Notice2022-08082
Sodium Nitrite From the Russian Federation: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
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
April 15, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of sodium nitrite from the Russian Federation (Russia). The period of investigation is January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 73 (Friday, April 15, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 73 (Friday, April 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22504-22505]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-08082]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-821-837]
Sodium Nitrite From the Russian Federation: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and
exporters of sodium nitrite from the Russian Federation (Russia). The
period of investigation is January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021.
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination.
DATES: Applicable April 15, 2022
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melissa Kinter, 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) 482-1413.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on February 8,
2022.\1\ For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\2\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum is included as Appendix II 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 <a href="http://access.trade.gov">http://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a complete
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly
at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx</a>.
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\1\ See Sodium Nitrite from India and the Russian Federation:
Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 87 FR 7108
(February 8, 2022) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Sodium
Nitrite from the Russian Federation,'' dated concurrently with, and
hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is sodium nitrite from
Russia. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\3\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage, (i.e., scope).\4\ No interested
party commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice.
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\3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\4\ See Initiation Notice.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found
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.\5\
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\5\ 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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Commerce notes that, in making these findings, it relied, in part,
on facts available and, because it finds that one or more respondents
did not act to the best of their ability to respond to Commerce's
requests for information, it drew an adverse inference where
appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise available.\6\
For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and
Adverse Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\6\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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All-Others Rate
Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in the
preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-
others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be
an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates
established for those companies individually examined, excluding any
zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely under section
776 of the Act.
Pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act, if the individual
estimated countervailable subsidy rates 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 subsidy rate for all other
producers or exporters. Commerce has preliminarily determined the
individually estimated subsidy rate for the individually examined
respondent under section 776 of the Act. Consequently, pursuant to
section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act, we established the all-others rate
by applying the countervailable subsidy rate assigned to the mandatory
respondent.\7\ For a full description of the methodology underlying
Commerce's analysis, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\7\ See, e.g., Freight Rail Coupler Systems and Certain
Components Thereof: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination, 87 FR 12662 (March 7, 2022); and Dried Tart Cherries
from the Republic of Turkey: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination, 84 FR 67430 (December 10, 2019).
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
countervailable subsidy rates exist:
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Subsidy rate
Company (percent)
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UralChem, JSC........................................... 386.24
All Others.............................................. 386.24
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Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act,
Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to
suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise as described in
the scope of the investigation section entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this
notice in the Federal Register. Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d),
Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the rates
indicated above.
Disclosure
Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations
performed in connection with a preliminary determination within five
days of the public announcement or, where there is no public
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of the notice
of preliminary determination in the Federal Register, in accordance
with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because Commerce preliminarily applied
AFA to the individually examined company, UralChem JSC, in this
investigation in accordance with section 776 of the Act, there are no
calculations to disclose.
Verification
Because the examined respondents in this investigation did not
provide information requested by Commerce and Commerce preliminarily
determines each of the examined respondents to have been uncooperative,
Commerce will not conduct verification.
Public Comment
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 30
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination.
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be
submitted no later than seven days after the deadline date for case
briefs after the deadline date for case briefs.\8\ Note that Commerce
has temporarily modified certain of its requirements for serving
documents containing business proprietary information, until further
notice.\9\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation are
encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue;
(2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities.
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\8\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general
filing requirements).
\9\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements Due
to COVID-19, 85 FR 17006 (March 26, 2020); and 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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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce within 30 days
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list
of the issues to be discussed. 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 by telephone the date, time, and
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If the
final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the
later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or
45 days after the final determination.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: April 8, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is sodium nitrite in
any form, at any purity level. In addition, the sodium nitrite
covered by this investigation may or may not contain an anti-caking
agent. Examples of names commonly used to reference sodium nitrite
are nitrous acid, sodium salt, anti-rust, diazotizing salts,
erinitrit, and filmerine. Sodium nitrite's chemical composition is
NaNO<INF>2</INF>, and it is generally classified under subheading
2834.10.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS). The American Chemical Society Chemical Abstract Service
(CAS) has assigned the name ``sodium nitrite'' to sodium nitrite.
The CAS registry number is 7632-00-0. For purposes of the scope of
this investigation, the narrative description is dispositive, not
the tariff heading, CAS registry number or CAS name, which are
provided for convenience and customs purposes.
Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
V. Analysis of Programs
VI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2022-08082 Filed 4-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 15, 2022.
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