Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof From the People's Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Order and Amended Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 36702-36703 [2021-14839]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36702-36703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14839]



[[Page 36702]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-130]


Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof From the 
People's Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Order and Amended Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination

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

SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of 
Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC), 
Commerce is issuing a countervailing duty (CVD) order on certain walk-
behind lawn mowers and parts thereof (lawn mowers) from the People's 
Republic of China (China). In addition, Commerce is amending its final 
determination with respect to lawn mowers from China to correct a 
ministerial error.

DATES: Applicable July 13, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tyler Weinhold or Moses Song at (202) 
482-1121 or (202) 482-7885, respectively. AD/CVD Operations, 
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 20, 2021, Commerce published its affirmative final 
determination that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of lawn mowers from China.\1\ Respondent 
company, Ningbo Daye Garden Machinery Co., Ltd. (Ningbo Daye) submitted 
a timely allegation on the record that Commerce made a ministerial 
error in the final CVD determination on lawn mowers from China.\2\ 
Section 705(e) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) and 19 
CFR 351.224(f) define ministerial errors as errors in addition, 
subtraction, or other arithmetic function, clerical errors resulting 
from inaccurate copying, duplication, or the like, and any other type 
of unintentional error which Commerce considers ministerial. We 
reviewed the allegation and determined that we made a ministerial error 
in the final CVD determination on lawn mowers from China. See 
``Amendment to the Final Determination'' section below for further 
discussion.
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    \1\ See Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof from 
the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination, 86 FR 27379 (May 20, 2021) (Final 
Determination), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Ningbo Daye's Letter, ``Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers 
and Parts Thereof from the People's Republic of China, Case No. C-
570-130: Ningbo Daye's Ministerial Error Comments,'' dated May 24, 
2021 (Ministerial Error Allegations).
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    On July 6, 2021, the ITC notified Commerce of its affirmative final 
determination that, pursuant to sections 705(b)(1)(A)(i) and 705(d) of 
the Act, an industry in the United States is materially injured by 
reason of subsidized imports of subject merchandise from China.\3\
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    \3\ See ITC's Letter, ``Notification of ITC Final 
Determination,'' dated July 6, 2021 (ITC Notification Letter).
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this order are lawn mowers from China. For 
a complete description of the scope of this order, see the appendix to 
this notice.

Amendment to the Final Determination

    On May 24, 2021, Ningbo Daye submitted a timely ministerial error 
allegation regarding the Final Determination.\4\ Commerce reviewed the 
record and on June 17, 2021, issued a memorandum acknowledging that the 
error alleged by Ningbo Daye constituted a ministerial error within the 
meaning of section 705(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.224(f).\5\ 
Specifically, Commerce found that it had incorrectly transcribed 
certain data pertaining to Ningbo Daye's outstanding loans, which 
resulted in an error in the subsidy rate calculation. Pursuant to 19 
CFR 351.224(e), Commerce is amending the Final Determination to reflect 
the correction of the ministerial error described in the Ministerial 
Error Memorandum. Based on the correction, the subsidy rate for Ningbo 
Daye changed from 14.17 percent to 13.67 percent ad valorem. Because 
the all-others rate is calculated using a weighted average of the 
individual estimated subsidy rates calculated for mandatory 
respondents, including Ningbo Daye's ad valorem subsidy rate, the all-
others rate also changed from 16.29 percent to 15.95 percent.
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    \4\ See Ministerial Error Allegations.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Countervailing Duty Investigation of 
Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof from the People's 
Republic of China: Allegation of Ministerial Error in the Final 
Determination,'' dated June 17, 2021 (Ministerial Error Memorandum) 
at 1-2.
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Countervailing Duty Order

    On July 6, 2021, in accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, the 
ITC notified Commerce of its final determination that an industry in 
the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 
705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of subsidized imports of lawn 
mowers from China.\6\ Therefore, in accordance with section 705(c)(2) 
of the Act, Commerce is issuing this CVD order. Because the ITC 
determined that imports of lawn mowers from China are materially 
injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from 
China, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject 
to the assessment of CVDs.
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    \6\ See ITC Notification Letter.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon 
further instruction by Commerce, CVDs for all relevant entries of lawn 
mowers from China which are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after October 30, 2020, the date of publication of 
the Preliminary Determination,\7\ but will not include entries 
occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and 
before the publication of the ITC's final injury determination under 
section 705(b) of the Act, as further described in the ``Provisional 
Measures'' section of this notice.
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    \7\ See Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof from 
the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination, 85 FR 68848 (October 30, 2020) 
(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits

    Except as noted in the ``Provisional Measures'' section of this 
notice, in accordance with section 706(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation on all relevant entries 
of lawn mowers from China. These instructions suspending liquidation 
will remain in effect until further notice.
    Commerce will also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to 
the net countervailable subsidy rates indicated in the table below. 
Accordingly, effective on the date of publication in the Federal 
Register of the notice of the ITC's final affirmative injury 
determination, CBP must require, at the same time as importers would 
deposit estimated normal customs duties on subject merchandise, a cash 
deposit equal to the rates listed in the table below.

[[Page 36703]]



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                                                                Subsidy
                           Company                               rate
                                                               (percent)
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Zhejiang Amerisun Technology Co., Ltd.......................       20.98
Ningbo Daye Garden Machinery Co., Ltd \8\...................       13.67
All Others..................................................       15.95
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Provisional Measures
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    \8\ Commerce determined that, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.525(b)(6)(vi), cross-ownership exists between Ningbo Daye Garden 
Machinery Co. Ltd. and Zhejiang Jingaye Holdings Ltd.
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    Section 703(d) of the Act states that the suspension of liquidation 
pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in 
effect for more than four months. Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination on October 30, 2021.\9\
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    \9\ See Preliminary Determination.
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    The provisional measures period, beginning on the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination, ended on February 26, 
2021. Therefore, in accordance with section 703(d) of the Act and our 
practice, Commerce will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of 
liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to CVDs, unliquidated 
entries of lawn mowers from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption after February 26, 2021, the final day on which the 
provisional measures were in effect, until and through the day 
preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury 
determination in the Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation and 
the collection of cash deposits will resume on the date of publication 
of the ITC's final determination in the Federal Register.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice constitutes the CVD order with respect to lawn mowers 
from China pursuant to section 706(a) of the Act. Interested parties 
can find a list of CVD orders currently in effect at https://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
    This amended final determination and order is issued and published 
in accordance with sections 705(d) and 706(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.211(b) and 351.224(e).

    Dated: July 8, 2021.
James Maeder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.

Appendix

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by this order consists of certain rotary 
walk-behind lawn mowers, which are grass-cutting machines that are 
powered by internal combustion engines. The scope of this order 
covers certain walk-behind lawn mowers, whether self-propelled or 
non-self-propelled, whether finished or unfinished, whether 
assembled or unassembled, and whether containing any additional 
features that provide for functions in addition to mowing.
    Walk-behind lawn mowers within the scope of this order are only 
those powered by an internal combustion engine with a power rating 
of less than 3.7 kilowatts. These internal combustion engines are 
typically spark ignition, single or multiple cylinder, air cooled, 
internal combustion engines with vertical power take off shafts with 
a maximum displacement of 196cc. Walk-behind lawn mowers covered by 
this scope typically must be certified and comply with the Consumer 
Products Safety Commission Safety Standard For Walk-Behind Power 
Lawn Mowers under 16 CFR part 1205. However, lawn mowers that meet 
the physical descriptions above, but are not certified under 16 CFR 
part 1205 remain subject to the scope of this order.
    The internal combustion engines of the lawn mowers covered by 
this scope typically must comply with and be certified under 
Environmental Protection Agency air pollution controls title 40, 
chapter I, subchapter U, part 1054 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations standards for small non-road spark-ignition engines and 
equipment. However, lawn mowers that meet the physical descriptions 
above but that do not have engines certified under 40 CFR part 1054 
or other parts of subchapter U remain subject to the scope of this 
order.
    For purposes of this order, an unfinished and/or unassembled 
lawn mower means, at a minimum, a sub-assembly comprised of an 
engine and a cutting deck shell attached to one another. A cutting 
deck shell is the portion of the lawn mower--typically of aluminum 
or steel--that houses and protects a user from a rotating blade. 
Importation of the subassembly whether or not accompanied by, or 
attached to, additional components such as a handle, blade(s), grass 
catching bag, or wheel(s) constitute an unfinished lawn mower for 
purposes of this order. The inclusion in a third country of any 
components other than the mower subassembly does not remove the lawn 
mower from the scope. Lawn mowers that meet the physical description 
above are covered by the scope of this order regardless of the 
origin of its engine, unless such lawn mowers contain an engine that 
is covered by the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty 
orders on certain vertical shaft engines between 99cc and up to 
225cc, and parts thereof (small vertical engines) from China. If the 
antidumping or countervailing duty orders on small vertical engines 
from China are terminated, the lawn mowers containing small vertical 
engines from China will be covered by the scope of this order.
    The lawn mowers subject to this order are typically at 
subheading: 8433.11.0050. Lawn mowers subject to this order may also 
enter under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
8407.90.1010 and 8433.90.1090. The HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes only, and the written 
description of the merchandise under this order is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2021-14839 Filed 7-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P