Certain Glass Wine Bottles From Chile: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures
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Issuing agencies
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain glass wine bottles (wine bottles) from Chile are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65325-65328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17753]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-337-808]
Certain Glass Wine Bottles From Chile: Preliminary Affirmative
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final
Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that certain glass wine bottles (wine bottles) from Chile
are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than
fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is October 1,
2022, through September 30, 2023. Interested parties are invited to
comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES: Applicable August 9, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dusten Hom or Joshua Weiner, AD/CVD
Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5075 or (202) 482-3902,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce
published the notice of initiation of this investigation in the Federal
Register on January 25, 2024.\1\ On May 15, 2024, Commerce postponed
the preliminary determination of this investigation to July 26,
2024.\2\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this
administrative proceeding by seven days.\3\ The deadline for this
preliminary determination is now August 2, 2024.
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\1\ See Certain Glass Wine Bottles from Chile, the People's
Republic of China, and Mexico: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigations, 89 FR 4911 (January 25, 2024) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Certain Glass Wine Bottles from Chile, the People's
Republic of China, and Mexico: Postponement of Preliminary
Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 89 FR
42426 (May 15, 2024).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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[[Page 65326]]
For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\4\ A list of topics included 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="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
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation
of Certain Glass Wine Bottles from Chile,'' dated concurrently with,
and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are wine bottles from
Chile. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\5\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\6\ Certain interested
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in
the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product coverage comments
and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for this preliminary
determination and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments
timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\7\
Commerce is not preliminarily modifying the scope language as it
appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the scope in Appendix I to this
notice.
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\5\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\6\ See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 4912.
\7\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,''
dated May 28, 2024 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Normal value is calculated
in accordance with section 773 of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to
section 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce has preliminarily relied
upon facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences for
Cristaler[iacute]as Toro SAIC (Cristoro). For a full description of the
methodology underlying the preliminary determination, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
All-Others Rate
Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in
the preliminary determination Commerce shall determine an estimated
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero
and de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under
section 776 of the Act. In this investigation, Commerce preliminarily
assigned a rate based entirely on facts available to Cristoro but
calculated estimated weighted-average dumping margins for Cristalerias
de Chile S.A. (Cristalchile) and Verallia Chile S.A. (Verallia) that
are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise
available. Consequently, Commerce calculated the all-others rate using
a weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins
calculated for Cristalchile and Verallia using each company's publicly
ranged values for the merchandise under consideration.\8\
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\8\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally
calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average
dumping margins calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a
simple average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins
calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a weighted-average
of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the
examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S. sales
values for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then
compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) as
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters.
See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53662
(September 1, 2010), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum
at Comment 1. As complete publicly ranged sales data were available,
Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly ranged sales data
of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of the data,
see the All-Others Rate Calculation Memorandum.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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Estimated
weighted-
average
Exporter/producer dumping
margin
(percent)
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Cristalerias de Chile S.A................................... 34.46
Cristalerias Toro SAIC...................................... * 173.91
Verallia Chile S.A.......................................... 6.64
All Others.................................................. 29.97
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* Rate based on adverse facts available.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(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 Appendix I, entered,
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Further, pursuant
to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will
instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, as follows:
(1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be
equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping
margins determined in this preliminary determination; (2) if the
exporter is not a respondent identified above, but the producer is,
then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-specific
estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that producer
of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other
producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated
weighted-average dumping margin. These suspension of liquidation
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose the calculations performed in this
preliminary determination to interested parties 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 accordance with 19
CFR 351.224(b).
Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if
appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial
errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent
with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete
allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR
351.224(g) following the preliminary determination. Instead, Commerce
will address such allegations in the final determination together with
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issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to
verify certain information relied upon in making its final
determination.
Public Comment
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven
days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in
this investigation.\9\ 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.\10\ Interested parties who 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.\11\
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\9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for
general filing requirements).
\10\ 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 Final Rule).
\11\ 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 investigation, we instead request
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\12\
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 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).\13\
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\12\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\13\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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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.
Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by
the petitioner. Section 351.210(e)(2) of Commerce's regulations
requires that a request by exporters for postponement of the final
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months
in duration.
On July 22, 2024, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), the U.S. Glass
Producers Coalition (the petitioner) \14\ and Cristalchile requested
that Commerce postpone the final determination and that provisional
measures be extended to a period not to exceed six months.\15\ Verallia
also submitted a postponement request on July 24, 2024.\16\ In
accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) the preliminary determination is
affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter accounts for a significant
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling
reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the final
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month
period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, Commerce
will make its final determination no later than 135 days after the date
of publication of this preliminary determination.
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\14\ The members of the U.S. Glass Producers Coalition are
Ardagh Glass Inc. and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber,
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers
International Union. See Petitioner's Letter, ``Postponement of
Final Determination,'' dated July 22, 2024.
\15\ See Cristalchile's Letter, ``Request to Postpone Final
Determination'' dated July 22, 2024.
\16\ See Verallia's Letter, ``Request for Postponement of Final
Determination,'' dated July 24, 2024.
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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary
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
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material
injury to, the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: August 2, 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--Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by the investigation is certain narrow
neck glass bottles, with a nominal capacity of 740 milliliters
(25.02 ounces) to 760 milliliters (25.70 ounces); a nominal total
height between 24.8 centimeters (9.75 inches) to 35.6 centimeters
(14 inches); a nominal base diameter between 4.6 centimeters (1.8
inches) to 11.4 centimeters (4.5 inches); and a mouth with an outer
diameter of between 25 millimeters (.98 inches) to 37.9 millimeters
(1.5 inches); frequently referred to as a ``wine bottle.'' In scope
merchandise may include but is not limited to the following shapes:
Bordeaux (also known as ``Claret''), Burgundy, Hock, Champagne,
Sparkling, Port, Provence, or Alsace (also known as ``Germanic'').
In scope glass bottles generally have an approximately round base
and have shapes including but not limited to, straight-sided, a
tapered slope from shoulder (i.e., the sloping part of the bottle
between the neck and the body) to base, or a long neck with sloping
shoulders to a wider base. The scope includes glass bottles, whether
or not clear, whether or not colored, with or without a punt (i.e.,
an indentation on the underside of the bottle), and with or without
design or functional enhancements (including, but not limited to,
embossing, labeling, or etching). In scope merchandise is made of
non-``free blown'' glass, i.e., in scope merchandise is produced
with the use of a mold and is distinguished by mold seams, joint
marks, or parting lines. In scope merchandise is unfilled and may be
imported
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with or without a closure, including a cork, stelvin (screw cap),
crown cap, or wire cage and cork closure.
Excluded from the scope of the investigation are: (1) glass
containers made of borosilicate glass, meeting United States
Pharmacopeia requirements for Type 1 pharmaceutical containers; and
(2) glass containers without a ``finish'' (i.e., the section of a
container at the opening including the lip and ring or collar,
threaded or otherwise compatible with a type of closure, including
but not limited to a cork, stelvin (screw cap), crown cap, or wire
cage and cork closure).
Glass bottles subject to the investigation are specified within
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under
subheading 7010.90.5019. The HTSUS subheading is provided for
convenience and customs purposes only. The written description of
the scope of the investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Currency Conversion
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-17753 Filed 8-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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