Notice2025-01807
Certain Paper Plates From the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part
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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
January 28, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that certain paper plates (paper plates) from the People's Republic of China (China) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) during the period of investigation (POI) July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 17 (Tuesday, January 28, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 17 (Tuesday, January 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8271-8274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01807]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-164]
Certain Paper Plates From the People's Republic of China: Final
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
certain paper plates (paper plates) from the People's Republic of China
(China) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at
less than fair value (LTFV) during the period of investigation (POI)
July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
DATES: Applicable January 28, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Toni Page or Lingjun Wang, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1398 or (202) 482-2316,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On September 5, 2024, Commerce published the Preliminary
Determination in the Federal Register and invited interested parties to
comment.\1\ For a complete description of the events that followed the
Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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\1\ See Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of
China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances, in Part, Postponement of Final Determination, and
Extension of Provisional Measures, 89 FR 72367 (September 5, 2024)
(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision
Memorandum (PDM).
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of
China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice
(Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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The Issues and 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="http://access.trade.gov">http://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>.
Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are paper plates from
China. 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 Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act), between November 12 and 24, 2024, Commerce conducted
verification of the sales and factors of production information
submitted by Fuzhou Hengli Paper Co., Ltd. (Fuzhou Hengli) and Jinhua
P&P Product Co., Ltd (Jinhua).\3\ We used standard verification
procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting records and
original source documents provided by Fuzhou Hengli and Jinhua.
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\3\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Questionnaire Responses
of Jinhua P&P Product Co., Ltd. (JPP) in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of
China (China),'' dated December 16, 2024; and ``Verification of the
Questionnaire Responses of Hengli Paper Co., Ltd. (Hengli) and its
producer Guangdong Ecosource Environmental Technology Co., Ltd.
(Ecosource),'' dated December 17, 2024.
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Analysis of Comments Received
The issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by the 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.
Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part
In accordance with section 735(a)(3)(B) of the Act, and 19 CFR
351.206(h), Commerce finds for the final determination that critical
circumstances exist with respect to imports of paper plates for the
non-selected companies eligible for a separate rate \4\ and continues
to find that critical circumstances exist with respect to the China-
wide entity.\5\ We find for the final determination that critical
circumstances exist with respect to
[[Page 8272]]
Fuzhou Hengli and its unaffiliated producers, but that critical
circumstances do not exist for Jinhua.\6\ For a full description of the
methodology and the results of Commerce's critical circumstances
analysis, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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\4\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum at 5.
\5\ See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR at 72367.
\6\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum at 5.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our review and analysis of the information received during
verification and comments received from interested parties for this
final determination, we made certain changes to the estimated weighted-
average dumping margins for Fuzhou Hengli and Jinhua. For a discussion
of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
Use of Adverse Facts Available (AFA)
Consistent with the Preliminary Determination,\7\ Commerce
continues to find, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, that
the use of facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences, is
warranted in determining the dumping rate for the China-wide entity. In
addition, for this final determination, we are also assigning a rate
based on AFA to Fuzhou Hengli. We are assigning a rate of 515.40
percent, which is the highest calculated individual dumping margin of
any respondent in the investigation, to the China-wide entity and
Fuzhou Hengli.\8\
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\7\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 15-18.
\8\ Id. at 18.
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Separate Rates
No interested party commented on Commerce's preliminary separate
rate determinations \9\ and we have no basis to reconsider those
determinations. Accordingly, we continue to find that Fuzhou Hengli,
Jinhua, and certain non-individually examined companies that are listed
in the rate table below, are eligible for a separate rate.
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\9\ Id. at 9-12.
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Combination Rates
Consistent with the Preliminary Determination, and Policy Bulletin
05.1,\10\ Commerce calculated combination rates for the respondents
that are eligible for a separate rate.
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\10\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1,
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available at
<a href="https://access.trade.gov/Resources/policy/bull05-1.pdf">https://access.trade.gov/Resources/policy/bull05-1.pdf</a>.
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Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average
dumping margins exist for the period July 1, 2023, through December 31,
2023:
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Cash deposit rate
Estimated weighted- (adjusted for
Producer Exporter average dumping subsidy offsets)
margin (percent) (percent)
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Guangdong Ecosource Environmental Fuzhou Hengli Paper Co., Ltd * 515.40 504.86
Technology Co., Ltd.
Ningbo Hongtai Package New Material Fuzhou Hengli Paper Co., Ltd * 515.40 504.86
Technology Co., Ltd.
Jinhua P&P Products Co., Ltd............. Jinhua P&P Products Co., Ltd 267.63 267.63
Festa Party Products Mfy. (Zhongshan) Festa (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.. 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Top Printing Paper Products (Zhongshan) Festa (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.. 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Festa Party Products Mfy. (Zhongshan) Festa Limited............... 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Top Printing Paper Products (Zhongshan) Festa Limited............... 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Jieyang Weikangda Paper Co., Ltd......... Fujian Putian Zhonghao Trade 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Dongyang Founder Paper Product Co., Ltd.. Fujian Putian Zhonghao Trade 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Fuzhou Nicrolandee Arts & Craft Co., Ltd. Fuzhou Nicrolandee Arts & 267.63 267.63
Craft Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Lanweier Paper Products Co., Ltd Hangzhou Enli Paper Products 267.63 267.63
Co. Ltd.
Landward Color Printing Co., Ltd......... Landward Color Printing Co., 267.63 267.63
Ltd.
Ningbo Hongtai Package New Material Ningbo Feisuo Import & 267.63 267.63
Technology Co., Ltd. Export Co., Ltd.
Ningbo Homelink Eco-Itech Co., Ltd....... Ningbo Homelink Eco-Itech 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Ningbo Hongtai Package New Material Ningbo Hongtai Package New 267.63 267.63
Technology Co., Ltd. Material Technology Co.,
Ltd.
Ningbo Kosda New Material Technology Co., Ningbo Kosda New Material 267.63 267.63
Ltd. Technology Co., Ltd.
Ningbo Goldland Industry and Technology Ningbo Qtop Import & Export 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Lingrong Crafts Co., Ltd........ Ningbo Qtop Import & Export 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Qingdao Robana Paper Product Co., Ltd.... Qingdao Gold Top Trade Co. 267.63 267.63
Ltd.
Qingdao Wonderful Industry and Trade Co. Qingdao Wonderful Industry 267.63 267.63
Ltd. and Trade Co. Ltd.
Shandong Boao Package Co., Ltd........... Shandong Boao Package Co., 267.63 267.63
Ltd.
Festa Party Products Mfy. (Zhongshan) Xanadu Industrial Limited... 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Top Printing Paper Products (Zhongshan) Xanadu Industrial Limited... 267.63 267.63
Co., Ltd.
Hangzhou Enli Paper Products Co., Ltd.... Yeko Trading Limited........ 267.63 267.63
China-Wide Entity........................ ............................ * 515.40 515.40
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* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose the calculations performed in
connection with 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 the Federal Register in
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
[[Page 8273]]
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to start or continue
to suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of subject
merchandise, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption as described
below.
Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation
shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of: (a)
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of
liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the date on which notice of
initiation of the investigation was published. Commerce continues to
find that critical circumstances exist for imports of subject
merchandise produced or exported by the non-selected separate rate
companies and the China-wide entity. In accordance with section
733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of liquidation shall apply to
unliquidated entries of shipments of subject merchandise from the non-
selected separate rate companies and the China-wide entity that were
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after June
7, 2024, which is 90 days before the publication of the Preliminary
Determination. Provisional measures were not imposed for Fuzhou Hengli
following the preliminary determination because of Commerce's
preliminary negative determination with respect to it. However,
Commerce's final affirmative critical circumstances determination now
applies to Fuzhou Hengli as a result of the final affirmative
determination of critical circumstances with respect to it.
Accordingly, pursuant to section 735(c)(4)(C) of the Act, Commerce will
instruct CBP to suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries from
Fuzhou Hengli, which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after 90-days prior to the date of publication of
this final determination in the Federal Register. For Jinhua, because
Commerce has made a negative final determination with regard to
critical circumstances, Commerce will instruct CBP to continue to
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries which were entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after September 5,
2024, the date of publication in the Federal Register of the
Preliminary Determination and, in accordance with section 735(c)(3) of
the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to terminate any retroactive
suspension of liquidation required under section 733(e)(2) of the Act,
and release any bond or other security, and refund any cash deposit
required, under section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act, with respect to
entries of the merchandise the liquidation of which was suspended
retroactively under section 733(e)(2) of the Act before September 5,
2024.
Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(d), upon the publication of this notice, Commerce will instruct
CBP to require a cash deposit for estimated antidumping duties for
appropriate entries.
Commerce will instruct CBP to require the following cash deposits
of estimated antidumping duties for all appropriate entries: (1) for
the producer/exporter combinations listed in the table above, the
applicable cash deposit rate is listed in the table for that
combination; (2) for all combinations of Chinese producers/exporters of
the merchandise under consideration that have not established
eligibility for a separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be equal to
the cash deposit rate listed for the China-wide entity in the table
above; and (3) for all third-country exporters of the merchandise under
consideration that are not listed in the table above, the cash deposit
rate is the cash deposit rate applicable to the Chinese producer/
exporter combination or the China-wide entity that supplied that third-
country exporter. These suspension of liquidation instructions will
remain in effect until further notice.
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the
ITC of this final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because
the final determination in this investigation is affirmative, in
accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will make its
final determination as to whether the domestic industry in the United
States is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by
reason of imports of paper plates no later than 45 days after this
final determination. If the ITC determines that material injury or
threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will be
terminated and all cash deposits will be refunded or canceled, and
suspension of liquidation will be lifted. If the ITC determines that
such injury does exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order
directing CBP to assess, upon further instructions by Commerce,
antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise that are
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the
effective date of the suspension of liquidation, as discussed above in
the ``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation'' section.
Administrative Protective Order (APO)
This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an
APO of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary
information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of the return or 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 sanctionable violation.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination and this notice are issued and published
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR
351.210(c).
Dated: January 21, 2025.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise subject to this investigation is certain paper
plates. Paper plates subject to this investigation may be cut from
rolls, sheets, or other pieces of paper and/or paper board. Paper
plates subject to this investigation have a depth up to and
including two (2.0) inches, as measured vertically from the base to
the top of the lip, or the edge if the plate has no lip. Paper
plates subject to this investigation may be uncolored, white,
colored, or printed. Printed paper plates subject to this
investigation may have any type of surface finish, and may be
printed by any means with images, text and/or colors on one or both
surfaces. Colored paper plates subject to this investigation may be
colored by any method, including but not limited to printing,
beater-dyeing, and dip-dyeing. Paper plates subject to this
investigation may be produced from paper of any type (including, but
not limited to, bamboo, straws, bagasse, hemp, kenaf, jute, sisal,
abaca, cotton inters and reeds, or from non-plant sources, such as
synthetic resin (petroleum)-based resins), may have any caliper or
basis weight, may have any shape or size, may have one or more than
one section, may be embossed, may have foil or other substances
adhered to their surface, and/or may be uncoated or coated with any
type of coating.
The paper plates subject to this investigation remain covered by
the scope of this investigation whether imported alone, or in any
combination of subject and non-subject merchandise. When paper
plates subject to this investigation are imported in combination
with non-subject merchandise, only the paper plates subject to this
investigation are subject merchandise.
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The paper plates subject to this investigation include paper
plates matching the above description that have been finished,
packaged, or otherwise processed in a third country by performing
finishing, packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove
the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in
the country of manufacture of the paper plates. Examples of
finishing, packaging, or other processing in a third country that
would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the
investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the
paper plates include, but are not limited to, printing, application
of other surface treatments such as coatings, repackaging,
embossing, and application of foil surface treatments.
Excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper plates
molded or pressed directly from paper pulp (including but not
limited to unfelted pulp), which are currently classifiable under
subheading 4823.70.0020 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS).
Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are articles
that otherwise would be covered but which exhibit the following two
physical characteristics: (a) depth (measured vertically from the
base to the top of the lip, or edge if no lip) equal to or greater
than 1.25 inches but less than two (2.0) inches, and (b) a base not
exceeding five (5.0) inches in diameter if round, or not exceeding
20 square inches in area if any other shape.
Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper
bowls, paper buckets, and paper food containers with closeable lids.
Paper plates subject to this investigation are currently
classifiable under HTSUS subheading 4823.69.0040. Paper plates
subject to this investigation also may be classified under HTSUS
subheading 4823.61.0040. If packaged with other articles, the paper
plates subject to this investigation also may be classified under
HTSUS subheadings 9505.90.4000 and 9505.90.6000. While the HTSUS
subheading(s) are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the
written description of the subject merchandise is dispositive.
Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, In
Part
IV. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rate for Export Subsidies
V. Separate Rates
VI. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
VII. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
VIII. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Whether to Apply Total Adverse Facts Available (AFA)
to Fuzhou Hengli
Comment 2: Whether to Revise the Surrogate Value (SV) Used for
Paperboard
Comment 3: Whether to Change the Surrogate Country to Bulgaria
Comment 4: Whether Commerce Should Revise the Surrogate
Financial Ratios
Comment 5: Whether to Revise the Inflators Calculations
Comment 6: Whether to Correct Jinhua's Reporting Errors for
Packing Tape
Comment 7: Whether to Grant a By-product Offset to Jinhua
IX. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-01807 Filed 1-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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