Notice2025-16566
Polypropylene Corrugated Boxes From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 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 28, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that polypropylene corrugated boxes (corrugated boxes) from the People's Republic of China (China) is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 165 (Thursday, August 28, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 165 (Thursday, August 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41988-41990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16566]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-207]
Polypropylene Corrugated Boxes From the People's Republic of
China: Preliminary 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) preliminarily
determines that polypropylene corrugated boxes (corrugated boxes) from
the People's Republic of China (China) is being, or is likely to be,
sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of
investigation (POI) is July 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024.
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination.
DATES: Applicable August 28, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Alexander, AD/CVD Operations,
Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4313.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce
published the notice of initiation of this investigation in the Federal
Register on April 14, 2025.\1\
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\1\ See Polypropylene Corrugated Boxes from the People's
Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation
of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 90 FR 15544 (April 14, 2025)
(Initiation Notice).
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\2\ A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum is included as Appendix II 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>.
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\2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of
Polypropylene Corrugated Boxes from the People's Republic of
China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is corrugated boxes from
China. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\3\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\4\ No interested
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in
the Initiation Notice. Thus, Commerce is not preliminarily modifying
the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. See
Appendix I.
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\3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\4\ See Initiation Notice.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to sections 776(a) and
(b) of the Act, Commerce preliminarily has relied upon facts otherwise
available, with adverse inferences (AFA), for the China-wide entity.
For a full description of the methodology underlying Commerce's
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Combination Rates
In the Initiation Notice,\5\ Commerce stated that it would
calculate producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that
are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin
05.1 describes this practice.\6\ In this case, because no respondent
qualified for a separate rate, producer/exporter combination rates were
not calculated.
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\5\ See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 87549.
\6\ 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 on
Commerce's website at <a href="https://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf">https://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf</a>.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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Cash deposit
Weighted- rate (adjusted
Producer/exporter average for subsidy
dumping margin offset)
(percent) (percent)
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China-wide Entity..................... * 83.64 73.10
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* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation
of subject merchandise as described in the Scope of the Investigation
section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or
after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register,
as discussed below. Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash
deposit equal to the weighted average amount by which normal value
exceeds U.S. price, as indicated in the chart above.
To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of domestic
subsidy pass-through and export subsidies determined in a companion
countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding when CVD provisional measures are
in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce has made a preliminary
affirmative determination for domestic subsidy pass-through or export
subsidies, Commerce has offset the calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping margin by the appropriate rate. Any such adjusted rates
may be found in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section's chart of
estimated weighted-average dumping margins above.
Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting cash
deposits at a rate equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping
margin calculated in this preliminary determination unadjusted for the
passed-through domestic subsidies or for export subsidies at the time
the CVD provisional measures expire.
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect
until further notice.
Disclosure
Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations
performed in connection with a preliminary determination within five
days of its public announcement or, if there is no public announcement,
within five days of the date of publication of the notice of
preliminary determination in the Federal Register, in accordance with
19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because Commerce preliminarily applied
total AFA to the China-wide entity in this investigation, in accordance
with section 776 of the Act, and the applied AFA rate is based solely
on the petition, there are no calculations to disclose.
Verification
Because no company responded to Commerce's quantity and value
questionnaire, we were unable to select mandatory respondents.
Therefore, verification will not be conducted.
Public Comment
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 30
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination.\7\
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be
filed not later than five days after the date for filing case
briefs.\8\ 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.\9\
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\7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for
general filing requirements).
\8\ 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).
\9\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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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 investigation, we instead request
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\10\
Further, we request that interested parties limit their executive
summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including
citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the
comment summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that
will accompany the final determination in this investigation. 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).\11\
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\10\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\11\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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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, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain:
(1) the party's name, address, and telephone number, (2) the number of
participants, and whether any participant is a foreign national, and
(3) a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is
made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a date and time to be
determined.
Final Determination
Section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1) provide that
Commerce will issue the final determination within 75 days after the
date of its preliminary determination. Accordingly, Commerce will make
its final determination no later than 75 days after the signature date
of this preliminary determination.
U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary
determination of sales at LTFV. If the final determination is
affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after
the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final
determination
[[Page 41990]]
whether imports of the subject merchandise are materially injuring, or
threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: August 25, 2025.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is polypropylene
corrugated boxes. Polypropylene corrugated boxes are boxes, bins,
totes, or other load-bearing containers made for holding goods, that
are made of corrugated polypropylene sheets, also known as
polypropylene hollow core sheets, polypropylene fluted sheets,
polypropylene twin wall sheets, or multi wall sheets. Such
polypropylene sheets are ``corrugated,'' ``fluted,'' or ``hollow
core,'' meaning the inside of the sheet contains channels or pockets
of air which make the sheets lightweight, while retaining strength
and durability. Polypropylene corrugated boxes are typically
produced from a plastic resin consisting of 50 percent or more
polypropylene. Polypropylene corrugated boxes are covered by the
scope irrespective of the particular mix of polypropylene homo-
polymer, polypropylene co-polymer, recycled or virgin polypropylene,
or ancillary chemicals such as electrostatic agents or flame
retardants. Polypropylene corrugated boxes are formed by corrugated
polypropylene sheets cut to length, die-cut into specific box
shapes, and may be cut or scored to allow each side of the box to be
folded into shape. Polypropylene corrugated boxes may include a tab
or attached portion of polypropylene corrugated sheet (commonly
referred to as a ``manufacturer's joint'') that has been cut,
slotted, or scored to facilitate the formation of the box by
stapling, gluing, welding, or taping the sides together to form a
tight seal. One-piece polypropylene corrugated boxes are die-cut or
otherwise formed so that the top, bottom, and sides form a single,
contiguous unit. Two-piece polypropylene corrugated boxes are those
with a folded bottom and a folded top as separate pieces. Multi-
piece polypropylene corrugated boxes are those with separate bottoms
and tops that are fitted to a single folded piece comprising the
sides of the box. Polypropylene corrugated boxes may be printed with
ink or digital designs.
The subject merchandise includes polypropylene corrugated boxes
with or without handles, with or without lids or tops, with or
without reinforcing wire, whether in a one-piece, two-piece, or
multi-piece configuration, and whether folded into shape or in an
unfolded form. The subject merchandise includes all polypropylene
corrugated boxes regardless of size, shape, or dimension. The
subject merchandise also includes polypropylene corrugated box lids
or tops when imported separately from polypropylene corrugated
boxes.
The products subject to this investigation are currently
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) under statistical reporting number 3923.10.9000. Although
the HTSUS statistical reporting number is provided for convenience
and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is
dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Discussion of Methodology
V. Adjustment Under Section 777A(f) of the Act
VI. Adjustment To Cash Deposit Rate for Export Subsidies
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-16566 Filed 8-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 28, 2025.
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