Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products From France and the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 516-522 [2017-28430]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 3 (Thursday, January 4, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 516-522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-28430]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-427-829, A-570-071]


Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products From 
France and the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Less-Than-
Fair-Value Investigations

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


DATES: Applicable December 20, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Bailey at (202) 482-0193 and 
Maliha Khan at (202) 482-0895 (France), Jeffrey Pedersen at (202) 482-
2769 and Celeste Chen at (202) 482-0890 (the People's Republic of China 
(China)), AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Petitions

    On November 30, 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) 
received antidumping duty (AD) Petitions concerning imports of sodium 
gluconate, gluconic acid, and derivative products (GNA products) from 
France and China, filed in proper form on behalf of PMP Fermentation 
Products, Inc. (PMP, the petitioner).\1\ The AD Petitions were 
accompanied by a countervailing duty (CVD) petition concerning imports 
of GNA products

[[Page 517]]

from China. The petitioner is a domestic producer of GNA products.\2\
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    \1\ See Petitioner's letter, ``Petition for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duties: Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and 
Derivative Products from the People's Republic of China and 
France,'' dated November 30, 2017 (the Petitions).
    \2\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at 2.
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    On December 5, 2017, Commerce requested supplemental information 
pertaining to certain areas of the Petitions.\3\ The petitioner filed 
responses to these requests on December 7, 2017.\4\ On December 15, 
2017, the petitioner submitted certain revisions to the scope.\5\
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    \3\ See Commerce's Letters, ``Petitions for the Imposition of 
Antidumping Duties on Imports of Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, 
and Derivative Products from France and the People's Republic of 
China and Countervailing Duties on Imports of Sodium Gluconate, 
Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products from the People's Republic of 
China: Supplemental Questions,'' (General Issues Supplemental 
Questionnaire); ``Petition for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties 
on Imports of Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid and Derivative 
Products from France: Supplemental Questions;'' and ``Petition for 
the Imposition of Antidumping Duties on Imports of Sodium Gluconate, 
Gluconic Acid and Derivative Products from the People's Republic of 
China: Supplemental Questions.'' All three of these documents are 
dated December 5, 2017.
    \4\ See Petitioner's Letters, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation 
of Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid and Derivative Products from the 
People's Republic of China: PMP's Response to the Department's 
Supplemental Questions on the Petition'' (General Issues and China 
AD Supplement) and ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Sodium 
Gluconate, Gluconic Acid and Derivative Products from France: PMP's 
Response to the Department's Supplemental Questions on the 
Petition'' (General Issues and France AD Supplement). Both of these 
documents are dated December 7, 2017.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Petitions for the Imposition of 
Antidumping Duties on Imports of Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, 
and Derivative Products from France and the People's Republic of 
China and Countervailing Duties on Imports of Sodium Gluconate, 
Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products from the People's Republic of 
China: Telephone Conversation with the Petitioner,'' dated December 
14, 2017; see also Petitioner's Letter, ``Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic 
Acid, and Derivative Products from the People's Republic of China 
and France: Petitioner's Amendment to Volume I of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Petition,'' dated December 15, 2017 (Revised 
Scope).
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    In accordance with section 732(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), the petitioner alleges that imports of GNA products 
from France and China are being, or are likely to be, sold in the 
United States at less than fair value within the meaning of section 731 
of the Act, and that such imports are materially injuring, or 
threatening material injury to, the domestic industry producing GNA 
products in the United States. Consistent with section 732(b)(1) of the 
Act, the Petitions are accompanied by information reasonably available 
to the petitioner supporting their allegations.
    Commerce finds that the petitioner filed the Petitions on behalf of 
the domestic industry because the petitioner is an interested party as 
defined in section 771(9)(C) of the Act. Commerce also finds that the 
petitioner demonstrated sufficient industry support with respect to the 
initiation of the AD investigations that the petitioner is 
requesting.\6\
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    \6\ See the ``Determination of Industry Support for the 
Petitions'' section, infra.
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Periods of Investigation

    Because the Petitions were filed on November 30, 2017, pursuant to 
19 CFR 351.204(b)(1), the period of investigation (POI) for the France 
investigation is October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017. Because 
China is a non-market economy (NME) country, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.204(b)(1), the POI for the China investigation is April 1, 2017 
through September 30, 2017.

Scope of the Investigations

    The products covered by these investigations are GNA products from 
France and China. For a full description of the scope of these 
investigations, see the Appendix to this notice.

Scope Comments

    During our review of the Petitions, Commerce issued questions to, 
and received responses from, the petitioner pertaining to the proposed 
scope to ensure that the scope language in the Petitions is an accurate 
reflection of the products for which the domestic industry is seeking 
relief.\7\ As a result of these exchanges, the scope of the Petitions 
was modified to clarify the description of merchandise covered by the 
Petitions. The description of the merchandise covered by this 
initiation, as described in the Appendix to this notice, reflects these 
clarifications.
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    \7\ See General Issues Supplemental Questionnaire, at 3-4; see 
also General Issues and China AD Supplement and General Issues and 
France AD Supplement.
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    As discussed in the preamble to Commerce's regulations, we are 
setting aside a period for interested parties to raise issues regarding 
product coverage (scope).\8\ Commerce will consider all comments 
received from interested parties and, if necessary, will consult with 
interested parties prior to the issuance of the preliminary 
determinations. If scope comments include factual information,\9\ all 
such factual information should be limited to public information. To 
facilitate preparation of its questionnaires, Commerce requests that 
all interested parties submit such comments by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time 
(ET) on January 9, 2018, which is 20 calendar days from the signature 
date of this notice. Any rebuttal comments, which may include factual 
information, must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on January 19, 2018, which 
is 10 calendar days from the initial comments deadline.\10\
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    \8\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) (defining ``factual 
information'').
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b).
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    Commerce requests that any factual information the parties consider 
relevant to the scope of the investigations be submitted during this 
time period. However, if a party subsequently finds that additional 
factual information pertaining to the scope of the investigations may 
be relevant, the party may contact Commerce and request permission to 
submit the additional information. All such comments must be filed on 
the records of each of the concurrent AD and CVD investigations.

Filing Requirements

    All submissions to Commerce must be filed electronically using 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS).\11\ An electronically 
filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by the 
time and date it is due. Documents exempted from the electronic 
submission requirements must be filed manually (i.e., in paper form) 
with Enforcement and Compliance's APO/Dockets Unit, Room 18022, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230, and stamped with the date and time of receipt by the applicable 
deadlines.
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    \11\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order 
Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011); see also Enforcement and 
Compliance; Change of Electronic Filing System Name, 79 FR 69046 
(November 20, 2014) for details of Commerce's electronic filing 
requirements, effective August 5, 2011. Information on help using 
ACCESS can be found at https://access.trade.gov/help.aspx and a 
handbook can be found at https://access.trade.gov/help/Handbook%20on%20Electronic%20Filling%20Procedures.pdf.
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Comments on Product Characteristics for AD Questionnaires

    Commerce will provide interested parties an opportunity to comment 
on the appropriate physical characteristics of GNA products to be 
reported in response to Commerce's AD questionnaires. This information 
will be used to identify the key physical characteristics of the 
merchandise under consideration in order to report the relevant costs 
of production accurately as well as to develop appropriate product-
comparison criteria.
    Interested parties may provide any information or comments that 
they feel are relevant to the development of an

[[Page 518]]

accurate list of physical characteristics. Specifically, they may 
provide comments as to which characteristics are appropriate to use as: 
(1) General product characteristics, and (2) product-comparison 
criteria. We note that it is not always appropriate to use all product 
characteristics as product-comparison criteria. We base product-
comparison criteria on meaningful commercial differences among 
products. In other words, although there may be some physical product 
characteristics utilized by manufacturers to describe GNA products, it 
may be that only a select few product characteristics take into account 
commercially meaningful physical characteristics. In addition, 
interested parties may comment on the order in which the physical 
characteristics should be used in matching products. Generally, 
Commerce attempts to list the most important physical characteristics 
first and the least important characteristics last.
    In order to consider the suggestions of interested parties in 
developing and issuing the AD questionnaires, all product 
characteristics comments must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on January 9, 
2018. Any rebuttal comments must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on January 
19, 2018. All comments and submissions to Commerce must be filed 
electronically using ACCESS, as explained above, on the records of the 
France and China less-than-fair-value investigations.

Determination of Industry Support for the Petitions

    Section 732(b)(1) of the Act requires that a petition be filed on 
behalf of the domestic industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act 
provides that a petition meets this requirement if the domestic 
producers or workers who support the petition account for: (i) At least 
25 percent of the total production of the domestic like product; and 
(ii) more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like 
product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support 
for, or opposition to, the petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D) of 
the Act provides that, if the petition does not establish support of 
domestic producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of 
the total production of the domestic like product, Commerce shall: (i) 
Poll the industry or rely on other information in order to determine if 
there is support for the petition, as required by subparagraph (A); or 
(ii) determine industry support using a statistically valid sampling 
method to poll the ``industry.''
    Section 771(4)(A) of the Act defines the ``industry'' as the 
producers as a whole of a domestic like product. Thus, to determine 
whether a petition has the requisite industry support, the statute 
directs Commerce to look to producers and workers who produce the 
domestic like product. The International Trade Commission (ITC), which 
is responsible for determining whether ``the domestic industry'' has 
been injured, must also determine what constitutes a domestic like 
product in order to define the industry. While both Commerce and the 
ITC must apply the same statutory definition regarding the domestic 
like product,\12\ they do so for different purposes and pursuant to a 
separate and distinct authority. In addition, Commerce's determination 
is subject to limitations of time and information. Although this may 
result in different definitions of the like product, such differences 
do not render the decision of either agency contrary to law.\13\
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    \12\ See section 771(10) of the Act.
    \13\ See USEC, Inc. v. United States, 132 F. Supp. 2d 1, 8 (CIT 
2001) (citing Algoma Steel Corp., Ltd. v. United States, 688 F. 
Supp. 639, 644 (CIT 1988), aff'd 865 F.2d 240 (Fed. Cir. 1989)).
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    Section 771(10) of the Act defines the domestic like product as ``a 
product which is like, or in the absence of like, most similar in 
characteristics and uses with, the article subject to an investigation 
under this title.'' Thus, the reference point from which the domestic 
like product analysis begins is ``the article subject to an 
investigation'' (i.e., the class or kind of merchandise to be 
investigated, which normally will be the scope as defined in the 
Petitions).
    With regard to the domestic like product, the petitioner does not 
offer a definition of the domestic like product distinct from the scope 
of the investigations. Based on our analysis of the information 
submitted on the record, we have determined that GNA products, as 
defined in the scope, constitute a single domestic like product and we 
have analyzed industry support in terms of that domestic like 
product.\14\
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    \14\ For a discussion of the domestic like product analysis, see 
Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation Checklist: Sodium 
Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products from the People's 
Republic of China (China AD Initiation Checklist), at Attachment II, 
Analysis of Industry Support for the Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Petitions Covering Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and 
Derivative Products from the People's Republic of China and France 
(Attachment II); and Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation 
Checklist: Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products 
from France (France AD Initiation Checklist), at Attachment II. 
These checklists are dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, 
this notice and on file electronically via ACCESS. Access to 
documents filed via ACCESS is also available in the Central Records 
Unit, Room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building.
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    In determining whether the petitioner has standing under section 
732(c)(4)(A) of the Act, we considered the industry support data 
contained in the Petitions with reference to the domestic like product 
as defined in the ``Scope of the Investigations,'' in the Appendix to 
this notice. To establish industry support, the petitioner provided its 
own production of the domestic like product in 2016.\15\ The petitioner 
states that there are no other known producers of GNA products in the 
United States; therefore, the Petitions are supported by 100 percent of 
the U.S. industry.\16\
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    \15\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at 3 and Exhibits I-1A and 
I-1B.
    \16\ Id. at 3 and Exhibits I-1A and I-1B; see also General 
Issues and China AD Supplement, at 7; see also General Issues and 
France AD Supplement, at 7.
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    Our review of the data provided in the Petitions, the supplemental 
responses, and other information readily available to Commerce 
indicates that the petitioner has established industry support for the 
Petitions.\17\ First, the Petitions established support from domestic 
producers (or workers) accounting for more than 50 percent of the total 
production of the domestic like product and, as such, Commerce is not 
required to take further action in order to evaluate industry support 
(e.g., polling).\18\ Second, the domestic producers (or workers) have 
met the statutory criteria for industry support under section 
732(c)(4)(A)(i) of the Act because the domestic producers (or workers) 
who support the Petitions account for at least 25 percent of the total 
production of the domestic like product.\19\ Finally, the domestic 
producers (or workers) have met the statutory criteria for industry 
support under section 732(c)(4)(A)(ii) of the Act because the domestic 
producers (or workers) who support the Petitions account for more than 
50 percent of the production of the domestic like product produced by 
that portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, 
the Petitions.\20\ Accordingly, Commerce determines that the Petitions 
were filed on behalf of the domestic industry within the meaning of 
section 732(b)(1) of the Act.
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    \17\ See China AD Initiation Checklist and France AD Initiation 
Checklist, at Attachment II.
    \18\ See section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act; see also China AD 
Initiation Checklist and France AD Initiation Checklist, at 
Attachment II.
    \19\ See China AD Initiation Checklist and France AD Initiation 
Checklist, at Attachment II.
    \20\ Id.
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    Commerce finds that the petitioner filed the Petitions on behalf of 
the domestic industry because it is an interested party as defined in 
section 771(9)(C) of the Act and it has demonstrated sufficient 
industry support with respect to the AD

[[Page 519]]

investigations that it is requesting that Commerce initiate.\21\
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    \21\ Id.
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Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and Causation

    The petitioner alleges that the U.S. industry producing the 
domestic like product is being materially injured, or is threatened 
with material injury, by reason of the imports of the subject 
merchandise sold at less than normal value (NV). In addition, the 
petitioner alleges that subject imports exceed the negligibility 
threshold provided for under section 771(24)(A) of the Act.\22\
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    \22\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at 16 and Exhibit I-9; see 
also General Issues and China AD Supplement, at 7; and General 
Issues and France AD Supplement, at 7.
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    The petitioner contends that the industry's injured condition is 
illustrated by a significant volume of subject imports, reduced market 
share, underselling and price depression or suppression, lost sales and 
revenues, and a negative impact on financial performance.\23\ We have 
assessed the allegations and supporting evidence regarding material 
injury, threat of material injury, and causation, and we have 
determined that these allegations are properly supported by adequate 
evidence, and meet the statutory requirements for initiation.\24\
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    \23\ Id. at 13, 16-32 and Exhibits I-4 and I-9 through I-22.
    \24\ See China AD Initiation Checklist, at Attachment III, 
Analysis of Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and 
Causation for the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions 
Covering Sodium Gluconate, Gluconic Acid, and Derivative Products 
from the People's Republic of China and France (Attachment III); see 
also France AD Initiation Checklist, at Attachment III.
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Allegations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

    The following is a description of the allegations of sales at less 
than fair value upon which Commerce based its decision to initiate AD 
investigations of imports of GNA products from France and China. The 
sources of data for the deductions and adjustments relating to U.S. 
price and NV are discussed in greater detail in the country-specific 
initiation checklists.

Export Price

    For both France and China, the petitioner based its calculation of 
export price (EP) on U.S. imports of sodium gluconate under the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading 
2918.16.5010 between October 2016 and September 2017 for France and 
April 2017 and September 2017 for China.\25\ The petitioner made 
deductions from EP for foreign inland freight and foreign brokerage and 
handling expenses.\26\
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    \25\ See France AD Initiation Checklist and China AD Initiation 
Checklist.
    \26\ Id.
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Normal Value

    For France, the petitioner was unable to obtain reliable 
information relating to the prices charged for GNA products in France 
or in any third country market.\27\ Because home market and third 
country prices were not reasonably available, the petitioner calculated 
NV based on constructed value (CV). For further discussion of CV, see 
the section ``Normal Value Based on Constructed Value'' below.\28\
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    \27\ See France AD Initiation Checklist.
    \28\ In accordance with section 505(a) of the Trade Preferences 
Extension Act of 2015, amending section 773(b)(2) of the Act, for 
this investigation, Commerce will request information necessary to 
calculate the CV and cost of production (COP) to determine whether 
there are reasonable grounds to believe or suspect that sales of the 
foreign like product have been made at prices that represent less 
than the COP of the product. Commerce no longer requires a COP 
allegation to conduct this analysis.
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    With respect to China, Commerce considers China to be a non-market 
economy (NME) country.\29\ 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 Commerce. Therefore, we 
continue to treat China as an NME country for purposes of the 
initiation of this investigation. Accordingly, NV in China is 
appropriately based on factors of production (FOPs) valued in a 
surrogate market economy country, in accordance with section 773(c) of 
the Act.\30\ In the course of this investigation, all parties, and the 
public, will have the opportunity to provide relevant information 
related to the granting of separate rates to individual exporters.
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    \29\ See Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Aluminum Foil 
from the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination, 82 FR 50858, 50861 (November 2, 2017), and 
accompanying decision memorandum, China's Status as a Non-Market 
Economy.
    \30\ See China AD Initiation Checklist.
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    The petitioner claims that Thailand is an appropriate surrogate 
country for China because it is a market economy country that is at a 
level of economic development comparable to that of China; it is a 
significant producer of comparable merchandise; and public information 
from Thailand is available to value all material input factors except 
for the inputs of liquid glucose and sodium hydroxide.\31\ The 
petitioner stated that due to what it characterized as high values in 
the Thai import data for glucose and sodium hydroxide, it instead 
relied on data for Brazil for these two inputs.\32\ Brazil was on the 
list of potential surrogate countries placed on the record by the 
petitioner, and the petitioner stated that Brazil had the largest 
quantity of imports of these two inputs.\33\ Based on the information 
provided by the petitioner, we determine that it is appropriate to use 
Thailand as a surrogate country, but rely on the Brazil import data for 
the glucose and sodium hydroxide inputs, for initiation purposes.
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    \31\ See Volume II of the Petitions, at 2-3 and Exhibit II-2.
    \32\ See Volume II of the Petitions, at 5.
    \33\ See Volume II of the Petitions, at 2-6 and Exhibit II-2.
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    Interested parties will have the opportunity to submit comments 
regarding surrogate country selection and, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.301(c)(3)(i), will be provided an opportunity to submit publicly 
available information to value FOPs within 30 days before the scheduled 
date of the preliminary determination.

Factors of Production

    Because information regarding the volume of inputs consumed by 
China producers/exporters is not available, the petitioner relied on 
the production experience of its GNA products production facility in 
Peoria, Illinois as an estimate of Chinese manufacturers' FOPs.\34\ The 
petitioner valued the estimated FOPs using surrogate values from 
Thailand for China, except for two inputs as noted above.\35\ The 
petitioner used the average POI exchange rate to convert the data to 
U.S. dollars.\36\
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    \34\ See Volume II of the Petitions at 4 and Volume IV of the 
Petitions at 4.
    \35\ See General Issues and China AD Supplement, at Revised 
Exhibit II-13.
    \36\ See General Issues and China AD Supplement, at Revised 
Exhibit II-22.
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Normal Value Based on Constructed Value

    As noted above, the petitioner was unable to obtain reliable 
information relating to the prices charged for GNA products in France 
or in any third country market; accordingly, the petitioner based NV on 
CV. Pursuant to section 773(e) of the Act, CV consists of the cost of 
manufacturing (COM), selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) 
expenses, financial expenses, packing expenses, and profit.\37\ For 
France, the petitioner calculated the COM based on its own input 
factors of production and usage rates for raw materials, labor, energy, 
packing, and a

[[Page 520]]

by-product offset.\38\ The input factors of production were valued 
using publicly available data on costs specific to France, during the 
proposed POI.\39\ Specifically, the prices for raw material and packing 
inputs were based on publicly available import data for France.\40\ 
Labor and energy costs were valued using publicly available sources for 
France.\41\ The petitioner calculated factory overhead, SG&A, and 
profit for France based on the average ratios found in the experience 
of a French producer of chemical products.\42\
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    \37\ See France AD Initiation Checklist.
    \38\ See General Issues and France AD Supplement, at Revised 
Exhibit IV-10.
    \39\ Id.
    \40\ Id.
    \41\ Id.
    \42\ Id.
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Fair Value Comparisons

    Based on the data provided by the petitioner, there is reason to 
believe that imports of GNA products from France and China are being, 
or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value. 
Based on comparisons of EP to NV in accordance with sections 772 and 
773 of the Act, the estimated dumping margin for GNA products for each 
of the countries covered by this initiation are as follows: (1) 
France--76.95 percent; \43\ and (2) China--213.15 percent.\44\
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    \43\ See France AD Initiation Checklist.
    \44\ See China AD Initiation Checklist.
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Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations

    Based upon the examination of the AD Petitions, we find that the 
Petitions meet the requirements of section 732 of the Act. Therefore, 
we are initiating AD investigations to determine whether imports of GNA 
products from France and China are being, or are likely to be, sold in 
the United States at less than fair value. In accordance with section 
733(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(b)(1), unless postponed, we 
will make our preliminary determinations no later than 140 days after 
the date of this initiation.
    Under the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, numerous 
amendments to the AD and CVD laws were made.\45\ The 2015 law does not 
specify dates of application for those amendments. On August 6, 2015, 
Commerce published an interpretative rule, in which it announced the 
applicability dates for each amendment to the Act, except for 
amendments contained in section 771(7) of the Act, which relate to 
determinations of material injury by the ITC.\46\ The amendments to 
sections 771(15), 773, 776, and 782 of the Act are applicable to all 
determinations made on or after August 6, 2015, and, therefore, apply 
to these AD investigations.\47\
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    \45\ See Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, Public Law 
114-27, 129 Stat. 362 (2015).
    \46\ See Dates of Application of Amendments to the Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Laws Made by the Trade Preferences Extension 
Act of 2015, 80 FR 46793 (August 6, 2015).
    \47\ Id. at 46794-95. The 2015 amendments may be found at 
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1295/text/pl.
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Respondent Selection

    With respect to France, although Commerce normally relies on import 
data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to determine whether to 
select a limited number of producers/exporters for individual 
examination in AD investigations, the petitioner identified only one 
company in France, Jungbunzlauer, S.A., as a producer/exporter of GNA 
products.\48\ The petitioner relied on information from a subscription 
database of shipment data and additional research of publicly-available 
sources as support for its claim that there is only one producer/
exporter of GNA products in France.\49\ We currently know of no 
additional producers/exporters of GNA products from France. 
Accordingly, Commerce intends to examine the sole French producer/
exporter identified in the Petition for the investigation. Parties 
wishing to comment on respondent selection for France must do so within 
five days of the publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
Any such comments must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on the 
due date, and must be filed electronically via ACCESS.
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    \48\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at Exhibit I-5B.
    \49\ Id.; see also Volume IV of the Petitions, at 1.
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    With respect to China, the petitioner named 82 producers/exporters 
as accounting for the majority of exports of GNA products to the United 
States from China.\50\ In accordance with our standard practice for 
respondent selection in AD cases involving NME countries, we intend to 
issue quantity and value (Q&V) questionnaires to producers/exporters of 
merchandise subject to the investigation and, if necessary, base 
respondent selection on the responses received. For this investigation, 
Commerce will request Q&V information from known Chinese exporters and 
producers identified, with complete contact information, in the 
Petition. In addition, Commerce will post the Q&V questionnaire along 
with filing instructions on the Enforcement and Compliance website at 
https://www.trade.gov/enforcement/news.asp.
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    \50\ See General Issues and China AD Supplement, at Revised 
Exhibit I-5A.
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    Producers/exporters of GNA products from China that do not receive 
Q&V questionnaires by mail may still submit a response to the Q&V 
questionnaire and can obtain a copy of the Q&V questionnaire from 
Enforcement & Compliance's website. The Q&V response must be submitted 
by the relevant Chinese exporters/producers no later than 5:00 p.m. ET 
on January 4, 2018. All Q&V responses must be filed electronically via 
ACCESS.

Separate Rates

    In order to obtain separate-rate status in an NME investigation, 
exporters and producers must submit a separate-rate application.\51\ 
The specific requirements for submitting a separate-rate application in 
China investigation are outlined in detail in the application itself, 
which is available on Commerce's website at https://enforcement.trade.gov/nme/nme-sep-rate.html. The separate-rate 
application will be due 30 days after publication of this initiation 
notice.\52\ Exporters and producers who submit a separate-rate 
application and have been selected as mandatory respondents will be 
eligible for consideration for separate-rate status only if they 
respond to all parts of Commerce's AD questionnaire as mandatory 
respondents. Commerce requires that companies from China submit a 
response to both the Q&V questionnaire and the separate-rate 
application by the respective deadlines in order to receive 
consideration for separate-rate status. Companies not filing a timely 
Q&V response will not receive separate-rate consideration.
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    \51\ See Policy Bulletin 05.1: Separate-Rates Practice and 
Application of Combination Rates in Antidumping Investigation 
involving Non-Market Economy Countries (April 5, 2005), available at 
https://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf (Policy Bulletin 
05.1).
    \52\ Although in past investigations this deadline was 60 days, 
consistent with 19 CFR 351.301(a), which states that ``the Secretary 
may request any person to submit factual information at any time 
during a proceeding,'' this deadline is now 30 days.
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Use of Combination Rates

    Commerce will calculate combination rates for certain respondents 
that are eligible for a separate rate in an NME investigation. The 
Separate Rates and Combination Rates Bulletin 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 Investigation 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

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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.\53\
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    \53\ See Policy Bulletin 05.1 at 6 (emphasis added).
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Distribution of Copies of the Petitions

    In accordance with section 732(b)(3)(A)(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.202(f), copies of the public version of the Petitions have been 
provided to the governments of France and China via ACCESS. To the 
extent practicable, we will attempt to provide a copy of the public 
version of the Petitions to each exporter named in the Petitions, as 
provided under 19 CFR 351.203(c)(2).

ITC Notification

    We will notify the ITC of our initiation, as required by section 
732(d) of the Act.

Preliminary Determinations by the ITC

    The ITC will preliminarily determine, within 45 days after the date 
on which the Petitions were filed, whether there is a reasonable 
indication that imports of GNA products from France and/or China are 
materially injuring or threatening material injury to a U.S. industry. 
A negative ITC determination for any country will result in the 
investigation being terminated with respect to that country.\54\ 
Otherwise, the investigations will proceed according to statutory and 
regulatory time limits.
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    \54\ Id.
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Submission of Factual Information

    Factual information is defined in 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) as: (i) 
Evidence submitted in response to questionnaires; (ii) evidence 
submitted in support of allegations; (iii) publicly available 
information to value factors under 19 CFR 351.408(c) or to measure the 
adequacy of remuneration under 19 CFR 351.511(a)(2); (iv) evidence 
placed on the record by Commerce; and (v) evidence other than factual 
information described in (i)-(iv). 19 CFR 351.301(b) requires any 
party, when submitting factual information, to specify under which 
subsection of 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) the information is being submitted 
\55\ and, if the information is submitted to rebut, clarify, or correct 
factual information already on the record, to provide an explanation 
identifying the information already on the record that the factual 
information seeks to rebut, clarify, or correct.\56\ Time limits for 
the submission of factual information are addressed in 19 CFR 351.301, 
which provides specific time limits based on the type of factual 
information being submitted. Interested parties should review the 
regulations prior to submitting factual information in these 
investigations.
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    \55\ See 19 CFR 351.301(b).
    \56\ See 19 CFR 351.301(b)(2).
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Extensions of Time Limits

    Parties may request an extension of time limits before the 
expiration of a time limit established under 19 CFR 351.301, or as 
otherwise specified by the Secretary. In general, an extension request 
will be considered untimely if it is filed after the expiration of the 
time limit established under 19 CFR 351.301. For submissions that are 
due from multiple parties simultaneously, an extension request will be 
considered untimely if it is filed after 10:00 a.m. ET on the due date. 
Under certain circumstances, we may elect to specify a different time 
limit by which extension requests will be considered untimely for 
submissions which are due from multiple parties simultaneously. In such 
a case, we will inform parties in the letter or memorandum setting 
forth the deadline (including a specified time) by which extension 
requests must be filed to be considered timely. An extension request 
must be made in a separate, stand-alone submission; under limited 
circumstances we will grant untimely-filed requests for the extension 
of time limits. Parties should review Extension of Time Limits; Final 
Rule, 78 FR 57790 (September 20, 2013), available at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-09-20/html/2013-22853.htm, prior to 
submitting factual information in these investigations.

Certification Requirements

    Any party submitting factual information in an AD or CVD proceeding 
must certify to the accuracy and completeness of that information.\57\ 
Parties must use the certification formats provided in 19 CFR 
351.303(g).\58\ Commerce intends to reject factual submissions if the 
submitting party does not comply with the applicable revised 
certification requirements.
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    \57\ See section 782(b) of the Act.
    \58\ See also Certification of Factual Information to Import 
Administration During Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Proceedings, 78 FR 42678 (July 17, 2013) (Final Rule). Answers to 
frequently asked questions regarding the Final Rule are available at 
https://enforcement.trade.gov/tlei/notices/factual_info_final_rule_FAQ_07172013.pdf.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. On January 22, 2008, Commerce 
published Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Documents 
Submission Procedures; APO Procedures, 73 FR 3634 (January 22, 2008). 
Parties wishing to participate in these investigations should ensure 
that they meet the requirements of these procedures (e.g., the filing 
of letters of appearance as discussed at 19 CFR 351.103(d)).
    This notice is issued and published pursuant to sections 732(c)(2) 
and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.203(c).

    Dated: December 20, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Investigations

    The scope of these investigations covers all grades of sodium 
gluconate, gluconic acid, liquid gluconate, and glucono delta 
lactone (GDL) (collectively GNA Products), regardless of physical 
form (including, but not limited to substrates; solutions; dry 
granular form or powders, regardless of particle size; or as a 
slurry). The scope also includes GNA Products that have been blended 
or are in solution with other product(s) where the resulting mix 
contains 35 percent or more of sodium gluconate, gluconic acid, 
liquid gluconate, and/or GDL by dry weight.
    Sodium gluconate has a molecular formula of 
NaC6H11O7. Sodium gluconate has a 
Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) registry number of 527-07-1, and can 
also be called ``sodium salt of gluconic acid'' and/or sodium 2, 3, 
4, 5, 6 pentahydroxyhexanoate. Gluconic acid has a molecular formula 
of C6H12O7. Gluconic acid has a CAS 
registry number of 526-95-4, and can also be called 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 
pentahydroxycaproic acid. Liquid gluconate is a blend consisting 
only of gluconic acid and sodium gluconate in an aqueous solution. 
Liquid gluconate has CAS registry numbers of 527-07-1, 526-95-4, and 
7732-18-5, and can also be called 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-pentahydroxycaproic 
acid-hexanoate. GDL has a molecular formula of 
C6H10O6. GDL has a CAS registry 
number of 90-80-2, and can also be called d-glucono-1,5-lactone.
    The merchandise covered by the scope of these investigations is 
currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS) under subheadings 2918.16.1000, 2918.16.5010, and 
2932.20.5020. Merchandise covered by the scope may also enter under 
HTSUS subheadings 2918.16.5050, 3824.99.2890, and 3824.99.9295. 
Although the HTSUS subheadings and CAS registry numbers are

[[Page 522]]

provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the merchandise is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2017-28430 Filed 1-3-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P