Refined Brown Aluminum Oxide from China; Institution of a Five-Year Review
| Published date | 03 September 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 46047 |
| Record Number | 2019-18765 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | International Trade Commission |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 170 (Tuesday, September 3, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46047-46049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18765]
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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION
[Investigation No. 731-TA-1022 (Third Review)]
Refined Brown Aluminum Oxide from China; Institution of a Five-
Year Review
AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives notice that it has instituted a
review pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930 (``the Act''), as amended, to
determine whether revocation of the antidumping duty order on refined
brown aluminum oxide from China would be likely to lead to continuation
or recurrence of material injury. Pursuant to the Act, interested
parties are requested to respond to this notice by submitting the
information specified below to the Commission.
DATES: Instituted September 3, 2019. To be assured of consideration,
the deadline for responses is October 3, 2019. Comments on the adequacy
of responses may be filed with the Commission by November 18, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Messer (202-205-3193), Office of
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW,
Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information
on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-
1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need special
assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact the
Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information concerning
the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its internet server
(https://www.usitc.gov). The public record for this proceeding may be
viewed on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at https://edis.usitc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background.-- On November 19, 2003, the Department of Commerce
(``Commerce'') issued an antidumping duty order on imports of refined
brown aluminum oxide from China (68 FR 65249). Following the first
five-year reviews by Commerce and the Commission, effective March 13,
2009, Commerce issued a continuation of the antidumping duty order on
imports of refined brown aluminum oxide from China (74 FR 10884).
Following the second five-year reviews by Commerce and the Commission,
effective October 14, 2014, Commerce issued a continuation of the
antidumping duty order on imports of refined brown aluminum oxide from
China (79 FR 61606). The Commission is now conducting a third review
pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1675(c)),
to determine whether revocation of the order would be likely to lead to
continuation or recurrence of material injury to the domestic industry
within a reasonably foreseeable time. Provisions concerning the conduct
of this proceeding may be found in the Commission's Rules of Practice
and Procedure at 19 CFR parts 201, subparts A and B and 19 CFR part
207, subparts A and F. The Commission will assess the adequacy of
interested party responses to this notice of institution to determine
whether to conduct a full review or an expedited review. The
Commission's determination in any expedited review will be based on the
facts available, which may include information provided in response to
this notice.
Definitions.--The following definitions apply to this review:
(1) Subject Merchandise is the class or kind of merchandise that is
within the scope of the five-year review, as defined by the Department
of Commerce.
(2) The Subject Country in this review is China.
(3) The Domestic Like Product is the domestically produced product
or products which are like, or in the absence of like, most similar in
characteristics and uses with, the Subject Merchandise. In its original
determination and its expedited first and second five-year review
determinations, the Commission defined the Domestic Like Product as all
merchandise corresponding to Commerce's scope, as well as any refined
brown aluminum oxide where particles with a diameter greater than \3/8\
inch constitute at least 50 percent of the total weight of the entire
batch, as long as the product has been crushed, screened, and sorted
into consistent sizes.
(4) The Domestic Industry is the U.S. producers as a whole of the
Domestic Like Product, or those producers whose collective output of
the Domestic Like Product constitutes a major proportion of the total
domestic production of the product. In its original determination, the
Commission defined the Domestic Industry as all U.S. producers of
refined brown aluminum oxide, with the exception of Great Lakes
Minerals, which was excluded from the domestic industry as a related
party. In its expedited first and second five-year review
determinations, the Commission defined one Domestic Industry as
consisting of all domestic producers of refined brown aluminum oxide.
(5) An Importer is any person or firm engaged, either directly or
through a parent company or subsidiary, in importing the Subject
Merchandise into the United States from a foreign manufacturer or
through its selling agent.
Participation in the proceeding and public service list.--Persons,
including industrial users of the Subject Merchandise and, if the
merchandise is
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sold at the retail level, representative consumer organizations,
wishing to participate in the proceeding as parties must file an entry
of appearance with the Secretary to the Commission, as provided in
section 201.11(b)(4) of the Commission's rules, no later than 21 days
after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. The Secretary
will maintain a public service list containing the names and addresses
of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties to the
proceeding.
Former Commission employees who are seeking to appear in Commission
five-year reviews are advised that they may appear in a review even if
they participated personally and substantially in the corresponding
underlying original investigation or an earlier review of the same
underlying investigation. The Commission's designated agency ethics
official has advised that a five-year review is not the same particular
matter as the underlying original investigation, and a five-year review
is not the same particular matter as an earlier review of the same
underlying investigation for purposes of 18 U.S.C. 207, the post
employment statute for Federal employees, and Commission rule 201.15(b)
(19 CFR 201.15(b)), 79 FR 3246 (Jan. 17, 2014), 73 FR 24609 (May 5,
2008). Consequently, former employees are not required to seek
Commission approval to appear in a review under Commission rule 19 CFR
201.15, even if the corresponding underlying original investigation or
an earlier review of the same underlying investigation was pending when
they were Commission employees. For further ethics advice on this
matter, contact Charles Smith, Office of the General Counsel, at 202-
205-3408.
Limited disclosure of business proprietary information (BPI) under
an administrative protective order (APO) and APO service list.--
Pursuant to section 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the Secretary
will make BPI submitted in this proceeding available to authorized
applicants under the APO issued in the proceeding, provided that the
application is made no later than 21 days after publication of this
notice in the Federal Register. Authorized applicants must represent
interested parties, as defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to
the proceeding. A separate service list will be maintained by the
Secretary for those parties authorized to receive BPI under the APO.
Certification.--Pursuant to section 207.3 of the Commission's
rules, any person submitting information to the Commission in
connection with this proceeding must certify that the information is
accurate and complete to the best of the submitter's knowledge. In
making the certification, the submitter will acknowledge that
information submitted in response to this request for information and
throughout this proceeding or other proceeding may be disclosed to and
used: (i) By the Commission, its employees and Offices, and contract
personnel (a) for developing or maintaining the records of this or a
related proceeding, or (b) in internal investigations, audits, reviews,
and evaluations relating to the programs, personnel, and operations of
the Commission including under 5 U.S.C. Appendix 3; or (ii) by U.S.
government employees and contract personnel, solely for cybersecurity
purposes. All contract personnel will sign appropriate nondisclosure
agreements.
Written submissions.--Pursuant to section 207.61 of the
Commission's rules, each interested party response to this notice must
provide the information specified below. The deadline for filing such
responses is October 3, 2019. Pursuant to section 207.62(b) of the
Commission's rules, eligible parties (as specified in Commission rule
207.62(b)(1)) may also file comments concerning the adequacy of
responses to the notice of institution and whether the Commission
should conduct an expedited or full review. The deadline for filing
such comments is November 18, 2019. All written submissions must
conform with the provisions of section 201.8 of the Commission's rules;
any submissions that contain BPI must also conform with the
requirements of sections 201.6, 207.3, and 207.7 of the Commission's
rules. The Commission's Handbook on E-Filing, available on the
Commission's website at https://edis.usitc.gov, elaborates upon the
Commission's rules with respect to electronic filing. Also, in
accordance with sections 201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's rules,
each document filed by a party to the proceeding must be served on all
other parties to the proceeding (as identified by either the public or
APO service list as appropriate), and a certificate of service must
accompany the document (if you are not a party to the proceeding you do
not need to serve your response).
No response to this request for information is required if a
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') number is not
displayed; the OMB number is 3117 0016/USITC No. 19-5-439, expiration
date June 30, 2020. Public reporting burden for the request is
estimated to average 15 hours per response. Please send comments
regarding the accuracy of this burden estimate to the Office of
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW,
Washington, DC 20436.
Inability to provide requested information.--Pursuant to section
207.61(c) of the Commission's rules, any interested party that cannot
furnish the information requested by this notice in the requested form
and manner shall notify the Commission at the earliest possible time,
provide a full explanation of why it cannot provide the requested
information, and indicate alternative forms in which it can provide
equivalent information. If an interested party does not provide this
notification (or the Commission finds the explanation provided in the
notification inadequate) and fails to provide a complete response to
this notice, the Commission may take an adverse inference against the
party pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1677e(b)) in
making its determination in the review.
Information to be provided in response to this notice of
institution: As used below, the term ``firm'' includes any related
firms.
(1) The name and address of your firm or entity (including World
Wide Web address) and name, telephone number, fax number, and Email
address of the certifying official.
(2) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is an
interested party under 19 U.S.C. 1677(9) and if so, how, including
whether your firm/entity is a U.S. producer of the Domestic Like
Product, a U.S. union or worker group, a U.S. importer of the Subject
Merchandise, a foreign producer or exporter of the Subject Merchandise,
a U.S. or foreign trade or business association (a majority of whose
members are interested parties under the statute), or another
interested party (including an explanation). If you are a union/worker
group or trade/business association, identify the firms in which your
workers are employed or which are members of your association.
(3) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is willing to
participate in this proceeding by providing information requested by
the Commission.
(4) A statement of the likely effects of the revocation of the
antidumping duty order on the Domestic Industry in general and/or your
firm/entity specifically. In your response, please discuss the various
factors specified in section 752(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675a(a))
including the likely volume of subject imports, likely price effects of
subject imports, and likely impact of
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imports of Subject Merchandise on the Domestic Industry.
(5) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. producers of
the Domestic Like Product. Identify any known related parties and the
nature of the relationship as defined in section 771(4)(B) of the Act
(19 U.S.C. 1677(4)(B)).
(6) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. importers of
the Subject Merchandise and producers of the Subject Merchandise in the
Subject Country that currently export or have exported Subject
Merchandise to the United States or other countries after 2013.
(7) A list of 3-5 leading purchasers in the U.S. market for the
Domestic Like Product and the Subject Merchandise (including street
address, World Wide Web address, and the name, telephone number, fax
number, and Email address of a responsible official at each firm).
(8) A list of known sources of information on national or regional
prices for the Domestic Like Product or the Subject Merchandise in the
U.S. or other markets.
(9) If you are a U.S. producer of the Domestic Like Product,
provide the following information on your firm's operations on that
product during calendar year 2018, except as noted (report quantity
data in short tons and value data in U.S. dollars, f.o.b. plant). If
you are a union/worker group or trade/business association, provide the
information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms in which your workers
are employed/which are members of your association.
(a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total U.S. production of the Domestic Like Product
accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
(b) Capacity (quantity) of your firm to produce the Domestic Like
Product (that is, the level of production that your establishment(s)
could reasonably have expected to attain during the year, assuming
normal operating conditions (using equipment and machinery in place and
ready to operate), normal operating levels (hours per week/weeks per
year), time for downtime, maintenance, repair, and cleanup, and a
typical or representative product mix);
(c) the quantity and value of U.S. commercial shipments of the
Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s);
(d) the quantity and value of U.S. internal consumption/company
transfers of the Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s);
and
(e) the value of (i) net sales, (ii) cost of goods sold (COGS),
(iii) gross profit, (iv) selling, general and administrative (SG&A)
expenses, and (v) operating income of the Domestic Like Product
produced in your U.S. plant(s) (include both U.S. and export commercial
sales, internal consumption, and company transfers) for your most
recently completed fiscal year (identify the date on which your fiscal
year ends).
(10) If you are a U.S. importer or a trade/business association of
U.S. importers of the Subject Merchandise from the Subject Country,
provide the following information on your firm's(s') operations on that
product during calendar year 2018 (report quantity data in short tons
and value data in U.S. dollars). If you are a trade/business
association, provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the
firms which are members of your association.
(a) The quantity and value (landed, duty-paid but not including
antidumping duties) of U.S. imports and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total U.S. imports of Subject Merchandise from the
Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') imports;
(b) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping
duties) of U.S. commercial shipments of Subject Merchandise imported
from the Subject Country; and
(c) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping
duties) of U.S. internal consumption/company transfers of Subject
Merchandise imported from the Subject Country.
(11) If you are a producer, an exporter, or a trade/business
association of producers or exporters of the Subject Merchandise in the
Subject Country, provide the following information on your firm's(s')
operations on that product during calendar year 2018 (report quantity
data in short tons and value data in U.S. dollars, landed and duty-paid
at the U.S. port but not including antidumping duties). If you are a
trade/business association, provide the information, on an aggregate
basis, for the firms which are members of your association.
(a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total production of Subject Merchandise in the Subject
Country accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
(b) Capacity (quantity) of your firm(s) to produce the Subject
Merchandise in the Subject Country (that is, the level of production
that your establishment(s) could reasonably have expected to attain
during the year, assuming normal operating conditions (using equipment
and machinery in place and ready to operate), normal operating levels
(hours per week/weeks per year), time for downtime, maintenance,
repair, and cleanup, and a typical or representative product mix); and
(c) the quantity and value of your firm's(s') exports to the United
States of Subject Merchandise and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total exports to the United States of Subject Merchandise
from the Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') exports.
(12) Identify significant changes, if any, in the supply and demand
conditions or business cycle for the Domestic Like Product that have
occurred in the United States or in the market for the Subject
Merchandise in the Subject Country after 2013, and significant changes,
if any, that are likely to occur within a reasonably foreseeable time.
Supply conditions to consider include technology; production methods;
development efforts; ability to increase production (including the
shift of production facilities used for other products and the use,
cost, or availability of major inputs into production); and factors
related to the ability to shift supply among different national markets
(including barriers to importation in foreign markets or changes in
market demand abroad). Demand conditions to consider include end uses
and applications; the existence and availability of substitute
products; and the level of competition among the Domestic Like Product
produced in the United States, Subject Merchandise produced in the
Subject Country, and such merchandise from other countries.
(13) (OPTIONAL) A statement of whether you agree with the above
definitions of the Domestic Like Product and Domestic Industry; if you
disagree with either or both of these definitions, please explain why
and provide alternative definitions.
Authority: This proceeding is being conducted under authority of
title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published
pursuant to section 207.61 of the Commission's rules.
By order of the Commission.
Issued: August 26, 2019.
William Bishop,
Supervisory Hearings and Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-18765 Filed 8-30-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P
