Notice2021-21302
Thermal Paper From Japan: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
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
September 30, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that thermal paper from Japan is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period of investigation, October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 187 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 187 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54157-54159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21302]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-588-880]
Thermal Paper From Japan: Final Affirmative Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that thermal
paper from Japan is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United
States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period of investigation,
October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020.
DATES: Applicable September 30, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex Wood or Paul Litwin, AD/CVD
Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1959 or (202) 482-6002,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 54158]]
Background
On May 12, 2021, Commerce published in the Federal Register the
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of
thermal paper from Japan, in which we also postponed the final
determination until September 24, 2021.\1\ Commerce invited interested
parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination. A summary of the
events that occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary
Determination may be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Thermal Paper from the Republic of Japan: Preliminary
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional
Measures, 86 FR 26011 (May 12, 2021) (Preliminary Determination),
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Final
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation
of Thermal Paper from Japan,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby
adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is thermal paper from
Japan. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
On May 5, 2021, Commerce issued the Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum.\3\ We received comments from interested parties with regard
to the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, which we addressed in the
Final General Scope Decision Memorandum, and Final Japan Scope Decision
Memorandum.\4\ Commerce has made no changes to the scope of this
investigation since the Preliminary Determination.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Thermal Paper from Germany, Japan, the
Republic of Korea, and Spain: Preliminary Scope Decision,'' dated
May 5, 2021 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
\4\ See Memorandum, ``Thermal Paper from Germany, Japan, the
Republic of Korea, and Spain: Final Decision on General Scope
Issues,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this
notice (Final General Scope Decision Memorandum); and Memorandum,
``Thermal Paper from Japan: Final Scope Decision,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Final Japan
Scope Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis of Comments Received
On June 24, 2021, the petitioners \5\ filed a case brief. No other
interested party submitted a case or rebuttal brief. All issues raised
in the petitioners' case brief are addressed in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum is attached to this notice as Appendix II. The Issues and
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 <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a complete
version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly
at <a href="http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn">http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ The petitioners are Appvion Operations, Inc., and Domtar
Corporation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Methodology--Adverse Facts Available
Prior to verification, Nippon Paper Industries, Co., Ltd. (NPI),
the sole mandatory respondent in this investigation, informed Commerce
that it was withdrawing its participation from this investigation.\6\
Thus, we determine that NPI's data cannot serve as a reliable basis for
our Final Determination because NPI's data could not be verified. We
further determine that NPI significantly impeded the investigation and
did not act to the best of its ability to comply with our requests for
information. Therefore, we find it appropriate to apply a dumping
margin based on adverse facts available (AFA) to NPI, in accordance
with sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. For further discussion, see
the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See NPI's Letter, ``NPI's Withdrawal as Mandatory
Respondent,'' dated June 17, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verification
As noted above, NPI withdrew its participation from this
investigation prior to verification. Accordingly, Commerce was unable
to conduct verification pursuant to section 782(i)(1) of the Act.
All-Others Rate
Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters
not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for
exporters and producers individually investigated excluding rates that
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the
Act. Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the estimated
weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters and
producers individually examined are zero, de minimis, or determined
based entirely on facts otherwise available, Commerce may use any
reasonable method to establish the estimated weighted-average dumping
margin for all other producers or exporters.
Commerce has determined the estimated weighted-average dumping
margin for the sole individually-examined respondent entirely under
section 776 of the Act. Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act,
Commerce's practice under these circumstances has been to assign, as
the all-others rate, a simple average of the petition rates.\7\ In the
Petition, the petitioners provided two dumping margins, 140.25 percent
and 129.86 percent, which were each based on a price-to-constructed-
value comparison.\8\ Therefore, in the absence of any estimated
weighted-average dumping margin on the record of this investigation
that is not zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776
of the Act, we are assigning the simple average of the two dumping
margins in the Initiation Checklist, i.e., 135.06 percent, as the all-
others rate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of
Germany, 73 FR 38986, 38987 (July 8, 2008), and accompanying Issues
and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2.
\8\ See Thermal Paper from Germany, Japan, the Republic of
Korea, and Spain: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations,
85 FR 69580 (November 3, 2020); and Checklist, ``Thermal Paper from
Japan,'' dated October 27, 2020 (Initiation Checklist) at 6-7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Determination
The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as
follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
weighted-
average
Exporter/producer dumping
margin
(percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd./Nippon Paper Papylia Co., 140.25
Ltd\9\.....................................................
All Others.................................................. 135.06
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure
Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations
performed in connection with a 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 the notice of final
determination in the Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.224(b). However, because Commerce applied AFA to the mandatory
respondent in this investigation, NPI, in accordance with section 776
of the Act, and the AFA dumping margin is based solely on the petition,
there are no calculations to disclose.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Commerce preliminarily determined that Nippon Paper
Industries Co, Ltd., and Nippon Paper Papylia Co., Ltd. are a single
entity. See Preliminary Determination PDM at 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 54159]]
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of thermal paper from
Japan, as described in Appendix I of this notice, that were entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after May 12, 2021, the
date of publication in the Federal Register of the affirmative
Preliminary Determination.
Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(d), 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 the respondent listed
above will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average
dumping margin determined in this final determination; (2) if the
exporter is not a respondent identified above, but the producer is,
then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-specific
estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that producer
of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other
producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated
weighted-average dumping margin.
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect
until further notice.
International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the
International Trade Commission (ITC) of this final affirmative
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination
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 reason of imports or sales (or the likelihood of
sales) for importation of thermal paper from Japan no later than 45
days after this final determination. If the ITC determines that such
injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, all cash
deposits posted will be refunded, and suspension of liquidation will be
lifted. If the ITC determines that such 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, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of
Liquidation'' section.
Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order
This notice will serve as a final reminder to the parties subject
to 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 written
notification of 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 sanctionable violation.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination and this notice are issued and published in
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR
351.210(c).
Dated: September 24, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The scope of this investigation covers thermal paper in the form
of ``jumbo rolls'' and certain ``converted rolls.'' The scope covers
jumbo rolls and converted rolls of thermal paper with or without a
base coat (typically made of clay, latex, and/or plastic pigments,
and/or like materials) on one or both sides; with thermal active
coating(s) (typically made of sensitizer, dye, and co-reactant, and/
or like materials) on one or both sides; with or without a top coat
(typically made of pigments, polyvinyl alcohol, and/or like
materials), and without an adhesive backing. Jumbo rolls are defined
as rolls with an actual width of 4.5 inches or more, an actual
weight of 65 pounds or more, and an actual diameter of 20 inches or
more (jumbo rolls). All jumbo rolls are included in the scope
regardless of the basis weight of the paper. Also included in the
scope are ``converted rolls'' with an actual width of less than 4.5
inches, and with an actual basis weight of 70 grams per square meter
(gsm) or less.
The scope of this investigation covers thermal paper that is
converted into rolls with an actual width of less than 4.5 inches
and with an actual basis weight of 70 gsm or less in third countries
from jumbo rolls produced in the subject countries.
The merchandise subject to this investigation may be classified
in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under
subheadings 4811.90.8030 and 4811.90.9030. Although HTSUS
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the
written description of the scope of this investigation is
dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Sections Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Whether AFA is Appropriate for NPI
Comment 2: Whether the Highest Petition Rate is Applicable as
the AFA Rate
VI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2021-21302 Filed 9-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 30, 2021.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.