Melamine From Trinidad and Tobago: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination, 34621-34622 [2015-14975]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 116 (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34621-34622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14975]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-274-806]


Melamine From Trinidad and Tobago: Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``Department'') preliminarily 
determines that melamine from Trinidad and Tobago is being, or is 
likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(``LTFV''), as provided in section 733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the ``Act''). The period of investigation is October 1, 2013 
through September 30, 2014. The estimated weighted-average dumping 
margins are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this 
notice. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Effective Date: June 17, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurel LaCivita, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4243.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on December 9, 2014.\1\ Pursuant to section 773(c)(1)(A) 
of the Act, the Department postponed this preliminary LTFV 
determination by a period of 50 days.\2\
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    \1\ See Melamine from the People's Republic of China and 
Trinidad and Tobago: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 79 FR 73037 (December 9, 2014) (``Initiation 
Notice'').
    \2\ See Melamine from the People's Republic of China and 
Trinidad and Tobago: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations of 
Antidumping Duty Investigations, 80 FR 12979 (March 12, 2015).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise subject to this investigation is melamine (Chemical 
Abstracts Service (``CAS'') registry number 108-78-01, molecular 
formula C3H6N6).\3\ Melamine is a 
crystalline powder or granule typically (but not exclusively) used to 
manufacture melamine formaldehyde resins. All melamine is covered by 
the scope of this investigation irrespective of purity, particle size, 
or physical form. Melamine that has been blended with other products is 
included within this scope when such blends include constituent parts 
that have been intermingled, but that have not been chemically reacted 
with each other to produce a different product. For such blends, only 
the melamine component of the mixture is covered by the scope of this 
investigation. Melamine that is otherwise subject to this investigation 
is not excluded when commingled with melamine from sources not subject 
to this investigation. Only the subject component of such commingled 
products is covered by the scope of this investigation.
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    \3\ Melamine is also known as 2,4,6-triamino-s-triazine; 1,3,5-
Triazine-2,4,6-triamine; Cyanurotriamide; Cyanurotriamine; 
Cyanuramide; and by various brand names.
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    The subject merchandise is provided for in subheading 2933.61.0000 
of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS''). 
Although the HTSUS subheading and CAS registry number are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope 
is dispositive.

Scope Comments

    The Department's Initiation Notice provided interested parties an 
opportunity to raise issues regarding product coverage (scope).\4\ None 
of the parties to the proceeding provided scope comments with respect 
to this product.
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    \4\ See Initiation Notice, 79 FR at 73037.
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Methodology

    The Department has conducted this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. We calculated constructed export price 
(``CEP'') in accordance with section 772 of the Act, and normal value 
(``NV'') in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
a public document and is made available to the public via Enforcement 
and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized 
Electronic Service System (``ACCESS''). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at https://access.trade.gov, and is available to all 
parties in the Department's Central Records Unit, located at room 7046 
of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum \5\ can be found at 
https://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the electronic 
versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.
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    \5\ See Memorandum to Paul Piquado, ``Decision Memorandum for 
the Preliminary Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation 
of Melamine from Trinidad and Tobago,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice. A list of the topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum appears in Appendix II, below.
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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. We based our calculation of the ``all others'' rate on the 
margin calculated for Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Limited (``MHTL''),

[[Page 34622]]

the only mandatory respondent in this investigation.

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                  Producer and/or exporter                      dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
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MHTL........................................................      174.22
All Others..................................................      174.22
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties in this 
proceeding within five days of the date of publication of this notice 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the final verification report is issued in 
this proceeding. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case 
briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline 
date for case briefs.\6\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), 
parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding 
are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the 
issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of 
authorities.
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    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), 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 Enforcement and 
Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce. All documents must be filed 
electronically using ACCESS. An electronically filed request must be 
received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern 
Time (``ET''), within 30 days after the date of publication of this 
notice.\7\ Requests should contain the party's name, address, and 
telephone number, the number of participants, and a list of the issues 
to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, the Department 
intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time and 
date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, 
time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Pursuant to a request from MHTL, we are postponing the final 
determination. Accordingly, we will make our final determination no 
later than 135 days after the date of publication of this preliminary 
determination, pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the Act.\8\ Further, 
MHTL requested to extend the application of the provisional measures 
prescribed under section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), 
from a four-month period to a six-month period. The suspension of 
liquidation described above will be extended accordingly.\9\
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2) and (e); See also Letter from MHTL, 
``Southern Chemical and MHTL's Request to Postpone Final 
Determination and Extension for Provisional Measures,'' dated June 
8, 2015 (``Postponement Letter'').
    \9\ Id.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we are directing 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend liquidation of 
all entries of melamine from Trinidad and Tobago as described in the 
scope of the investigation section entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register.
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), we will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by which the NV 
exceeds CEP, as indicated in the chart above.\10\ These suspension of 
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \10\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 
(October 3, 2011).
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International Trade Commission (``ITC'') Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we notified the ITC 
of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because 
the preliminary determination in this proceeding is affirmative, 
section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires that the ITC make its final 
determination whether the domestic industry in the United States is 
materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of 
imports of melamine from Trinidad and Tobago before the later of 120 
days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after 
our final determination. Because we are postponing the deadline for our 
final determination to 135 days from the date of publication of this 
preliminary determination, as discussed above, the ITC will make its 
final determination no later than 45 days after our final 
determination.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: June 10, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
V. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
VI. Scope of the Investigation
VII. Discussion of Methodology
    A. Fair Value Comparisons
    (1) Determination of Comparison Method
    (2) Results of the Differential Pricing Analysis
VIII. Product Comparisons
IX. Date of Sale
X. Affiliation
XI. Constructed Export Price
XII. Normal Value
    A. Comparison-Market Viability
    B. Level of Trade
    C. Cost of Production
    (1) Calculation of Cost of Production
    (2) Test of Home Market Sale Prices
    (3) Results of the Sales-Below-Cost Test
    D. Calculation of Normal Value Based on CV
XIII. Currency Conversion
XIV. U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
XV. Disclosure and Public Comment
XVI. Verification
XVII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2015-14975 Filed 6-16-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P