Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts From Belgium: Affirmative Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 26001-26002 [2018-12012]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26001-26002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12012]



[[Page 26001]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-423-813]


Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts From Belgium: Affirmative 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that citric 
acid and certain citrate salts (citric acid) from Belgium are being, or 
are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV) during the period of investigation (POI) April 1, 2016, through 
March 31, 2017.

DATES: Applicable June 5, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Stolz, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4474.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Commerce published the Preliminary Determination of sales at LTFV 
of citric acid from Belgium on January 8, 2018, in which we also 
postponed the final determination until May 26, 2018.\1\ We invited 
interested parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination. 
Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by the 
closure of the Federal Government from January 20 through 22, 2018. If 
the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with 
Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the next business day. 
The revised deadline for the final determination of this investigation 
is now May 29, 2018.\2\
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    \1\ See Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from Belgium: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of 
Provisional Measures, 83 FR 787 (January 8, 2018) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum 
for the Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from 
Belgium'' (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of the 
Federal Government'' (Tolling Memorandum), dated January 23, 2018. 
All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been extended 
by 3 days. If the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in 
accordance with Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the 
next business day. See Notice of Clarification: Application of 
``Next Business Day'' Rule for Administrative Determination 
Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, as Amended, 70 FR 
24533 (May 10, 2005).
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    A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues 
raised by parties for this final determination, may be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum,\3\ which is adopted by this notice.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for Final 
Affirmative Antidumping Determination in the Less-Than- Fair-Value 
Investigation of Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from 
Belgium,'' dated concurrently with this determination, and hereby 
adopted by this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is citric acid from 
Belgium. For a full description of the scope of this investigation, see 
the ``Scope of the Investigation'' in Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

    Prior to the Preliminary Determination, we issued a Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum.\4\ We subsequently invited parties to submit 
additional scope comment in their case briefs, but received none. 
Therefore, for the final determination, we continue to find that the 
scope of the investigation as defined in the Initiation Notice \5\ and 
the Preliminary Determination \6\ remains applicable. See Appendix I.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determinations,'' dated December 1, 2017 (Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \5\ See Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from Belgium, 
Colombia, and Thailand: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 82 FR 29828 (June 30, 2017) (Initiation Notice) and 
accompanying Initiation Checklist.
    \6\ See Preliminary Determination, 83 FR at 789.
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), Commerce verified the sales and cost data reported by S.A, 
Citrique Belge N.V. (Citrique Belge), for use in our final 
determination. We used standard verification procedures, including an 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original 
source documents provided by Citrique Belge.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs submitted by 
interested parties in this proceeding are discussed in the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues raised by parties and 
responded to by Commerce in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is 
attached to this notice at Appendix II.
    The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is 
available electronically 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 
to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B-8024 of Commerce's 
main building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum can be accessed at https://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Issues and Decision Memorandum and electronic version 
are identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations for 
Citrique Belge. These changes are discussed in the ``Changes Since the 
Preliminary Determination'' section of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that, in the final 
determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for all-other exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted-average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters or producers individually examined, excluding rates that are 
zero, de minimis or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act.
    Commerce calculated an individual estimate weighted-average dumping 
margin for Citrique Belge, the only individually examined exporter/
producer in this investigation. Because the only individually 
calculated dumping margin is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely 
under section 776 of the Act, the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin calculated for Citrique Belge is the margin assigned to all-
other producers and exporters, pursuant to 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Determination

    The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                                                             averages
                    Exporter/producer                         dumping
                                                              margins
                                                             (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S.A. Citrique Belge N.V.................................           19.30
All-Others..............................................           19.30
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 26002]]

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
performed in this final determination within five days of any public 
announcement in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, for this final 
determination, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) to continue the suspension of liquidation of all appropriate 
entries of citric acid from Belgium, as described in Appendix I of this 
notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after January 8, 2018, the date of publication in the 
Federal Register of the affirmative Preliminary Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.10(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for 
such entries of merchandise equal to the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin or the estimate all-others rate, as follows: (1) The 
cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the 
respondent-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
determined in this final determination; (2) if the exporter is not a 
respondent identified above but the producer is, then the cash deposit 
rate will be equal to the respondent-specific estimated weighted 
average dumping margin established for the producer of the subject 
merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and 
exporters will equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin. These suspension of liquidation instructions will 
remain in effect until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination 
in this proceeding is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) 
of the Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports, or sales (or the 
likelihood of sales) for importation of citric acid from Belgium no 
later than 45 days after this final determination. If the ITC 
determines that such injury does not exist, this proceeding will be 
terminated and all cash deposits posted will be refunded or canceled. 
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue 
an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by Commerce, 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, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of propriety information disclosed under APO 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of 
return or destruction of APO materials, or conversion to judicial 
protective order, is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the 
regulations and terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: May 29, 2018.
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 I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation includes all 
grades and granulation sizes of citric acid, sodium citrate, and 
potassium citrate in their unblended forms, whether dry or in 
solution, and regardless of packaging type. The scope also includes 
blends of citric acid, sodium citrate, and potassium citrate; as 
well as blends with other ingredients, such as sugar, where the 
unblended form(s) of citric acid, sodium citrate, and potassium 
citrate constitute 40 percent or more, by weight, of the blend.
    The scope also includes all forms of crude calcium citrate, 
including dicalcium citrate monohydrate, and tricalcium citrate 
tetrahydrate, which are intermediate products in the production of 
citric acid, sodium citrate, and potassium citrate.
    The scope includes the hydrous and anhydrous forms of citric 
acid, the dihydrate and anhydrous forms of sodium citrate, otherwise 
known as citric acid sodium salt, and the monohydrate and 
monopotassium forms of potassium citrate. Sodium citrate also 
includes both trisodium citrate and monosodium citrate which are 
also known as citric acid trisodium salt and citric acid monosodium 
salt, respectively.
    The scope does not include calcium citrate that satisfies the 
standards set forth in the United States Pharmacopeia and has been 
mixed with a functional excipient, such as dextrose or starch, where 
the excipient constitutes at least 2 percent, by weight, of the 
product.
    Citric acid and sodium citrate are classifiable under 
2918.14.0000 and 2918.15.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS), respectively. Potassium citrate and crude 
calcium citrate are classifiable under 2918.15.5000 and, if included 
in a mixture or blend, 3824.99.9295 of the HTSUS. Blends that 
include citric acid, sodium citrate, and potassium citrate are 
classifiable under 3824.99.9295 of the HTSUS. Although the HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written description of the merchandise is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Discussion of Issues
    Comment 1: Whether a Certain Home Market Sale Should Be 
Considered Outside the Normal Course of Trade
    Comment 2: Correction of Misclassification of Indirect Selling 
and Inventory Carrying Expense as Movement Expenses
    Comment 3: Short Term Interest Income Offset to Interest 
Expenses
    Comment 4: Minor Correction Revising Indirect Selling Expense, 
General and Administrative, and Financial Expense Ratios
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-12012 Filed 6-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P