Notice2025-15094
Paper File Folders From Sri Lanka: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value
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
August 8, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports of paper file folders (file folders) from Sri Lanka are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation is October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 151 (Friday, August 8, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 151 (Friday, August 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38460-38462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15094]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-542-806]
Paper File Folders From Sri Lanka: Final Affirmative
Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
imports of paper file folders (file folders) from Sri Lanka are being,
or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value
(LTFV). The period of investigation is October 1, 2023, through
September 30, 2024.
DATES: Applicable August 8, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Jennings, 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) 482-1110.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On May 29, 2025, Commerce published in the Federal Register its
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of file
folders from Sri Lanka.\1\ We invited interested parties to comment on
the Preliminary Determination. No interested party submitted comments.
Accordingly, the final determination remains unchanged from the
Preliminary Determination and no decision memorandum accompanies this
notice. The Preliminary Determination is hereby adopted in this final
determination. Commerce conducted this LTFV investigation in accordance
with section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).
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\1\ See Paper File Folders from Sri Lanka: Preliminary
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 90 FR
22696 (May 29, 2025) (Preliminary Determination), and accompanying
Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is file folders from Sri
Lanka. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see the appendix to this notice.
[[Page 38461]]
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 stated in the Preliminary Determination, after being selected as
the sole mandatory respondent, Lanka Educational Products Pvt Ltd
(Lanka Educational Products) failed to respond to Commerce's requests
for information. Accordingly, Commerce based the Preliminary
Determination entirely on the application of facts available with
adverse inferences (AFA) and did not conduct verification under section
782(i) of the Act.
Use of Adverse Facts Available
In the Preliminary Determination, we assigned Lanka Educational
Products an estimated dumping margin based entirely on AFA, pursuant to
sections 776(a) and (b) of Act.\2\ There is no new information on the
record that would cause us to revisit our decision in the Preliminary
Determination. Accordingly, for this final determination, we continue
to apply AFA pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act and, as
AFA, we continue to select the highest rate alleged in the Petition \3\
as the rate applicable to Lanka Educational Products.\4\
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\2\ See Preliminary Determination, 90 FR at 22696-97.
\3\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Petitions for the Imposition of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Imports of Paper File
Folders from Cambodia and Sri Lanka,'' dated October 21, 2024
(Petition).
\4\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 4-7.
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All-Others Rate
Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated dumping
margin for all other producers and exporters not individually
investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of the estimated
weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters and
producers individually investigated excluding rates that are zero, de
minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. However,
if the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for all
exporters and producers individually examined are zero, de minimis, or
determined based entirely on facts otherwise available, Commerce may
use any reasonable method to establish the estimated dumping margin for
all other producers or exporters.\5\
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\5\ See section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act.
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In the Preliminary Determination, we assigned a dumping margin of
57.43 percent as the all-others rate based on a simple average of the
calculated rates in the Petition, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of
the Act.\6\ As noted above, we received no comments on our Preliminary
Determination; thus, we continue to assign a dumping margin of 57.43
percent as the all-others rate for this final determination.
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\6\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 7-8.
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Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated dumping margins
exist:
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Dumping
Exporter/producer margin
(percent)
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Lanka Educational Products Pvt Ltd.......................... * 91.28
All Others.................................................. 57.43
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* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Disclosure
Normally, Commerce will disclose to the parties in a proceeding the
calculations performed in connection with a 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 the notice
of final determination in the Federal Register, in accordance with 19
CFR 351.224(b). However, because Commerce received no comments on the
Preliminary Determination, we are adopting the Preliminary
Determination as the final determination in this investigation.
Consequently, there are no new calculations to disclose.
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to
suspend liquidation of subject merchandise, as described in the
appendix to this notice, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption, on or after May 29, 2025, which is the date of publication
of the affirmative Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register.
Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(d), where appropriate, Commerce will instruct CBP to require a
cash deposit equal to the estimated dumping margin or the estimated
all-others rate as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the
respondent listed above will be equal to the company-specific estimated
dumping margins determined in this final 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 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 dumping margin.
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect
until further notice.
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the
ITC of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because
Commerce's final determination 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 or
sales (or the likelihood of sales) for importation of file folders from
Sri Lanka no later than 45 days after this final determination. If the
ITC determines that such injury does not exist, this proceeding will be
terminated, and all cash deposits will be refunded, and suspension of
liquidation will be lifted. If the ITC determines that material injury,
or the threat of material injury, exists, Commerce will issue an
antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further
instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of the
subject merchandise, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of
liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Suspension of Liquidation''
section.
Administrative Protective Order
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).
[[Page 38462]]
Dated: August 4, 2025.
Christopher Abbott,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix
Scope of the Investigation
The products within the scope of this investigation are file
folders consisting primarily of paper, paperboard, pressboard, or
other cellulose material, whether coated or uncoated, that has been
folded (or creased in preparation to be folded), glued, taped,
bound, or otherwise assembled to be suitable for holding documents.
The scope includes all such folders, regardless of color, whether or
not expanding, whether or not laminated, and with or without tabs,
fasteners, closures, hooks, rods, hangers, pockets, gussets, or
internal dividers. The term ``primarily'' as used in the first
sentence of this scope means 50 percent or more of the total product
weight, exclusive of the weight of fasteners, closures, hooks, rods,
hangers, removable tabs, and similar accessories, and exclusive of
the weight of the packaging.
Subject folders have the following dimensions in their folded
and closed position: lengths and widths of at least 8 inches and no
greater than 17 inches, regardless of depth.
The scope covers all varieties of folders, including but not
limited to manila folders, hanging folders, fastener holders,
classification folders, expanding folders, pockets, jackets, and
wallets.
Excluded from the scope are:
<bullet> mailing envelopes with a flap bearing one or more
adhesive strips that can be used permanently to seal the entire
length of a side such that, when sealed, the folder is closed on all
four sides;
<bullet> binders, with two or more rings to hold documents in
place, made of paperboard or pressboard encased entirely in plastic;
<bullet> binders consisting of a front cover, back cover, and
spine, with or without a flap; to be excluded, a mechanism with two
or more metal rings must be included on or adjacent to the interior
spine;
<bullet> non-expanding folders with a depth exceeding 2.5 inches
and that are closed or closeable on the top, bottom, and all four
sides (e.g., boxes or cartons);
<bullet> expanding folders that have: (1) 13 or more pockets;
(2) a flap covering the top; (3) a latching mechanism made of
plastic and/or metal to close the flap; and (4) an affixed plastic
or metal carry handle;
<bullet> folders that have an outer surface (other than the
gusset, handles, and/or closing mechanisms, if any) that is covered
entirely with fabric, leather, and/or faux leather;
<bullet> fashion folders, which are defined as folders with all
of the following characteristics: (1) plastic lamination covering
the entire exterior of the folder; (2) printing, foil stamping,
embossing (i.e., raised relief patterns that are recessed on the
opposite side), and/or debossing (i.e., recessed relief patterns
that are raised on the opposite side), covering the entire exterior
surface area of the folder; (3) at least two visible and printed or
foil stamped colors (other than the color of the base paper), each
of which separately covers no less than 10 percent of the entire
exterior surface area; and (4) patterns, pictures, designs, or
artwork covering no less than thirty percent of the exterior surface
area of the folder;
<bullet> portfolios, which are folders having: (1) a width of at
least 16 inches when open flat; (2) no tabs or dividers; and (3) one
or more pockets that are suitable for holding letter size documents
and that cover at least 15 percent of the surface area of the
relevant interior side or sides; and
<bullet> report covers, which are folders having: (1) no tabs,
dividers, or pockets; and (2) one or more fasteners or clips, each
of which is permanently affixed to the center fold, to hold papers
securely in place.
Imports of the subject merchandise are provided for under
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) category
4820.30.0040. Subject imports may also enter under other HTSUS
classifications. While the HTSUS subheading is provided for
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the
scope of this investigation is dispositive.
[FR Doc. 2025-15094 Filed 8-7-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 8, 2025.
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