Notice2024-24954
Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Indonesia: Final Negative Countervailing Duty Determination
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
October 28, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that countervailable subsidies are not being provided to producers and exporters of frozen warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from Indonesia. The period of investigation is January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 208 (Monday, October 28, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 208 (Monday, October 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85512-85514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24954]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-560-843]
Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Indonesia: Final Negative
Countervailing Duty Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
countervailable subsidies are not being provided to producers and
exporters of frozen warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from Indonesia. The
period of investigation is January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022.
DATES: Applicable October 28, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelsie Hohenberger, AD/CVD Operations,
Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2517.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 1, 2024, Commerce published its Preliminary Determination
in the Federal Register and invited interested parties to comment.\1\
In the Preliminary Determination, and in accordance with section
705(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR
351.210(b)(4), Commerce aligned this final countervailing duty (CVD)
determination with the final antidumping duty (AD) determinations of
frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia.\2\ On July 22,
2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative
proceeding by seven days.\3\ The deadline for the final determination
is now October 21, 2024.
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\1\ See Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Indonesia: Preliminary
Negative Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of Final
Determination With the Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 89 FR
22383 (April 1, 2024) (Preliminary Determination), and accompanying
Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
\2\ Id., 89 FR 22384.
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the
Preliminary Determination may be found in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum.\4\ The Issues and Decision
[[Page 85513]]
Memorandum is a public document and is made available to the public 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 Issues and 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, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Negative Determination in the Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Indonesia,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is shrimp from
Indonesia. For a complete description of the scope of this
investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
We received no comments from interested parties on the scope of the
investigation as it appeared in the Preliminary Determination.
Therefore, we made no changes to the scope of the investigation.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in May 2024, we conducted
verifications of information submitted by the Government of Indonesia
(GOI), PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (BMS), PT. First Marine Seafoods (First
Marine),\5\ and BMS and First Marine's unaffiliated farmer-suppliers
for use in our final determination. We used standard verification
procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting records and
original source documents provided by the GOI, BMS, First Marine, and
the farmer-suppliers.\6\
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\5\ Commerce determined that First Marine is cross-owned with PT
Khom Foods. Hereinafter, both companies are collectively referred to
as First Marine, unless stated otherwise.
\6\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Government of Indonesia
Questionnaire Responses,'' dated August 19, 2024; ``Verification of
the Questionnaire Responses of PT First Marine Seafoods,'' dated
August 9, 2024; ``Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of PT.
First Marine Seafoods' Unaffiliated Farmer-Supplier's Questionnaire
Responses,'' dated August 9, 2024; ``Verification of the
Questionnaire Responses of PT Bahari Makmur Sejati,'' dated August
23, 2024; and ``Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of BMS's
Unaffiliated Farmer-Suppliers,'' dated August 23, 2024.
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Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received
The subsidy programs under investigation, and the issues raised in
the case and rebuttal briefs that were submitted by interested parties
in this investigation are discussed in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum. For a list of the issues raised by interested parties and
addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, see Appendix II.
Methodology
Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section
701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be
countervailable, Commerce determines that there is a subsidy, i.e., a
financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives rise to a benefit
to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\7\ For a full
description of the methodology underlying our final determination, see
the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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\7\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding
financial contribution; see also section 771(5)(E) of the Act
regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding
specificity.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our analysis of the comments received from interested
parties and our verification findings, we made certain changes to the
subsidy rate calculations for BMS. For a discussion of these changes,
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated countervailable
subsidy rates exist:
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Subsidy rate (percent ad
Company valorem)
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PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati \8\............... 0.20 (de minimis).
PT. First Marine Seafoods/PT Khom Foods \9\ 0.71 (de minimis).
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Disclosure
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\8\ As discussed in the PDM, Commerce determined that PT Bahari
Makmur Sejati is cross-owned with input suppliers PT International
Packaging Manufacturing and PT Total Pack Indonesia.
\9\ As discussed in the PDM, Commerce determined that PT First
Marine Seafoods is cross-owned with PT Khom Foods, a producer/
distributor of subject merchandise.
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We intend to disclose to interested parties the calculations and
analysis performed in this final determination 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).
Suspension of Liquidation
In the Preliminary Determination, the total net countervailable
subsidy rates for the individually examined respondents were de minimis
and, therefore, we did not suspend liquidation of entries of frozen
warmwater shrimp from Indonesia.\10\ Because Commerce determines that
no countervailable subsidies are being provided to the production or
exportation of subject merchandise, Commerce will not direct U.S.
Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation of any such
entries.
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\10\ See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR 22384.
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of our final determination that countervailable subsidies are
not being provided to producers and exporters of shrimp from Indonesia.
Because the final determination is negative, this proceeding is
terminated in accordance with section 705(c)(2) of the Act.
Administrative Protective Order (APO)
This notice will serve as the only reminder to parties subject to
an APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction of
proprietary information disclosed under APO, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of the return/destruction of
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO
is a violation which is subject to sanction.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
[[Page 85514]]
Dated: October 21, 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 scope of this investigation includes certain frozen
warmwater shrimp and prawns whether wild-caught (ocean harvested) or
farm-raised (produced by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, shell-on
or peeled, tail-on or tail-off, deveined or not deveined, cooked or
raw, or otherwise processed in frozen form. ``Tails'' in this
context means the tail fan, which includes the telson and the
uropods.
The frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products included in the
scope, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States (HTSUS), are products which are processed from
warmwater shrimp and prawns through freezing and which are sold in
any count size.
The products described above may be processed from any species
of warmwater shrimp and prawns. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are
generally classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae
family. Some examples of the farmed and wild-caught warmwater
species include, but are not limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus
vannemei), banana prawn (Penaeus merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus
chinensis), giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant
tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), redspotted shrimp (Penaeus
brasiliensis), southern brown shrimp (Penaeus subtilis), southern
pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus
curvirostris), southern white shrimp (Penaeus schmitti), blue shrimp
(Penaeus stylirostris), western white shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis),
and Indian white prawn (Penaeus indicus).
Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed with marinade, spices
or sauce are included in the scope. In addition, food preparations,
which are not ``prepared meals,'' that contain more than 20 percent
by weight of shrimp or prawn are also included in the scope.
Excluded from the scope are: (1) breaded shrimp and prawns
(HTSUS subheading 1605.21.1020); (2) shrimp and prawns generally
classified in the Pandalidae family and commonly referred to as
coldwater shrimp, in any state of processing; (3) fresh shrimp and
prawns whether shell-on or peeled (HTSUS subheadings 0306.36.0020
and 0306.36.0040); (4) shrimp and prawns in prepared meals (HTSUS
subheadings 1605.21.0500 and 1605.29.0500); (5) dried shrimp and
prawns; (6) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns (HTSUS subheading
1605.29.1040); and (7) certain battered shrimp. Battered shrimp is a
shrimp-based product: (1) that is produced from fresh (or thawed-
from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; (2) to which a ``dusting'' layer of
rice or wheat flour of at least 95 percent purity has been applied;
(3) with the entire surface of the shrimp flesh thoroughly and
evenly coated with the flour; (4) with the non-shrimp content of the
end product constituting between four and ten percent of the
product's total weight after being dusted, but prior to being
frozen; and (5) that is subjected to individually quick frozen (IQF)
freezing immediately after application of the dusting layer. When
dusted in accordance with the definition of dusting above, the
battered shrimp product is also coated with a wet viscous layer
containing egg and/or milk, and par-fried.
The products covered by the scope are currently classified under
the following HTSUS subheadings: 0306.17.0004, 0306.17.0005,
0306.17.0007, 0306.17.0008, 0306.17.0010, 0306.17.0011,
0306.17.0013, 0306.17.0014, 0306.17.0016, 0306.17.0017,
0306.17.0019, 0306.17.0020, 0306.17.0022, 0306.17.0023,
0306.17.0025, 0306.17.0026, 0306.17.0028, 0306.17.0029,
0306.17.0041, 0306.17.0042, 1605.21.1030, and 1605.29.1010. These
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and for customs
purposes only and are not dispositive, but rather the written
description of the scope is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes from the Preliminary Determination
IV. Subsidies Valuation
V. Analysis of Programs
VI. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Whether Commerce Should Apply Adverse Facts Available
(AFA) To Countervail the Provision of Water or Port Facilities to
First Marine
Comment 2: Whether Commerce Should Apply AFA To Countervail
Export Financing From the Export-Import Bank of Indonesia (Eximbank)
Comment 3: Whether Commerce Should Apply Total AFA to the GR 55/
2022 and Article 31E Income Tax Reduction Programs
Comment 4: Whether Commerce Should Correct the Benefit
Calculations Under the Government Regulation 55/2022 and Article 31E
Income Tax Reduction Programs
Comment 5: Whether Commerce Should Make Corrections to the Sales
Denominators Used To Calculate the Ad Valorem Subsidy Rates
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-24954 Filed 10-25-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 28, 2024.
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