Notice2025-02001
Melamine From Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago: Countervailing Duty Orders
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
January 31, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing countervailing duty orders on melamine from Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 20 (Friday, January 31, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 20 (Friday, January 31, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8698-8701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02001]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-428-853, C-518-002, C-274-811]
Melamine From Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago:
Countervailing Duty Orders
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S.
Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade
Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing countervailing duty orders on
melamine from Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago.
DATES: Applicable January 31, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Palmer at (202) 482-9068 or Laurel
Smalley at (202) 482-3456 (Germany);
[[Page 8699]]
Sofia Pedrelli at (202) 482-4310 (Qatar), and Colin Thrasher at (202)
482-3004 (Trinidad and Tobago), AD/CVD Operations, Offices VIII, II,
and V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20230.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In accordance with sections 705(d) and 777(i) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act) on December 9, 2024, Commerce published in
the Federal Register its affirmative final determinations in the
countervailing duty investigations of melamine from Germany, Qatar, and
Trinidad and Tobago.\1\ On January 23, 2025, the ITC notified Commerce
of its final affirmative determinations, pursuant to sections
705(b)(1)(A)(i) and 705(d) of the Act, that an industry in the United
States is materially injured by reason of subsidized imports of
melamine from Germany and Qatar,\2\ and that an industry in the United
States is threatened with material injury by reason of subsidized
imports from Trinidad and Tobago.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Melamine from Germany: Final Affirmative Countervailing
Duty Determination, 89 FR 97586 (December 9, 2024) (Germany Final
Determination); Melamine from Qatar: Final Affirmative
Countervailing Duty Determination and Final Negative Critical
Circumstances Determination, 89 FR 97593 (December 9, 2024) (Qatar
Final Determination); and Melamine from Trinidad and Tobago: Final
Affirmative Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation,
89 FR 97599 (December 9, 2024) (Trinidad and Tobago Final
Determination).
\2\ See ITC's Letter, ``Notification of ITC Final
Determinations,'' dated January 23, 2025 (ITC Notification Letter).
\3\ Having made a determination that an industry in the United
States is threatened with material injury by reason of imports of
melamine from Trinidad and Tobago, the ITC did not reach the issue
of critical circumstances regarding subject imports from Trinidad
and Tobago. See Melamine from Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Qatar,
and Trinidad and Tobago, Investigation Nos. 701-TA-706, 708-709 and
731-TA-1667, 1669-1670, 1672 (Final), dated January 23, 2025 (ITC
Final Report).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scope of the Orders
The product covered by these orders is melamine from Germany,
Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago. For a complete description of the scope
of these orders, see the appendix to this notice.
Countervailing Duty Orders
Based on the above-referenced affirmative final determinations by
the ITC that an industry in the United States is materially injured by
reason of subsidized imports of melamine from Germany and Qatar, and is
threatened with material injury by reason of subsidized imports of
melamine from Trinidad and Tobago,\4\ and in accordance with sections
705(c)(2) and 706 of the Act, Commerce is issuing these countervailing
duty orders. Because the ITC determined that imports of melamine from
Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago are materially injuring, or
threatening to material injure a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of
such merchandise from Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago, entered
or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the
assessment of countervailing duties.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon
further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties on unliquidated
entries of melamine from Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago. With
the exception of entries occurring after the expiration of the
provisional measures period and before the publication of the ITC's
final affirmative injury determinations, as further described below,
countervailing duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of
melamine from Germany and Qatar entered, or withdrawn from warehouse,
for consumption on or after July 22, 2024, the date of publication of
the Preliminary Determinations in the Federal Register.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See Melamine from Germany: Preliminary Affirmative
Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of Final
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 89 FR 59053
(July 22, 2024); Melamine from Qatar: Preliminary Affirmative
Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary Negative
Determination of Critical Circumstances, and Alignment of Final
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 89 FR 59045
(July 22, 2024); and Melamine from Trinidad and Tobago: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of
Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 89 FR
59057 (July 22, 2024) (collectively, Preliminary Determinations).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pursuant to section 706(b)(2) of the Act, countervailing duties
shall be assessed on subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the
ITC's notice of final determination if that determination is based on
the threat of material injury and is not accompanied by a finding that
injury would have resulted without the imposition of suspension of
liquidation of entries since Commerce's preliminary determination.
Additionally, section 706(b)(2) of the Act requires CBP to refund any
cash deposits or bonds of estimated countervailing duties posted since
the preliminary countervailing duty determination if the ITC's final
determination is threat-based.
Because the ITC's final determination for Trinidad and Tobago is
based on the threat of material injury and is not accompanied by a
finding that injury would have resulted but for the imposition of
suspension of liquidation of entries since the Trinidad and Tobago
Preliminary Determination, section 706(b)(2) of the Act is
applicable.\6\ Therefore, Commerce will instruct CBP to assess duties
on entries of melamine from Trinidad and Tobago entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of
the ITC's notice of final determination of threat of material injury in
the Federal Register, in accordance with the subsidy rates listed in
the rate chart below for Trinidad and Tobago.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See ITC Final Report at 1, footnote 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits
In accordance with section 706 of the Act, Commerce will direct CBP
to reinstitute the suspension of liquidation of melamine from Germany,
Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago, effective the date of publication of
the ITC's notice of final determinations in the Federal Register, and
to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce pursuant to section
706(a)(1) of the Act, countervailing duties for each entry of the
subject merchandise in an amount based on the net countervailable
subsidy rates for the subject merchandise. On or after the date of
publication of the ITC's final injury determinations in the Federal
Register, CBP must require, at the same time as importers would
normally deposit estimated duties on this merchandise, a cash deposit
equal to the rates noted below. These instructions suspending
liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.
Estimated Countervailable Duty Subsidy Rates
The estimated countervailable duty subsidy rates are as follows;
all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically
listed below.
[[Page 8700]]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subsidy rate
Country Company (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Germany....................... LAT Nitrogen Piesteritz 29.72
GmbH.
All Others.............. 29.72
Qatar......................... Qatar Melamine Company; 41.91
Qatar Chemical and
Petrochemical Marketing
and Distribution
Company (Muntajat)
Q.P.J.S.C.; Qatar
Fertiliser Company
(P.S.C.); Industries
Qatar Q.P.S.C.;
QatarEnergy.
All Others.............. 41.91
Trinidad and Tobago........... Methanol Holdings 7.43
(Trinidad) Ltd.
All Others.............. 7.43
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Provisional Measures
Section 703(d) of the Act states that the suspension of liquidation
pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in
effect for more than four months. In the underlying investigations,
Commerce published the Preliminary Determinations on July 22, 2024.\7\
Therefore, entries of melamine from Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and
Tobago made on or after November 19, 2024, and prior to the date of
publication of the ITC's final determinations in the Federal Register,
are not subject to the assessment of countervailing duties due to
Commerce's discontinuation of the suspension of liquidation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ See Preliminary Determinations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, Commerce instructed
CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate,
without regard to countervailing duties, unliquidated entries of
melamine from Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after November 19,
2024, the date on which the provisional countervailing duty measures
expired, through the day preceding the date of publication of the ITC
final injury determinations in the Federal Register. Suspension of
liquidation will resume on the date of publication of the ITC final
injury determinations in the Federal Register.
Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service Lists
On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the Final Rule in the
Federal Register.\8\ On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the
Procedural Guidance in the Federal Register.\9\ The Final Rule and
Procedural Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual
inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any
interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for
circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request
on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as
well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same
country of origin.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws, 86 FR 52300 (September 20,
2021) (Final Rule).
\9\ See Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List;
and Informational Sessions, 86 FR 53205 (September 27, 2021)
(Procedural Guidance).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in
the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an
annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and
document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>, within five business days of publication of the
notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in
ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type
called ``AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.'' \10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ This segment will be combined with the ACCESS Segment
Specific Information (SSI) field which will display the month in
which the notice of the order or suspended investigation was
published in the Federal Register, also known as the anniversary
month. For example, for an order under case number A-000-000 that
was published in the Federal Register in January, the relevant
segment and SSI combination will appear in ACCESS as ``AISL-January
Anniversary.'' Note that there will be only one annual inquiry
service list segment per case number, and the anniversary month will
be pre-populated in ACCESS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry
service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the
annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30
days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of
administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one
attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead
attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce
will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days
thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance,\11\ the new annual
inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when
the Opportunity Notice for the anniversary month of the order is
published.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ See Procedural Guidance, 86 FR at 53206.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as
needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of
appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and
representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or
announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the
ACCESS website at <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>.
Special Instructions for Petitioner and Foreign Governments
In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, ``after an initial request
and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioner and
foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry
service list in the years that follow.'' \12\ Accordingly, as stated
above, the petitioner and Governments of Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad
and Tobago should submit their initial entries of appearance after
publication of this notice in order to appear in the first annual
inquiry service lists for these orders. Pursuant to 19 CFR
351.225(n)(3), the petitioner and the Governments of Germany, Qatar,
and Trinidad and Tobago will not need to resubmit their entries of
appearance each year to continue to be included on the annual inquiry
service list. However, the petitioner and Governments of Germany,
Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago are responsible for making amendments to
their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual
inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ See Final Rule, 86 FR at 52335.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notifications to Interested Parties
This notice constitutes the countervailing duty orders with respect
to melamine from Germany, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago pursuant to
section 706(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of
countervailing duty orders currently in effect at http://
[[Page 8701]]
enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
These orders are issued and published in accordance with section
706(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).
Dated: January 27, 2025.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix
Scope of the Orders
The merchandise subject to these orders is melamine (Chemical
Abstracts Service (CAS) registry number 108-78-01, molecular formula
C<INF>3</INF> H<INF>6</INF> N<INF>6</INF>). Melamine is also known
as 2,4,6-triamino-s-triazine; 1,3,5-Triazine-2,4,6- triamine;
Cyanurotriamide; Cyanurotriamine; Cyanuramide; and by various brand
names. Melamine is a crystalline powder or granule. All melamine is
covered by the scope of these orders irrespective of purity,
particle size, or physical form. Melamine that has been blended with
other products is included within this scope when such blends
include constituent parts that have been intermingled, but that have
not been chemically reacted with each other to produce a different
product. For such blends, only the melamine component of the mixture
is covered by the scope of these orders. Melamine that is otherwise
subject to these orders is not excluded when commingled with
melamine from sources not subject to these orders. Only the subject
component of such commingled products is covered by the scope of
these orders.
The subject merchandise is provided for in subheading
2933.61.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheading and CAS registry number are
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the scope is dispositive.
[FR Doc. 2025-02001 Filed 1-30-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 31, 2025.
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.