Notice2022-07994
Raw Honey From India: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
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Published
April 14, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports of raw honey from India are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period of investigation April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 72 (Thursday, April 14, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 72 (Thursday, April 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22188-22190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-533-903]
Raw Honey From India: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value and Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports
of raw honey from India are being, or are likely to be, sold in the
United States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period of
investigation April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021.
DATES: Applicable April 14, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brittany Bauer or Benito Ballesteros,
AD/CVD Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3860 or (202)
482-7425, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On November 23, 2021, Commerce published its preliminary
determination in the LTFV investigation of raw honey from India, in
which we also postponed the final determination until April 7, 2022.\1\
For a complete description of the events that followed the Preliminary
Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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\1\ See Raw Honey from India: Preliminary Affirmative
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Negative
Determination of Critical Circumstances, Postponement of Final
Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 86 FR 66528
(November 23, 2021) (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 Raw Honey from India,'' dated concurrently with,
and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is raw honey from India.
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 and rebuttal briefs that were
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues
and Decision Memorandum. For a list of the issues raised by interested
parties and addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, see
Appendix II to this notice. The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a
public document and is made available to the public via Enforcement and
Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic
Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at
<a href="http://access.trade.gov">http://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a complete version of the Issues
and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx</a>.
[[Page 22189]]
Verification
Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verification of the
information relied upon in making its final determination in this
investigation. However, we took additional steps in lieu of an on-site
verification to verify the information relied upon in making this final
determination, in accordance with section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act).\3\
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\3\ For the final determination, we find that Ambrosia Natural
Products (India) Private Limited is affiliated with two additional
companies, Ambrosia Enterprise, and Sunlite India Agro Producer Co.
Ltd., within the meaning of section 771(33) of the Act. We also find
that these companies should be treated as a single entity, pursuant
to 19 CFR 351.401(f). See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Raw Honey from India: Final Determination
Affiliation and Single Entity Memorandum for Ambrosia Natural
Products (India) Private Limited,'' dated April 7, 2022. We
collectively refer to these companies as ``Ambrosia.'' See also
Commerce's Letters, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Raw Honey
from India: In-Lieu of Verification Questionnaire,'' both dated
January 6, 2022; Allied Natural Product (Allied)'s Letter, ``Raw
Honey from India: In-Lieu-of-Verification Questionnaire Response,''
dated January 18, 2022; and Ambrosia's Letter, ``Raw Honey from
India: Ambrosia Natural Products (`Ambrosia') Response to In Lieu of
On-Site Verification of the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Raw
Honey,'' dated January 18, 2022.
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Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
Commerce preliminarily determined that critical circumstances do
not exist for the two mandatory respondents in this investigation,
Allied and Ambrosia, or with respect to all other producers/exporters.
No parties submitted comments regarding our negative preliminary
critical circumstances determination, and the factual basis for the
preliminary negative finding remains unchanged for this final
determination. Therefore, in accordance with section 735(a)(3) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.206, Commerce finds that critical circumstances do
not exist for Allied, Ambrosia, and all other producers/exporters. For
a full description of the methodology and results of Commerce's
critical circumstances analysis, see the Issues and Decision
Memorandum.
Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on the comments received from interested parties and record
information, we made certain changes to the weighted-average dumping
margin calculations for Allied and Ambrosia. For a discussion of these
changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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.
In this investigation, Commerce calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping margins for Allied and Ambrosia that are not zero, de
minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available. Commerce
calculated the all-others rate using a weighted average of the
estimated weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the examined
respondents weighted by each respondent's publicly-ranged total U.S.
sale values for the merchandise under consideration.\4\
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\4\ With more than one respondent under examination, Commerce
normally calculates: (A) A weighted-average of the estimated
weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the examined
respondents; (B) a simple average of the estimated weighted-average
dumping margins calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a
weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins
calculated for the examined respondents using each company's
publicly-ranged U.S. sale values for the merchandise under
consideration. Commerce then compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects
either the (B) or (C) rate based on the rate closest to (A) as the
most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. See,
e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663
(September 1, 2010). As complete publicly-ranged sales data are
available, Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly-ranged
sales data of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of
the data, see Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of
Raw Honey from India: Calculation of All-Others Rate,'' dated April
7, 2021.
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Final Determination
The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as
follows:
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Estimated
weighted-average
Exporter/producer dumping margin
(percent)
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Allied Natural Product............................... 6.24
Ambrosia Natural Products (India) Private Limited/ 5.52
Ambrosia Enterprise/Sunlite India Agro Producer Co.
Ltd.................................................
All Others........................................... 5.87
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Disclosure
We intend to disclose the calculations performed in this final
determination within five days of the date of publication of this
notice to parties in this proceeding in accordance with 19 CFR
351.224(b).
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 raw honey from India,
as described in Appendix I of this notice, which are entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after November 23,
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 as follows: (1) The cash
deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the
respondent-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 respondent-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
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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 raw honey from India no later
than 45 days after this final determination. If the ITC determines that
such injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, and 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.
Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order
This notice will serve as the only reminder to parties subject to
an administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility
concerning the destruction 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 violation which is subject
to sanction.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination and this notice are issued and published
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR
351.210(c).
Dated: April 7, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is raw honey. Raw
honey is honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by
extraction, settling and skimming, or coarse straining. Raw honey
has not been filtered to a level that results in the removal of most
or all of the pollen, e.g., a level that removes pollen to below 25
microns. The subject products include all grades, floral sources and
colors of raw honey and also include organic raw honey.
Excluded from the scope is any honey that is packaged for retail
sale (e.g., in bottles or other retail containers of five (5) lbs.
or less).
The merchandise subject to this investigation is currently
classifiable under statistical subheading 0409.00.0005,
0409.00.0035, 0409.00.0045, 0409.00.0056, and 0409.00.0065 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. Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Discussion of the Issues
General Issues
Comment 1: Whether to Find a Particular Market Situation in the
Indian Raw Honey Market
Comment 2: Whether to Use Acquisition Cost as a Proxy for the
Beekeepers' Cost of Production (COP)
Comment 3: Whether to Apply Total Adverse Facts Available (AFA)
to Allied and Ambrosia for Alleged Failure to Submit Complete and
Audited Financial Statements
Comment 4: Application of AFA to Allied and Ambrosia due to
Certain Aspects of the Cost Responses Submitted by Middlemen and
Beekeeper-Suppliers
Allied-Specific Issues
Comment 5: Whether to Continue to Rely on Quarterly Average
Costs
Comment 6: Whether to Make Certain Adjustments to Credit
Expenses
Comment 7: Whether to Make Certain Adjustments for Returned
Sales
Ambrosia-Specific Issues
Comment 8: Whether to Make Certain Adjustments for Returned
Sales
Comment 9: Whether to Make Certain Adjustments to Credit
Expenses
Comment 10: Whether to Make Certain Adjustments for Packing
Expenses
VI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2022-07994 Filed 4-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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