Notice2024-16994
Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts From Thailand: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2022-2023
Primary source
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Published
August 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain producers/ exporters subject to this administrative review did not make sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value (NV) during the July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, period of review (POR). Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 148 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 148 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62718-62721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-549-833]
Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts From Thailand: Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2022-2023
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that certain producers/
[[Page 62719]]
exporters subject to this administrative review did not make sales of
subject merchandise at less than normal value (NV) during the July 1,
2022, through June 30, 2023, period of review (POR). Interested parties
are invited to comment on these preliminary results.
DATES: Applicable August 1, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joy Zhang or Matthew Palmer, AD/CVD
Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1168 or (202) 482-1678,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 25, 2018, Commerce published in the Federal Register the
antidumping duty order on citric acid from Thailand.\1\ On July 3,
2023, Commerce published in the Federal Register a notice of
opportunity to request an administrative review of the Order.\2\ On
September 11, 2023, based on timely requests for review, in accordance
with section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act),
and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(1)(i), Commerce initiated an administrative
review of the Order covering three companies.\3\ Pursuant to section
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, Commerce extended the deadline for the
preliminary results until July 30, 2024.\4\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce
tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven
days.\5\ The deadline for the preliminary results of this
administrative review is now August 6, 2024. For a complete description
of the events that followed the initiation of this review, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\6\
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\1\ See Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from Belgium,
Colombia and Thailand: Antidumping Duty Orders, 83 FR 35214 (July
25, 2018) (Order).
\2\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative
Review and Join Annual Inquiry Service List, 88 FR 42693 (July 3,
2023).
\3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 62322 (September 11, 2023).
\4\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,'' dated March 1,
2024.
\5\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
\6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Citric Acid and
Certain Citrate Salts from Thailand; 2022-2023,'' dated concurrently
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by this Order is citric acid from Thailand.
For a full description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary
Decision Memorandum.
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section
751(a) of the Act. Export price and constructed export price are
calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. NV is calculated
in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full description of
the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary
Decision Memorandum. 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>. A list of the topics
discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached as an
appendix to this notice.
Rate for Non-Selected Companies
The Act and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the
establishment of a rate to be applied to individual companies not
selected for examination when Commerce limits its examination in an
administrative review pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Act.
Generally, Commerce looks to section 735(c)(5) of the Act, which
provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in a market
economy investigation, for guidance when calculating the rate for
companies which were not selected for individual review in an
administrative review. Under section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the all-
others rate is normally ``an amount equal to the weighted average of
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero
or de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely {on the
basis of facts available{time} .''
In this administrative review, we preliminarily calculated dumping
margins of zero percent for both COFCO Biochemical (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
(COFCO) and Sunshine Biotech International Co., Ltd. (Sunshine). Thus,
in accordance with the expected method, and consistent with the Court
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's decision in Albemarle,\7\ we
preliminarily assigned to the non-selected company a zero percent rate,
based on the rates calculated for the two mandatory respondents.
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\7\ See Albemarle Corp. v. United States, 821 F.3d 1345, 1352
(Fed. Cir. 2016) (Albemarle) (holding that Commerce may only use
``other reasonable methods'' if it reasonably concludes that the
expected method is ``not feasible'' or ``would not be reasonably
reflective of potential dumping margins'').
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Preliminary Results of the Review
As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the
following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period July 1,
2022, through June 30, 2023:
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Weighted-
average
Producer/exporter dumping
margin
(percent)
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COFCO Biochemical (Thailand) Co., Ltd....................... 0.00
Sunshine Biotech International Co., Ltd..................... 0.00
Xitrical Group Co. LTD...................................... 0.00
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Disclosure and Public Comment
Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations
performed for these preliminary results within five days of the date of
publication of this notice.\8\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c),
interested parties may submit case briefs to Commerce no later than 30
days after the date of publication of this notice. 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.\9\ Interested
parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must
submit: (1) a table of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of
authorities.\10\
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\8\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
\9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
\10\ See 19 351.309(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.\11\ Further,
we request that interested parties limit their public executive summary
of each issue
[[Page 62720]]
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).\12\
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\11\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\12\ See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final
Rule, 88 FR 67069 (September 29, 2023).
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Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must submit a
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and
Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, using Enforcement and
Compliance's ACCESS system within 30 days of publication of this
notice.\13\ Requests should contain the party's name, address, and
telephone number, the number of participants, and a list of the issues
to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those
raised in the case and rebuttal briefs. If a request for a hearing is
made, we will inform parties of the scheduled date for the hearing at a
time and location to be determined.\14\ Parties should confirm by
telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing no fewer than two
days before the scheduled date. Parties are reminded that all briefs
and hearing requests must be filed electronically using ACCESS and
received successfully in their entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on
the due date.
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\13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
\14\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
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Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of
the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2), Commerce will issue the final results
of this administrative review, including the results of our analysis of
the issues raised by the parties in their case briefs, not later than
120 days after the date of publication of this notice, pursuant to
section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.
Verification
On December 18, 2023, the petitioners, Archer Daniels Midland
Company, Cargill, Incorporated, and Primary Products Ingredients
Americas LLC, requested that Commerce conduct verification of COFCO's
and Sunshine's responses.\15\ Accordingly, in accordance with section
782(i) of the Act, Commerce conducted on-site verifications of the
information and data submitted by COFCO and Sunshine.\16\
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\15\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Petitioners' Request For
Verification,'' dated December 18, 2023.
\16\ See Memoranda, ``Sales Verification of Sunshine Biotech
International Co., Ltd.,'' dated June 20, 2024; and ``Verification
of the Sales Response of COFCO in the Antidumping Administrative
Review of Citric Acid from Thailand,'' dated June 20, 2024.
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Assessment Rates
Upon issuing the final results, Commerce shall determine, and U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on
all appropriate entries. If the weighted-average dumping margin for
companies listed above are not zero or de minimis (i.e., less than 0.5
percent), we will calculate importer-specific ad valorem AD assessment
rates based on the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for
the importer's examined sales to the total entered value of those same
sales in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).\17\ If the respondent
has not reported entered values, we will calculate a per-unit
assessment rate for each importer by dividing the total amount of
dumping calculated for the examined sales made to that importer by the
total quantity associated with those sales. To determine whether an
importer-specific, per-unit assessment rate is de minimis, in
accordance with 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2), we also will calculate an
importer-specific ad valorem ratio based on estimated entered values.
Where either the respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is zero
or de minimis, or an importer-specific assessment rate is zero or de
minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries
without regard to antidumping duties. The final results of this review
shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries
of merchandise covered by the final results of this review and for
future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable.\18\
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\17\ In the preliminary results, Commerce applied the assessment
rate calculation method adopted in Antidumping Proceedings:
Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and Assessment
Rate in Certain Antidumping Proceedings; Final Modification, 77 FR
8101 (February 14, 2012).
\18\ See section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act.
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In accordance with Commerce's ``automatic assessment'' practice,
for entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by each
respondent which did not know that its merchandise was destined for the
United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate entries not reviewed
at the all-others rate established in the original less-than-fair value
(LTFV) investigation (i.e., 11.25 percent) if there is no rate for the
intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.
Commerce intends 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
The following deposit requirements will be effective for all
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the
final results of this administrative review, as provided by section
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for the companies
listed above will be that established in the final results of this
review, except if the rate is less than 0.50 percent and, therefore, de
minimis within the meaning of 19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), in which case the
cash deposit rate will be zero; (2) for previously investigated or
reviewed companies not covered in this review, the cash deposit rate
will continue to be the company-specific cash deposit rate published
for the most recently completed segment of this proceeding in which the
company participated; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this
review, or the LTFV investigation, but the manufacturer is, then the
cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recent
segment for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash
deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will continue to
be 11.25 percent, the all-others rate established in the LTFV
investigation.\19\ These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall
remain in effect until further notice.
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\19\ See Order.
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Notification to Importers
This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply
with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent
assessment of double antidumping duties.
[[Page 62721]]
Notification to Interested Parties
We are issuing and publishing these preliminary results in
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, 19 CFR
351.213(h)(2), and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).
Dated: July 25, 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. Application of Facts Available
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Currency Conversion
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-16994 Filed 7-31-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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