Glycine From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 44863-44864 [2018-19097]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 4, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44863-44864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19097]



[[Page 44863]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-081]


Glycine From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and 
exporters of glycine from the People's Republic of China (China) for 
the period of investigation January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Applicable September 4, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yasmin Bordas or Tyler Weinhold, AD/
CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3813 or (202) 
482-1121, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on April 25, 
2018.\1\ On June 7, 2018, in accordance with section 703(c)(1)(A) of 
the Act, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this 
investigation to August 27, 2018.\2\ For a complete description of the 
events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics discussed in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this 
notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is 
on file 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 
is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of 
the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at https://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic 
versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.
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    \1\ See Glycine from India, the People's Republic of China, and 
Thailand: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 83 FR 
18002 (April 25, 2018) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Glycine from India, the People's Republic of China, and 
Thailand: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations of 
Countervailing Duty Investigations, 83 FR 26415 (June 7, 2018).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation 
of Glycine from the People's Republic of China,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is glycine from China. 
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage, (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice.
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    For a summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal 
responses submitted to the record for this preliminary determination 
and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely 
received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ Commerce is 
not preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice. See scope at Appendix I.
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Glycine from India, Japan, the People's 
Republic of China and Thailand: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum 
for the Preliminary Determinations,'' dated August 27, 2018. 
(Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a 
subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives 
rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is 
specific.\7\ Commerce notes that, in making these findings, we relied 
in total on facts available and, because we find that the mandatory 
respondents did not act to the best of their ability to respond to 
Commerce's requests for information, we drew an adverse inference in 
selecting from among the facts otherwise available.\8\ For further 
information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse 
Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \7\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
    \8\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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All-Others Rate

    Sections 703(d)(1)(A) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that, in 
the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate 
shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated 
subsidy rates established for those companies individually examined, 
excluding any zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely 
under section 776 of the Act. Pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of 
the Act, if the individual estimated countervailable subsidy rates 
established for all exporters and producers individually examined are 
zero, de minimis, or determined based entirely on facts otherwise 
available, Commerce may use any reasonable method to establish the 
estimated subsidy rate for all-other producers or exporters. In this 
investigation, we preliminarily determined the individually estimated 
subsidy rate for each of the individually examined respondents based 
entirely on facts available under section 776 of the Act. There is no 
other information on the record with which to determine an all-others 
rate. Consequently, pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act, we 
have established the all-others rate by applying the countervailable 
subsidy rate assigned to the mandatory respondents. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying Commerce's analysis, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Determination

    We preliminarily determine that the following estimated 
countervailable subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Subsidy
                           Company                               rate
                                                               (percent)
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JC Chemicals Limited........................................      144.01
Simagchem Corp..............................................      144.01
All-Others..................................................      144.01
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, 
Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
suspend

[[Page 44864]]

liquidation of entries of subject merchandise 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. Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will 
instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the rates indicated 
above.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of this notice, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    Because the examined respondents in this investigation did not 
provide information requested by Commerce and we preliminarily 
determine each of the examined respondents to have been uncooperative, 
we will not conduct verification.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 25 
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination. 
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be 
submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for case 
briefs.\9\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who 
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation 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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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list 
of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, 
Commerce intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 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.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If the final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later 
of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days 
after the final determination.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: August 27, 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 is glycine at any 
purity level or grade. This includes glycine of all purity levels, 
which covers all forms of crude or technical glycine including but 
not limited to sodium glycinate, glycine slurry and any other forms 
of amino acetic acid or glycine. Subject merchandise also includes 
glycine and precursors of dried crystalline glycine that are 
processed in a third country, including, but not limited to, 
refining or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the in-scope glycine or precursors of 
dried crystalline glycine. Glycine has the Chemical Abstracts 
Service (CAS) registry number of 56-40-6. Glycine and glycine slurry 
are classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) subheading 2922.49.4300. Sodium glycinate is classified in 
the HTSUS under 2922.49.8000. While the HTSUS subheadings and CAS 
registry number are provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
the written description of the scope of this investigation is 
dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Injury Test
IV. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
V. Analysis of Programs
VI. Calculation of the All-Others Rate
VII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2018-19097 Filed 8-31-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P