Certain Potassium Phosphate Salts from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances in the Antidumping Duty Investigation, 24572-24575 [2010-10583]
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24572
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 86 / Wednesday, May 5, 2010 / Notices
Trade Zones Board (the Board) adopts the
following Order:
The Foreign–Trade Zones (FTZ)
Board (the Board) has considered the
application (filed 03/17/2010) submitted
by the Southern California Logistics
Airport Authority, grantee of FTZ 243,
requesting reissuance of the grant of
authority for said zone to the City of
Victorville, which has accepted such
reissuance subject to approval by the
FTZ Board. Upon review, the Board
finds that the requirements of the FTZ
Act and the Board’s regulations are
satisfied, and that the proposal is in the
public interest.
Therefore, the Board approves the
application and recognizes the City of
Victorville as the new grantee of
Foreign–Trade Zone 243, subject to the
FTZ Act and the Board’s regulations,
including Section 400.28. The Secretary
of Commerce, as Chairman of the Board,
is hereby authorized to issue an
appropriate Board Order.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 20th
day of April 2010.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import
AdministrationAlternate ChairmanForeign–
Trade Zones Board.
ATTEST:
Andrew McGilvray,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010–10621 Filed 5–4–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign–Trade Zones Board
[Docket 28–2010]
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Foreign–Trade Zone 29 - Louisville,
Kentucky, Application for Subzone,
Louisville Bedding Company
(Household Bedding Products),
Louisville and Munfordville, Kentucky
An application has been submitted to
the Foreign–Trade Zones Board (the
Board) by the Louisville & Jefferson
County Riverport Authority, grantee of
FTZ 29, requesting special–purpose
subzone status for the bedding products
manufacturing facilities of Louisville
Bedding Company (LBC) located in
Louisville and Munfordville, Kentucky.
The application was submitted pursuant
to the provisions of the Foreign–Trade
Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a–
81u), and the regulations of the Board
(15 CFR part 400). It was formally filed
on April 26, 2010.
The LBC facilities (530 employees)
consist of three sites: Site 1 manufacturing plant and warehouse
(26.1 acres) located at 10400 Bunsen
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Way, Louisville; Site 2 - warehouse (4.3
acres) located at 100 Quality Street,
Munfordville; and, Site 3 manufacturing plant and warehouse
(27.7 acres) located at 660 National
Turnpike, Munfordville, Kentucky. The
facilities are used to manufacture
household bedding products, including
mattress pads and pillows (up to 10
million pillows and 10 million mattress
pads annually) for the U.S. market and
export. LBC is requesting authority to
utilize foreign–origin wide roll (80
inches and wider), high thread count
(180 threads per inch and higher)
cotton, polyester, and synthetic woven
fabric and pillow shells (classified
under HTSUS Headings 5208, 5210,
5512, 5513, and 6307; duty rate range:
7 - 14.9%) to be cut, sewn, quilted and
assembled into the bedding products
noted above under FTZ procedures.
FTZ procedures could exempt LBC
from customs duty payments on the
foreign–origin fabrics and pillow shells
used in export production. On its
shipments for the domestic market, the
finished household bedding products
would be entered for consumption from
the proposed subzone classified under
HTSUS 9404.90, and LBC is seeking
authority to elect the various finished
bedding product duty rates (4.4 - 7.3%,
ad valorem) for the foreign–origin fabric
and pillow shell material inputs.
Domestic–status fibers would be used to
fill the foreign pillow shells. The
application indicates that the savings
from FTZ procedures would help
improve the facilities’ international
competitiveness.
In accordance with the Board’s
regulations, Pierre Duy of the FTZ Staff
is designated examiner to evaluate and
analyze the facts and information
presented in the application and case
record and to report findings and
recommendations to the Board.
Public comment is invited from
interested parties. Submissions (original
and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the
Board’s Executive Secretary at the
following address: Office of the
Executive Secretary, Room 2111, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington,
DC 20230–0002. The closing period for
receipt of comments is July 6, 2010.
Rebuttal comments in response to
material submitted during the foregoing
period may be submitted during the
subsequent 15-day period to July 19,
2010.
A copy of the application will be
available for public inspection at the
Office of the Foreign–Trade Zones
Board’s Executive Secretary at the
address listed above and in the ‘‘Reading
Room’’ section of the Board’s website,
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which is accessible via www.trade.gov/
ftz. For further information, contact
Pierre Duy at Pierre.Duy@trade.gov or
(202) 482–1378.
Dated: April 26, 2010.
Andrew McGilvray,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010–10614 Filed 5–4–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A–570–962]
Certain Potassium Phosphate Salts
from the People’s Republic of China:
Preliminary Affirmative Determination
of Critical Circumstances in the
Antidumping Duty Investigation
AGENCY: Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
DATES: Effective Date: May 5, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Irene Gorelik at (202) 482–6905, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 9, Import
Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.
Background
On March 16, 2010, the Department of
Commerce (‘‘Department’’) published its
preliminary determination in the
antidumping duty investigation of
certain potassium phosphate salts
(‘‘salts’’) from the People’s Republic of
China (‘‘PRC’’). See Certain Potassium
Phosphate Salts From the People’s
Republic of China: Preliminary
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value, 75 FR 12508 (March 16,
2010) (‘‘Preliminary Determination’’).
On April 2, 2010, Petitioners 1 filed a
timely critical circumstances allegation,
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.206, alleging
that critical circumstances exist with
respect to imports of the merchandise
under consideration.
In accordance with 19 CFR
351.206(c)(1), when a critical
circumstances allegation is filed 30 days
or more before the scheduled date of the
final determination (as was done in this
case), the Department will issue a
preliminary finding whether there is a
reasonable basis to believe or suspect
that critical circumstances exist.
Because the critical circumstances
allegation in this case was submitted
after the preliminary determination was
published, the Department must issue
1 ICL
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our preliminary findings of critical
circumstances not later than 30 days
after the allegation was filed. See 19
CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii).
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Legal Framework
Section 733(e)(1) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (‘‘Act’’), provides that
the Department, upon receipt of a timely
allegation of critical circumstances, will
determine whether there is a reasonable
basis to believe or suspect that: (A)(i)
there is a history of dumping and
material injury by reason of dumped
imports in the United States or
elsewhere of the subject merchandise, or
(ii) the person by whom, or for whose
account, the merchandise was imported
knew or should have known that the
exporter was selling the subject
merchandise at less than its fair value
and that there was likely to be material
injury by reason of such sales, and; (B)
there have been massive imports of the
subject merchandise over a relatively
short period.
Further, 19 CFR 351.206(h)(1)
provides that, in determining whether
imports of the subject merchandise have
been ‘‘massive,’’ the Department
normally will examine: (i) The volume
and value of the imports; (ii) seasonal
trends; and (iii) the share of domestic
consumption accounted for by the
imports. In addition, 19 CFR
351.206(h)(2) provides that, ‘‘{i}n
general, unless the imports during the
‘relatively short period’ * * * have
increased by at least 15 percent over the
imports during an immediately
preceding period of comparable
duration, the Secretary will not consider
the imports massive.’’ 19 CFR 351.206(i)
defines ‘‘relatively short period’’
generally as the period starting on the
date the proceeding begins (i.e., the date
the petition is filed) and ending at least
three months later. This section of the
regulations further provides that, if the
Department ‘‘finds that importers, or
exporters or producers, had reason to
believe, at some time prior to the
beginning of the proceeding, that a
proceeding was likely,’’ then the
Department may consider a period of
not less than three months from that
earlier time.
Allegation
In their allegation, Petitioners contend
that, based on the dumping margins
assigned by the Department in the
Preliminary Determination, importers
knew or should have known that the
merchandise under consideration was
being sold at less than fair value
(‘‘LTFV’’). Petitioners also contend that,
based on the preliminary determination
of injury by the U.S. International Trade
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Commission (‘‘ITC’’), there is a
reasonable basis to impute importers’
knowledge that material injury is likely
by reason of such imports. In their
allegation, Petitioners included import
statistics for the three different ‘‘like
products’’ covered by the scope of this
investigation for the period between
June 2009 and January 2010. See
Petitioners’ Allegation, dated April 2,
2010, at 10–11.
Analysis
The Department’s normal practice in
determining whether critical
circumstances exist pursuant to the
statutory criteria has been to examine
evidence available to the Department,
such as: (1) The evidence presented in
Petitioners’ critical circumstances
allegation; (2) import statistics released
by the ITC, and (3) shipment
information submitted to the
Department by the respondents selected
for individual examination.2 Here, in
determining whether the above statutory
criteria have been satisfied in this case,
we examined: (1) The evidence
presented in Petitioners’ April 2, 2010,
allegation; and (2) evidence obtained
since the initiation of this investigation,
and (3) the ITC’s preliminary injury
determination.
Section 733(e)(1)(A)(i) of the Act:
History of Dumping and Material Injury
by Reason of Dumped Imports in the
United States or Elsewhere of the
Subject Merchandise
In determining whether a history of
dumping and material injury exists, the
Department generally has considered
current or previous antidumping duty
orders on subject merchandise from the
country in question in the United States
and current orders in any other country.
Id. In this case, the Department is not
aware of any antidumping duty order on
subject merchandise from the PRC in
any country. Therefore, the Department
finds no history of injurious dumping of
subject merchandise from the PRC
pursuant to section 733(e)(1)(A)(i) of the
Act.
2 See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales
at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative Final
Determination of Critical Circumstances: Circular
Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People’s
Republic of China, 73 FR 31970 (June 5, 2008)
(‘‘Carbon Steel Pipe’’); Final 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)
(‘‘SDGE’’).
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Section 733(e)(1)(A)(ii): The Importer
Knew or Should Have Known That
Exporter Was Selling at Less Than Fair
Value and That There Was Likely To Be
Material Injury
In determining whether an importer
knew or should have known that the
exporter was selling subject
merchandise at LTFV and that there was
likely to be material injury by reason of
such sales, the Department must rely on
the facts before it at the time the
determination is made. The Department
generally bases its decision with respect
to knowledge on the margins calculated
in the preliminary determination and
the ITC’s preliminary injury
determination.
The Department normally considers
margins of 25 percent or more for export
price sales and 15 percent or more for
constructed export price sales sufficient
to impute importer knowledge of sales
at LTFV.3 The Department preliminarily
determined margins of 69.58 percent for
the non-selected separate-rate
applicants and 95.40 percent for the
PRC-wide entity, which includes the
mandatory respondents. Therefore, as
we preliminarily determined margins
greater than 25 percent for all producers
and exporters, we preliminarily find,
with respect to all producers and
exporters, that there is a reasonable
basis to believe or suspect that
importers knew, or should have known,
that exporters were selling subject
merchandise at LTFV.
In determining whether an importer
knew or should have known that there
was likely to be material injury caused
by reason of such imports, the
Department normally will look to the
preliminary injury determination of the
ITC. If the ITC finds a reasonable
indication of present material injury to
the relevant U.S. industry, the
Department will determine that a
reasonable basis exists to impute
importer knowledge that material injury
is likely by reason of such imports.4
Here, the ITC found that that ‘‘there is
a reasonable indication that an industry
producing monopotassium phosphate
3 See, e.g., Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod From
Germany, Mexico, Moldova, Trinidad and Tobago,
and Ukraine: Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances, 67 FR 6224, 6225 (February 11,
2002); Affirmative Preliminary Determination of
Critical Circumstances: Magnesium Metal from the
People’s Republic of China, 70 FR 5606 (February
3, 2005).
4 See, e.g., Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod From
Germany, Mexico, Moldova, Trinidad and Tobago,
and Ukraine: Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances, 67 FR 6224, 6225 (February 11,
2002); Affirmative Preliminary Determination of
Critical Circumstances: Magnesium Metal from the
People’s Republic of China, 70 FR 5606 (February
3, 2005).
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(‘‘MKP’’), is materially injured or
threatened with material injury.’’ 5 The
ITC also found that ‘‘there is a
reasonable indication that industries
producing dipotassium phosphate
(‘DKP’) and tetrapotassium
pyrophosphate (‘TKPP’), are threatened
with material injury.’’ Id. Where the ITC
finds threat of material injury, the
Department also considers such factors
as: (1) The extent of the increase in the
volume of imports of the subject
merchandise during the critical
circumstances period and (2) the
magnitude of the dumping margins in
determining whether a reasonable basis
exists to impute knowledge that
material injury was likely.6 In this case,
import volume data from ITC’s Dataweb
shows an increase of 86.1 percent in
salts imports from the PRC during the
comparison period, more than five times
the increase needed to find massive
imports. See Petitioners’ Allegation at
10. Furthermore, the preliminary
dumping margins are significantly
greater than 25 percent. Therefore, the
Department preliminarily finds that
there is a reasonable basis to believe or
suspect that importers knew or should
have known that there was likely to be
material injury by reason of sales at
LTFV of subject merchandise from the
PRC.
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Section 733(e)(1)(B): Whether There
Have Been Massive Imports of the
Subject Merchandise Over a Relatively
Short Period
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2), the
Department will not consider imports to
be massive unless imports in the
comparison period have increased by at
least 15 percent over imports in the base
period. The Department normally
considers a ‘‘relatively short period’’ as
the period beginning on the date the
proceeding begins and ending at least
three months later. See 19 CFR
351.206(i). For this reason, the
Department normally compares the
import volumes of the subject
merchandise for at least three months
immediately preceding the filing of the
5 See Investigation Nos. 701–TA–473 and 731–
TA–1173 (Preliminary) Certain Sodium and
Potassium Phosphate Salts From China, 74 FR
61173 (November 23, 2009) (‘‘ITC Prelim’’).
6 See, e.g., Notice of Final Antidumping Duty
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); Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Hot-Rolled Flat-Rolled Carbon-Quality Steel
Products from Japan, 64 FR 24329 (May 6, 1999)
at Comment 2 (where the Department considered
other sources of information, including press
reports regarding rising imports, falling domestic
prices resulting from rising imports and domestic
buyers shifting to foreign suppliers).
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petition (i.e., the ‘‘base period’’) to a
comparable period of at least three
months following the filing of the
petition (i.e., the ‘‘comparison period’’).
In their April 2, 2010, allegation,
Petitioners maintained that importers,
exporters, or foreign producers gained
knowledge that this proceeding was
possible when the petition for an
antidumping duty investigation was
filed on September 24, 2009. See
Petitioners’ April 2, 2010, submission at
5–9. Moreover, Petitioners noted that
when a petition is filed in the second
half of a month, the month following the
filing is treated as part of the postpetition period. Petitioners also
included in their allegation U.S. import
data collected from the ITC’s Dataweb.
Based on this data, Petitioners provided
data for a four-month base period (June
2009 through September 2009) and a
four-month comparison period (October
2009 through January 2010) in showing
whether imports were massive.
Based on the date of the filing of the
petition, i.e., September 24, 2009, which
is in the second half of the month, the
Department agrees with Petitioners that
October 2009 is the month in which
importers, exporters, or producers knew
or should have known an antidumping
duty investigation was likely, and falls
within the comparison period.
According to 19 CFR 351.206(i), the
base and comparison periods normally
should be at least three months.
Adverse Facts Available (‘‘AFA’’)
In this investigation, the Department
selected SD BNI(LYG) Co. Ltd. (‘‘SD
BNI’’) and Sichuan Blue Sword Import
& Export Co., Ltd. (‘‘Sichuan Blue
Sword’’) as mandatory respondents in
this investigation.7 In the Preliminary
Determination, the Department
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,
including Sichuan Blue Sword, one of
the mandatory respondents. Therefore,
we treated these PRC exporters/
producers, including Sichuan Blue
Sword, as part of the PRC-wide entity
because they did not qualify for a
separate rate. See Preliminary
Determination at 75 FR 12508, 12512.
Further, information on the record
indicates that the PRC-wide entity was
non-cooperative because certain
7 See ‘‘Memorandum to James C. Doyle, Director,
Office IX, from Katie Marksberry, Case Analyst,
through Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager,
Office IX; regarding Antidumping Duty
Investigation of Certain Potassium Phosphate Salts
from the People’s Republic of China,’’ dated
November 13, 2009.
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companies did not respond to our
requests for information. Id. As a result,
pursuant to section 776(a)(2)(A) and
776(b) of the Act, we preliminarily
found that the use of AFA was
warranted to determine the PRC-wide
rate. Id. As AFA, we preliminarily
assigned to the PRC-wide entity a rate
of 95.40 percent, which is the highest
margin alleged in the Petition. Id.
Furthermore, pursuant to sections
776(a)(2)(A), (B), and (C) and 776(b) of
the Act, we preliminarily applied AFA
to SD BNI, the other mandatory
respondent, because we found that the
information necessary to calculate an
accurate and otherwise reliable margin
is not available on the record with
respect to SD BNI. We preliminarily
found that SD BNI failed to provide the
information requested by the
Department in a timely manner and in
the form required, and significantly
impeded the Department’s ability to
calculate an accurate margin for SD BNI.
The Department was unable to calculate
a margin without the necessary
information, requiring the application of
facts otherwise available to SD BNI for
the purpose of the Preliminary
Determination. Id. at 12513 Therefore,
because SD BNI was selected as a
mandatory respondent and failed to
submit the information required, SD
BNI did not receive a separate rate and
remains part of the PRC-wide entity. Id.
PRC–Wide Entity
Because the PRC-wide entity did not
respond to the Department’s
antidumping questionnaire, we did not
obtain shipment data from the PRCwide entity for purposes of our critical
circumstances analysis and therefore
there is no verifiable information on the
record with respect to its export
volumes. Section 776(a)(2) of the Act
provides that, if an interested party or
any other person (A) withholds
information that has been requested by
the administering authority or the
Commission under this title, (B) fails to
provide such information by the
deadlines for submission of the
information or in the form and manner
requested, subject to subsections (c)(1)
and (e) of section 782, (C) significantly
impedes a proceeding under this title, or
(D) provides such information but the
information cannot be verified as
provided in section 782(i), the
administering authority and the
Commission shall, subject to section
782(d), use the facts otherwise available
in reaching the applicable
determination under this title.
Furthermore, section 776(b) of the Act
provides that, if a party has failed to act
to the best of its ability, the Department
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may apply an adverse inference. The
PRC-wide entity did not respond to the
Department’s request for information.
Thus, we are using facts available, in
accordance with section 776(a) of the
Act, and, pursuant to section 776(b) of
the Act, we also find that AFA is
warranted so that the PRC-wide entity
does not obtain a more favorable result
by failing to cooperate than if it had
fully cooperated. Accordingly, we
preliminarily find that there were
massive imports of merchandise from
the PRC-wide entity.
Further, in some cases the Department
has also considered the import volume
from the ITC Dataweb as further
evidence supporting an affirmative
determination of critical circumstances
based on AFA.8 Here, we find that the
ITC Dataweb import statistics further
support the Department’s determination
that the volume of imports of subject
merchandise in the post-petition period
are consistent with an AFA finding that
these imports were massive.
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Separate-Rate Applicants
Because it has been the Department’s
practice to conduct its massive imports
analysis of separate rate companies 9
based on the experience of investigated
companies, we did not request monthly
shipment information from the three
separate-rate applicants. However,
where mandatory respondents have
received AFA, we have not imputed
those adverse inferences of massive
imports to the non-individually
examined companies receiving a
separate rate. Instead, the Department
has relied upon the ITC Dataweb import
statistics where appropriate in
determining whether there have been
massive imports for the separate-rate
companies. Accordingly, as the basis for
determining whether imports were
massive for these separate-rate
companies, we are relying on ITC
Dataweb import statistics as evidence
that imports in the post-petition period
were massive for those companies. As
stated above, in this case, import
volume data shows an increase of 86.1
percent of salts imports from the PRC
during the comparison period. See
Petitioners’ Allegation at 10. Thus,
pursuant to section 351.206(h) of the
Department’s regulations, we determine
8 See, e.g., Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Certain Small Diameter Carbon and
Alloy Seamless Standard Pipe and Pressure Pipe
from the Czech Republic, 65 FR 33803 (May 25,
2000) and Notice of Final Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value: Certain Small Diameter
Carbon and Alloy Seamless Standard, Line, and
Pressure Pipe from the Czech Republic, 65 FR
39363 (June 26, 2000) and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
9 See, e.g., Carbon Steel Pipe and SDGE.
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that this increase, being greater than 15
percent, shows that imports in the
comparison period were massive for the
separate-rate companies.
Critical Circumstances
Record evidence indicates that
importers of salts knew, or should have
known, that exporters were selling the
merchandise at LTFV, and that there
was likely to be material injury by
reason of such sales. In addition, record
evidence indicates that the PRC-wide
entity and the separate-rate applicants
had massive imports during a relatively
short period. Therefore, in accordance
with section 733(e)(1) of the Act, we
preliminarily find that there is reason to
believe or suspect that critical
circumstances exist for imports of
subject merchandise from the PRC-wide
entity (which includes SD BNI and
Sichuan Blue Sword) and the separaterate companies (Snow-Apple Group
Limited, Tianjin Chengyi International
Trading (Tianjin) Co., Limited, Wenda
Co., Ltd., and Yunnan Newswift
Company Ltd.) in this antidumping duty
investigation. See section 733(f) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii).
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section
703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, we are directing
CBP to suspend liquidation of any
unliquidated entries of subject
merchandise from the PRC entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse for
consumption, on or after December 16,
2009, which is 90 days prior to the date
of publication of the Preliminary
Determination in the Federal Register.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of
the Act, we have notified the ITC of our
preliminary determination.
Public Comment
Since this determination is being
made subsequent to the due dates for
public comment as published in our
notice of preliminary determination of
sales at LTFV, we will accept written
comments limited to this preliminary
determination of critical circumstances
if they are submitted to the Assistant
Secretary for Import Administration no
later than five days after the publication
of this notice.
This determination is published
pursuant to section 733(f) of the Act and
19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii).
Dated: April 29, 2010.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010–10583 Filed 5–4–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
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24575
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C–570–963]
Certain Potassium Phosphate Salts
from the People’s Republic of China:
Preliminary Affirmative Determination
of Critical Circumstances in the
Countervailing Duty Investigation
AGENCY: Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce
(‘‘the Department’’) has preliminarily
determined that critical circumstances
exist with respect to imports of certain
potassium phosphate salts (‘‘phosphate
salts’’ or ‘‘subject merchandise’’) from the
People’s Republic of China (‘‘PRC’’).
DATES: Effective Date: May 5, 2010
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andrew Huston or Gene Calvert, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 6, Import
Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230;
telephone: (202) 482–4261 and (202)
482–3586, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This investigation was initiated on
October 14, 2009. See Certain Sodium
and Potassium Phosphate Salts From
the People’s Republic of China:
Initiation of Countervailing Duty
Investigation, 74 FR 54778 (October 23,
2009). The products covered by this
investigation and the title of this
investigation were modified from
‘‘Certain Sodium and Potassium
Phosphate Salts from the People’s
Republic of China’’ to ‘‘Certain
Potassium Phosphate Salts from the
People’s Republic of China’’ as a result
of the U.S. International Trade
Commission’s (‘‘ITC’’) preliminary
determination of no material injury or
threat of material injury with regard to
imports of sodium tripolyphosphate
from the PRC. See Certain Potassium
Phosphate Salts from the People’s
Republic of China: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination and Alignment of Final
Countervailing Duty Determination with
Final Antidumping Duty Determination,
75 FR 10466 (March 8, 2010)
(Preliminary Determination), at the
section ‘‘Case History.’’ As mandatory
company respondents in this
investigation, the Department selected
Lianyungang Mupro Import Export Co.,
Ltd. (‘‘Mupro’’); Mianyang Aostar
Phosphate Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
E:\FR\FM\05MYN1.SGM
05MYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 5, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24572-24575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10583]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-962]
Certain Potassium Phosphate Salts from the People's Republic of
China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
in the Antidumping Duty Investigation
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
DATES: Effective Date: May 5, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irene Gorelik at (202) 482-6905, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 9, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.
Background
On March 16, 2010, the Department of Commerce (``Department'')
published its preliminary determination in the antidumping duty
investigation of certain potassium phosphate salts (``salts'') from the
People's Republic of China (``PRC''). See Certain Potassium Phosphate
Salts From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 75 FR 12508 (March 16, 2010)
(``Preliminary Determination'').
On April 2, 2010, Petitioners \1\ filed a timely critical
circumstances allegation, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.206, alleging that
critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of the merchandise
under consideration.
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\1\ ICL Performance Products LP and Prayon, Inc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.206(c)(1), when a critical
circumstances allegation is filed 30 days or more before the scheduled
date of the final determination (as was done in this case), the
Department will issue a preliminary finding whether there is a
reasonable basis to believe or suspect that critical circumstances
exist. Because the critical circumstances allegation in this case was
submitted after the preliminary determination was published, the
Department must issue
[[Page 24573]]
our preliminary findings of critical circumstances not later than 30
days after the allegation was filed. See 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii).
Legal Framework
Section 733(e)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``Act''),
provides that the Department, upon receipt of a timely allegation of
critical circumstances, will determine whether there is a reasonable
basis to believe or suspect that: (A)(i) there is a history of dumping
and material injury by reason of dumped imports in the United States or
elsewhere of the subject merchandise, or (ii) the person by whom, or
for whose account, the merchandise was imported knew or should have
known that the exporter was selling the subject merchandise at less
than its fair value and that there was likely to be material injury by
reason of such sales, and; (B) there have been massive imports of the
subject merchandise over a relatively short period.
Further, 19 CFR 351.206(h)(1) provides that, in determining whether
imports of the subject merchandise have been ``massive,'' the
Department normally will examine: (i) The volume and value of the
imports; (ii) seasonal trends; and (iii) the share of domestic
consumption accounted for by the imports. In addition, 19 CFR
351.206(h)(2) provides that, ``{i{time} n general, unless the imports
during the `relatively short period' * * * have increased by at least
15 percent over the imports during an immediately preceding period of
comparable duration, the Secretary will not consider the imports
massive.'' 19 CFR 351.206(i) defines ``relatively short period''
generally as the period starting on the date the proceeding begins
(i.e., the date the petition is filed) and ending at least three months
later. This section of the regulations further provides that, if the
Department ``finds that importers, or exporters or producers, had
reason to believe, at some time prior to the beginning of the
proceeding, that a proceeding was likely,'' then the Department may
consider a period of not less than three months from that earlier time.
Allegation
In their allegation, Petitioners contend that, based on the dumping
margins assigned by the Department in the Preliminary Determination,
importers knew or should have known that the merchandise under
consideration was being sold at less than fair value (``LTFV'').
Petitioners also contend that, based on the preliminary determination
of injury by the U.S. International Trade Commission (``ITC''), there
is a reasonable basis to impute importers' knowledge that material
injury is likely by reason of such imports. In their allegation,
Petitioners included import statistics for the three different ``like
products'' covered by the scope of this investigation for the period
between June 2009 and January 2010. See Petitioners' Allegation, dated
April 2, 2010, at 10-11.
Analysis
The Department's normal practice in determining whether critical
circumstances exist pursuant to the statutory criteria has been to
examine evidence available to the Department, such as: (1) The evidence
presented in Petitioners' critical circumstances allegation; (2) import
statistics released by the ITC, and (3) shipment information submitted
to the Department by the respondents selected for individual
examination.\2\ Here, in determining whether the above statutory
criteria have been satisfied in this case, we examined: (1) The
evidence presented in Petitioners' April 2, 2010, allegation; and (2)
evidence obtained since the initiation of this investigation, and (3)
the ITC's preliminary injury determination.
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\2\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value and Affirmative Final Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the
People's Republic of China, 73 FR 31970 (June 5, 2008) (``Carbon
Steel Pipe''); Final 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) (``SDGE'').
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Section 733(e)(1)(A)(i) of the Act: History of Dumping and Material
Injury by Reason of Dumped Imports in the United States or Elsewhere of
the Subject Merchandise
In determining whether a history of dumping and material injury
exists, the Department generally has considered current or previous
antidumping duty orders on subject merchandise from the country in
question in the United States and current orders in any other country.
Id. In this case, the Department is not aware of any antidumping duty
order on subject merchandise from the PRC in any country. Therefore,
the Department finds no history of injurious dumping of subject
merchandise from the PRC pursuant to section 733(e)(1)(A)(i) of the
Act.
Section 733(e)(1)(A)(ii): The Importer Knew or Should Have Known That
Exporter Was Selling at Less Than Fair Value and That There Was Likely
To Be Material Injury
In determining whether an importer knew or should have known that
the exporter was selling subject merchandise at LTFV and that there was
likely to be material injury by reason of such sales, the Department
must rely on the facts before it at the time the determination is made.
The Department generally bases its decision with respect to knowledge
on the margins calculated in the preliminary determination and the
ITC's preliminary injury determination.
The Department normally considers margins of 25 percent or more for
export price sales and 15 percent or more for constructed export price
sales sufficient to impute importer knowledge of sales at LTFV.\3\ The
Department preliminarily determined margins of 69.58 percent for the
non-selected separate-rate applicants and 95.40 percent for the PRC-
wide entity, which includes the mandatory respondents. Therefore, as we
preliminarily determined margins greater than 25 percent for all
producers and exporters, we preliminarily find, with respect to all
producers and exporters, that there is a reasonable basis to believe or
suspect that importers knew, or should have known, that exporters were
selling subject merchandise at LTFV.
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\3\ See, e.g., Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod From Germany,
Mexico, Moldova, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine: Preliminary
Determination of Critical Circumstances, 67 FR 6224, 6225 (February
11, 2002); Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Magnesium Metal from the People's Republic of China,
70 FR 5606 (February 3, 2005).
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In determining whether an importer knew or should have known that
there was likely to be material injury caused by reason of such
imports, the Department normally will look to the preliminary injury
determination of the ITC. If the ITC finds a reasonable indication of
present material injury to the relevant U.S. industry, the Department
will determine that a reasonable basis exists to impute importer
knowledge that material injury is likely by reason of such imports.\4\
Here, the ITC found that that ``there is a reasonable indication that
an industry producing monopotassium phosphate
[[Page 24574]]
(``MKP''), is materially injured or threatened with material injury.''
\5\ The ITC also found that ``there is a reasonable indication that
industries producing dipotassium phosphate (`DKP') and tetrapotassium
pyrophosphate (`TKPP'), are threatened with material injury.'' Id.
Where the ITC finds threat of material injury, the Department also
considers such factors as: (1) The extent of the increase in the volume
of imports of the subject merchandise during the critical circumstances
period and (2) the magnitude of the dumping margins in determining
whether a reasonable basis exists to impute knowledge that material
injury was likely.\6\ In this case, import volume data from ITC's
Dataweb shows an increase of 86.1 percent in salts imports from the PRC
during the comparison period, more than five times the increase needed
to find massive imports. See Petitioners' Allegation at 10.
Furthermore, the preliminary dumping margins are significantly greater
than 25 percent. Therefore, the Department preliminarily finds that
there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that importers knew
or should have known that there was likely to be material injury by
reason of sales at LTFV of subject merchandise from the PRC.
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\4\ See, e.g., Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod From Germany,
Mexico, Moldova, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine: Preliminary
Determination of Critical Circumstances, 67 FR 6224, 6225 (February
11, 2002); Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Magnesium Metal from the People's Republic of China,
70 FR 5606 (February 3, 2005).
\5\ See Investigation Nos. 701-TA-473 and 731-TA-1173
(Preliminary) Certain Sodium and Potassium Phosphate Salts From
China, 74 FR 61173 (November 23, 2009) (``ITC Prelim'').
\6\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Antidumping Duty 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); Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Hot-Rolled Flat-
Rolled Carbon-Quality Steel Products from Japan, 64 FR 24329 (May 6,
1999) at Comment 2 (where the Department considered other sources of
information, including press reports regarding rising imports,
falling domestic prices resulting from rising imports and domestic
buyers shifting to foreign suppliers).
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Section 733(e)(1)(B): Whether There Have Been Massive Imports of the
Subject Merchandise Over a Relatively Short Period
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2), the Department will not consider
imports to be massive unless imports in the comparison period have
increased by at least 15 percent over imports in the base period. The
Department normally considers a ``relatively short period'' as the
period beginning on the date the proceeding begins and ending at least
three months later. See 19 CFR 351.206(i). For this reason, the
Department normally compares the import volumes of the subject
merchandise for at least three months immediately preceding the filing
of the petition (i.e., the ``base period'') to a comparable period of
at least three months following the filing of the petition (i.e., the
``comparison period'').
In their April 2, 2010, allegation, Petitioners maintained that
importers, exporters, or foreign producers gained knowledge that this
proceeding was possible when the petition for an antidumping duty
investigation was filed on September 24, 2009. See Petitioners' April
2, 2010, submission at 5-9. Moreover, Petitioners noted that when a
petition is filed in the second half of a month, the month following
the filing is treated as part of the post-petition period. Petitioners
also included in their allegation U.S. import data collected from the
ITC's Dataweb. Based on this data, Petitioners provided data for a
four-month base period (June 2009 through September 2009) and a four-
month comparison period (October 2009 through January 2010) in showing
whether imports were massive.
Based on the date of the filing of the petition, i.e., September
24, 2009, which is in the second half of the month, the Department
agrees with Petitioners that October 2009 is the month in which
importers, exporters, or producers knew or should have known an
antidumping duty investigation was likely, and falls within the
comparison period. According to 19 CFR 351.206(i), the base and
comparison periods normally should be at least three months.
Adverse Facts Available (``AFA'')
In this investigation, the Department selected SD BNI(LYG) Co. Ltd.
(``SD BNI'') and Sichuan Blue Sword Import & Export Co., Ltd.
(``Sichuan Blue Sword'') as mandatory respondents in this
investigation.\7\ In the Preliminary Determination, the Department
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, including Sichuan Blue Sword, one
of the mandatory respondents. Therefore, we treated these PRC
exporters/producers, including Sichuan Blue Sword, as part of the PRC-
wide entity because they did not qualify for a separate rate. See
Preliminary Determination at 75 FR 12508, 12512. Further, information
on the record indicates that the PRC-wide entity was non-cooperative
because certain companies did not respond to our requests for
information. Id. As a result, pursuant to section 776(a)(2)(A) and
776(b) of the Act, we preliminarily found that the use of AFA was
warranted to determine the PRC-wide rate. Id. As AFA, we preliminarily
assigned to the PRC-wide entity a rate of 95.40 percent, which is the
highest margin alleged in the Petition. Id.
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\7\ See ``Memorandum to James C. Doyle, Director, Office IX,
from Katie Marksberry, Case Analyst, through Catherine Bertrand,
Program Manager, Office IX; regarding Antidumping Duty Investigation
of Certain Potassium Phosphate Salts from the People's Republic of
China,'' dated November 13, 2009.
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Furthermore, pursuant to sections 776(a)(2)(A), (B), and (C) and
776(b) of the Act, we preliminarily applied AFA to SD BNI, the other
mandatory respondent, because we found that the information necessary
to calculate an accurate and otherwise reliable margin is not available
on the record with respect to SD BNI. We preliminarily found that SD
BNI failed to provide the information requested by the Department in a
timely manner and in the form required, and significantly impeded the
Department's ability to calculate an accurate margin for SD BNI. The
Department was unable to calculate a margin without the necessary
information, requiring the application of facts otherwise available to
SD BNI for the purpose of the Preliminary Determination. Id. at 12513
Therefore, because SD BNI was selected as a mandatory respondent and
failed to submit the information required, SD BNI did not receive a
separate rate and remains part of the PRC-wide entity. Id.
PRC-Wide Entity
Because the PRC-wide entity did not respond to the Department's
antidumping questionnaire, we did not obtain shipment data from the
PRC-wide entity for purposes of our critical circumstances analysis and
therefore there is no verifiable information on the record with respect
to its export volumes. Section 776(a)(2) of the Act provides that, if
an interested party or any other person (A) withholds information that
has been requested by the administering authority or the Commission
under this title, (B) fails to provide such information by the
deadlines for submission of the information or in the form and manner
requested, subject to subsections (c)(1) and (e) of section 782, (C)
significantly impedes a proceeding under this title, or (D) provides
such information but the information cannot be verified as provided in
section 782(i), the administering authority and the Commission shall,
subject to section 782(d), use the facts otherwise available in
reaching the applicable determination under this title.
Furthermore, section 776(b) of the Act provides that, if a party
has failed to act to the best of its ability, the Department
[[Page 24575]]
may apply an adverse inference. The PRC-wide entity did not respond to
the Department's request for information. Thus, we are using facts
available, in accordance with section 776(a) of the Act, and, pursuant
to section 776(b) of the Act, we also find that AFA is warranted so
that the PRC-wide entity does not obtain a more favorable result by
failing to cooperate than if it had fully cooperated. Accordingly, we
preliminarily find that there were massive imports of merchandise from
the PRC-wide entity.
Further, in some cases the Department has also considered the
import volume from the ITC Dataweb as further evidence supporting an
affirmative determination of critical circumstances based on AFA.\8\
Here, we find that the ITC Dataweb import statistics further support
the Department's determination that the volume of imports of subject
merchandise in the post-petition period are consistent with an AFA
finding that these imports were massive.
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\8\ See, e.g., Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Certain Small Diameter Carbon and Alloy Seamless
Standard Pipe and Pressure Pipe from the Czech Republic, 65 FR 33803
(May 25, 2000) and Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Certain Small Diameter Carbon and Alloy Seamless
Standard, Line, and Pressure Pipe from the Czech Republic, 65 FR
39363 (June 26, 2000) and accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum.
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Separate-Rate Applicants
Because it has been the Department's practice to conduct its
massive imports analysis of separate rate companies \9\ based on the
experience of investigated companies, we did not request monthly
shipment information from the three separate-rate applicants. However,
where mandatory respondents have received AFA, we have not imputed
those adverse inferences of massive imports to the non-individually
examined companies receiving a separate rate. Instead, the Department
has relied upon the ITC Dataweb import statistics where appropriate in
determining whether there have been massive imports for the separate-
rate companies. Accordingly, as the basis for determining whether
imports were massive for these separate-rate companies, we are relying
on ITC Dataweb import statistics as evidence that imports in the post-
petition period were massive for those companies. As stated above, in
this case, import volume data shows an increase of 86.1 percent of
salts imports from the PRC during the comparison period. See
Petitioners' Allegation at 10. Thus, pursuant to section 351.206(h) of
the Department's regulations, we determine that this increase, being
greater than 15 percent, shows that imports in the comparison period
were massive for the separate-rate companies.
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\9\ See, e.g., Carbon Steel Pipe and SDGE.
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Critical Circumstances
Record evidence indicates that importers of salts knew, or should
have known, that exporters were selling the merchandise at LTFV, and
that there was likely to be material injury by reason of such sales. In
addition, record evidence indicates that the PRC-wide entity and the
separate-rate applicants had massive imports during a relatively short
period. Therefore, in accordance with section 733(e)(1) of the Act, we
preliminarily find that there is reason to believe or suspect that
critical circumstances exist for imports of subject merchandise from
the PRC-wide entity (which includes SD BNI and Sichuan Blue Sword) and
the separate-rate companies (Snow-Apple Group Limited, Tianjin Chengyi
International Trading (Tianjin) Co., Limited, Wenda Co., Ltd., and
Yunnan Newswift Company Ltd.) in this antidumping duty investigation.
See section 733(f) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii).
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, we are
directing CBP to suspend liquidation of any unliquidated entries of
subject merchandise from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from warehouse
for consumption, on or after December 16, 2009, which is 90 days prior
to the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the
Federal Register.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the
ITC of our preliminary determination.
Public Comment
Since this determination is being made subsequent to the due dates
for public comment as published in our notice of preliminary
determination of sales at LTFV, we will accept written comments limited
to this preliminary determination of critical circumstances if they are
submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration no later
than five days after the publication of this notice.
This determination is published pursuant to section 733(f) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii).
Dated: April 29, 2010.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-10583 Filed 5-4-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P