Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From India: Preliminary Results and Partial Recission of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022
| Published date | 08 April 2024 |
| Record Number | 2024-07348 |
| Citation | 89 FR 24428 |
| Court | International Trade Administration |
| Section | Notices |
Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 68 (Monday, April 8, 2024)
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 68 (Monday, April 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24428-24429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07348]
[[Page 24428]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-533-900]
Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From India: Preliminary
Results and Partial Recission of the Countervailing Duty Administrative
Review; 2021-2022
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to Gujarat
Fluorochemicals Limited (GFCL), a producer and exporter of granular
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin from India. The period of review
(POR) is July 6, 2021, through December 31, 2022.
DATES: Applicable April 8, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Subler or Robert Palmer, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6241 or (202)
482-9068, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 31, 2023, we received a timely request for an
administrative review from GFCL.\1\ On May 9, 2023, Commerce published
a notice of initiation of an administrative review of the
countervailing duty (CVD) order \2\ on granular PTFE.\3\ On May 15,
2023, Commerce released U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entry
data and stated that because only one company (GFCL) was identified in
the Initiation Notice and it had entries during the POR, we selected
GFCL as the only mandatory respondent in this review.\4\ On November
17, 2023, Commerce extended the deadline for the preliminary results of
this review until March 28, 2024.\5\
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\1\ See GFCL's Letter, ``Request for Administrative Review,''
dated March 31, 2023.
\2\ See Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India and
the Russian Federation: Countervailing Duty Orders, 87 FR 14509
(March 15, 2022) (Order), as amended in Granular
Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India: Notice of Court Decision
Not in Harmony With the Final Determination of Countervailing Duty
Investigation; Notice of Amended Final Determination and Amended
Countervailing Duty Order, 88 FR 74153 (October 30, 2023).
\3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 29881, 29885 (May 9, 2023) (Initiation
Notice).
\4\ See Memorandum, ``Release of U.S. Customs Entry Data for
Respondent Selection,'' dated May 15, 2023.
\5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for the Preliminary
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated
November 17, 2023.
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\6\
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is
included as an appendix 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. In addition, a complete
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly
at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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\6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022:
Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order
The product covered by the Order is granular
polytetrafluoroethylene resin from India. For a complete description of
the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this CVD administrative review in accordance
with section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the
Act). For each of the subsidy programs found to be 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\ For a full
description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see 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.
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Preliminary Results of Review
As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the
following net countervailable subsidy rates for the period July 6,
2021, through December 31, 2022:
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\8\ This subsidy rate applies to the period July 6, 2021, to
December 31, 2021.
\9\ This subsidy rate applies to the period January 1, 2022, to
December 31, 2022.
\10\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum,
Commerce found Inox Leasing and Finance Limited to be cross-owned
with GFCL.
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Subsidy rate Subsidy rate
(percent ad (percent ad
Company valorem) 2021 valorem) 2022
\8\ \9\
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Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited \10\.. 4.89 4.70
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Disclosure and Public Comment
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to
interested parties for these preliminary results 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 the Federal
Register in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.\11\ A timeline for
the submission of case briefs and written comments will be notified to
interested parties at a later date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues
raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after
the date for filing case briefs.\12\ Interested parties who submit case
briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table
of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\13\
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\11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii); see also 19 CFR 351.303 for
general filing requirements.
\12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29,
2023) (APO and Service Final Rule).
\13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages
total, including footnotes. In this review, we
[[Page 24429]]
instead request that interested parties provide at the beginning of
their briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their
briefs.\14\ Further, we request that interested parties limit their
executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not
including citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the
basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision
memorandum that will accompany the final results in this administrative
review. We request that interested parties include footnotes for
relevant citations in the executive summary of each issue. Note that
Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the
service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).\15\
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\14\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\15\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via
ACCESS. Requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and
telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of
issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to
those raised in the respective case briefs. An electronically filed
hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by
Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.
Final Results
Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of
the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2), Commerce intends to issue the final
results of this administrative review, including the results of its
analysis of the issues raised by the parties in any written briefs, no
later than 120 days after the date of publication of these preliminary
results.
Assessment Rate
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily
assigned a subsidy rate in the amount shown above for GFCL. Upon
completion of the administrative review, consistent with section
751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2), Commerce shall
determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess,
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review
at the applicable ad valorem assessment rates listed for the
corresponding time period (i.e., July 6, 2021, to December 31, 2021,
and January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022).
For GFCL, we intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP no
earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results
of this review in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at
the U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will
direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties
to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within
90 days of publication).
Cash Deposit Requirements
In accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends,
upon publication of the final results, to instruct CBP to collect cash
deposits of estimated countervailing duties in the amount shown for
GFCL (and its cross-owned affiliate) listed above for 2022, the second
year covered by the period of review, on shipments of subject
merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or
after the date of publication of the final results of this
administrative review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP
to continue to collect cash deposits at the most recent company-
specific, or all others rate (i.e., 5.39 percent),\16\ applicable to
the company. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall
remain in effect until further notice.
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\16\ See Order.
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Notification to Interested Parties
These preliminary results are issued and published pursuant to
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).
Dated: April 1, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Diversification of India's Economy
V. Subsidies Valuation Information
VI. Interest Rate Benchmarks and Benchmarks for Measuring the
Adequacy of Remuneration
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse
Inferences
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-07348 Filed 4-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
