Notice2022-25075
Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada: Initiation of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review
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Published
November 17, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
In response to a request from GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (GFFP) and GreenFirst Forest Products (QC) Inc. (GFFP (QC)) (collectively, GreenFirst), the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a changed circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty (AD) order on certain softwood lumber products from Canada. This review will determine whether GFFP (QC) is the successor-in-interest to Rayonier A.M. Canada G.P. (RYAM).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 221 (Thursday, November 17, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 221 (Thursday, November 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69004-69006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25075]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-122-857]
Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada: Initiation of
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to a request from GreenFirst Forest Products Inc.
(GFFP) and GreenFirst Forest Products (QC) Inc. (GFFP (QC))
(collectively, GreenFirst), the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is
initiating a changed circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty
(AD) order on certain softwood lumber products from Canada. This review
will determine whether GFFP (QC) is the successor-in-interest to
Rayonier A.M. Canada G.P. (RYAM).
DATES: Applicable November 17, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zachary Shaykin, 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) 482-2638.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On August 9, 2022, Commerce published in the Federal Register the
final results of the third administrative review of the AD Order \1\ on
certain softwood lumber products from Canada.\2\ As a result of this
administrative review, Commerce assigned a cash deposit rate of 4.76
percent to RYAM based on the non-selected respondent rate (i.e., the
weighted-average of the mandatory respondents' weighted-average dumping
margins).\3\
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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 Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Final
Determination of No Shipments; 2020, 87 FR 48465 (August 9, 2022)
(Lumber V AR3).
\3\ See Order, 83 FR at 351.
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The CCR Request explains that on August 28, 2021, GFFP (QC)
acquired six lumber mills and one newsprint mill from RYAM. The CCR
Request further explains that RYAM previously held an ownership stake
in GreenFirst but that, in May 2022, RYAM sold all of its shares in
GreenFirst, and as a result RYAM no longer has ties to the lumber
industry. Thus, GreenFirst requests that Commerce initiate an expedited
CCR to determine that GFFP (QC) is the successor-in-interest to RYAM
and, thus, that the AD margin in effect for RYAM under the Order should
be applied to entries from GFFP (QC).\4\
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\4\ See GreenFirst's letter, ``Softwood Lumber from Canada:
GreenFirst Forest Products Request for Changed Circumstances
Review,'' dated September 29, 2022 (CCR Request), at 3 and 4.
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In its October 18, 2022, submission the Committee Overseeing Action
for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations
(COALITION, the petitioner) argues that Commerce should reject
GreenFirst's request to conduct an expedited CCR of GFFP (QC) pursuant
to 19 CFR 351.216(e).\5\ The petitioner contends that GFFP (QC) is not
the successor-in-interest to RYAM because the lumber assets RYAM sold
to GFFP (QC) experienced significant changes to their ownership and
management prior to their sale to GFFP (QC).\6\ Further, the petitioner
argues that the CCR Request improperly treated the names of certain
GFFP (QC) officials as business proprietary information and for this
reason the CCR Request should be rejected by Commerce.
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\5\ See Petitioner's letter, ``Certain Softwood Lumber Products
from Canada: Comments on GreenFirst's Request for Changed
Circumstances Review,'' dated October 18, 2022 (Petitioner
Comments), at 3.
\6\ See Petitioner Comments at 9 and 10.
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On October 20, 2022, Commerce held an ex-parte meeting with certain
government officials from the Government of Canada (GOC) in which
Canadian government officials expressed their support for GreenFirst's
CCR Request \7\ and, on October 24, 2022, the GOC submitted a letter to
Commerce expressing its support for GreenFirst's CCR Request.\8\
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\7\ See Memorandum, ``Ex Parte Meeting with the Government of
Canada,'' dated October 21, 2022.
\8\ See GOC's Letter submitted on October 24, 2022 (ACCESS
Barcode: 4303828-01).
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[[Page 69005]]
Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by the Order is softwood lumber, siding,
flooring and certain other coniferous wood (softwood lumber products).
The scope includes:
<bullet> Coniferous wood, sawn, or chipped lengthwise, sliced or
peeled, whether or not planed, whether or not sanded, or whether or not
finger-jointed, of an actual thickness exceeding six millimeters.
<bullet> Coniferous wood siding, flooring, and other coniferous
wood (other than moldings and dowel rods), including strips and friezes
for parquet flooring, that is continuously shaped (including, but not
limited to, tongued, grooved, rebated, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded,
molded, rounded) along any of its edges, ends, or faces, whether or not
planed, whether or not sanded, or whether or not end-jointed.
<bullet> Coniferous drilled and notched lumber and angle cut
lumber.
<bullet> Coniferous lumber stacked on edge and fastened together
with nails, whether or not with plywood sheathing.
<bullet> Components or parts of semi-finished or unassembled
finished products made from subject merchandise that would otherwise
meet the definition of the scope above.
Finished products are not covered by the scope of this Order. For
the purposes of this scope, finished products contain, or are comprised
of, subject merchandise and have undergone sufficient processing such
that they can no longer be considered intermediate products, and such
products can be readily differentiated from merchandise subject to this
Order at the time of importation. Such differentiation may, for
example, be shown through marks of special adaptation as a particular
product. The following products are illustrative of the type of
merchandise that is considered ``finished'' for the purpose of this
scope: I-joists; assembled pallets; cutting boards; assembled picture
frames; garage doors.
The following items are excluded from the scope of this Order:
<bullet> Softwood lumber products certified by the Atlantic Lumber
Board as being first produced in the Provinces of Newfoundland and
Labrador, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island from logs harvested in
Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island.
<bullet> U.S.-origin lumber shipped to Canada for processing and
imported into the United States if the processing occurring in Canada
is limited to one or more of the following: (1) Kiln drying; (2)
planing to create smooth-to-size board; or (3) sanding.
<bullet> Box-spring frame kits if they contain the following wooden
pieces--two side rails, two end (or top) rails and varying numbers of
slats. The side rails and the end rails must be radius-cut at both
ends. The kits must be individually packaged and must contain the exact
number of wooden components needed to make a particular box-spring
frame, with no further processing required. None of the components
exceeds 1'' in actual thickness or 83'' in length.
<bullet> Radius-cut box-spring-frame components, not exceeding 1''
in actual thickness or 83'' in length, ready for assembly without
further processing. The radius cuts must be present on both ends of the
boards and must be substantially cut so as to completely round one
corner.
Softwood lumber product imports are generally entered under Chapter
44 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). This
chapter of the HTSUS covers ``Wood and articles of wood.'' Softwood
lumber products that are subject to this Order are currently
classifiable under the following ten-digit HTSUS subheadings in Chapter
44: 4406.91.0000; 4407.10.01.01; 4407.10.01.02; 4407.10.01.15;
4407.10.01.16; 4407.10.01.17; 4407.10.01.18; 4407.10.01.19;
4407.10.01.20; 4407.10.01.42; 4407.10.01.43; 4407.10.01.44;
4407.10.01.45; 4407.10.01.46; 4407.10.01.47; 4407.10.01.48;
4407.10.01.49; 4407.10.01.52; 4407.10.01.53; 4407.10.01.54;
4407.10.01.55; 4407.10.01.56; 4407.10.01.57; 4407.10.01.58;
4407.10.01.59; 4407.10.01.64; 4407.10.01.65; 4407.10.01.66;
4407.10.01.67; 4407.10.01.68; 4407.10.01.69; 4407.10.01.74;
4407.10.01.75; 4407.10.01.76; 4407.10.01.77; 4407.10.01.82;
4407.10.01.83; 4407.10.01.92; 4407.10.01.93; 4407.11.00.01;
4407.11.00.02; 4407.11.00.42; 4407.11.00.43; 4407.11.00.44;
4407.11.00.45; 4407.11.00.46; 4407.11.00.47; 4407.11.00.48;
4407.11.00.49; 4407.11.00.52; 4407.11.00.53; 4407.12.00.01;
4407.12.00.02; 4407.12.00.17; 4407.12.00.18; 4407.12.00.19;
4407.12.00.20; 4407.12.00.58; 4407.12.00.59; 4407.13.0000;
4407.14.0000; 4407.19.0001; 4407.19.0002; 4407.19.0054; 4407.19.0055;
4407.19.0056; 4407.19.0057; 4407.19.0064; 4407.19.0065; 4407.19.0066;
4407.19.0067; 4407.19.0068; 4407.19.0069; 4407.19.0074; 4407.19.0075;
4407.19.0076; 4407.19.0077; 4407.19.0082; 4407.19.0083; 4407.19.0092;
4407.19.0093; 4409.10.05.00; 4409.10.10.20; 4409.10.10.40;
4409.10.10.60; 4409.10.10.80; 4409.10.20.00; 4409.10.90.20;
4409.10.90.40; 4418.30.0100; 4418.50.0010; 4418.50.0030; 4418.50.0050;
and 4418.99.10.00.
Subject merchandise as described above might be identified on entry
documentation as stringers, square cut box-spring-frame components,
fence pickets, truss components, pallet components, flooring, and door
and window frame parts. Items so identified might be entered under the
following ten-digit HTSUS subheadings in Chapter 44: 4415.20.40.00;
4415.20.80.00; 4418.99.9105; 4418.99.9120; 4418.99.9140; 4418.99.9195;
4421.99.70.40; and 4421.99.9880.
Although these HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and
customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this Order is
dispositive.
Initiation of CCR
Pursuant to section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.216(d), Commerce will conduct a CCR
upon receipt of a request from an interested party for a review of an
AD order which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a
review of the order. In the past, Commerce has used CCRs to address the
applicability of cash deposit rates after there have been changes in
the name or structure of a respondent, such as a merger or spinoff
(successor-in interest or successorship determinations).\9\ The
information submitted by GreenFirst supporting its claim that GFFP (QC)
is the successor-in-interest to RYAM demonstrates changed circumstances
sufficient to warrant such a review.\10\ Therefore, in accordance with
section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d) and (e), we are
initiating this CCR based on the information contained in the
GreenFirst's CCR Request.\11\
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\9\ See, e.g., Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the
People's Republic of China: Initiation and Preliminary Results of
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 82 FR 51605 and 51606
(November 7, 2017), unchanged in Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof
from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping
Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 82 FR 60177 (December 19, 2017).
\10\ See 19 CFR 351.216(d).
\11\ See CCR Request.
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Commerce will issue a questionnaire requesting additional
information for the review, and will publish in the Federal Register a
notice of the
[[Page 69006]]
preliminary results, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(2) and (4),
and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(i). The notice will set forth the factual and
legal conclusions upon which our preliminary results are based and a
description of any action proposed based on those results. Pursuant to
19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(ii), interested parties will have an opportunity
to comment on the preliminary results. In accordance with 19 CFR
351.216(e), Commerce intends to issue the final results no later than
270 days after the date on which the review is initiated. Note that
Commerce has modified certain of its requirements for serving documents
containing business proprietary information until July 17, 2020, unless
extended.\12\
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\12\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements
Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 29615 (May 18,
2020).
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Notification to Interested Parties
This notice is published in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and
777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.216(b), 351.221(b), and
351.221(c)(3).
Dated: November 14, 2022.
James Maeder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2022-25075 Filed 11-16-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 17, 2022.
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