Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / Notices 12625 

1See Methionine from France, Japan and Spain: 

Initiation of Less-than-Fair-Value Investigations, 85 

FR 52324 (August 25, 2020) (Initiation Notice). 

2See Methionine from France, Japan and Spain: 

Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the 

Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 85 FR 80774 

(December 14, 2020). 

3See Memorandum, ‘‘Decision Memorandum for 

the Preliminary Determination in the Less-ThanFair-Value Investigation of Methionine from Japan,’’ 

dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by 

this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum). 

4See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 

Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997). 

5See Initiation Notice. 

description of the merchandise subject to this 

order is dispositive. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04476 Filed 3–3–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–588–879] 

Methionine From Japan: Preliminary 

Affirmative Determination of Sales at 

Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary 

Affirmative Determination of Critical 

Circumstances and Postponement of 

Final Determination and Extension of 

Provisional Measures 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(Commerce) preliminarily determines 

that methionine from Japan is being, or 

is likely to be, sold in the United States 

at less than fair value (LTFV). The 

period of investigation is July 1, 2019, 

through June 30, 2020. Interested parties 

are invited to comment on this 

preliminary determination. 

DATES: Applicable March 4, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Scully, 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) 482–0572. 

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 

on August 25, 2020.1 On December 14, 

2020, Commerce postponed the 

preliminary determination of this 

investigation, and the revised deadline 

is now February 24, 2021.2 For a 

complete description of the events that 

followed the initiation of this 

investigation, see the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum.3 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 https://

access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete 

version of the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum can be accessed directly 

at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. 

The signed and the electronic versions 

of the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum are identical in content. 

Scope of the Investigation 

The products covered by this 

investigation are methionine from 

Japan. For a complete description of the 

scope of this investigation, see 

Appendix I. 

Scope Comments 

In accordance with the preamble to 

Commerce’s regulations,4 the Initiation 

Notice set aside a period of time for 

parties to raise issues regarding product 

coverage (i.e., scope).5 No interested 

parties commented on the scope of the 

investigation as it appeared in the 

Initiation Notice. Commerce is not 

preliminarily modifying the scope 

language as it appeared in the Initiation 

Notice. See the scope in Appendix I to 

this notice. 

Methodology 

Commerce is conducting this 

investigation in accordance with section 

731 of the Act. Commerce has 

calculated constructed export prices in 

accordance with section 772(a) of the 

Act. Normal value is calculated in 

accordance with section 773 of the Act. 

For a full description of the 

methodology underlying the 

preliminary determination, see the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 

Preliminary Affirmative Determination 

of Critical Circumstances 

In accordance with section 733(e) of 

the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, Commerce 

preliminarily finds that critical 

circumstances exist for Sumitomo 

Chemical Company, Ltd. (Sumitomo 

Chemical), and for all other producers 

and exporters in Japan. For a full 

description of the methodology and 

results of Commerce’s critical 

circumstances analysis, see the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 

All-Others Rate 

Section 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act 

provides that in the preliminary 

determination Commerce shall 

determine an estimated all-others rate 

for all exporters and producers not 

individually examined. Pursuant to 

section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, this rate 

shall be an amount equal to the 

weighted average of the estimated 

weighted-average dumping margins 

established for exporters and producers 

individually investigated, excluding any 

zero and de minimis margins, and any 

margins determined entirely under 

section 776 of the Act. 

Commerce calculated an individual 

estimated weighted-average dumping 

margin for Sumitomo Chemical. 

Therefore, for purposes of determining 

the all-others rate, and pursuant to 

section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, we are 

using the dumping margin calculated 

for Sumitomo Chemical, which is not 

zero, de minimis, or determined entirely 

under section 776 of the Act. For a full 

description of the methodology 

underlying Commerce’s analysis, see the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 

Preliminary Determination 

Commerce preliminarily determines 

that the following estimated weightedaverage dumping margins exist: 

Exporter/producer 

Estimated 

weightedaverage 

dumping 

margin 

(percent) 

Sumitomo Chemical Company, 

Ltd ........................................... 135.10 

All Others .................................... 135.10 

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 entries of subject 

merchandise, as described in Appendix 

I, entered, or withdrawn from 

warehouse, for consumption on or after 

the date of publication of this notice in 

the Federal Register. Further, pursuant 

to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 

CFR 351.205(d), where appropriate, 

Commerce will instruct CBP to require 

a cash deposit equal to the estimated 

weighted-average 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 

weighted-average dumping margins 

determined in this preliminary 

determination; (2) if the exporter is not 

a respondent identified above, but the 


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12626 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / Notices 

6See 19 CFR 351.309; and 19 CFR 351.303 (for 

general filing requirements). 

7See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service 

Requirements Due to COVID–19; Extension of 

Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 10, 2020). 

8See Sumitomo Chemical’s Letter, ‘‘Methionine 

from Japan Request to Extend the Deadline for the 

Final Determination,’’ dated February 9, 2021. 

producer is, then the cash deposit rate 

will be equal to the company-specific 

estimated weighted-average 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 allothers estimated weighted-average 

dumping margin. 

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. As noted above, Commerce 

preliminarily finds that critical 

circumstances exist for imports of 

subject merchandise produced and 

exported by Sumitomo Chemical and all 

other exporters and producers from 

Japan. 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 Sumitomo 

Chemical and all other exporters and 

producers from Japan that were entered, 

or withdrawn from warehouse, for 

consumption on or after the date which 

is 90 days before the publication of this 

notice. 

These suspension of liquidation 

instructions will remain in effect until 

further notice. 

Disclosure 

Commerce intends to disclose its 

calculations and analysis performed to 

interested parties in this preliminary 

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 accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). 

Verification 

As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the 

Act, Commerce intends to verify the 

information relied upon in making its 

final determination. Normally, 

Commerce verifies information using 

standard procedures, including an onsite examination of original accounting, 

financial, and sales documentation. 

However, due to current travel 

restrictions in response to the global 

COVID–19 pandemic, Commerce is 

unable to conduct on-site verification in 

this investigation. Accordingly, we 

intend to verify the information relied 

upon in making the final determination 

through alternative means in lieu of an 

on-site verification. 

Public Comment 

Case briefs or other written comments 

may be submitted to the Assistant 

Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance. A timeline for the 

submission of case briefs and written 

comments will be announced at a later 

date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 

raised in these case briefs, may be 

submitted no later than seven days after 

the deadline date for case briefs.6

Commerce has modified certain of its 

requirements for serving documents 

containing business proprietary 

information until further notice.7

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 

(d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or 

rebuttal briefs in this investigation are 

encouraged to submit with each 

argument: (1) A statement of the issue; 

(2) a brief summary of the argument; 

and (3) a table of authorities. 

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 the party’s name, 

address, and telephone number, the 

number of participants, whether any 

participant is a foreign national, and a 

list of the issues to be discussed. If a 

request for a hearing is made, Commerce 

intends to hold the hearing at a time and 

date to be determined. Parties should 

confirm by telephone the date, time, and 

location of the hearing two days before 

the scheduled date. 

Postponement of Final Determination 

and Extension of Provisional Measures 

Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides 

that a final determination may be 

postponed until not later than 135 days 

after the date of the publication of the 

preliminary determination if, in the 

event of an affirmative preliminary 

determination, a request for such 

postponement is made by exporters who 

account for a significant proportion of 

exports of the subject merchandise, or in 

the event of a negative preliminary 

determination, a request for such 

postponement is made by the petitioner. 

Section 351.210(e)(2) of Commerce’s 

regulations requires that a request by 

exporters for postponement of the final 

determination be accompanied by a 

request for extension of provisional 

measures from a four-month period to a 

period not more than six months in 

duration. 

On February 9, 2021, pursuant to 19 

CFR 351.210(e), Sumitomo Chemical 

requested that Commerce postpone the 

final determination and that provisional 

measures be extended to a period not to 

exceed six months.8 In accordance with 

section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 

CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) The 

preliminary determination is 

affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter 

accounts for a significant proportion of 

exports of the subject merchandise; and 

(3) no compelling reasons for denial 

exist, Commerce is postponing the final 

determination and extending the 

provisional measures from a four-month 

period to a period not greater than six 

months. Accordingly, Commerce will 

make its final determination no later 

than 135 days after the date of 

publication of this preliminary 

determination, pursuant to section 

735(a)(2) of the Act. 

International Trade Commission 

Notification 

In accordance with section 733(f) of 

the Act, Commerce will notify the 

International Trade Commission (ITC) of 

its preliminary determination. If the 

final determination is affirmative, then 

the ITC will determine before the later 

of 120 days after the date of this 

preliminary determination or 45 days 

after the final determination whether 

imports of methionine from Japan 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: February 24, 2021. 

Christian Marsh, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement 

and Compliance. 

Appendix I 

Scope of the Investigation 

The merchandise covered by this 

investigation is methionine and dl-Hydroxy 

analogue of dl-methionine, also known as 2- 

Hydroxy 4-(Methylthio) Butanoic acid 

(HMTBa), regardless of purity, particle size, 

grade, or physical form. Methionine has the 

chemical formula C5H11NO2S, liquid HMTBa 

has the chemical formula C5H10O3S, and dry 

HMTBa has the chemical formula 

(C5H9O3S)2Ca. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / Notices 12627 

1See Methionine from France, Japan, and Spain: 

Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 85 

FR 52324 (August 25, 2020) (Initiation Notice). 

2See Methionine From France, Japan and Spain: 

Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the 

Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 85 FR 80774 

(December 14, 2020). 

3See Memorandum, ‘‘Decision Memorandum for 

the Preliminary Determination in the Less-ThanFair-Value Investigation of Methionine from 

France,’’ dated concurrently with, and hereby 

adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum). 

4See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 

Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997). 

5See Initiation Notice. 

6Sumitomo’s September 8, 2020 scope comments 

pertain to the product characteristics, and not the 

scope of the investigation. 

7For the purposes of this investigation, we have 

considered Adisseo France’s responses to 

Commerce’s requests for information on behalf of 

both Commentry and Adisseo France SAS. For a 

full discussion on respondent selection in this 

investigation, see the Preliminary Determination 

Memorandum at 2. 

8The petitioner is Novus International, Inc. 

Subject merchandise also includes 

methionine processed in a third country 

including, but not limited to, refining, 

converting from liquid to dry or dry to liquid 

form, or any other processing that would not 

otherwise remove the merchandise from the 

scope of this investigation if performed in the 

country of manufacture of the in-scope 

methionine or dl-Hydroxy analogue of dlmethionine. 

The scope also includes methionine that is 

commingled (i.e., mixed or combined) with 

methionine from sources not subject to this 

investigation. Only the subject component of 

such commingled products is covered by the 

scope of this investigation. 

Excluded from this investigation is United 

States Pharmacopoeia (USP) grade 

methionine. In order to qualify for this 

exclusion, USP grade methionine must meet 

or exceed all of the chemical, purity, 

performance, and labeling requirements of 

the United States Pharmacopeia and the 

National Formulary for USP grade 

methionine. 

Methionine is currently classified under 

subheadings 2930.40.00.00 and 

2930.90.46.00 of the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). 

Methionine has the Chemical Abstracts 

Service (CAS) registry numbers 583–91–5, 

4857–44–7, 59–51–8 and 922–50–9. While 

the HTSUS subheadings and CAS registry 

number are provided for convenience and 

customs purposes, the written description of 

the scope of this investigation is dispositive. 

Appendix II 

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Background 

III. Period of Investigation 

IV. Scope of the Investigation 

V. Scope Comments 

VI. Preliminary Critical Circumstances 

Determination 

VII. Discussion of the Methodology 

VIII. Currency Conversion 

IX. Recommendation 

[FR Doc. 2021–04417 Filed 3–3–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–427–831] 

Methionine From France: Preliminary 

Affirmative Determination of Sales at 

Less Than Fair Value and Partial 

Affirmative Determination of Critical 

Circumstances 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(Commerce) preliminarily determines 

that methionine from France is being, or 

is likely to be, sold in the United States 

at less than fair value (LTFV). 

Commerce also preliminarily 

determines that critical circumstances 

exist with respect to certain imports of 

subject merchandise. The period of 

investigation is July 1, 2019, through 

June 30, 2020. Interested parties are 

invited to comment on this preliminary 

determination. 

DATES: Applicable March 4, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Zachary Shaykin, AD/CVD Operations, 

Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482–2638. 

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 initiated this LTFV 

investigation on August 18, 2020.1 On 

December 14, 2020, Commerce 

postponed the preliminary 

determination in this investigation and 

the revised deadline is now February 

24, 2021.2 For a complete description of 

the events that followed the initiation of 

this investigation, see the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum.3 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 https:// 

access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete 

version of the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum can be accessed directly 

at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. 

The signed and electronic versions of 

the Preliminary Decision Memorandum 

are identical in content. 

Scope of the Investigation 

The products covered by this 

investigation is methionine from France. 

For a complete description of the scope 

of this investigation, see Appendix I. 

Scope Comments 

In accordance with the preamble to 

Commerce’s regulations,4 the Initiation 

Notice set aside a period of time for 

parties to raise issues regarding product 

coverage (i.e., scope).5 No interested 

parties commented on the scope of this 

investigation as it appeared in the 

Initiation Notice.6 Commerce is not 

preliminarily modifying the scope 

language as it appeared in the Initiation 

Notice. See the scope in Appendix I to 

this notice. 

Methodology 

Commerce is conducting this 

investigation in accordance with section 

731 of the Act. Pursuant to sections 

776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce has 

preliminarily relied upon facts 

otherwise available, with adverse 

inferences, for Adisseo France SAS and 

Commentry (collectively, Adisseo 

France), the two companies selected for 

individual examination in this 

investigation.7 For a full description of 

the methodology underlying the 

preliminary determination, see the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 

Preliminary Affirmative Determination 

of Critical Circumstances 

On February 1, 2021, the petitioner 8

timely filed a critical circumstances 

allegation, pursuant to section 733(e)(1) 

of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206(c)(1), 

alleging that critical circumstances exist 

with respect to imports of the subject 

merchandise from France. 

Section 733(e)(1) of the Act provides 

that Commerce will preliminarily 

determine that critical circumstances 

exist in an LTFV investigation if there 

is a reasonable basis to believe or 

suspect that: (A) There is a history of 

dumping and material injury by reason 

of dumped imports in the United States 

or elsewhere of the subject merchandise, 

or the person by whom, or for whose 

account, the merchandise was imported 

knew or should have known that the 

exporter was selling the subject 

merchandise at less than its fair value 

and that there was likely to be material 

injury by reason of such sales; and (B) 

there have been massive imports of the 


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