the initial regulatory
criteria for treating affiliated producers
as a single entity are not met, nor are
circumstances similar to that under
which the Department has treated
affiliated exporters as a single entity
present in this case. See Lightweight
Thermal Paper From the People’s
Republic of China: Final Determination
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 73 FR
57329 (October 2, 2008) and
accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum at Comment 8 (‘‘Thermal
Paper from PRC Final’’). Accordingly,
even though Wireking and its affiliated
supplier of a portion of this packing
factor are affiliated through indirect
18 The identity of Wireking’s Affiliate E is
business proprietary. See Wireking’s Section A
Questionnaire Response, (November 12, 2008) at
Exhibit 5; Wireking’s January 21, 2009, letter, at 2.
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available Indian sources in order to
calculate surrogate values for Wireking
and New King Shan’s FOPs (direct
materials, energy, and packing
materials) and certain movement
expenses. In selecting the best available
information for valuing FOPs in
accordance with section 773(c)(1) of the
Act, the Department’s practice is to
select, to the extent practicable,
surrogate values which are non-export
average values, most contemporaneous
with the POI, product-specific, and taxexclusive. See, e.g., Notice of
Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, Negative
Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances and Postponement of
Factor Valuation Methodology
Final Determination: Certain Frozen
In accordance with section 773(c) of
and Canned Warmwater Shrimp From
the Act, we calculated NV based on FOP the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 69 FR
data reported by Wireking and New
42672, 42682 (July 16, 2004), unchanged
King Shan. To calculate NV, we
in Final Determination of Sales at Less
multiplied the reported per-unit factorThan Fair Value: Certain Frozen and
consumption rates by publicly available Canned Warmwater Shrimp From the
surrogate values (except as discussed
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 69 FR
below). In selecting the surrogate values, 71005 (December 8, 2004). The record
we considered the quality, specificity,
shows that data in the Indian Import
and contemporaneity of the data. See,
Statistics, as well as those from the
e.g., Fresh Garlic From the People’s
other Indian sources, are
Republic of China: Final Results of
contemporaneous with the POI,
Antidumping Duty New Shipper Review, product-specific, and tax-exclusive. See
67 FR 72139 (December 4, 2002), and
Surrogate Value Memorandum. In those
accompanying Issues and Decision
instances where we could not obtain
Memorandum at Comment 6; and Final
publicly available information
Results of First New Shipper Review and contemporaneous to the POI with which
First Antidumping Duty Administrative
to value factors, we adjusted the
Review: Certain Preserved Mushrooms
surrogate values using, where
From the People’s Republic of China, 66 appropriate, the Indian Wholesale Price
FR 31204 (June 11, 2001), and
Index (‘‘WPI’’) as published in the
accompanying Issues and Decision
International Financial Statistics of the
Memorandum at Comment 5. As
International Monetary Fund. See, e.g.,
appropriate, we adjusted input prices by PSF 71 FR, at 77380 and CLPP 71 FR,
including freight costs to make them
at 19704.
delivered prices. Specifically, we added
Furthermore, with regard to the
to Indian import surrogate values a
Indian import-based surrogate values,
surrogate freight cost using the shorter
we have disregarded import prices that
of the reported distance from the
we have reason to believe or suspect
domestic supplier to the factory or the
may be subsidized. We have reason to
distance from the nearest seaport to the
believe or suspect that prices of inputs
factory where appropriate. This
from Indonesia, South Korea, and
adjustment is in accordance with the
Thailand may have been subsidized. We
Court of Appeals for the Federal
have found in other proceedings that
Circuit’s decision in Sigma Corp. v.
these countries maintain broadly
United States, 117 F.3d 1401, 1407–08
available, non-industry-specific export
(Fed. Cir. 1997). A detailed description
subsidies and, therefore, it is reasonable
of all surrogate values used for Wireking to infer that all exports to all markets
and New King Shan can be found in the from these countries may be subsidized.
Surrogate Value Memorandum
See Notice of Final Determination of
(February 26, 2009).
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and
For this preliminary determination, in Negative Final Determination of Critical
accordance with the Department’s
Circumstances: Certain Color Television
practice, we used data from the Indian
Receivers From the People’s Republic of
Import Statistics and other publicly
China, 69 FR 20594 (April 16, 2004) and
accompanying Issues and Decision
19 Person F’s identity is business proprietary
Memorandum at Comment 7. Further,
information. See Wireking’s Section A
guided by the legislative history, it is
Questionnaire Response, (November 12, 2008) at
Exhibit 5.
the Department’s practice not to
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
common control of person F,19 absent a
significant potential for manipulation,
we find it unnecessary to value
upstream inputs that were not used by
the actual producer of merchandise
under investigation in NV calculations
because such valuation would not
reflect the producer’s, i.e., Wireking’s,
own production experience. See
Thermal Paper from the PRC Final, at
Comment 8; Certain Frozen Fish Fillets
from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Final Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review and Partial
Rescission, 73 FR 15479 (March 24,
2008) and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum at Comment 5C.
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
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conduct a formal investigation to ensure
that such prices are not subsidized. See
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness
Act of 1988, Conference Report to
accompany H.R. Rep. 100–576 at 590
(1988) reprinted in 1988 U.S.C.C.A.N.
1547, 1623–24; see also Preliminary
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Coated Free Sheet Paper
from the People’s Republic of China, 72
FR 30758 (June 4, 2007) unchanged in
Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Coated Free Sheet
Paper from the People’s Republic of
China, 72 FR 60632 (October 25, 2007).
Rather, the Department bases its
decision on information that is available
to it at the time it makes its
determination. See Polyethylene
Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip
from the People’s Republic of China:
Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, 73 FR 24552,
24559 (May 5, 2008), unchanged in
Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet,
and Strip from the People’s Republic of
China: Final Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, 73 FR 55039
(September 24, 2008). Therefore, we
have not used prices from these
countries in calculating the Indian
import-based surrogate values.
Additionally, we disregarded prices
from NME countries. Finally, imports
that were labeled as originating from an
‘‘unspecified’’ country were excluded
from the average value, because the
Department could not be certain that
they were not from either an NME
country or a country with general export
subsidies. See id.
Additionally, during the POI, New
King Shan reported that it purchased
certain inputs from a market economy
supplier and paid for the inputs in a
market economy currency. The
Department has a rebuttable
presumption that market economy input
prices are the best available information
for valuing an input when the total
volume of the input purchased from all
market economy sources during the
period of investigation or review
exceeds 33 percent of the total volume
of the input purchased from all sources
during the period. In these cases, unless
case-specific facts provide adequate
grounds to rebut the Department’s
presumption, the Department will use
the weighted-average market economy
purchase price to value the input.
Alternatively, when the volume of an
NME firm’s purchases of an input from
market economy suppliers during the
period is below 33 percent of its total
volume of purchases of the input during
the period, but where these purchases
are otherwise valid and there is no
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reason to disregard the prices, the
Department will weight-average the
market economy purchase price with an
appropriate surrogate value (‘‘SV’’)
according to their respective shares of
the total volume of purchases, unless
case-specific facts provide adequate
grounds to rebut the presumption.
When a firm has made market economy
input purchases that may have been
dumped or subsidized, are not bona
fide, or are otherwise not acceptable for
use in a dumping calculation, the
Department will exclude them from the
numerator of the ratio to ensure a fair
determination of whether valid market
economy purchases meet the 33-percent
threshold. See Antidumping
Methodologies: Market Economy Inputs,
Expected Non-Market Economy Wages,
Duty Drawback; and Request for
Comments, 71 FR 61716, 61717–18
(October 19, 2006).
The Department has determined that
although New King Shan reported
purchasing certain inputs from market
economy sellers during the POI and
paying for the inputs in a market
economy currency, New King Shan did
not provide sufficient supporting
documentation to demonstrate that
these purchases were in fact market
economy purchases, and therefore the
Department is not valuing these inputs
using New King Shan’s reported market
economy prices for each of these inputs
for this preliminary determination. See
New King Shan’s Questionnaire
Responses, (January 12, 2009), (February
9, 2009) and (February 13, 2009) and
New King Shan’s Analysis
Memorandum. The Department used the
Indian Import Statistics to value the raw
material and packing material inputs
that Wireking and New King Shan used
to produce the merchandise under
investigation during the POI, except
where listed below.
For direct, indirect, and packing
labor, consistent with 19 CFR
351.408(c)(3), we used the PRC
regression-based wage rate as reported
on Import Administration’s home page,
Import Library, Expected Wages of
Selected NME Countries, revised in May
2008, see Corrected 2007 Calculation of
Expected Non-Market Economy Wages,
73 FR 27795 (May 14, 2008), and
https://ia.ita.doc.gov/wages/.
The source of these wage-rate data on
the Import Administration’s web site is
the Yearbook of Labour Statistics 2005,
ILO (Geneva: 2007), Chapter 5B: Wages
in Manufacturing. Because this
regression-based wage rate does not
separate the labor rates into different
skill levels or types of labor, we have
applied the same wage rate to all skill
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
Jkt 217001
levels and types of labor reported by the
respondents.
We valued truck freight expenses
using a per-unit average rate calculated
from data on the infobanc Web site:
https://www.infobanc.com/logistics/
logtruck.htm. The logistics section of
this Web site contains inland freight
truck rates between many large Indian
cities. Since this value is not
contemporaneous with the POI, we
deflated the rate using WPI.
We valued electricity using price data
for small, medium, and large industries,
as published by the Central Electricity
Authority of the Government of India
(‘‘CEA’’) in its publication titled
Electricity Tariff & Duty and Average
Rates of Electricity Supply in India,
dated July 2006. These electricity rates
represent actual country-wide, publicly
available information on tax-exclusive
electricity rates charged to industries in
India. Since the rates are not
contemporaneous with the POI, we
inflated the values using the WPI.
Parties have suggested that the
Department rely on June 2008 CEA data
and International Energy Agency
(‘‘IEA’’) data, however, we preliminarily
find that we cannot rely on them
because we are unable to separate duty
rates from the June 2008 CEA data, and
the IEA data are less contemporaneous
than the July 2006 CEA data.
Additionally, petitioners have
recommended that we not use CEA data
because of a May 2007 TERI report that
indicated that the rates include
subsidies and are below production;
however, the Department was unable to
find sufficient evidence of subsidies to
demonstrate that the electricity rates
used in the CEA data were unreliable.
Moreover, the Department was also
unable to find sufficient evidence to
demonstrate that the electricity rates
used in the CEA data were below cost.
Because water is essential to the
production process of the merchandise
under consideration, the Department
considers water to be a direct material
input, not overhead, and valued water
with a surrogate value according to our
practice. See Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and
Critical Circumstances: Certain
Malleable Iron Pipe Fittings from the
People’s Republic of China, 68 FR 61395
(October 23, 2003) and accompanying
Issues and Decision Memorandum at
Comment 11. The Department valued
water using data from the Maharashtra
Industrial Development Corporation
(https://
www.midindia.orgwww.midcindia.org)
since it includes a wide range of
industrial water tariffs. This source
provides 386 industrial water rates
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9601
within the Maharashtra province from
June 2003: 193 of the water rates were
for the ‘‘inside industrial areas’’ usage
category and 193 of the water rates were
for the ‘‘outside industrial areas’’ usage
category. Because the value was not
contemporaneous with the POI, we used
WPI data to inflate the rate to be
contemporaneous to the POI.
We continued our recent practice to
value brokerage and handling using a
simple average of the brokerage and
handling costs that were reported in
public submissions that were filed in
three antidumping duty cases.
Specifically, we averaged the public
brokerage and handling expenses
reported by Agro Dutch Industries Ltd.
in the antidumping duty administrative
review of certain preserved mushrooms
from India, Kejirwal Paper Ltd. in the
LTFV investigation of certain lined
paper products from India, and Essar
Steel in the antidumping duty
administrative review of hot-rolled
carbon steel flat products from India.
See Certain Preserved Mushrooms From
India: Final Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review, 71 FR
10646 (March 2, 2006); see also Notice
of Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of
Final Determination, and Affirmative
Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances in Part: Certain Lined
Paper Products From India, 71 FR 19706
(April 17, 2006), unchanged in Notice of
Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value, and Negative
Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Certain Lined Paper
Products from India, 71 FR 45012
(August 8, 2006); Certain Hot-Rolled
Carbon Steel Flat Products From India:
Preliminary Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review, 71 FR
2018,2021 (January 12, 2006) unchanged
in Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat
Products From India: Final Results of
Antidumping Administrative Review, 71
FR 40694 (July 18, 2006). Since the
resulting value is not contemporaneous
with the POI, we inflated the rate using
the WPI.
To value marine insurance, the
Department used data from RGJ
Consultants (https://
www.rjgconsultants.com/). This source
provides information regarding the pervalue rates of marine insurance of
imports and exports to/from various
countries.
To value U.S. inland insurance, the
Department used data from P.A.F. Cargo
Insurance (https://
www.pafinsurance.com/). This source
provides information regarding the pervalue rate of basic and all risk coverage
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insurance rates of commodities
transported within the United States.
To value factory overhead, selling,
general, and administrative expenses,
and profit, we used the average of the
audited financial statements of three
Indian fastener companies, Nasco Steel
07/08, Sterling Tools Limited 07/08, and
Lakshmi Precision Screw, Ltd. 06/07.
While all three of these companies
produce comparable rather than
identical merchandise, each of these
companies use an integrated wiredrawing production process with wire
rod as one of its primary inputs, which
closely mirrors that of the mandatory
respondents. Although Petitioners
argued that the production process of
fastener products is not as complex and
high value-added as the production
process of certain kitchen appliance
shelving and racks, we find that there is
no evidence on the record
demonstrating that the financial
experience of these three fastener
companies is not comparable to the
experience of the mandatory
respondents.
Additionally, while Petitioners have
also provided an additional source for
surrogate financial ratios using the
financial statements of Usha Martin Ltd.
(‘‘Usha’’), which is an Indian producer
of steel wire and wire rope, we find that
the financial statements of producers of
wire and wire rope should not be used
for purposes of calculating surrogate
financial ratios because certain kitchen
appliance shelving and racks are a
downstream product of wire requiring
additional manufacturing processes and
wire and wire rope do not undergo
comparable additional fabrication.
Using wire producers to calculate the
surrogate financial ratios would not
capture all the costs beyond wire
reported by the respondents in the
production of kitchen appliance
shelving and racks, such as painting,
powder coating, degreasing, etc.
Therefore, we find that a company
which produces fasteners would better
reflect the production experience of
kitchen appliance shelving and racks
because fasteners, like kitchen
appliance shelving and racks, undergoes
further processing. As such, we
averaged financial ratios from the
financial statements of Lakshmi, Nasco,
and Sterling, all of which are integrated
wire fastener producers, to calculate the
surrogate financial ratios.
To value low carbon steel wire rod,
we used price data from the Indian Join
Plant Committee (‘‘JPC’’), which is a
joint industry/government board that
monitors Indian steel prices. These data
are fully contemporaneous with the POI,
and are specific to the reported inputs
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
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of the respondents. See Wireking’s
Section D Supp; New King Shan’s
Section D Supp. Further, these data are
publicly available, represent a broad
market average, and we are able to
calculate them on a tax-exclusive basis.
See 19 CFR 351.408(c)(1). For a detailed
discussion of all surrogate values used
for this preliminary determination, see
Surrogate Value Memo.
Wireking stated that we should use
the WTA data for valuing all inputs
even though the WTA data available for
wire rod represents a basket category
consisting of wire rod 14mm or less in
diameter. This data, however, is less
specific to the reported inputs than the
JPC price data. Wireking argued that the
Department reject the use of the JPC
price data because it includes
information from steel companies that
have received domestic subsidies as
indicated on their financial statements
which Wireking has placed on the
record of this proceeding. Wireking
asserts that the JPC data are affected by
these subsidies and therefore we should
not use the JPC data to value low carbon
steel wire rod.
On the one hand, the advantage of the
JPC data are that they are from an
official government source and are far
more specific to the input in question.
However, we are mindful of the
concerns of Wireking. Bearing those
concerns in mind, in selecting between
the two datasets we are selecting the
dataset more specific to the input in
question. We will consider this issue for
the final determination, and we invite
all parties to comment on the proper
balancing of these considerations.
Use of Facts Available for Wireking’s
Unit Weights
Section 776(a)(1) of the Act mandates
that the Department use facts available
if necessary information is not available
on the record of an antidumping
proceeding. In this investigation,
Wireking reported that does not
maintain production records that
reports per-unit consumption of each
FOP to specific products. See Wireking
Section D Supplemental Questionnaire
Response, (February 5, 2009) at 2.
Accordingly, Wireking reported that it
has calculated its FOPs by dividing, at
each production stage, the total POI
volume of each FOP consumed by the
total volume of all products, subject and
non-subject, generated at that stage.
Then, Wireking reported that it then
multiplied the FOP ratio by the unit
weight of the finished product. See id.,
at 3 and Exhibit D–7.
In their February 17, 2009,
submission, Petitioners submitted data
gathered from Wireking’s submitted
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
packing lists and Petitioners’ own
production experience of certain
products that allegedly demonstrated
that Wireking’s reported unit weights
were understated. After comparing
Petitioners’ production experience of
certain products and the unit weight of
products reported in Wireking’s packing
lists to Wireking’s reported unit
weights, we find that Wireking has
understated the unit weights of its
finished products. See Wireking’s
Analysis Memo, at Attachment 4,
Petitioners’ February 17, 2009,
Submission on Underreported Steel
Weights, at 6 and Attachment 3.
Additionally, because Wireking
reported that it multiplied its FOP ratios
by the unit weight of the finished
product to obtain the per-unit
consumption ratio of finished product,
we also find that Wireking has
understated its FOP ratios. Therefore,
pursuant to section 776(a)(2)(B) of the
Act, Wireking has not provided accurate
information relevant to the
Department’s analysis. Thus, consistent
with section 782(d) of the Act, the
Department has determined it is
necessary to apply facts otherwise
available to Wireking’s unit weight of
each finished product to calculate
Wireking’s NV based on its reported
FOP data. To account for the correct
per-unit consumption ratio of each of
Wireking’s finished product, the
Department has preliminarily
determined to increase Wireking’s
reported FOP data by the difference in
Wireking’s reported unit weight and the
unit weight reported in Wireking’s
packing list. Additionally, where there
was no packing list on the record of the
unit weight for various finished
products, the Department has
preliminarily determined to increase
Wireking’s reported FOP data for these
finished products by the weightedaverage difference of the unit weights
for the finished products that are on the
record. Moreover, to account for the
correct weight of finished product to
convert certain surrogate values to
Wireking’s reported U.S. price per
piece, the Department has also
preliminarily determined to increase
Wireking’s reported unit weight of each
finished product by the weight
difference, as discussed above. See
Wireking’s Analysis Memo.
Currency Conversion
We made currency conversions into
U.S. dollars, in accordance with section
773A(a) of the Act, based on the
exchange rates in effect on the dates of
the U.S. sales as certified by the Federal
Reserve Bank.
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Verification
Combination Rates
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the
Act, we intend to verify the information
upon which we will rely in making our
final determination.
In the Initiation Notice, the
Department stated that it would
calculate combination rates for certain
respondents that are eligible for a
separate rate in this investigation. See
Initiation Notice, 72 FR at 60806. This
practice is described in Policy Bulletin
05.1, available at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/.
Preliminary Determination
The weighted-average dumping
margins are as follows:
Weightedaverage
margin
Exporter
Producer
Guandong Wireking Housewares & Hardware Co., Ltd. (a/k/a
Foshan Shunde Wireking Housewares & Hardware Co.,
Ltd.).
New King Shan (Zhu Hai) Co., Ltd. ............................................
Guandong Wireking Housewares & Hardware Co., Ltd. ...........
25.66
New King Shan (Zhu Hai) Co., Ltd. ...........................................
17.15
Producer .................................................................................
Margin
Leader Metal Industry Co., Ltd. (a/k/a Marmon Retail Services
Asia).
Hangzhou Dunli Industry Co., Ltd. ............................................
Jiangsu Weixi Group Co. ...........................................................
....................................................................................................
21.41
Separate Rates Entities
Marmon Retail Services Asia .....................................................
Hangzhou Dunli Import & Export Co., Ltd. .................................
Jiangsu Weixi Group Co. ............................................................
PRC-wide Entity (including Asber Enterprise Co., Ltd. (China))
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Disclosure
We will disclose the calculations
performed within five days of the date
of publication of this notice to parties in
this proceeding in accordance with 19
CFR 351.224(b).
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d) of
the Act, we will instruct CBP to suspend
liquidation of all entries of subject
certain kitchen appliance shelving and
racks from the PRC as described in the
‘‘Scope of Investigation’’ section,
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse,
for consumption from Wireking, New
King Shan, Marmon Retail Services
Asia, Hangzhou Dunli Import & Export
Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Weixi Group Co., and
the PRC-wide entity on or after the date
of publication of this notice in the
Federal Register. We will instruct CBP
to require a cash deposit or the posting
of a bond equal to the weighted-average
amount by which the normal value
exceeds U.S. price, as indicated above.
Additionally, as the Department has
determined in its Certain Kitchen
Appliance Shelving and Racks From the
People’s Republic of China: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination and Alignment of Final
Countervailing Duty Determination With
Final Antidumping Duty Determination,
74 FR 683 (January 7, 2009) (‘‘CVD
Prelim’’) that the product under
investigation, exported and produced by
Wireking, benefitted from an export
subsidy we will we instruct CBP to
require an antidumping cash deposit or
posting of a bond equal to the weightedaverage amount by which the NV
exceeds the EP, as indicated above,
minus the amount determined to
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
Jkt 217001
constitute an export subsidy. See, e.g.
Notice of Final Determination of Sales
at Less Than Fair Value: Carbazole
Violet Pigment 23 From India, 69 FR
67306, 67307 (November 17, 2007).
Therefore, for merchandise under
consideration exported and produced by
Wireking entered or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after
publication date of this preliminary
determination, we will instruct CBP to
require an antidumping duty cash
deposit or the posting of a bond for each
entry equal to the weighted-average
margin indicated above adjusted for the
export subsidy rate determined in the
CVD Prelim (i.e., Income Tax reduction
for Export Oriented FIEs:
countervailable subsidy of 0.94 percent;
and Local Income Tax Reduction for
‘‘Productive’’ FIEs: countervailable
subsidy of 0.23 percent). The adjusted
cash deposit rate for Wireking is 24.49
percent.
Furthermore, in the CVD Prelim,
Wireking’s rate was assigned to the allothers rate as it was the only rate that
was not zero, de minimis or based on
total facts available. See CVD Prelim, 74
FR at 693. Accordingly, as the
countervailing duty rate for New King
Shan, Marmon Retail Services Asia,
Hangzhou Dunli Import & Export Co.,
Ltd., Jiangsu Weixi Group Co. is the all
others rate, which includes the two
countervailable export subsides listed
above, we will also instruct CBP to
require an antidumping duty cash
deposit or the posting of a bond for each
entry equal to the weighted-average
margin indicated above for these
companies adjusted for the export
subsidies determined in the CVD
Prelim. The adjusted cash deposit rate
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
21.41
21.41
96.45
for New King Shan is 15.98 percent and
the adjusted cash deposit rate for
Marmon Retail Services Asia, Hangzhou
Dunli Import & Export Co., Ltd., Jiangsu
Weixi Group Co. is 20.24 percent.
International Trade Commission
Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of
the Act, we have notified the ITC of our
preliminary affirmative determination of
sales at less than fair value. Section
735(b)(2) of the Act requires the ITC to
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 of certain kitchen
appliance shelving and racks, or sales
(or the likelihood of sales) for
importation, of the merchandise under
investigation within 45 days of our final
determination.
Public Comment
Case briefs or other written comments
may be submitted to the Assistant
Secretary for Import Administration no
later than seven days after the date on
which the final verification report is
issued in this proceeding and rebuttal
briefs limited to issues raised in case
briefs and must be received no later
than five days after the deadline date for
case briefs. See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(i) and
(d). A list of authorities used and an
executive summary of issues should
accompany any briefs submitted to the
Department. This summary should be
limited to five pages total, including
footnotes.
In accordance with section 774 of the
Act, and if requested, we will hold a
public hearing, to afford interested
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 42 / Thursday, March 5, 2009 / Notices
parties an opportunity to comment on
arguments raised in case or rebuttal
briefs. If a request for a hearing is made,
we intend to hold the hearing shortly
after the deadline of submission of
rebuttal briefs at the U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Ave, 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
two days before the scheduled date.
Interested parties who wish to request
a hearing, or to participate if one is
requested, must submit a written
request to the Assistant Secretary for
Import Administration, U.S. Department
of Commerce, Room 1870, within 30
days after the date of publication of this
notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Requests
should contain the party’s name,
address, and telephone number, the
number of participants, and a list of the
issues to be discussed. At the hearing,
each party may make an affirmative
presentation only on issues raised in
that party’s case brief and may make
rebuttal presentations only on
arguments included in that party’s
rebuttal brief.
Postponement of Final Determination
and Extension of Provisional Measures
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the
Act, on February 23, 2009, Wireking
requested that in the event of an
affirmative preliminary determination
in this investigation, the Department
postpone its final determination by 60
days. Wireking also requested that the
Department extend the application of
the provisional measures prescribed
under 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2) from a 4month period to a 6-month period. In
accordance with section 733(d) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b), because (1)
our 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, we are granting the request and
are postponing the final determination
until no later than 135 days after the
publication of this notice in the Federal
Register. Suspension of liquidation will
be extended accordingly.
This determination is issued and published
in accordance with sections 733(f) and
777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: February 26, 2009.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration.
[FR Doc. E9–4612 Filed 3–4–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
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16:49 Mar 04, 2009
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Department of Education.
SUMMARY: The Director, Information
Collection Clearance Division,
Regulatory Information Management
Services, Office of Management invites
comments on the submission for OMB
review as required by the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before April 6,
2009.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should
be addressed to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Attention: Education Desk Officer,
Office of Management and Budget, 725
17th Street, NW., Room 10222, New
Executive Office Building, Washington,
DC 20503 or faxed to (202) 395–6974.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires
that the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) provide interested
Federal agencies and the public an early
opportunity to comment on information
collection requests. OMB may amend or
waive the requirement for public
consultation to the extent that public
participation in the approval process
would defeat the purpose of the
information collection, violate State or
Federal law, or substantially interfere
with any agency’s ability to perform its
statutory obligations. The Director,
Regulatory Information Management
Services, Office of Management,
publishes that notice containing
proposed information collection
requests prior to submission of these
requests to OMB. Each proposed
information collection, grouped by
office, contains the following: (1) Type
of review requested, e.g. new, revision,
extension, existing or reinstatement; (2)
Title; (3) Summary of the collection; (4)
Description of the need for, and
proposed use of, the information; (5)
Respondents and frequency of
collection; and (6) Reporting and/or
recordkeeping burden. OMB invites
public comment.
Frequency: Annually.
Affected Public: Businesses or other
for-profit; State, Local, or Tribal Gov’t,
SEAs or LEAs.
Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour
Burden:
Responses: 50.
Burden Hours: 4,000.
Abstract: The Local Flexibility
Demonstration (Local-Flex) program
provides participating local educational
agencies (LEAs) with unprecedented
flexibility to consolidate certain Federal
education funds and to use those funds
for any educational purpose under the
Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA) in order to meet the State’s
definition of adequate yearly progress
and attain specific measurable goals for
improving student achievement and
narrowing achievement gaps. The
application package contains
information applicants will need to
prepare and submit their Local-Flex
proposals.
Requests for copies of the information
collection submission for OMB review
may be accessed from https://
edicsweb.ed.gov, by selecting the
‘‘Browse Pending Collections’’ link and
by clicking on link number 3923. When
you access the information collection,
click on ‘‘Download Attachments’’ to
view. Written requests for information
should be addressed to U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW., LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537.
Requests may also be electronically
mailed to the Internet address
ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed to 202–
401–0920. Please specify the complete
title of the information collection when
making your request.
Comments regarding burden and/or
the collection activity requirements
should be electronically mailed to
ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. Individuals who
use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–
800–877–8339.
[FR Doc. E9–4741 Filed 3–4–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
Dated: February 17, 2009.
Angela C. Arrington,
Director, Information Collections Clearance
Division, Regulatory Information
Management Services, Office of Management.
AGENCY: U.S. Election Assistance
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of public hearing agenda.
Office of Elementary and Secondary
Education
Type of Review: Revision.
Title: Local Flexibility Demonstration
Program (Local-Flex) Application
Package.
DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, March 17,
2009, 1–3 p.m.
PLACE: U.S. Election Assistance
Commission, 1225 New York Ave, NW.,
Suite 150, Washington, DC 20005
(Metro Stop: Metro Center).
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Sunshine Act Notice
E:\FR\FM\05MRN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 42 (Thursday, March 5, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9591-9604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-4612]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-941]
Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks From the People's
Republic of China: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value and Postponement of Final Determination
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
DATES: Effective Date: March 5, 2009.
SUMMARY: We preliminarily determine that certain kitchen appliance
shelving and racks from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') are
being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair
value (``LTFV''), as provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930,
as amended (``Act''). The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are shown
in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice. Interested
parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Hancock or Katie Marksberry, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 9, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
1394 or (202) 482-7906, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Initiation
On July 31, 2008, Nashville Wire Products Inc., SSW Holding
Company, Inc., United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber Manufacturing,
Energy, Allied-Industrial and Service Workers International Union, and
the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers,
District Lodge 6 (Clinton IA) (hereafter referred to as the
``Petitioners'') filed a antidumping duty petition on PRC imports of
kitchen appliance shelving and racks. See Petition for the Imposition
of Antidumping Duties: Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks
From the People's Republic of China (in two volumes), dated July 31,
2008 (``Petition''). The Department of Commerce (``Department'')
initiated this investigation on August 20, 2008. See Certain Kitchen
Appliance Shelving and Racks From the People's Republic of China:
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigation, 73 FR 50596 (August 27,
2008) (``Initiation Notice'').
On September 22, 2008, the United States International Trade
Commission (``ITC'') issued its affirmative preliminary determination
that there is a reasonable indication that an industry in the United
States is materially injured by reason of imports from the PRC of
certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks. The ITC's determination
was published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2008. See
Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks From China, 73 FR 55132
(September 24, 2008); see also Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and
Racks From China: Investigation No. 731-TA-458 and 731-TA-1154
(Preliminary), USITC Publication 4035 (September 2008).
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to our regulations, we set aside a
period of time for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage
and encouraged all parties to submit comments within 20 calendar days
of publication of the Initiation Notice. See Antidumping Duties;
Countervailing Duties; Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
See also Initiation Notice, 73 FR at 50596. We received no comments
from interested parties on issues related to the scope. However, on
February 5, 2009, we placed a memorandum to the file on the record of
this investigation stating that the companion countervailing duty
investigation team at the Department spoke with the National Import
Specialist at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') who
indicated the Department should include the additional Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (``USHTS'') number 8418.99.80.60
to the scope of the investigation. See Memorandum to the File from
Katie Marksberry dated February 5, 2009. Therefore, we are adding the
HTS number 8418.99.80.60 to the scope of this investigation for this
preliminary determination. The Department did not receive any comments
on the change to the scope of this investigation. See ``Scope of
Investigation'' section below.
Period of Investigation
The period of investigation (``POI'') is January 1, 2008, through
June 30, 2008. This period corresponds to the two most recent fiscal
quarters prior to the month of the filing of the petition (July 31,
2008). See 19 CFR 351.204(b)(1).
Respondent Selection
In the Initiation Notice, the Department stated that it intended to
select respondents based on quantity and value (``Q&V'')
questionnaires. See Initiation Notice, 73 FR at 50598-50599. On
September 8, 2008, the Department requested Q&V information from the 12
companies that Petitioners identified as potential exporters or
producers of certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks from the PRC.
See Petition at Vol 1., Exhibit 3. Additionally, the Department also
posted the Q&V questionnaire for this investigation on its Web site at
www.trade.gov/ia.
The Department received timely Q&V responses from six exporters
that shipped merchandise under investigation to the United States
during the POI, and from one company who stated it had no shipments of
merchandise under investigation to the United States during the POI. On
[[Page 9592]]
October 8, 2008, the Department selected Guandong Wireking Housewares &
Hardware Co., Ltd. (``Wireking'') and Asber Enterprise Co., Ltd.
(China) (``Asber'') as mandatory respondents in this investigation. See
October 8, 2008, Memorandum to the File, from Julia Hancock, Senior
International Trade Analyst, through Catherine Bertrand, Program
Manager, and James C. Doyle, Director, to Stephen J. Claeys, Deputy
Assistant Secretary, regarding Selection of Respondents for the
Antidumping Investigation of Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and
Racks from the People's Republic of China (``Respondent Selection
Memo''). The Department sent its antidumping duty questionnaire to
Asber and Wireking on October 8, 2008. On October 23, 2008, Asber filed
a letter stating that it will not participate as a mandatory respondent
in this investigation. See Letter to the Department from Asber dated
October 23, 2008. On November 19, 2008, the Department selected New
King Shan (Zhu Hai) Co., Ltd. (``New King Shan'') as an additional
mandatory respondent because it was the next largest producer/exporter
of those companies that submitted Q&V responses. See November 19, 2008,
Memorandum to the File, from Julia Hancock, Senior International Trade
Analyst and Blaine Wiltse, International Trade Analyst, through
Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager, and James C. Doyle, Director, to
Stephen J. Claeys, Deputy Assistant Secretary, regarding Selection of
an Additional Mandatory Respondent. (``Additional Respondent Selection
Memo'').
Separate Rates Applications
Between October 23, 2008, and October 29, 2008, we received timely
filed separate-rate applications (``SRA'') from three companies:
Jiangsu Weixi Group Co., Marmon Retail Services Asia, and Hangzhou
Dunli Import & Export Co., Ltd.
Product Characteristics & Questionnaires
In the Initiation Notice, the Department asked all parties in this
investigation for comments on the appropriate product characteristics
for defining individual products. On September 29, 2008, we received
comments from Petitioners regarding product characteristics. On October
8, 2008 the Department issued its antidumping duty questionnaire to
Asber and Wireking, and on November 21, 2008, the Department issued its
antidumping duty questionnaire to New King Shan. Wireking and New King
Shan submitted responses to the Department's questionnaire. As stated
above, Asber did not submit questionnaire responses.
Surrogate Country Comments
On September 29, 2008, the Department determined that India,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Colombia, and Thailand are countries
comparable to the PRC in terms of economic development. See Letter to
All Interested Parties, from Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager,
Office 9, AD/CVD Operations, regarding ``Antidumping Duty Investigation
of Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks From the People's Republic of
China,'' (``Surrogate Country Letter''), attaching September 29, 2008,
Memorandum to Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager, Office 9, AD/CVD
Operations, from Carole Showers, Acting Director, Office of Policy,
regarding ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Kitchen Appliance
Shelving and Racks from the People's Republic of China (PRC): Request
for List of Surrogate Countries.''
On September 29, 2008, the Department requested comments on
surrogate country selection from the interested parties in this
investigation. On January 26, 2009, Petitioners submitted surrogate
country comments. No other interested parties commented on the
selection of a surrogate country. For a detailed discussion of the
selection of the surrogate country, see ``Surrogate Country'' section
below.
Surrogate Value Comments
On December 4, 2008, December 17, 2008, and January 21, 2009, the
Department extended the deadline for interested parties to submit
surrogate information with which to value the factors of production in
this proceeding. On January 26, 2009, Petitioners and Wireking
submitted surrogate value comments. On February 2, 2009, Petitioners
and Wireking submitted clarifying surrogate value comments.
Postponement of Preliminary Determination
Pursuant to section 733(c) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(f)(1), the
Department extended the preliminary determination by 50 days. The
Department published a postponement of the preliminary determination on
December 23, 2008. See Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks
From the People's Republic of China: Postponement of Preliminary
Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation, 73 FR 78721
(December 23, 2008).
Scope of Investigation
The scope of this investigation consists of shelving and racks for
refrigerators, freezers, combined refrigerator-freezers, other
refrigerating or freezing equipment, cooking stoves, ranges, and ovens
(``certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks'' or ``the merchandise
under investigation''). Certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks
are defined as shelving, baskets, racks (with or without extension
slides, which are carbon or stainless steel hardware devices that are
connected to shelving, baskets, or racks to enable sliding), side racks
(which are welded wire support structures for oven racks that attach to
the interior walls of an oven cavity that does not include support ribs
as a design feature), and subframes (which are welded wire support
structures that interface with formed support ribs inside an oven
cavity to support oven rack assemblies utilizing extension slides) with
the following dimensions:
-- Shelving and racks with dimensions ranging from 3 inches by 5
inches by 0.10 inch to 28 inches by 34 inches by 6 inches; or
-- Baskets with dimensions ranging from 2 inches by 4 inches by 3
inches to 28 inches by 34 inches by 16 inches; or
-- Side racks from 6 inches by 8 inches by 0.1 inch to 16 inches by
30 inches by 4 inches; or
-- Subframes from 6 inches by 10 inches by 0.1 inch to 28 inches by
34 inches by 6 inches.
The merchandise under investigation is comprised of carbon or
stainless steel wire ranging in thickness from 0.050 inch to 0.500 inch
and may include sheet metal of either carbon or stainless steel ranging
in thickness from 0.020 inch to 0.2 inch. The merchandise under
investigation may be coated or uncoated and may be formed and/or
welded. Excluded from the scope of this investigation is shelving in
which the support surface is glass.
The merchandise subject to this investigation is currently
classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(``HTSUS'') statistical reporting numbers 8418.99.8050, 8418.99.8060,
7321.90.5000, 7321.90.6090, and 8516.90.8000. Although the HTSUS
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the
written description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.
Non-Market Economy Country
For purposes of initiation, Petitioners submitted LTFV analyses for
the PRC as a non-market economy (``NME''). See
[[Page 9593]]
Initiation Notice, 73 FR at 50598. The Department considers the PRC to
be a NME country. See Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination: Coated Free Sheet
Paper From the People's Republic of China, 72 FR 30758, 30760 (June 4,
2007), unchanged in Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Coated Free Sheet Paper From the People's Republic of China, 72
FR 60632 (October 25, 2007). In accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i)
of the Act, any determination that a foreign country is an NME country
shall remain in effect until revoked by the administering authority. No
party has challenged the designation of the PRC as an NME country in
this investigation. Therefore, we continue to treat the PRC as an NME
country for purposes of this preliminary determination.
Surrogate Country
When the Department is investigating imports from an NME, section
773(c)(1) of the Act directs it to base normal value, in most
circumstances, on the NME producer's factors of production (``FOP'')
valued in a surrogate market-economy country or countries considered to
be appropriate by the Department. In accordance with section 773(c)(4)
of the Act, in valuing the FOPs, the Department shall utilize, to the
extent possible, the prices or costs of FOPs in one or more market-
economy countries that are at a level of economic development
comparable to that of the NME country and are significant producers of
comparable merchandise. The sources of the surrogate values we have
used in this investigation are discussed under the ``Normal Value''
section below.
The Department's practice with respect to determining economic
comparability is explained in Policy Bulletin 04.1,\1\ which states
that ``OP (Office of Policy) determines per capita economic
comparability on the basis of per capita gross national income, as
reported in the most current annual issue of the World Development
Report (The World Bank).'' The Department considers the five countries
identified in its Surrogate Country List as ``equally comparable in
terms of economic development.'' See Policy Bulletin 04.1 at 2. Thus,
we find that India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Colombia, and Thailand
are all at an economic level of development equally comparable to that
of the PRC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Policy Bulletin 04.1: Non-Market Economy Surrogate
Country Selection Process, (March 1, 2004), (``Policy Bulletin
04.1'') at Attachment II of the Department's Surrogate Country
Letter, also available at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/policy/bull04-1.html
_____________________________________-
Policy Bulletin 04.1 provides some guidance on identifying
comparable merchandise and selecting a producer of comparable
merchandise. As noted in the Policy Bulletin, comparable merchandise is
not defined in the statute or the regulations, since it is best
determined on a case-by-case basis. See Policy Bulletin 04.1 at 2. As
further noted in Policy Bulletin 04.1, in all cases, if identical
merchandise is produced, the country qualifies as a producer of
comparable merchandise. Id.
The Department examined worldwide export data for comparable
merchandise, using the six-digit level of the HTS numbers listed in the
scope language for this investigation.\2\ Specifically, we reviewed the
POI export data from the World Trade Atlas (``WTA'') for the HTS
headings 7321.09, 8516.90, 8418.99. The Department found that, of the
countries provided in the Surrogate Country List, all five countries
were exporters of comparable merchandise. Thus, all countries on the
Surrogate Country List are considered as appropriate surrogates because
each exported comparable merchandise.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Because the Department was unable to find production data,
we relied on export data as a substitute for overall production data
in this case.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Policy Bulletin 04.1 also provides some guidance on identifying
significant producers of comparable merchandise and selecting a
producer of comparable merchandise. Further analysis was required to
determine whether any of the countries which produce comparable
merchandise are ``significant'' producers of that comparable
merchandise. The data we obtained shows that, during the POI, worldwide
exports for these HTS numbers were: 2,396,007 kilograms from Colombia;
1,758,325 kilograms from India; 6,615,309 kilograms from Indonesia;
450,110 kilograms from Philippines; and 8,833,547 kilograms from
Thailand. Thus, all countries on the Surrogate Country List are
considered as appropriate surrogates because each exported significant
comparable merchandise. Finally, we have reliable data from India on
the record that we can use to value the FOPs. Petitioners and Wireking
submitted surrogate values using Indian sources, suggesting greater
availability of appropriate surrogate value data in India.
As noted above, the Department only received surrogate country
comments from Petitioners, which favored selection of India. The
Department is preliminarily selecting India as the surrogate country on
the basis that: (1) It is at a similar level of economic development
pursuant to section 773(c)(4) of the Act; (2) it is a significant
producer of comparable merchandise; and (3) we have reliable data from
India that we can use to value the FOPs. Thus, we have calculated NV
using Indian prices when available and appropriate to the respondents'
FOPs. See Memorandum to the File from Julia Hancock, through Catherine
Bertrand, Program Manager, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9, and James C.
Doyle, Director, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9: Certain Kitchen Appliance
Shelving and Racks from the People's Republic of China: Surrogate
Values for the Preliminary Determination, (February 26, 2009)
(``Surrogate Value Memorandum''). In accordance with 19 CFR
351.301(c)(3)(i), for the final determination in an antidumping
investigation, interested parties may submit publicly available
information to value the FOPs within 40 days after the date of
publication of the preliminary determination.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ In accordance with 19 CFR 351.301(c)(1), for the final
determination of this investigation, interested parties may submit
factual information to rebut, clarify, or correct factual
information submitted by an interested party less than ten days
before, on, or after, the applicable deadline for submission of such
factual information. However, the Department notes that 19 CFR
351.301(c)(1) permits new information only insofar as it rebuts,
clarifies, or corrects information recently placed on the record.
The Department generally will not accept the submission of
additional, previously absent-from-the-record alternative surrogate
value information pursuant to 19 CFR 351.301(c)(1). See Glycine from
the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review and Final Rescission, in Part, 72 FR 58809
(October 17, 2007) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum
at Comment 2.
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Affiliations
Section 771(33) of the Act, provides that:
The following persons shall be considered to be ``affiliated'' or
``affiliated persons'':
(A) Members of a family, including brothers and sisters (whether by
the whole or half blood), spouse, ancestors, and lineal descendants.
(B) Any officer or director of an organization and such
organization.
(C) Partners.
(D) Employer and employee.
(E) Any person directly or indirectly owning, controlling, or
holding with power to vote, 5 percent or more of the outstanding voting
stock or shares of any organization and such organization.
(F) Two or more persons directly or indirectly controlling,
controlled by, or under common control with, any person.
[[Page 9594]]
(G) Any person who controls any other person and such other person.
Additionally, section 771(33) of the Act stipulates that: ``For
purposes of this paragraph, a person shall be considered to control
another person if the person is legally or operationally in a position
to exercise restraint or direction over the other person.''
Wireking
Based on the evidence on the record in this investigation and based
on the evidence presented in Wireking's questionnaire responses, we
preliminarily find that Wireking is affiliated with Company G,\4\ which
was involved in Wireking's sales process, and other companies, pursuant
to sections 771(33)(E), (F) and (G) of the Act, based on ownership and
common control. In addition to being affiliated, there is a significant
potential for price manipulation based on the level of common ownership
and control, shared management, shared offices, and an intertwining of
business operations. See 19 CFR 351.401(f)(1) and (2). Accordingly, we
find that Wireking and Company G should be considered as a single
entity for purposes of this investigation. See 19 CFR 351.401(f). For a
detailed discussion of this issue, see Wireking Affiliation Memo.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The identity of this company is business proprietary
information; for further discussion of this company, see Memorandum
to Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9,
from Julia Hancock, Senior Case Analyst, AD/CVD Operations, Office
9: Preliminary Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation
of Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks from the People's
Republic of China: Affiliation Memorandum of Wireking, (February 26,
2009)(''Wireking Affiliation Memo'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
New King Shan
Based on the evidence on the record in this investigation and based
on the evidence presented in New King Shan's questionnaire responses,
we preliminarily find that New King Shan is affiliated with Company A,
Company B, Company C, and Company D,\5\ pursuant to sections
771(33)(A), (E), (F), and (G) of the Act, based on ownership and common
control. For a detailed discussion of this issue, see New King Shan
Affiliation Memo.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ The identites of these companies are business proprietary;
for further discussion of these companies, see Memorandum to the
File from Katie Marksberry, Case Analyst: Preliminary Determination
of Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Kitchen Appliance
Shelving and Racks from the People's Republic of China: Affiliation
Memorandum of New King Shan (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd., (February 26, 2009)
(``New King Shan Affiliation Memo'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Separate Rates
In proceedings involving NME countries, there is a rebuttable
presumption that all companies within the country are subject to
government control and thus should be assessed a single antidumping
duty rate. See Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip from
the People's Republic of China: Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value, 73 FR 55039, 55040 (Sept. 24, 2008) (PET Film LTFV
Final). It is the Department's policy to assign all exporters of
merchandise subject to investigation in an NME country this single rate
unless an exporter can demonstrate that it is sufficiently independent
so as to be entitled to a separate rate. See Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sparklers From the People's Republic of
China, 56 FR 20588 (May 6, 1991); see also Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Silicon Carbide From
the People's Republic of China, 59 FR 22585 (May 2, 1994), and section
19 CFR 351.107(d) of the Department's regulations.
In the Initiation Notice, the Department notified parties of the
application process by which exporters and producers may obtain
separate rate status in NME investigations. See Initiation Notice, 73
FR at 17321. The process requires exporters and producers to submit a
separate-rate status application. The Department's practice is
discussed further in Policy Bulletin 05.1: Separate-Rates Practice and
Application of Combination Rates in Antidumping Investigations
Involving Non-Market Economy Countries, (April 5, 2005), (``Policy
Bulletin 05.1'') available at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/policy/bull05-
1.pdf.\6\
_____________________________________-
\6\ The Policy Bulletin 05.1, states: ``{w{time} hile continuing
the practice of assigning separate rates only to exporters, all
separate rates that the Department will now assign in its NME
investigations will be specific to those producers that supplied the
exporter during the period of investigation. Note, however, that one
rate is calculated for the exporter and all of the producers which
supplied subject merchandise to it during the period of
investigation. This practice applies both to mandatory respondents
receiving an individually calculated separate rate as well as the
pool of non-investigated firms receiving the weighted-average of the
individually calculated rates. This practice is referred to as the
application of ``combination rates'' because such rates apply to
specific combinations of exporters and one or more producers. The
cash-deposit rate assigned to an exporter will apply only to
merchandise both exported by the firm in question and produced by a
firm that supplied the exporter during the period of investigation.
See Policy Bulletin 05.1 at 6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jiangsu Weixi Group Co., Marmon Retail Services Asia, Hangzhou
Dunli Import & Export Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ``Separate
Rate Companies''), and Wireking and New King Shan, the mandatory
respondents, have provided company-specific information to demonstrate
that they operate independently of de jure and de facto government
control or are wholly foreign owned, and therefore satisfy the
standards for the assignment of a separate rate.
We have considered whether each PRC company that submitted a
complete application or complete Section A Response as a mandatory
respondent is eligible for a separate rate. The Department's separate
rate test is not concerned, in general, with macroeconomic/border-type
controls, e.g., export licenses, quotas, and minimum export prices,
particularly if these controls are imposed to prevent dumping. See
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain
Preserved Mushrooms from the People's Republic of China, 63 FR 72255,
72256 (December 31, 1998). The test focuses, rather, on controls over
the investment, pricing, and output decision-making process at the
individual firm level. See Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate
from Ukraine: Final Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value, 62
FR 61754, 61758 (November 19, 1997), and Tapered Roller Bearings and
Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, from the People's Republic of
China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 62 FR
61276, 61279 (November 17, 1997).
To establish whether a firm is sufficiently independent from
government control of its export activities to be entitled to a
separate rate, the Department analyzes each entity exporting the
merchandise under investigation under a test arising from the Notice of
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sparklers from
the People's Republic of China, 56 FR 20588 (May 6, 1991)
(``Sparklers''), as further developed in Notice of Final Determination
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Silicon Carbide from the People's
Republic of China, 59 FR 22585 (May 2, 1994) (``Silicon Carbide''). In
accordance with the separate rate criteria, the Department assigns
separate rates in NME cases only if respondents can demonstrate the
absence of both de jure and de facto governmental control over export
activities.
1. Absence of De Jure Control
The Department considers the following de jure criteria in
determining whether an individual company may be granted a separate
rate: (1) An absence of restrictive stipulations associated with an
individual exporter's business
[[Page 9595]]
and export licenses; (2) any legislative enactments decentralizing
control of companies; and (3) other formal measures by the government
decentralizing control of companies. See Sparklers, 56 FR at 20589.
The evidence provided by the Separate Rate Companies, Wireking, and
New King Shan supports a preliminary finding of de jure absence of
governmental control based on the following: (1) An absence of
restrictive stipulations associated with the individual exporter's
business and export licenses; (2) the applicable legislative enactments
decentralizing control of the companies; and (3) any other formal
measures by the government decentralizing control of companies. See,
e.g., Jiangsu Weixi Group Co.'s October 23, 2008, SRA at 5-8; Jiangsu
Weixi Group Co.'s December 19, 2008, SRA at 4; Hangzhou Dunli Import &
Export Co., Ltd.'s October 29, 2009, SRA at 12-17; New King Shan's
October 27, 2008, SRA at 12-16; and Wireking's November 12, 2008
Section A Response at 4-7.
2. Absence of De Facto Control
Typically the Department considers four factors in evaluating
whether each respondent is subject to de facto governmental control of
its export functions: (1) Whether the export prices are set by or are
subject to the approval of a governmental agency; (2) whether the
respondent has authority to negotiate and sign contracts and other
agreements; (3) whether the respondent has autonomy from the government
in making decisions regarding the selection of management; and (4)
whether the respondent retains the proceeds of its export sales and
makes independent decisions regarding disposition of profits or
financing of losses. See Silicon Carbide, 59 FR at 22586-87; see also
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Furfuryl Alcohol From the People's Republic of China, 60 FR 22544,
22545 (May 8, 1995). The Department has determined that an analysis of
de facto control is critical in determining whether respondents are, in
fact, subject to a degree of governmental control which would preclude
the Department from assigning separate rates.
We determine that, for the Separate Rate Companies, Wireking, and
New King Shan, the evidence on the record supports a preliminary
finding of de facto absence of governmental control based on record
statements and supporting documentation showing the following: (1) Each
exporter sets its own export prices independent of the government and
without the approval of a government authority; (2) each exporter
retains the proceeds from its sales and makes independent decisions
regarding disposition of profits or financing of losses; (3) each
exporter has the authority to negotiate and sign contracts and other
agreements; and 4) each exporter has autonomy from the government
regarding the selection of management. See, e.g., Jiangsu Weixi Group
Co.'s October 23, 2008, SRA at 9-15; Jiangsu Weixi Group Co.'s December
19, 2008, SRA at 5; Hangzhou Dunli Import & Export Co., Ltd.'s October
29, 2009, SRA at 21-25; New King Shan's October 27, 2008, SRA at 16-19;
and Wireking's November 12, 2008 Section A Response at 7-11.
3. Wholly Foreign-Owned
In its separate-rate application, one separate rate company, Marmon
Retail Services Asia, reported that it is wholly owned by individuals
or companies located in a market economy country. Therefore, because it
is wholly foreign-owned, and we have no evidence indicating that it is
under the control of the PRC, a separate rate analysis is not necessary
to determine whether this company is independent from government
control. See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Creatine Monohydrate From the People's Republic of China, 64 FR
71104-71105 (December 20, 1999) (where the respondent was wholly
foreign-owned, and thus, qualified for a separate rate). Accordingly,
we have preliminarily granted a separate rate to this company.
The evidence placed on the record of this investigation by the
Separate Rate Companies, Wireking, and New King Shan demonstrates an
absence of de jure and de facto government control with respect to each
of the exporter's exports of the merchandise under investigation, in
accordance with the criteria identified in Sparklers and Silicon
Carbide. As a result, we have granted the Separate Rate Companies a
weighted-average margin based on the experience of mandatory
respondents and excluding any de minimis or zero rates or rates based
on total adverse facts available (``AFA'') for the purposes of this
preliminary determination. In addition, for the reasons outlined above,
we have preliminarily granted Wireking and New King Shan separate rate
status.
Application of Adverse Facts Available, the PRC-Wide Entity and PRC-
Wide Rate
The Department has data that indicate there were more exporters of
certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks from the PRC than those
indicated in the response to our request for Q&V information during the
POI. See Respondent Selection Memorandum. We issued our request for Q&V
information to 12 potential Chinese exporters of the merchandise under
investigation, in addition to posting the Q&V questionnaire on the
Department's Web site. While information on the record of this
investigation indicates that there are other producers/exporters of
certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks in the PRC, we received
only seven timely filed Q&V responses. Although all exporters were
given an opportunity to provide Q&V information, not all exporters
provided a response to the Department's Q&V letter. Furthermore, Asber,
which did respond to the Department's Q&V questionnaire and reported
shipments during the POI, did not respond to the Department's full
anti-dumping duty questionnaire. Therefore, the Department has
preliminarily determined that there were exporters/producers of the
merchandise under investigation during the POI from the PRC that did
not respond to the Department's request for information. We have
treated these PRC producers/exporters, including Asber, as part of the
PRC-wide entity because they did not qualify for a separate rate. See,
e.g., Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Postponement of Final Determination, and Preliminary Partial
Determination of Critical Circumstances: Diamond Sawblades and Parts
Thereof From the People's Republic of China, 70 FR 77121, 77128
(December 29, 2005), and unchanged in Final Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value and Final Partial Affirmative Determination of
Critical Circumstances: Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the
People's Republic of China, 71 FR 29303 (May 22, 2006).
Section 776(a)(2) of the Act provides that, if an interested party
(A) withholds information that has been requested by the Department,
(B) fails to provide such information in a timely manner or in the form
or manner requested, subject to subsections 782(c)(1) and (e) of the
Act, (C) significantly impedes a proceeding under the antidumping
statute, or (D) provides such information but the information cannot be
verified, the Department shall, subject to subsection 782(d) of the
Act, use facts otherwise available in reaching the applicable
determination.
Information on the record of this investigation indicates that the
PRC-wide entity was non-responsive. Certain companies did not respond
to our
[[Page 9596]]
questionnaire requesting Q&V information. As a result, pursuant to
section 776(a)(2)(A) of the Act, we find that the use of facts
available (``FA'') is appropriate to determine the PRC-wide rate. See
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Affirmative
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances and Postponement of
Final Determination: Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam, 68 FR 4986 (January 31, 2003), unchanged in Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative Critical
Circumstances: Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam, 68 FR 37116 (June 23, 2003).
Section 776(b) of the Act provides that, in selecting from among
the facts otherwise available, the Department may employ an adverse
inference if an interested party fails to cooperate by not acting to
the best of its ability to comply with requests for information. See
Statement of Administrative Action, accompanying the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (``URAA''), H.R. Rep. No. 103-316, 870 (1994) (``SAA'');
see also Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain
Cold-Rolled Flat-Rolled Carbon-Quality Steel Products from the Russian
Federation, 65 FR 5510, 5518 (February 4, 2000). We find that, because
the PRC-wide entity did not respond to our requests for information, it
has failed to cooperate to the best of its ability. Therefore, the
Department preliminarily finds that, in selecting from among the facts
available, an adverse inference is appropriate.
When employing an adverse inference, section 776 indicates that the
Department may rely upon information derived from the petition, the
final determination from the LTFV investigation, a previous
administrative review, or any other information placed on the record.
In selecting a rate for AFA, the Department selects a rate that is
sufficiently adverse to ensure that the uncooperative party does not
obtain a more favorable result by failing to cooperate than if it had
fully cooperated. It is the Department's practice to select, as AFA,
the higher of the (a) highest margin alleged in the petition, or (b)
the highest calculated rate of any respondent in the investigation. See
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-
Rolled Carbon Quality Steel Products from the People's Republic of
China, 65 FR 34660 (May 21, 2000) and accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum, at Comment 1. As AFA, we have preliminarily assigned to the
PRC-wide entity a rate of 96.45 percent, the average of all margins.
The Department preliminarily determines that this information is the
most appropriate from the available sources to effectuate the purposes
of AFA. The Department's reliance on the petition rates to determine an
AFA rate is subject to the requirement to corroborate secondary
information.
Corroboration
Section 776(c) of the Act provides that, when the Department relies
on secondary information rather than on information obtained in the
course of an investigation as facts available, it must, to the extent
practicable, corroborate that information from independent sources
reasonably at its disposal. The SAA provides guidance as to what
constitutes secondary information. One of the suggested sources of
secondary information is ``information derived from the petition that
gave rise to the investigation or review, the final determination
concerning the subject merchandise, or any previous review under
section 751 concerning the subject merchandise.'' \7\ The SAA further
suggests that to ``corroborate'' means that the Department will satisfy
itself that the secondary information to be used has probative value.
Id. Independent sources used to corroborate may include, for example,
published price lists, official import statistics, and CBP data, and
information obtained from interested parties during the particular
investigation. Id. To corroborate secondary information, the Department
will, to the extent practicable, examine the reliability and relevance
of the information used.\8\
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\7\ See SAA at 870.
\8\ See Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and
Unfinished, from Japan, and Tapered Roller Bearings, Four Inches or
Less in Outside Diameter, and Components Thereof, from Japan;
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews and
Partial Termination of Administrative Reviews, 61 FR 57391, 57392
(November 6, 1996), unchanged in Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts
Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, From Japan, and Tapered Roller
Bearings, Four Inches or Less in Outside Diameter, and Components
Thereof, From Japan: Final Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Reviews and Termination in Part:, 62 FR 11825 (March
13, 1997).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The AFA rate selected by the Department is from the petition.\9\
Petitioners' methodology for calculating the export price (``EP'') and
NV in the petition is discussed in the Initiation Notice at 73 FR 50598
and 50599. To corroborate the AFA margin that we selected, we compared
the U.S. prices and normal values of the two mandatory respondents to
the U.S. prices and normal values of the margins contained in the
petition. All of the U.S. prices and normal values in the margins
calculated in the petition are within the range of the U.S. prices and
normal values of the mandatory respondents. Therefore, we took the
simple average of all seven of the petition margins, which results in a
margin of 96.45 percent. We find that the margin of 96.45 percent has
probative value because it is the average of all petition margins which
were based on the corroborated U.S. price and normal values in the
petition which were corroborated by comparison of the U.S. price and
normal values of the two mandatory respondents. Accordingly, we find
that the rate of 96.45 percent is corroborated within the meaning of
section 776(c) of the Act. Accordingly, we determine that 96.45 percent
is the single antidumping rate for the PRC-wide entity. The PRC-wide
rate applies to all entries of the merchandise under investigation
except for entries from Wireking, New King Shan, and the Separate Rate
Companies.
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\9\ See Petition, at Volume II, Exhibit 14.
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Margin for the Separate Rate Companies
The Department received timely and complete separate rate
applications from the Separate Rate Companies, who are all exporters of
certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks from the PRC, which were
not selected as mandatory respondents in this investigation. Through
the evidence in their applications, these companies have demonstrated
their eligibility for a separate rate, see the ``Separate Rates''
section and in the Memorandum to the File, from Katie Marksberry, Case
Analyst, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9: Preliminary Determination in the
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving
and Racks from the People's Republic of China: Calculation of the
Separate Rate Weighted-Average Margin, (February 26, 2009). Consistent
with the Department's practice, as the separate rate, we have
established a average margin for the Separate Rate Companies based on
the rates we calculated for Wireking and New King Shan, excluding any
rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on AFA.\10\ Jiangsu
Weixi Group Co., Marmon Retail Services Asia, and Hangzhou Dunli Import
& Export Co., Ltd. are the companies receiving this
[[Page 9597]]
rate and are listed in the ``Suspension of Liquidation'' section of
this notice.
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\10\ See, e.g., Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value and Partial Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Certain Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's
Republic of China, 71 FR 77373, 77377 (December 26, 2006) (``PSF''),
unchanged in Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
and Partial Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances:
Certain Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's Republic of China,
72 FR 19690 (April 19, 2007).
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Date of Sale
19 CFR 351.401(i) states that, ``in identifying the date of sale of
the merchandise under consideration or foreign like product, the
Secretary normally will use the date of invoice, as recorded in the
exporter or producer's records kept in the normal course of business.''
In Allied Tube, the Court of International Trade (``CIT'') noted that a
``party seeking to establish a date of sale other than invoice date
bears the burden of producing sufficient evidence to `satisf{y{time} '
the Department that `a different date better reflects the date on which
the exporter or producer establishes the material terms of sale.' ''
Allied Tube & Conduit Corp. v. United States 132 F. Supp. 2d at 1090
(CIT 2001) (quoting 19 CFR 351.401(i)) (``Allied Tube''). Additionally,
the Secretary may use a date other than the date of invoice if the
Secretary is satisfied that a different date better reflects the date
on which the exporter or producer establishes the material terms of
sale. See 19 CFR 351.401(i); see also Allied Tube, 132 F. Supp. 2d
1087, 1090-1092. The date of sale is generally the date on which the
parties agree upon all substantive terms of the sale. This normally
includes the price, quantity, delivery terms and payment terms. See
Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Trinidad and Tobago: Final Results
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 72 FR 62824 (November 7,
2007) and accompanying Issue and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1;
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain
Cold-Rolled Flat-Rolled Carbon Quality Steel Products from Turkey, 65
FR 15123 (March 21, 2000) and accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum at Comment 1.
New King Shan reported that the date of sale was determined by the
invoice issued by the affiliated importer to the unaffiliated United
States customer. In this case, as the Department found no evidence
contrary to New King Shan's claims that invoice date was the
appropriate date of sale, the Department used invoice date as the date
of sale for this preliminary determination.
Wireking reported its U.S. sales as constructed export price
(``CEP'') sales because the sales are not made until after importation
to the United States. Wireking reported that while it issues a
commercial invoice to the U.S. customer for the quantities of
merchandise subject to the investigation that it shipped, the quantity
of each sale is not fixed when it issues the commercial invoice to the
U.S. customer. See Wireking's Supplemental Section C, (February 18,
2009) at 20. According to Wireking, the U.S. customer does not agree to
purchase the final quantity for each of Wireking's reported sales until
the U.S. customer issues document X \11\ to Wireking, upon which
payment and the total value of each sale is based. See id., at 17 and
20.
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\11\ The description of this document is business proprietary;
for further discussion of this document, see Wireking's Section C
Supp, at 14 and Wireking Analysis Memo.
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Wireking stated that it is not reporting the date of the
commercial/shipment invoice issued to the U.S. customer as the date of
sale because this is not when all the material terms of sale, i.e.,
final quantity and total value/payment of each sale, are fixed. See
id., at 17. According to Wireking, the U.S. customer is not
contractually obligated to purchase the quantity shipped by Wireking
and thus Wireking's commercial/shipment invoice is a fair retail value
of the merchandise but not a document establishing all material terms
of sale. See id., at 17. Instead, Wireking stated that it has reported
the date of document X issued by the U.S. customer as the date of sale
because all the material terms of sale, i.e., final quantity, and total
value and payment of the sale, were not finalized until this document
was issued by the U.S. customer. Moreover, Wireking has reported that
it does not record the commercial/shipment invoice issued to the U.S.
customer in its accounting records. See id., at 14. Wireking has
reported that it records the date of document X in its accounting
records, as well as the payment received pursuant to the sale.\12\
Accordingly, based on the record evidence, the Department preliminarily
determines that Wireking's date of sale is the date on which document X
is issued because all the material terms of sale, i.e., final quantity,
value, and payment, are not fixed until the U.S. customer issues
document X to Wireking. Therefore, the Department will calculate
Wireking's price for its U.S. sales using the date of document X as the
date of sale.
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\12\ Although Wireking's affiliate, Company G, receives payment
for the sale from the U.S. customer and records the date of sale of
document X in its accounting records, because Wireking and Company G
have been found to be a single entity (``Wireking''), the Department
preliminarily determines that the single entity, Wireking, records
document X as the date of sale in its accounting records. See
Wireking's Section C Supp,
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However, based on the documents currently on the record of this
proceeding, Wireking has not shown that it will be able to reconcile
its total quantity of shipments to the total final quantity of
merchandise purchased by the U.S. customer. See Wireking's February 18,
2009, Letter, at 4. While Wireking reported that it will be able to
support its reported U.S. sales by reconciling the reported U.S.
quantity and value to document X, Wireking has stated that it will be
unable to tie its total shipments to its total reported U.S. sales
database quantity because Wireking does not have access to the U.S.
customer's records, including inventory records, that establish whether
Wireking's reported U.S. sales database is complete. The Department
preliminarily finds that there is a difference between Wireking's
reported total shipments to the U.S. customer during the POI and its
total reported U.S. sales during the POI. See id., at 3; Wireking's
Section C and D Response, (December 2, 2009), at Exhibit R1; Wireking
Analysis Memo. Because Wireking has not shown that the reported total
quantity and value of its U.S. sales is complete, i.e., there are
unreported U.S. sales, we must conclude that the application of facts
otherwise available is warranted for Wireking's unreported sales,
pursuant to section 776(a)(2)(D) of the Act because Wireking is unable
to reconcile the reported total quantity of sales to a verifiable
source document. Because Wireking has claimed that it has provided all
the information it can regarding the unusual sales arrangement with the
U.S. customer, where the U.S. customer dictates the final quantity and
value of the sale, and the Department currently has no information on
the record to the contrary, the Department preliminarily determines
that the application of AFA is not warranted, pursuant to section
776(b) of the Act. Accordingly, as FA, the Department preliminarily
determines that it will apply the weighted-average margin of Wireking's
reported U.S. sales to the unreported quantity and value\13\ of
Wireking's unreported sales. Furthermore, after the preliminary
determination, the Department intends to issue additional supplemental
questionnaires to Wireking to determine whether Wireking's reported
quantity and value can be verified. The Department notes that all
information relied upon must be verifiable. See Final
[[Page 9598]]
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative
Determination of Critical Circumstances: Small Diameter Graphite
Electrodes from the People's Republic of China, 74 FR 2049 (January 14,
2009) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
Therefore, based on these supplemental responses, the Department will
make a determination as to whether Wireking's reported U.S. sales are
verifiable.
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\13\ Because the Department has used the total shipments/
purchases to Company G as Wireking's total shipments to the U.S.
customer during the POI and Wireking has reported that there is a
difference in the total value of these shipment/purchases to the
total value of Wireking's shipments to the U.S. customer, the
Department has increased the total value by this difference. See
Wireking's Section C Supp, at 17, for further discussion of this
difference, which is business proprietary information. See also
Wireking's Analysis Memo
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Fair Value Comparison
To determine whether sales of certain kitchen appliance shelving
and racks to the United States by Wireking and New King Shan were made
at less than fair value, we compared CEP to NV, as described in the
``U.S. Price'' and ``Normal Value'' sections of this notice.
U.S. Price
In accordance with section 772(b) of the Act, we based the U.S.
price for New King Shan's sales on CEP because these sales were made by
New King Shan's U.S. affiliate, which purchased the merchandise under
investigation produced and sold by New King Shan through two other
affiliates,\14\ Company A and Company B.\15\ In accordance with section
772(c)(2)(A) of the Act, we calculated CEP by deducting, where
applicable, the following expenses from the gross unit price charged to
the first unaffiliated customer in the United States, foreign movement
expenses, and U.S. movement expenses, including U.S. duties, U.S.
warehousing, and inventory carrying cost. Further, in accordance with
section 772(d)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.402(b), where appropriate,
we deducted from the starting price the following selling expenses
associated with economic activities occurring in the United States:
credit expenses and other direct selling expenses. In addition,
pursuant to section 772(d)(3) of the Act, we made an adjustment to the
starting price for CEP profit. We based movement expenses on either
surrogate values or actual expenses. For details regarding our CEP
calculations, and for a complete discussion of the calculation of the
U.S. price for New King Shan, see New King Shan Analysis Memo.\16\
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\14\ The identity of these companies is business proprietary;
for further discussion of these companies, see New King Shan
Analysis Memo.
\15\ New King Shan reported these sales as CEP sales. The
Department finds that these sales are CEP sales because New King
Shan reported that its affiliate in the United States performed
sales functions such as: sales negotiation, issuance of invoices and
receipt of payment from the ultimate U.S. customer during the POI.
Moreover, New King Shan reported expenses incurred in the United
States that are normally deducted from the gross unit price. See New
King Shan's Section C Questionnaire Response, (January 12, 2009);
see also Glycine From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Preliminary
Rescission, in Part, 72 FR 18457 (April 12, 2007) unchanged in
Glycine from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Final Rescission, In
Part, 72 FR 58809 (October 17, 2007) (where the Department stated
that ``we based U.S. price for certain sales on CEP in accordance
with section 772(b) of the Act, because sales were made by Nantong
Donchang's U.S. affiliate, Wavort, Inc. {``Wavort''{time} to
unaffiliated purchasers.''); AK Steel Corp., et al v. United States,
226 F.3d 1361, 1367 (Fed.Cir. 2000) (where the court stated that
``the purpose of these additional deductions in the CEP methodology
is to prevent foreign producers from competing unfairly in the U.S.
market by inflating the U.S. price with amounts spent by the U.S.
affiliate on marketing and selling the products in the United
States'').
\16\ The identity of this company is business proprietary
information; for further discussion of this company, see Memorandum
to Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9,
from Katie Marksberry, Case Analyst, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9:
Preliminary Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of
Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks from the People's
Republic of China: Analysis Memorandum of New King Shan, (February
26, 2008) (``New King Shan Memo'').
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Additionally, in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act, we
based the U.S. price for Wireking's sales on CEP because these sales
were sold (or agreed to be sold) after the date of importation into the
United States by Wireking. In accordance with section 772(c)(2)(A) of
the Act, we calculated CEP by deducting, where applicable, the
following expenses from the gross unit price charged to the first
unaffiliated customer in the United States, foreign movement expenses,
and U.S. movement expenses, including U.S. inland freight from port to
warehouse, U.S. inland insurance, U.S. duties, and inventory carrying
cost. Additionally, in accordance with section 772(d)(1) of the Act and
19 CFR 351.402(b), where appropriate, we deducted from the starting
price the following selling expenses associated with economic
activities occurring in the United States: credit expenses. We have
based Wireking's imputed credit expenses on the difference between the
date of shipment, which is when the merchandise was withdrawn from the
U.S. warehouse, and the date that Wireking received payment. See
Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from India: Notice of
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 73 FR 31961
(June 5, 2008) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at
Comment 23. Moreover, pursuant to section 772(d)(3) of the Act, we made
an adjustment to the starting price for CEP profit. For discussion of
our valuation of Wireking's movement expenses, see the section of this
notice entitled ``Use of AFA for Wireking's Movement Expenses.'' For a
complete discussion of the calculation of the U.S. price for Wireking,
see Wireking Analysis Memo.
Use of AFA for Wireking's Movement Expenses
In this investigation, Wireking reported that it incurred certain
freight expenses for sales made under sales term X and sales term Y
\17\ that were purchased from a market economy carrier and paid for in
market economy currency. See Wireking's Section C Supp, at 29-30 and
Exhibit 17 at pages 26-33. However, for these freight expenses, after
twice being requested by the Department to report these as market
economy purchases, Wireking continued to report these freight expenses
as non-market economy purchases because the market economy carrier has
a PRC branch office that arranged these shipments. See id., at 30.
Because it is the Department's practice to treat expenses purchased
from a market economy supplier and paid for in a market economy
currency as market economy purchases, and there is record evidence
showing that Wireking was charged and paid the market economy supplier
of these expenses in market economy currency under sales term X, the
Department preliminarily determines to value these expenses as market
economy purchases under sales term X. See 19 CFR 351.408(c)(1); Certain
Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the People's Republic of China: Final
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Partial
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 73 FR 40485 (July
15, 2008) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment
35. However, for freight expenses incurred under sales term Y, the
Department preliminarily determines to value these expenses as non-
market economy purchases because there is record evidence showing that
Wireking paid the market economy supplier of these expenses in non-
market economy currency. See Wireking's Section C Supp, at Exhibit 17
at pages 19-25.
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\17\ The details of sales term X and sales term Y are business
proprietary; for further discussion of sales term X and sales term
Y, see Wire King Analysis Memo.
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Because Wireking was twice requested by the Department to report
the price of its market economy freight expenses but failed to provide
such information after being requested, the Department preliminarily
determines that the application of facts otherwise available to
Wireking's market economy
[[Page 9599]]
freight expenses incurred under sales term X is warranted, pursuant to
sections 776(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Act. Where the Department
determines that a response to a request for information does not comply
with the request, section 782(d) of the Act provides that the
Department shall promptly inform the party submitting the response of
the nature of the deficiency and shall, to the extent practicable,
provide that party with an opportunity to remedy or explain the
deficiency. After receipt of Wireking's response to Section C of the
Department's initial questionnaire, which clearly directed Wireking to
report the market economy price of any freight expense that it incurred
using a market economy carrier and paid for in market economy currency,
the Department issued Wireking a supplemental Section C questionnaire.
This supplemental Section C questionnaire granted Wireking an
additional opportunity to report the price of its market economy
freight expenses. See the Department's Supplemental Section C
Questionnaire to Wireking (January 28, 2009) at Questions 44, 46, 50,
51, and 56. However, Wireking refused to comply with the Department's
request and instead argued that it was appropriate to treat this market
economy carrier as an ``NME service provider'' and did not provide the
requested information. See Wireking's Section C Supp, at 30.
Accordingly, section 782(d) of the Act does not prevent application of
partial AFA under these circumstances. See Reiner Brach GmbH & Co. KG
v. United States, 206 F. Supp. 2d 1323, 1332-38 (CIT 2002).
For these reasons, the Department has preliminarily determined to
apply partial AFA to Wireking's market economy freight expenses
incurred under sales term X, as specified under sections 776(a)(2)(A)
and (B) of the Act. As stated above, Wireking had multiple
opportunities to report the price of these market economy freight
expenses to the Department. Despite Wireking's categorization of these
freight expenses as non-market economy purchases, the Department's
request for this information was unambiguous. Therefore, for the
reasons stated above, the Department finds that, pursuant to section
776(b) of the Act, Wireking has failed to cooperate to the best of its
ability with regard to its unreported market economy freight expenses
incurred under sales term X. Because Wireking failed to fully cooperate
with the Department in this matter, we find it appropriate to use an
inference that is adverse to the interests of Wireking in selecting
from among the facts otherwise available. See section 776(b) of the
Act. By doing so, we ensure that Wireking will not obtain a more
favorable result by failing to cooperate than had it cooperated fully
in this inve