Notice2021-14746
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review: Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 12, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a changed circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty (AD) order on certain softwood lumber products (softwood lumber) from Canada and simultaneously issuing preliminary results finding CHAP Alliance, Inc. (CHAP) to be the successor-in-interest to L'Atelier de Readaption au Travail de Beauce Inc. (L'Atelier).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 130 (Monday, July 12, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 130 (Monday, July 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36525-36526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14746]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-122-857]
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances
Review: Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a changed
circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty (AD) order on
certain softwood lumber products (softwood lumber) from Canada and
simultaneously issuing preliminary results finding CHAP Alliance, Inc.
(CHAP) to be the successor-in-interest to L'Atelier de Readaption au
Travail de Beauce Inc. (L'Atelier).
DATES: Applicable July 12, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maisha Cryor, 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) 482-5831.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 3, 2018, Commerce published in the Federal Register an
AD order on softwood lumber from Canada.\1\ On May 5, 2021, Commerce
received a request on behalf of CHAP for an expedited CCR to establish
CHAP as the successor-in-interest to L'Atelier with respect to the
Order.\2\ On June 8, 2021, Commerce informed CHAP that it required
additional information in order to determine whether to initiate the
requested CCR.\3\ On June 24, 2021, CHAP provided the requested
information.\4\
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\1\ See Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada:
Antidumping Duty Order and Partial Amended Final Determination, 83
FR 350 (January 3, 2018) (Order).
\2\ See CHAP's Letter, ``Certain Softwood Lumber from Canada:
L'Atelier de R[eacute]adaptation au Travail de Beauce Inc. Request
for Changed Circumstances Reviews,'' dated May 5, 2021 (CCR
Request).
\3\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Changed Circumstances Review of
Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Supplemental
Questionnaire,'' dated June 8, 2021.
\4\ See CHAP's Letter, ``Certain Softwood Lumber from Canada:
Supplemental Questionnaire Response,'' dated June 24, 2021.
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Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by the Order is softwood lumber, siding,
flooring and certain other coniferous wood (softwood lumber products).
[[Page 36526]]
Softwood lumber product imports are generally entered under Chapter 44
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 the Order is
dispositive.\5\
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\5\ For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see
Memorandum, ``Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed
Circumstances Review: Certain Softwood Lumber Products from
Canada,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Initiation
Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act) and 19 CFR 351.216(d), Commerce will conduct a CCR upon
receipt of information or a review request showing changed
circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of an order. Among other
things, Commerce has conducted CCRs to consider the applicability of
cash deposit rates after there have been changes in the name or
structure of a company, such as a merger or spinoff (successor-in-
interest, or successorship, determinations).
We find the information provided is sufficient to warrant a CCR of
the Order. Specifically, the information CHAP provided regarding
L'Atelier's name change to CHAP demonstrates changed circumstances
sufficient to warrant a CCR with respect to the Order.
Therefore, in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of the Act and 19
CFR 351.216(d), we are initiating a CCR to determine whether CHAP is
the successor-in-interest to L'Atelier for purposes of the Order.
In addition, Commerce's regulations (19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii)),
permit it to initiate a CCR and issue the preliminary results of that
CCR simultaneously if it concludes that expedited action is warranted.
We have on the record the information necessary to make a preliminary
finding and, therefore, we find that expedited action is warranted.\6\
Consequently, we are combining the initiation of the CCR described
above and our preliminary results, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.221(c)(3)(ii).
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\6\ See, e.g., Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review: Certain Softwood
Lumber Products from Canada, 70 FR 50299 (August 26, 2005).
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Preliminary Results
In determining whether one company is the successor to another for
AD purposes, Commerce examines a number of factors including, but not
limited to, changes in: (1) Management; (2) production facilities; (3)
suppliers; and (4) customer base.\7\ While no one, or several, of these
factors will necessarily provide a dispositive indication of
succession, Commerce will generally consider one company to be the
successor to another company if its resulting operations are
essentially the same as those of its predecessor.\8\ Thus, if the
evidence demonstrates that, with respect to the production and sale of
the subject merchandise, the company, in its current form, operates as
essentially the same business entity as the prior company, Commerce
will assign the new company the cash deposit rate of its
predecessor.\9\
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\7\ See Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty
Changed Circumstances Review: Multilayered Wood Flooring from the
People's Republic of China, 79 FR 48117,48118 (August 15, 2014),
unchanged in Multilayered Wood Flooring from the People's Republic
of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 79 FR 58740
(September 30, 2014).
\8\ Id.
\9\ See, e.g., Certain Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and
Tubes from Taiwan: Initiation of Antidumping Duty Changed
Circumstance Review, 70 FR 17063, 17064 (April 4, 2005); and Fresh
and Chilled Atlantic Salmon from Norway: Final Results of Changed
Circumstances Antidumping Administrative Review, 64 FR 9979, 9980
(March 1, 1999).
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CHAP provided evidence that: (1) L'Atelier's name changed to CHAP
in February 2021; and (2) there were no significant changes to
management,\10\ production facilities,\11\ suppliers, or customer
base.\12\ Based on the foregoing, which is explained in greater detail
in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, we preliminarily determine that
CHAP is the successor-in-interest to L'Atelier for purposes of the
Order.
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\10\ See CCR Request at Exhibit 4, Attachment A.
\11\ Id. at Exhibit 4, Attachment B.
\12\ Id. at Exhibit 4, Attachments C and D.
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Should our final results of review remain the same as these
preliminary results of review, effective the date of publication of the
final results of review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border
Protection to apply L'Atelier's cash deposit rate to CHAP.
Public Comment
Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than 14 days
after the date of publication of this notice.\13\ Rebuttal briefs,
which must be limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be filed not
later than seven days after the due date for case briefs.\14\ Parties
who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this CCR are requested to
submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issues; and (2) a
brief summary of the arguments with electronic versions included.
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\13\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR
351.309(c)(1)(ii) to alter the time limit for the filing of case
briefs.
\14\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR
351.309(d)(1) to alter the time limit for the filing of rebuttal
briefs.
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Any interested party may request a hearing within 14 days of
publication of this notice.\15\ Hearing requests should contain the
following information: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone
number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to
be discussed. Oral presentations at the hearing will be limited to
issues raised in the briefs. If a request for a hearing is made,
Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be
determined. Parties should confirm the date and the time of the hearing
two days before the scheduled date.
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\15\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR
351.310(c) to alter the time limit for requesting a hearing.
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All submissions, with limited exceptions, must be filed
electronically using Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS).\16\
An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its
entirety by 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the due date.
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\16\ ACCESS is available to registered users at <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>; see also Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service
Requirements Due to Covid-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR
41363, (July 10, 2020).
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Consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), we intend to issue the final
results of this CCR no later than 270 days after the date on which
these reviews were initiated or within 45 days if all parties agree to
the outcome of the review.
We are issuing and publishing this initiation and preliminary
results notice in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of
the Act and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221(c)(3).
Dated: July 6, 2021.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations.
[FR Doc. 2021-14746 Filed 7-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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