[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59868-59869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18721]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-840]


Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From India: Notice of Initiation 
and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances 
Review

AGENCY:  Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a 
changed circumstances review (CCR) to determine if Highland Agro Food 
Private Limited (HA Food) is the successor-in-interest to Highland Agro 
in the context of the antidumping duty (AD) order on certain frozen 
warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from India. We preliminarily determine that 
HA Food is the successor-in-interest to Highland Agro.

DATES: Applicable August 30, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terre Keaton Stefanova or Christopher 
Viers, 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) 482-1280 
or (202) 482-0519, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 1, 2005, Commerce published in the Federal Register an 
AD order on shrimp from India.\1\ On July 6, 2023, HA Food requested 
that, pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), 19 CFR 351.216, and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3), Commerce 
conduct an expedited CCR of the Order to determine that HA Food is the 
successor-in-interest to Highland Agro and, accordingly, to assign it 
the cash deposit rate of Highland Agro.\2\ In its submission, HA Food 
stated that in 2022, Highland Agro undertook a name change to HA Food 
and changed its corporate structure to become a limited liability 
company.\3\
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    \1\ See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from India, 70 FR 5147 (February 1, 2005) (Order).
    \2\ In the 2021-2022 administrative review, Commerce 
preliminarily assigned Highland Agro a cash deposit rate of 3.76 
percent, the preliminary review-specific average rate for companies 
not selected for individual review. See Certain Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from India: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review; 2021-2022, 88 FR 13430 (March 3, 2023). The 
deadline for the final results of this administrative review is 
currently no later than August 30, 2023.
    \3\ See HA Food's Letter, ``Request for an Expedited Changed 
Circumstances Review,'' dated July 6, 2023 (HA Food CCR Request).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to the Order is certain frozen warmwater 
shrimp. The product is currently classified under the following 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 
0306.17.00.04, 0306.17.00.05, 0306.17.00.07, 0306.17.00.08, 
0306.17.00.10, 0306.17.00.11, 0306.17.00.13, 0306.17.00.14, 
0306.17.00.16, 0306.17.00.17, 0306.17.00.19, 0306.17.00.20, 
0306.17.00.22, 0306.17.00.23, 0306.17.00.25, 0306.17.00.26, 
0306.17.00.28, 0306.17.00.29, 0306.17.00.41, 0306.17.00.42, 
1605.21.10.30, and 1605.29.10.10. Although the HTSUS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written product 
description remains dispositive. For a complete description of the 
scope of the Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\4\
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from 
India: Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances 
Review,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Initiation and Preliminary Results of CCR

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d), 
Commerce will conduct a CCR upon receipt of information concerning, or 
a request from, an interested party for a review of an AD order which 
shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the 
order. The information submitted by HA Food supporting its claim that 
it is the successor-in-interest to Highland Agro demonstrates changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant such a review.\5\ Therefore, in 
accordance with section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d), 
we are initiating a CCR based upon the information contained in HA 
Food's submission.
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    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.216(d).
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    Section 351.221(c)(3)(ii) of Commerce's regulations permits 
Commerce to combine the notice of initiation of a CCR and the notice of 
preliminary results if Commerce concludes that expedited action is 
warranted.\6\ In this instance, because the record contains information 
necessary to make a preliminary finding, we find that expedited action 
is warranted and have combined the notice of initiation and the notice 
of preliminary results.\7\
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    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii); see also Certain Pasta from 
Italy: Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, 80 FR 33480, 33480-41 (June 12, 2015) 
(Pasta from Italy Preliminary Results), unchanged in Certain Pasta 
from Italy: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 80 FR 
48807 (August 14, 2015) (Pasta from Italy Final Results).
    \7\ See, e.g., Pasta from Italy Preliminary Results, 80 FR at 
33480-41, unchanged in Pasta from Italy Final Results, 80 FR at 
48807.
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    In this CCR, pursuant to section 751(b) of the Act, Commerce 
conducted a successor-in-interest analysis. In making a successor-in-
interest determination, Commerce examines several factors, including, 
but not limited to, changes in the following: (1) management; (2) 
production facilities; (3) supplier relationships; and (4)

[[Page 59869]]

customer base.\8\ While no single factor or combination of factors will 
necessarily provide a dispositive indication of a successor-in-interest 
relationship, generally, Commerce will consider the new company to be 
the successor to the previous company if the new company's resulting 
operation is not materially dissimilar to that of its predecessor.\9\ 
Thus, if the record evidence demonstrates that, with respect to the 
production and sale of the subject merchandise, the new company 
operates as the same business entity as the predecessor company, 
Commerce may assign the new company the cash deposit rate of its 
predecessor.\10\
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    \8\ See, e.g., Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India: 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review, 81 FR 75376 (October 31, 2016) (Shrimp from 
India Preliminary Results), unchanged in Certain Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from India: Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, 81 FR 90774 (December 15, 2016) 
(Shrimp from India Final Results).
    \9\ See, e.g., Shrimp from India Preliminary Results, 81 FR at 
75377, unchanged in Shrimp from India Final Results, 81 FR at 90774.
    \10\ Id.; see also Notice of Final Results of Changed 
Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: 
Polychloroprene Rubber from Japan, 67 FR 58, 59 (January 2, 2002); 
Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France: Final Results of 
Changed-Circumstances Review, 75 FR 34688, 34689 (June 18, 2010); 
and Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe from the Republic of Korea; 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances 
Review, 63 FR 14679 (March 26, 1998), unchanged in Circular Welded 
Non-Alloy Steel Pipe from Korea; Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, 63 FR 20572 (April 27, 1998), in which 
Commerce found that a company which only changed its name and did 
not change its operations is a successor-in-interest to the company 
before it changed its name.
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    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216, we preliminarily determine that 
HA Food is the successor-in-interest to Highland Agro. Record evidence, 
as submitted by HA Food, indicates that HA Food operates as essentially 
the same business entity as Highland Agro with respect to the subject 
merchandise.\11\
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    \11\ See HA Food CCR Request.
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    For the complete successor-in-interest analysis, including 
discussion of business proprietary information, see the accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of the topics discussed in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as the appendix to this 
notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and 
available 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 is 
available at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Public Comment

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii), interested parties may 
submit case briefs not later than 30 days after the date of publication 
of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case 
briefs, may be filed no later than seven days after the case briefs, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(d). Parties who submit case or rebuttal 
briefs 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.\12\ All comments are to be filed electronically via 
ACCESS. An electronically filed document must be received successfully 
in its entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the established 
deadline.\13\ Note that Commerce has temporarily modified certain of 
its requirements for serving documents containing business proprietary 
information, until further notice.\14\
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b).
    \14\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to Covid-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 
10, 2020).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request via ACCESS within 30 
days of publication of this notice. Hearing requests should contain: 
(1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number 
participants; and (3) a list of issues to be discussed. Oral 
presentations at the hearing will be limited to issues raised in the 
briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, parties will be notified of 
the time and date for the hearing, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.310(d).
    Consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), we will issue the final results 
of this CCR no later than 270 days after the date on which this review 
was initiated, or within 45 days if all parties agree to our 
preliminary finding.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice is published in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 
777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(b), 351.221(b) and 351.221(c)(3).

    Dated: August 18, 2023.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Initiation and Preliminary Results of the Changed Circumstances 
Review
V. Successor-in-Interest Determination
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2023-18721 Filed 8-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P