Notice2025-18892
Thermoformed Molded Fiber Products From the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
Primary source
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Published
September 30, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of thermoformed molded fiber products (molded fiber products) from the People's Republic of China (China). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 187 (Tuesday, September 30, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46787-46790]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18892]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-570-183]
Thermoformed Molded Fiber Products From the People's Republic of
China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters
of thermoformed molded fiber products (molded fiber products) from the
People's Republic of China (China). The period of investigation (POI)
is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
DATES: Applicable September 30, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Hollander, AD/CVD Operations,
Office IX, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2805.
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 14, 2025, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination
of this countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of molded fiber
products from China, and, in accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(3),
aligned this CVD investigation with the final determination in the
companion less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation.\1\ On May 1, 2025,
we issued a post-preliminary analysis memorandum regarding certain
programs.\2\
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\1\ See Thermoformed Molded Fiber Products from the People's
Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final
Antidumping Duty Determination, 90 FR 12123 (March 14, 2025)
(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision
Memorandum (PDM).
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Post Preliminary Analysis Memorandum for
the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Thermoformed Molded Fiber
Products from the People's Republic of China,'' dated May 1, 2025
(Post-Preliminary Analysis Memo).
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For a complete discussion of the events that followed the
Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\3\
The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made
available to the public 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 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>.
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\3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Thermoformed Molded Fiber Products from the
People's Republic of China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby
adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by the scope of this investigation is
molded fiber products from China. For a complete description of the
scope of this investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
During the course of this investigation, Commerce received scope
comments from interested parties.\4\ Commerce issued a Preliminary
Scope Decision Memorandum to address these comments and set aside a
period of time for parties to address scope issues in scope-specific
case and rebuttal briefs from interested parties.\5\ On June 5, 2025,
Commerce received scope case and rebuttal briefs from interested
parties.\6\ After analyzing these comments, we made no changes to the
scope of the investigation since the Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum, as noted in Appendix I.\7\
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\4\ See Petitioners' Letters, ``Thermoformed Molded Fiber
Products from the People's Republic of China and the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam: Responses to Antidumping and Countervailing
Duty Petition Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated October 16, 2024;
``Thermoformed Molded Fiber Products from the People's Republic of
China and Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Responses to Second
Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated October 24, 2024; see also
Memorandum, ``Scope, Industry Support, and Vietnam AD Discussion,''
dated October 22, 2024.
\5\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,''
dated May 6, 2025 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
\6\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Letter in Lieu of Scope Case
Brief,'' dated June 5, 2025; Target General Merchandise, Inc.'s
Letter, ``Scope Case Brief on Behalf of Target General Merchandise,
Inc.,'' dated June 5, 2025; and Petitioners' Letter, ``Petitioners'
Scope Rebuttal Brief,'' dated June 12, 2025.
\7\ See Memorandum, ``Final Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated
concurrently with this notice.
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Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in April 2025, Commerce
verified the information reported by the Guangxi Firstpak Environmental
Technology Co., Ltd. (Firstpak) and Zhejiang Zhongxin Environmental
Protection Technology Group Co., Ltd. (Zhejiang Zhongxin) for use in
our final determination. We used standard verification procedures,
including an examination of relevant accounting records and original
source documents provided at verification.\8\
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\8\ See Memorandum, ``Verification of the Questionnaire
Responses of Guangxi Firstpak Environmental Technology Co., Ltd.,''
dated June 11, 2025; see also Memorandum, ``Verification of the
Questionnaire Responses of Zhejiang Zhongxin Environmental
Protection Technology Group Co., Ltd.,'' dated June 12, 2025.
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Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received
The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in
the case and rebuttal briefs that were submitted by interested 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 to
this notice.
Methodology
Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section
701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be
countervailable, Commerce determines that there is a subsidy, i.e., a
financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives rise to a benefit
to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\9\ For a full
description of the methodology underlying our final determination, see
the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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\9\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding
financial contribution; see also section 771(5)(E) of the Act
regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding
specificity.
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In making this final determination, Commerce relied, in part, on
facts otherwise available, including with an adverse inference,
pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. For a full discussion
of our application of adverse facts available (AFA), see the Issues and
Decision Memorandum at the section entitled ``Uses of Facts Available
and Application of Adverse Inferences.'' \10\
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\10\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 4-25.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our review and analysis of the information at verification
and comments received from interested parties, we made changes to the
subsidy rate calculations for Firstpak, Zhejiang Zhongxin, and for all
other producers/exporters, including the addition of subsidy programs
included in the Post-Preliminary Analysis. For a discussion of these
changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
All-Others Rate
Section 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that Commerce shall
determine an estimated all-others rate for companies not individually
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of
the estimated subsidy rates established for those companies
individually examined, excluding any zero and de minimis rates and any
rates based entirely under section 776 of the Act.
In this investigation, Commerce preliminarily calculated individual
estimated countervailable subsidy rates for Firstpak and Zhejiang that
are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on the facts otherwise
available. Commerce calculated the all-others rate using a weighted
average of the individual estimated subsidy rates calculated for the
examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged values for
the subject merchandise.\11\
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\11\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally
calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates
calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average of the
estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents; and
(C) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for
the examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S.
sale values for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then
compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) as
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters.
See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53662
(September 1, 2010), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum
at Comment 1. As complete publicly ranged sales data were available,
Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly ranged sales data
of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of the data,
see Memorandum, ``Calculation of Subsidy Rate for All Others,''
dated concurrently with this notice.
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Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated countervailable
subsidy rates exist for the period January 1, 2023, through December
31, 2023:
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Subsidy rate
Company (percent ad
valorem)
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Guangxi Firstpak Environmental Technology Co., Ltd.. 7.56
Zhejiang Zhongxin Environmental Protection 97.82
Technology Group Co., Ltd.\12\.....................
Shaoneng Group Guangdong Luzhou Paper Mould Packing * 319.92
Products Co., Ltd..................................
All Others.......................................... 62.66
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* Rate is based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to
interested parties in this final determination within five days of its
public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within five
days of the date of the publication of this notice in the Federal
Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
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\12\ Commerce preliminarily finds that Zhejiang Zhongxin is
cross-owned with Jinhua Zhongsheng Fiber Products Co., Ltd.; Guangxi
Huabao Fiber Products Co., Ltd.; and Chongzuo Zhongxin Environmental
Protection Technology Co., Ltd.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
As a result of our Preliminary Determination, and pursuant to
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, we instructed U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits and suspend
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise from China that were
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after
March 14, 2025, the date of the publication of the Preliminary
Determination in the Federal Register.\13\ In accordance with section
703(d) of the Act, we instructed CBP to discontinue the suspension of
liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise entered or withdrawn
from warehouse, on or after July 12, 2025, but to continue the
suspension of liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise on or
before July 11, 2025.
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\13\ See Preliminary Determination, 90 FR at 12125.
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If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a CVD order, reinstate
the suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of the Act, and
require a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties for entries
of subject merchandise in the amounts indicated above. Pursuant to
section 705(c)(2) of the Act, if the ITC determines that material
injury, or threat of material injury, does not exist, this proceeding
will be terminated, and all estimated duties deposited or securities
posted as a result of the suspension of liquidation will be refunded or
cancelled.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of its final affirmative determination that countervailable
subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of molded fiber
products from China. As Commerce's final determination is affirmative,
in accordance with section 705(b) of the Act, the ITC will determine,
within 45 days, whether the domestic industry in the United States is
materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of
import of molded fiber products from China. In addition, we are making
available to the ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information
in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not disclose such
information, either publicly or under administrative protective order
(APO), without the written consent of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material
injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, and all cash
deposits will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such injury does
exist, Commerce will issue a CVD order directing CBP to assess, upon
further instruction by Commerce, countervailing 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
This notice will serve as the final reminder to parties subject to
an APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction 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 violation which is subject to sanction.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 705(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
Dated: September 24, 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 I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise subject to this investigation consists of
thermoformed molded fiber products regardless of shape, form,
function, fiber source, or finish. Thermoformed molded fiber
products are formed with cellulose fibers, thermoformed using one or
more heated molds, and dried/cured in the mold.
Thermoformed molded fiber products include, but are not limited
to, plates, bowls, clamshells, trays, lids, food or foodservice
contact packaging, and consumer or other product packaging.
Thermoformed molded fiber products are relatively dense, with a
typical fiber density above 0.5 grams per cubic centimeter, and are
generally characterized by relatively smooth surfaces. They may be
derived from any virgin or recycled cellulose fiber source
(including, but not limited to, those sourced
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from wood, woody crops, agricultural crops/byproducts/residue, and
agricultural/industrial/other waste). They may have any weight,
shape, dimensionality, design, or size, and may be bleached,
unbleached, dyed, colored, or printed. They may include ingredients,
additives, or chemistries to enhance functionality including, but
not limited to, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, heat/
flame resistant, hydrophobic, oleophobic, absorbent, or adsorbent.
Thermoformed molded fiber products may also be subject to other
processing or treatments, including, but not limited to, hot or
after pressing, die-cutting, punching, trimming, padding,
perforating, printing, labeling, dying, coloring, coating,
laminating, embossing, debossing, repacking, or denesting.
Thermoformed molded fiber products subject to this investigation may
also have additional design features, including, but not limited to,
tab closures, venting, channeling, or stiffening.
Thermoformed molded fiber products remain covered by the scope
of this investigation if the subject product is encased by exterior
packaging. They also remain covered by the scope of this
investigation whether imported alone, or in any combination of
subject and non-subject merchandise (e.g., a lid or cover of any
type packaged with a molded fiber bowl, addition of any items to
make the thermoformed molded fiber packaging suitable for end-use
such as absorbent pads). When thermoformed molded fiber products are
imported in combination with non-subject merchandise, only the
thermoformed molded fiber products are subject merchandise.
Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are products
covered by the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty
orders on paper plates from People's Republic of China, the Kingdom
of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Excluded from the scope of this investigation are thermoformed
molded fiber products imported as packaging material that enclose
and/or surround non-subject merchandise prepackaged for final sale
upon importation into the United States (e.g., molded fiber
packaging surrounding a cellular phone).
Thermoformed molded fiber products include thermoformed molded
fiber products 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 thermoformed
molded fiber products. 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 thermoformed molded fiber products
include, but are not limited to, hot or after pressing, die-cutting,
punching, trimming, padding, perforating, printing, labeling, dying,
coloring, coating, laminating, embossing, debossing, repacking, or
denesting.
Thermoformed molded fiber products are classified under
subheadings 4823.70.0020 and 4823.70.0040, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Imports may also be
classified under subheadings 4823.61.0020, 4823.61.0040,
4823.69.0020, 4823.69.0040, 4823.90.1000, HTSUS. References to the
HTSUS classification are provided for convenience and customs
purposes, and the written description of the merchandise under
investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Use of Facts Available and Adverse Inferences
IV. Subsidies Valuation
V. Analysis of Programs
VI. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Whether the Provision of Inputs for Less Than
Adequate Remuneration (LTAR) is Specific
Comment 2: Whether Pulp Suppliers are Government Authorities
Comment 3: Whether the Provision of Electricity for LTAR is
Specific
Comment 4: Whether to Apply Adverse Facts Available (AFA) to
Zhejiang Zhongxin for Subsidy Programs Found at Verification
Comment 5: Whether to Revise the Benchmark Calculation for Pulp
Comment 6: Whether Commerce Correctly Calculated the Benefit for
Land for LTAR for Zhejiang Zhongxin
Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Revise the Sales Denominator
in the Calculation of Land for LTAR for Firstpak
Comment 8: Whether Commerce Correctly Calculated the Benefit for
the Provision of Electricity for LTAR for Firstpak
Comment 9: Whether Commerce Correctly Calculated the Benefit for
Policy Loans for Firstpak
Comment 10: Whether Commerce Correctly Calculated the Benefit
for Pulp for LTAR for Firstpak
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-18892 Filed 9-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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