Notice2024-26261
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Lemon Juice From Argentina; Preliminary Results of 2022-2023 Administrative Review
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
November 13, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that the respondents selected for individual examination, Argenti Lemon S.A. (Argenti Lemon), Citromax S.A.C.I (Citromax), and SA San Miguel A.G.I.C.I. y F (San Miguel), complied with the 2016 Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Lemon Juice from Argentina (2016 Agreement), for the period of review (POR) October 1, 2022, through September 31, 2023. Commerce also preliminarily determines that the 2016 Agreement met the statutory requirements under sections 734(c) and (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) during the POR.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2024)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89599-89600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26261]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-357-818]
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Lemon
Juice From Argentina; Preliminary Results of 2022-2023 Administrative
Review
AGENCY: Enforcement & Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that the respondents selected for individual examination,
Argenti Lemon S.A. (Argenti Lemon), Citromax S.A.C.I (Citromax), and SA
San Miguel A.G.I.C.I. y F (San Miguel), complied with the 2016
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Lemon Juice
from Argentina (2016 Agreement), for the period of review (POR) October
1, 2022, through September 31, 2023. Commerce also preliminarily
determines that the 2016 Agreement met the statutory requirements under
sections 734(c) and (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act)
during the POR.
DATES: Applicable November 13, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Buckles, Enforcement &
Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, telephone:
(202) 482-6230.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On October 20, 2016, Commerce signed an agreement under section
734(c) of the Act, with representatives of Argentine lemon juice
producers/exporters accounting for substantially all imports of lemon
juice from Argentina, suspending the antidumping duty (AD)
investigation on lemon juice from Argentina.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Lemon Juice from Argentina: Continuation of Suspension
of Antidumping Investigation, 81 FR 74395 (October 26, 2016) (2016
Agreement).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On October 30, 2023, Ventura Coastal, LLC (petitioner) filed a
request for an administrative review of the 2016 Agreement.\2\ Commerce
published a notice of its initiation of the administrative review of
the 2016 Agreement on December 6, 2023.\3\ On January 23, 2024,
Commerce selected three companies as mandatory respondents, listed in
alphabetical order: Argenti Lemon, Citromax, and San Miguel.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request for Administrative
Review,'' dated October 30, 2023.
\3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 84784 (December 6, 2023).
\4\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated January 23,
2024 (Respondent Selection Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On May 30, 2024, Commerce extended the deadline for completing the
preliminary results of this review until October 30, 2024.\5\ On July
22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative
proceeding by seven days.\6\ The deadline for the preliminary results
is now November 6, 2024. For a complete description of the events
between the
[[Page 89600]]
initiation of this review and these preliminary results, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary
Results of the 2023-2024 Administrative Review of the 2016 Agreement
Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Lemon Juice from
Argentina,'' dated May 30, 2023.
\6\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
\7\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Results of the 2022-2023 Administrative Review: Lemon Juice from
Argentina,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scope of the 2016 Agreement
Merchandise covered by the 2016 Agreement is typically classified
under the following subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of
the United States (HTSUS), according to the season of importation:
2009.39.6020, 2009.31.6020, 2009.31.4000, 2009.31.6040, and
2009.39.6040. The tariff classifications are provided for convenience
and customs purposes; however, the written description of the scope of
this 2016 Agreement is dispositive. For a complete description of the
scope of the 2016 Agreement, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Methodology and Preliminary Results
Commerce has conducted this review in accordance with section
751(a)(1)(C) of the Act, which specifies that Commerce shall ``review
the current status of, and compliance with, any agreement by reason of
which an investigation was suspended.'' In this case, Commerce and
representatives of the Argentine lemon juice producers/exporters
accounting for substantially all imports of lemon juice from Argentina
signed the 2016 Agreement, which suspended the underlying antidumping
duty investigation, on October 20, 2016. Pursuant to the 2016
Agreement, the Argentine signatories agreed to sell subject merchandise
at or above certain minimum reference prices, and that their pricing
would eliminate at least 85 percent of the dumping determined in the AD
investigation.\8\ The Argentine signatories also agreed to provide
documentation upon request from Commerce,\9\ provide certifications
each quarter,\10\ and provide Argentine customs data each quarter \11\
to allow Commerce to monitor the 2016 Agreement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See 2016 Agreement at Section VI and Appendix I.
\9\ Id. at Sections VII.B.1, VII.B.2, and VII.B.4.
\10\ Id. at Section VII.C.3.
\11\ Id. at Section VII.A.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
After reviewing the information received from the mandatory
respondents in their initial and supplemental questionnaire responses,
we preliminarily determine that the mandatory respondents complied with
the requirements of the 2016 Agreement during the POR. Additionally, we
preliminarily determine that the 2016 Agreement functioned as intended
and that the 2016 Agreement continued to meet the statutory
requirements under sections 734(c) and (d) of the Act during the POR.
For a full description of the analysis underlying our conclusions,
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as an 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>.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(3) of the Act, Commerce intends to
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.
Public Comment
Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than seven days
after the date on which the last verification report is issued in this
administrative review.\12\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in
case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the date
for filing case briefs.\13\ 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.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
\13\ 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).
\14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.\15\ 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 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).\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\16\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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, 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. 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.
Final Results of Review
Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative
review, including the results of its analysis of the issues raised in
any written briefs, not later than 120 days after the date of
publication of this notice, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the
Act, unless extended.
Notification to Interested Parties
We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: November 6, 2024.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the 2016 Agreement
IV. Preliminary Results of Review
V. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-26261 Filed 11-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 13, 2024.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.