Notice2024-07683
Antidumping Duty Order on Hydrofluorocarbon Blends From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Circumvention With Respect to R-410B, R-407G, and a Certain Custom Blend From the People's Republic of China
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 11, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that imports of R-410B, R-407G, and a custom hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) blend of 50-percent R-125 and 50-percent R-134a (custom HFC blend) which are blended in the People's Republic of China (China) using China-origin HFC components and further processed in the United States, are circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) order on HFC blends from China. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 71 (Thursday, April 11, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 71 (Thursday, April 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25568-25571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07683]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-028]
Antidumping Duty Order on Hydrofluorocarbon Blends From the
People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of
Circumvention With Respect to R-410B, R-407G, and a Certain Custom
Blend From the People's Republic of China
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that imports of R-410B, R-407G, and a custom
hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) blend of 50-percent R-125 and 50-percent R-134a
(custom HFC blend) which are blended in the People's Republic of China
(China) using China-origin HFC components and further processed in the
United States, are circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) order on HFC
blends from China. Interested parties are invited to comment on this
preliminary determination.
DATES: Applicable April 11, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin Nathan, 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) 482-3834.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On August 19, 2016, Commerce published in the Federal Register the
AD order on HFC blends from China.\1\
[[Page 25569]]
On July 7, 2023, Commerce initiated a country-wide circumvention
inquiry to determine whether imports of R-410B, R-407G, and a custom
HFC blend which are blended in China using China-origin HFC components
and further processed in the United States are circumventing the Order
and, accordingly, should be covered by the scope of the Order, pursuant
to section 781(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) and
19 CFR 351.226(h).\2\ In September 2023, Commerce selected the
following two mandatory respondents in this circumvention inquiry: HFC
Investments LLC (HFC Investments) and TT International Co., Ltd.
(TTI).\3\ On November 20, 2023, Commerce extended the deadline for
issuing the preliminary determination in this circumvention inquiry
until March 1, 2024.\4\ On February 27, 2024, Commerce further extended
the deadline for the preliminary determination until April 5, 2024.\5\
For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation
of this circumvention inquiry, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\6\
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\1\ See Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from the People's Republic of
China: Antidumping Duty Order, 81 FR 55436 (August 19, 2016)
(Order).
\2\ See Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from the People's Republic of
China: Initiation of Circumvention Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty
Order, 88 FR 43275 (July 7, 2023) (Initiation Notice).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated September
21, 2023; see also Commerce's Letter, ``U.S. Custom Blends Initial
Questionnaire,'' dated September 21, 2023.
\4\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Preliminary Determination in
Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated November 20, 2023.
\5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Preliminary Determination in
Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated February 27, 2024.
\6\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Decision Memorandum for the
Circumvention Inquiry with Respect to U.S. Custom Blends,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by the Order is certain HFC blends. For a
complete description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary
Decision Memorandum.\7\
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\7\ Id. at 3-4.
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Merchandise Subject to the Circumvention Inquiry
This circumvention inquiry covers imports of R-410B, R-407G, and a
certain custom HFC blend which are blended in China using China-origin
HFC components and further processed in the United States (inquiry
merchandise).
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this circumvention inquiry in accordance
with section 781(a) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.226. For a complete
description of the methodology underlying this circumvention inquiry,
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included in Appendix I 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="https://access.trade.gov">https://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>.
Preliminary Circumvention Determination
As detailed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce
preliminarily determines that R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom HFC
blend which are blended in China using China-origin HFC components and
further processed in the United States are circumventing the Order on a
country-wide basis. As a result, in accordance with section 781(a) of
the Act, we preliminarily determine that the inquiry merchandise should
be included within the scope of the Order. See the ``Suspension of
Liquidation and Cash Deposit Requirements'' section below for details
regarding suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements. See
the ``Certifications'' and ``Certification Requirements'' sections
below for details regarding the use of certifications for inquiry
merchandise imported from China.
Suspension of Liquidation
Based on the preliminary affirmative country-wide determination of
circumvention for China, in accordance with section 19 CFR
351.226(l)(2), Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) to continue the suspension of liquidation of previously suspended
entries and to suspend liquidation and require a cash deposit of
estimated duties on unliquidated entries of R-410B, R-407G, and a
certain custom HFC blend that were entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after July 7, 2023, the date of
publication of the initiation of this circumvention inquiry in the
Federal Register.\8\
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\8\ See Initiation Notice.
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The blends subject to this inquiry not further processed in the
United States are not subject to this inquiry. Therefore, cash deposits
are not required for such merchandise under the Order. If an importer
imports R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom HFC blend subject to this
inquiry from China and claims that they will not be further processed
into subject merchandise in the United States, in order to not be
subject to the Order's cash deposit requirements, the importer is
required to meet the certification and documentation requirements
described in the ``Certifications'' and ``Certification Requirements''
sections below.
Where no certification is provided for an entry, and the Order
potentially applies to that entry, Commerce intends to instruct CBP to
suspend the entry and collect cash deposits: (1) for entries of R-410B,
R-407G, and a certain custom HFC blend for which the exporter has a
company-specific cash deposit rate under the AD Order, the cash deposit
rate will be the company-specific AD cash deposit rate established for
that company in the most recently completed segment of the proceeding;
(2) for all Chinese exporters of R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom
HFC blend that do not have a company-specific cash deposit rate under
the AD Order, the AD cash deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate
for the China-wide entity (i.e., 216.37 percent); \9\ (3) for all non-
Chinese exporters of R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom HFC blend
which have not received their own rate, the cash deposit rate will be
the rate applicable to the Chinese exporter that supplied that non-
Chinese exporter. These suspension of liquidation instructions and cash
deposit requirements will remain in effect until further notice.
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\9\ See Order.
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Certified Entries
Entries for which the importer has met the certification
requirements described below and in Appendix II to this notice will not
be subject to either the suspension of liquidation or the cash deposit
requirements described above. Failure to comply with the applicable
requisite certification requirements may result in the merchandise
being subject to duties.
Certifications
To administer the preliminary affirmative country-wide
determination of circumvention, Commerce established importer
certifications, which allow companies to certify that specific entries
of R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom HFC blend are not subject to
suspension of liquidation or the collection of cash deposits pursuant
[[Page 25570]]
to this preliminary affirmative country-wide determination of
circumvention because the merchandise is not further processed into
subject HFC blends in the United States (see Appendix II to this
notice).
Importers that claim that their entries of merchandise subject to
this inquiry from China are not subject to suspension of liquidation or
the collection of cash deposits because the merchandise is not further
processed into subject merchandise in the United States must complete
the applicable certification and meet the certification and
documentation requirements described below, as well as the requirements
identified in the importer certification.
Certification Requirements
Importers are required to complete and maintain the applicable
importer certification and retain all supporting documentation. The
importer certification must be completed, signed, and dated by the time
the entry summary is filed for the relevant entry. The importer, or the
importer's agent, must submit the importer's certification to CBP as
part of the entry process by uploading it into the document imaging
system (DIS) in ACE. Where the importer uses a broker to facilitate the
entry process, the importer should obtain the entry summary number from
the broker. Agents of the importer, such as brokers, however, are not
permitted to certify on behalf of the importer.
Additionally, the claims made in the certification and any
supporting documentation are subject to verification by Commerce and/or
CBP. Importers are required to maintain the certifications and
supporting documentation until the later of: (1) the date that is five
years after the latest entry date of the entries covered by the
certification; or (2) the date that is three years after the conclusion
of any litigation in United States courts regarding such entries.
For all R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom HFC blend from China
that was entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during
the period July 7, 2023 (the date of initiation of this circumvention
inquiry), through the date of publication of the preliminary
determination in the Federal Register, where the entry has not been
liquidated (and entries for which liquidation has not become final),
the relevant certification should be completed and signed as soon as
practicable, but not later than 45 days after the date of publication
of this preliminary determination in the Federal Register. For such
entries, importers have the option to complete a blanket certification
covering multiple entries, individual certifications for each entry, or
a combination thereof.
For unliquidated entries (and entries for which liquidation has not
become final) of R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom HFC blend from
China that were declared as non-AD type entries (e.g., type 01) and
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption in the United
States during the period July 7, 2023 (the date of initiation of this
circumvention inquiry), through the date of publication of the
preliminary determination in the Federal Register, for which no
importer certification may be made, importers must file a Post Summary
Correction with CBP, in accordance with CBP's regulations, regarding
conversion of such entries from non-AD type entries to AD type entries
(e.g., type 01 to type 03). The importer should pay cash deposits on
those entries consistent with the regulations governing post summary
corrections that require payment of additional duties.
If it is determined that an importer has not met the certification
and/or related documentation requirements for certain entries, Commerce
intends to instruct CBP to suspend, pursuant to this preliminary
affirmative country-wide determination of circumvention and the
Order,\10\ all unliquidated entries for which these requirements were
not met and to require the importer to post applicable cash deposits
equal to the rate noted above.
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\10\ See Order.
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Interested parties may comment on these certification requirements,
and on the certification language contained in Appendix II to this
notice in their case briefs.
Public Comment
Interested parties may submit case briefs to Commerce no later than
14 days after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal
Register.\11\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case
briefs, may be filed no later than five days after the date for filing
case briefs.\12\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal
briefs in these proceedings must submit: (1) a statement of the issue;
(2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of
authorities.\13\ Case and rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS.
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\11\ Commerce is exercising its discretion, under 19 CFR
351.309(C)(1)(ii), to alter the time limit for filing case briefs.
\12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29,
2023) (APO and Service Procedures).
\13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages
total, including footnotes. In this circumvention inquiry, we instead
request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their
briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their
briefs.\14\ Further, we request that interested parties limit their
public executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not
including citations. We intend to use the public executive summaries as
the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision
memorandum that will accompany the final determination in this
investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for
relevant citations in the public executive summary of each issue. Note
that Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the
service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).\15\
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\14\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\15\ See APO and Service Procedures.
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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:
(1) the requesting party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the
number of individuals from the requesting party that will attend the
hearing and whether any of those individuals is a foreign national; and
(3) a list of the issues that the party intends to discuss at the
hearing. 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 by telephone the date, time, and location of the
hearing two days before the scheduled date of the hearing.
U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
Consistent with section 781(e) of the Act, Commerce will notify the
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of this preliminary
determination to
[[Page 25571]]
include the merchandise subject to this circumvention inquiry within
the Order. Pursuant to section 781(e) of the Act, the ITC may request
consultations concerning Commerce's proposed inclusion of the inquiry
merchandise. If, after consultations, the ITC believes that a
significant injury issue is presented by the proposed inclusion, it
will have 60 days from the date of notification by Commerce to provide
written advice.
Notification to Interested Parties
Commerce is issuing and publishing this determination in accordance
with sections 781(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.226(g)(1).
Dated: April 4, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Merchandise Subject to the Circumvention Inquiry
V. Period of Circumvention Inquiry
VI. Surrogate Country and Methodology for Valuing Inputs From China
VII. Statutory and Regulatory Framework for the Circumvention
Inquiry
VIII. Statutory Analysis for the Circumvention Inquiry
IX. Summary of Statutory Analysis
X. Country-wide Affirmative Determination of Circumvention
XI. Certification Requirement
XII. Recommendation
Appendix II
Importer Certification
I hereby certify that:
A. My name is {IMPORTING COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME{time} and I am
an official of {NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} , located at
{ADDRESS of IMPORTING COMPANY{time} ;
B. I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding the
importation into the Customs territory of the United States of the
hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) blend R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom
HFC blend produced in China that entered under the entry number(s)
identified below, and which are covered by this certification.
``Direct personal knowledge'' refers to facts the certifying party
is expected to have in its own records. For example, the importer
should have direct personal knowledge of the importation of the
product, including the exporter's and/or foreign seller's identity
and location;
C. If the importer is acting on behalf of the first U.S.
customer, include the following sentence as paragraph C of this
certification:
The R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom HFC blend covered by
this certification were imported by {NAME OF IMPORTING
COMPANY{time} on behalf of {NAME OF U.S. CUSTOMER{time} , located
at {ADDRESS OF U.S. CUSTOMER{time} .
If the importer is not acting on behalf of the first U.S.
customer, include the following sentence as paragraph C of this
certification:
{NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} is not acting on behalf of the
first U.S. customer.
D. The R-410B, R-407G, and a certain custom HFC blend covered by
this certification was shipped to {NAME OF PARTY IN THE UNITED
STATES TO WHOM THE MERCHANDISE WAS FIRST SHIPPED{time} located at
{U.S. ADDRESS TO WHICH MERCHANDISE WAS SHIPPED{time} .
E. Select the appropriate statement below:
___ I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding the
end use of the imported products covered by this certification
because my company is the end user of the imported product covered
by this certification and I certify that the R-410B, R-407G, and a
certain custom HFC blend will not be used to produce subject
merchandise. ``Direct Personal knowledge'' includes information
contained within my company's books and records.
___ I have personal knowledge of the facts regarding the end use
of the imported products covered by this certification because my
company is not the end user of the imported product covered by this
certification. However, I have been able to contact the end user of
the imported product and confirm that it will not use this product
to produce subject merchandise. The end user of the imported product
is {COMPANY NAME{time} located at {ADDRESS{time} . ``Personal
knowledge'' includes facts obtained from another party (e.g.,
correspondence received by the importer from the end user of the
product).
F. This certification applies to the following entries (repeat
this block as many times as necessary):
Entry Summary #:
Entry Summary Line Item #:
Foreign Seller:
Foreign Seller's Address:
Foreign Seller's Invoice #:
Foreign Seller's Invoice Line Item #:
Producer:
Producer's Address:
G. I understand that {NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} is
required to maintain a copy of this certification and sufficient
documentation supporting this certification (i.e., documents
maintained in the normal course of business, or documents obtained
by the certifying party, for example, product data sheets, chemical
testing specifications, productions records, invoices, etc.) for the
later of: (1) the date that is five years after the date of the
latest entry covered by the certification or; (2) the date that is
three years after the conclusion of any litigation in the United
States courts regarding such entries;
H. I understand that {IMPORTING COMPANY{time} is required to
submit a copy of the importer certification as part of the entry
summary by uploading them into the document imaging system (DIS) in
ACE, and to provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and/or
the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) with the importer
certification, and any supporting documentation, upon request of
either agency;
I. I understand that the claims made herein, and the
substantiating documentation, are subject to verification by CBP
and/or Commerce;
J. I understand that failure to maintain the required
certification and supporting documentation, or failure to
substantiate the claims made herein, or not allowing CBP and/or
Commerce to verify the claims made herein, may result in a de facto
determination that all entries to which this certification applies
are within the scope of the antidumping duty (AD) order on HFC
blends from China. I understand that such finding will result in:
(i) suspension of liquidation of all unliquidated entries (and
entries for which liquidation has not become final) for which these
requirements were not met;
(ii) the importer being required to post the cash deposits
determined by Commerce; and
(iii) the importer no longer being allowed to participate in the
certification process.
K. I understand that agents of the importer, such as brokers,
are not permitted to make this certification. Where a broker or
other party was used to facilitate the entry process, {NAME OF
IMPORTING COMPANY{time} obtained the entry summary number and date
of entry summary from that party.
L. This certification was completed and signed on, or prior to,
the date of the entry summary if the entry date is more than 14 days
after the date of publication of the notice of Commerce's
preliminary determination of circumvention in the Federal Register.
If the entry date is on or before the 14th day after the date of
publication of the notice of Commerce's preliminary determination of
circumvention in the Federal Register, this certification was
completed and signed by no later than 45 days after publication of
the notice of Commerce's preliminary determination of circumvention
in the Federal Register.
M. I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited to, 18
U.S.C. 1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who knowingly
and willfully make materially false statements to the U.S.
government.
Signature
{NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL{time}
{TITLE OF COMPANY OFFICIAL{time}
{DATE{time}
[FR Doc. 2024-07683 Filed 4-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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