Polyvinyl Alcohol From Taiwan: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 5562-5563 [2011-2194]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5562-5563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-2194]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-583-841]


Polyvinyl Alcohol From Taiwan: Final Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) has determined 
that imports of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) from Taiwan are being, or are 
likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), 
as provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act). The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are listed in the ``Final 
Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective Date: February 1, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Schauer or Richard Rimlinger, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-
0410 or (202) 482-4477, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Applicable Statute and Regulations

    Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Act or the 
Department's regulations, 19 CFR part 351, are to those provisions in 
effect on September 27, 2004, the date of initiation of this 
investigation.

Case History

    On September 13, 2010, we published in the Federal Register our 
preliminary determination in the antidumping duty investigation of 
polyvinyl alcohol from Taiwan. See Polyvinyl Alcohol From Taiwan: 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Postponement of Final Determination, 75 FR 55552 (September 13, 2010) 
(Preliminary Determination).
    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we conducted sales and 
cost verifications of the questionnaire responses submitted by the sole 
respondent, Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (CCPC). We used standard 
verification procedures, including examination of relevant accounting 
and production records, as well as original source documents provided 
by CCPC. See Memorandum to the File entitled ``Polyvinyl Alcohol from 
Taiwan: Sales Verification of Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd.,'' 
dated October 12, 2010, and Memorandum to Neal M. Halper entitled 
``Verification of the Cost of Production and Constructed Value Data 
Submitted by Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd., in the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation of Polyvinyl Alcohol from Taiwan'' dated October 26, 
2010. All verification reports are on file and available in the Central 
Records Unit (CRU), Room 7046, of the main Department of Commerce 
building.
    We received case briefs submitted by Sekisui Specialty Chemicals 
America, LLC (the petitioner), and CCPC on November 2, 2010. The 
petitioner and CCPC submitted rebuttal briefs on November 8, 2010. We 
held a public hearing on December 1, 2010.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is July 1, 2003, through June 30, 
2004.\1\ This period corresponds to the four most recent fiscal 
quarters prior to the month of the filing of the petition, September 
2004. See 19 CFR 351.204(b)(1).
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    \1\ We initiated this investigation on September 27, 2004, but 
terminated it after the International Trade Commission's (ITC's) 
preliminary determination of no injury. We resumed this 
investigation after that determination was reversed upon remand. See 
Preliminary Determination, 75 FR at 55552, for full details of the 
history of this investigation.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is PVA. This product 
consists of all PVA hydrolyzed in excess of 80 percent, whether or not 
mixed or diluted with commercial levels of defoamer or boric acid. PVA 
in fiber form and PVB-grade low-ash PVA are not included in the scope 
of this investigation. PVB-grade low-ash PVA is defined to be PVA that 
meets the following specifications: Hydrolysis, Mole % of 98.40 +/- 
0.40, 4% Solution Viscosity 30.00 +/- 2.50 centipois, and ash--ISE, wt% 
less than 0.60, 4% solution color 20mm cell, 10.0 maximum APHA units, 
haze index, 20mm cell, 5.0, maximum. The merchandise under 
investigation is currently classifiable under subheading 3905.30.00 of 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although 
the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
the written description of the merchandise under investigation is 
dispositive.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to 
this antidumping investigation are addressed in the ``Issues and 
Decision Memorandum for the Antidumping Investigation of Polyvinyl 
Alcohol from Taiwan'' (Decision Memorandum) from Gary Taverman, Acting 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, to Christian Marsh, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Import Administration, dated January 26, 2011, which is hereby adopted 
by this notice. A list of the issues which parties have raised and to 
which we have responded, all of which are in the Decision Memorandum, 
is attached to this notice as an appendix. Parties can find a complete 
discussion of all issues raised in this investigation and the 
corresponding recommendations in the Decision Memorandum which is on 
file in the CRU. In addition, a complete version of the Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly on the Web at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/. The paper copy and electronic version of 
the Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
the verifications, we have made certain changes to the margin 
calculation for CCPC. For a discussion of these changes, see Memorandum 
to the File entitled ``Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Polyvinyl Alcohol from 
Taiwan--Analysis Memorandum for Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd.,'' 
dated January 26, 2011.

Cost of Production

    As explained in the Preliminary Determination (75 FR at 55556), we 
conducted an investigation concerning sales at prices below the cost of 
production in the home market. We found that, for certain specific 
products, more than 20 percent of CCPC's home-market sales were at 
prices less than the cost of production and, in addition, such sales 
did not provide for the

[[Page 5563]]

recovery of costs within a reasonable period of time. Therefore, we 
disregarded these sales and used the remaining sales as the basis for 
determining normal value in accordance with section 773(b)(1) of the 
Act. Based on this test, for this final determination we have 
disregarded below-cost sales by CCPC.

Final Determination

    The final antidumping duty margin is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Weighted-
                                                               average
                   Manufacturer/Exporter                        margin
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd..........................         3.08
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will instruct U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to suspend liquidation 
of all entries of PVA from Taiwan which were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after September 13, 2010, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination. Effective upon 
publication of the final determination, we will instruct CBP to require 
a cash deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the weighted-average 
margins as follows: (1) The rate for CCPC will be 3.08 percent; (2) if 
the exporter is not a firm identified in this investigation but the 
producer is, the rate will be the rate established for the producer of 
the subject merchandise; (3) the rate for all other producers or 
exporters will be 3.08 percent, as discussed in the ``All-Others Rate'' 
section, below. These suspension-of-liquidation instructions will 
remain in effect until further notice.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated all-
others rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters 
and producers individually investigated excluding any zero or de 
minimis margins and any margins determined entirely under section 776 
of the Act. CCPC is the only respondent in this investigation for which 
the Department has calculated a company-specific rate. Therefore, for 
purposes of determining the all-others rate and pursuant to section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, we are using the weighted-average dumping 
margin calculated for CCPC, 3.08 percent. See, e.g., Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Sheet 
and Strip in Coils From Italy, 64 FR 30750, 30755 (June 8, 1999), and 
Coated Free Sheet Paper from Indonesia: Notice of Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination, 72 FR 30753, 30757 (June 4, 2007) (unchanged in 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Coated 
Free Sheet Paper from Indonesia, 72 FR 60636 (October 25, 2007)).

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).

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the 
ITC of our final determination. As our final determination is 
affirmative and in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the 
ITC will determine, within 45 days, whether the domestic industry in 
the United States is materially injured, or threatened with material 
injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the likelihood of sales) for 
importation of the subject merchandise. If the ITC determines that such 
injury does exist, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order 
directing CBP to assess antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation.

Notification Regarding APO

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely notification of the 
destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order 
is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the 
terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: January 26, 2011.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix--Issues in Decision Memorandum

1. Targeted Dumping
2. Product Characteristics
3. Date of Sale
4. Cost of Production

[FR Doc. 2011-2194 Filed 1-31-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P