Certain Lemon Juice From Brazil: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 78939-78941 [2022-28009]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 246 (Friday, December 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78939-78941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-28009]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-351-858]


Certain Lemon Juice From Brazil: Final Affirmative Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
certain lemon juice (lemon juice) from Brazil is being, or is likely to 
be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV).

DATES: Applicable December 23, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lilit Astvatsatrian or Dakota Potts, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6412 or (202) 
482-0223, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 4, 2022, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
Preliminary Determination in this investigation.\1\ A summary of the 
events that occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues raised by 
interested parties for this final determination, may be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Lemon Juice from Brazil: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of 
Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 87 FR 
47697 (August 4, 2022) (Preliminary Determination), and accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Certain Lemon Juice from Brazil,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum).
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is October 1, 2020, through September 
30, 2021.

Scope of the Investigation

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

Scope Comments

    No interested party commented on the scope of the investigation as 
it appeared in the Preliminary Determination. Therefore, no changes 
were made to the scope of the investigation.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case briefs 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

[[Page 78940]]

as 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. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Verification

    Commerce conducted verification of the information relied upon in 
making its final determination in this investigation with respect to 
Louis Dreyfus Company Sucos S.A. (LDC) and Citrus Juice Eireli (Citrus 
Juice) in accordance with section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act).\3\ Specifically, Commerce conducted on-site 
verifications of the third country market sales, U.S. sales, and cost 
of production responses submitted by LDC and Citrus Juice.
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    \3\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Sales Response of 
Citrus Juice Eireli in the Antidumping Investigation of Certain 
Lemon Juice from Brazil,'' dated September 30, 2022; ``Verification 
of the Sales Questionnaire Response of Louis Dreyfus Company Sucos 
S.A. in the Antidumping Investigation of Certain Lemon Juice from 
Brazil,'' dated October 5, 2022; ``Verification of the Cost Response 
of Citrus Juice Eireli in the Less Than Fair Value Investigation of 
Certain Lemon Juice from Brazil,'' dated October 18, 2022; and 
``Verification of the Cost Response of Louis Dreyfus Company Sucos 
S.A. in the Lower-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Certain Lemon 
Juice from Brazil,'' dated October 21, 2022.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and additional 
information obtained since our preliminary findings, we made certain 
changes to the margin calculation for Citrus Juice and LDC after the 
Preliminary Determination. For a discussion of these changes, see the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) of the Act, we 
calculated an individual estimated weighted-average dumping margin for 
the two mandatory respondents, Citrus Juice and LDC. Section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act states that, for companies not individually 
investigated, Commerce will determine 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 and de minimis margins, 
and any rates determined entirely on facts otherwise available under 
section 776 of the Act.
    In this investigation, Commerce calculated a de minimis rate for 
LDC. Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate calculated for Citrus 
Juice. Consequently, the rate calculated for Citrus Juice is also 
assigned as the rate for all other producers and exporters.

Final Determination

    The estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                      Exporter/producer                         dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Citrus Juice Eireli.........................................       22.31
Louis Dreyfus Company Sucos S.A.............................        0.00
All Others..................................................       22.31
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

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

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue the 
suspension of liquidation of all appropriate entries of lemon juice, as 
described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after August 4, 2022, 
the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in this 
investigation in the Federal Register.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, we will instruct 
CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: (1) the 
cash deposit rate for each of the respondents listed in the table above 
is the company-specific cash deposit rate listed for the respondent in 
the table; (2) if the exporter is not a respondent listed in the table 
above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate is the company-
specific cash deposit rate listed for the producer of the subject 
merchandise in the table above; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all 
other producers and exporters is the all-others cash deposit rate 
listed in the table above. These suspension of liquidation instructions 
will remain in effect until further notice.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because the 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 importation of lemon juice from 
Brazil, no later than 45 days after our final determination. If the ITC 
determines that material injury or threat of material injury does not 
exist, the proceeding will be terminated, all cash deposits will be 
refunded, and suspension of liquidation will be lifted. If the ITC 
determines that material injury or threat of material 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.

Administrative Protective Order

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

Notification to Interested Parties

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

    Dated: December 19, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is certain lemon 
juice. Lemon juice is covered: (1) with or without addition of 
preservatives, sugar, or other sweeteners; (2) regardless of the GPL 
(grams per liter of citric

[[Page 78941]]

acid) level of concentration, brix level, brix/acid ratio, pulp 
content, clarity; (3) regardless of the grade, horticulture method 
(e.g., organic or not), processed form (e.g., frozen or not-from-
concentrate), the size of the container in which packed, or the 
method of packing; and (4) regardless of the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standard of identity 
(as defined under 19 CFR 146.114 et seq.) (i.e., whether or not the 
lemon juice meets an FDA standard of identity).
    Excluded from the scope are: (1) lemon juice at any level of 
concentration packed in retail-sized containers ready for sale to 
consumers; and (2) beverage products, such as lemonade, that contain 
20 percent or less lemon juice as an ingredient by actual volume. 
``Retail-sized containers'' are defined as lemon juice products sold 
in ready-for-sale packaging (e.g., clearly visible branding, 
nutritional facts listed, etc.) containing up to 128 ounces of lemon 
juice by actual volume.
    The scope also includes certain lemon juice that is blended with 
certain lemon juice from sources not subject to this investigation. 
Only the subject lemon juice component of such blended merchandise 
is covered by the scope of this investigation. Blended lemon juice 
is defined as certain lemon juice with two distinct component parts 
of differing country(s) of origin mixed together to form certain 
lemon juice where the component parts are no longer individually 
distinguishable.
    The product subject to this investigation is currently 
classifiable under subheadings 2009.31.4000, 2009.31.6020, 
2009.31.6040, 2009.39.6020, and 2009.39.6040 of the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS 
subheadings 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 Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
VI. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Application of Adverse Facts Available (AFA) for 
Citrus Juice
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce's Preliminary Adjustment to the Net 
Realizable Value (NRV) of Citrus Juice's Lemon Coproducts was 
Correct
    Comment 3: Affiliations between LDC and Its Supplier
    Comment 4: Revision to the Adjustment for Affiliated 
Transactions
    Comment 5: Financial Statements for the Period Cost Calculations
    Comment 6: Revisions to LDC's Reported Cost for Verification 
Findings and Material Price Difference Adjustments
    Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Include LDC's Parent Company 
General and Administrative (G&A) Expenses in the Reported G&A 
Expenses
    Comment 8: Margin Calculation Methodology for LDC
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2022-28009 Filed 12-22-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P