Notice2024-09586
Phosphate Fertilizers From the Kingdom of Morocco: Preliminary Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 2022
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
May 2, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of phosphate fertilizers from the Kingdom of Morocco (Morocco). The period of review (POR) is January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 86 (Thursday, May 2, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 86 (Thursday, May 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35800-35801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09586]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-714-001]
Phosphate Fertilizers From the Kingdom of Morocco: Preliminary
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 2022
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to
producers and exporters of phosphate fertilizers from the Kingdom of
Morocco (Morocco). The period of review (POR) is January 1, 2022,
through December 31, 2022.
DATES: Applicable May 2, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Palmer or Jaron Moore, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-9068 or (202)
482-3640, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 28, 2023, we received a request from The Mosaic Company
(the petitioner) to conduct an administrative review with respect to
OCP S.A. (OCP).\1\ On June 12, 2023, Commerce published a notice of
initiation of an administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD)
order on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco.\2\ On December 12, 2023,
Commerce extended the deadline for the preliminary results of this
review until April 26, 2024.\3\
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\1\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request for Countervailing Duty
Administrative Review,'' dated April 28, 2023.
\2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 38021 (June 12, 2023) (Initiation
Notice).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary
Results of the 2020-2021 Countervailing Duty Administrative
Review,'' dated December 12, 2023.
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\4\
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is
included at the appendix 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>.
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\4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of
Phosphate Fertilizers from the Kingdom of Morocco; 2022,'' 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 phosphate fertilizers. For
a complete description of the scope of the order, see the Preliminary
Decision Memorandum.
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section
751(a)(l)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each
of the subsidy programs found countervailable, we preliminarily
determine that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution from
an authority that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that
the subsidy is specific.\5\ For a full description of the methodology
underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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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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Preliminary Results of Review
As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the
following net countervailable subsidy rate for the period January 1,
2022, through December 31, 2022:
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Subsidy rate
Producer/exporter (percent ad
valorem)
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OCP S.A.\6\............................................ 14.21
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Disclosure and Public Comment
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\6\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum,
Commerce preliminarily finds the following companies to be cross-
owned with OCP S.A.: Nutircrops S.A.; Jorf Fertilizers Company I;
Jorf Fertilizers Company II; Jorf Fertilizers Company III; Jorf
Fertilizers Company IV; and Jorf Fertilizers Company V.
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Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to
interested
[[Page 35801]]
parties for these preliminary results within five days of any public
announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within five days
of the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register in
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.\7\ A timeline for
the submission of case briefs and written comments will be notified to
interested parties at a later date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues
raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after
the date for filing case briefs.\8\ Interested parties that submit case
briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table
of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\9\
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\7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii); see also 19 CFR 351.303 for
general filing requirements.
\8\ 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).
\9\ 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 review, we instead request that
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public,
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\10\ 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 results in this administrative review. 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).\11\
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\10\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\11\ See APO and Service Procedures.
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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via
ACCESS. Requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and
telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of
issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to
those raised in the respective case briefs. An electronically filed
hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by
Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.
Unless the deadline is extended, we intend to issue the final
results of this administrative review, which will include the results
of our analysis of the issues raised in the case briefs, within 120
days of publication of these preliminary results in the Federal
Register, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.213(h).
Assessment Rate
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily
assigned the subsidy rate in the amount shown above for OCP. Upon
completion of the administrative review, consistent with section
751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2), Commerce shall
determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess,
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered by this
review.
We will instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all
appropriate entries at the subsidy rate calculated in the final results
of this review. We intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP no
earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results
of this review in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at
the U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will
direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties
to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within
90 days of publication).
Cash Deposit Requirements
In accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends,
upon publication of the final results, to instruct CBP to collect cash
deposits of estimated countervailing duties in the amount shown for OCP
(and its cross-owned affiliates) on shipments of subject merchandise
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the
date of publication of the final results of this administrative review.
The cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect
until further notice.
Notification to Interested Parties
These preliminary results are issued and published pursuant to
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).
Dated: April 26, 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
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Subsidies Valuation Information
V. Interest Rate Benchmarks and Benchmarks for Measuring the
Adequacy of Remuneration
VI. Analysis of Programs
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-09586 Filed 5-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 2, 2024.
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