76180 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2023 / Notices 

1See Certain Paper Shopping Bags from India 

and the People’s Republic of China: Initiation of 

Countervailing Duty Investigations, 88 FR 41380 

(June 26, 2023) (Initiation Notice). 

2See Certain Paper Shopping Bags from the 

People’s Republic of China and India: 

Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the 

Countervailing Duty Investigations, 88 FR 52122 

(August 7, 2023). 

3See Memorandum, ‘‘Decision Memorandum for 

Preliminary Affirmative Determination of the 

Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Paper 

Shopping Bags from the People’s Republic of 

China,’’ 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, 88 FR at 41380. 6See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 2–3. 7The deadline for interested parties to submit 

scope case and rebuttal briefs will be established in 

the preliminary scope decision memorandum. 8The non-responsive companies are: (1) Bagitan 

Packaging; (2) Changzhou Anjucheng; (3) Courage 

Packaging; (4) Evertrust Packaging; (5) Geotegrity 

EcoPack; (6) GrandIntelligent; (7) Li & Fung; (8) 

Qindao Chenyu Packaging Co., Ltd.; (9) Shanghai 

Macolink Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.; (10) 

Shanghai Sanxi Paper Co., Ltd.; (11) Xiamen C&D 

Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd.; (12) Xiamen Champion 

FMCG; (13) Xiamen New Idea Packaging Co., Ltd.; 

and (14) Xiamen Wonderful Bag Import and Export 

Co., Ltd. 

9See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act 

regarding financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) 

of the Act regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of 

the Act regarding specificity. 

subject merchandise entered, or 

withdrawn from warehouse, for 

consumption on or after the date of 

publication of the final results of this 

administrative review, except, where 

the rate calculated in the final results is 

zero or de minimis, no cash deposit will 

be required. For all non-reviewed firms, 

we will instruct CBP to continue to 

collect cash deposits at the most recent 

company-specific or all-others rate 

applicable to the company. These cash 

deposit requirements, when imposed, 

shall remain in effect until further 

notice. 

Notification to Interested Parties 

These preliminary results are issued 

and published pursuant to sections 

751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 

CFR 351.213(d)(4) and 19 CFR 

351.221(b)(4). 

Dated: October 31, 2023. 

Lisa W. Wang, 

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance. 

Appendix 

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Background 

III. Period of Review 

IV. Partial Rescission of Administrative 

Review 

V. Scope of the Order 

VI. Diversification of Korea’s Economy 

VII. Subsidies Valuation Information 

VIII. Analysis of Programs 

IX. Recommendation 

[FR Doc. 2023–24475 Filed 11–3–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–570–153] 

Certain Paper Shopping Bags From the 

People’s Republic of China: 

Preliminary Affirmative Determination 

of Countervailable Subsidies, 

Preliminary Affirmative Determination 

of Critical Circumstances, and 

Alignment of Final Determination With 

Final Antidumping Duty Determination 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 

determines that countervailable 

subsidies are being provided to 

producers and exporters of certain paper 

shopping bags (paper bags) from the 

People’s Republic of China (China). The 

period of investigation (POI) is January 

1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. 

Interested parties are invited to 

comment on this preliminary 

determination. 

DATES: Applicable November 6, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seth 

Brown, 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) 482–0029. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This preliminary determination is 

made in accordance with section 703(b) 

of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 

(the Act). Commerce published the 

notice of initiation of this countervailing 

duty (CVD) investigation on June 26, 

2023.1 On August 7, 2023, Commerce 

postponed the preliminary 

determination until October 30, 2023.2

For a complete description of the 

events that followed the initiation of 

this investigation, see the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum.3 A list of topics 

discussed 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 https://access.trade.gov/public/

FRNoticesListLayout.aspx. 

Scope of the Investigation 

The products covered by this 

investigation are paper bags 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,4 the Initiation 

Notice set aside a period of time for 

parties to raise issues regarding product 

coverage (scope).5 We received 

comments from interested parties 

commented on the scope of the 

concurrent antidumping duty (AD) and 

CVD investigations as it appeared in the 

Initiation Notice, which are listed in the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum.6

We are currently evaluating the scope 

comments filed by interested parties 

and intend to issue our preliminary 

decision regarding the scope of the AD 

and CVD investigations prior to or 

concurrently with the AD preliminary 

determinations. We will incorporate the 

scope decisions from the AD 

investigations into the scope of the final 

CVD determination for this 

investigation, after considering any 

relevant comments submitted in scope 

case and rebuttal briefs.7

Preliminary Affirmative Determination 

of Critical Circumstances 

In accordance with section 703(e)(1) 

of the Act, we preliminarily find that 

critical circumstances exist with respect 

to imports of subject merchandise for 

Dongzheng Paper Bag (Dalian) Factory 

(Dongzheng), Fujian Nanwang 

Environment Protection Scien-tech Co., 

Ltd. (Fujian Nanwan) the nonresponsive companies,8 and all other 

producers and/or exporters. For a full 

discussion of our preliminary critical 

circumstances determination, see the 

‘‘Critical Circumstances’’ section of the 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 

Methodology 

Commerce is conducting this 

investigation in accordance with section 

701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy 

programs found countervailable, 

Commerce preliminarily 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

Commerce notes that, in making these 

findings, it relied, in part, on facts 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2023 / Notices 76181 

10See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. 

11See Petitioner’s Letter, ‘‘Petitioner’s Request to 

Align Countervailing Duty Investigation Final 

Determination with Antidumping Duty 

Investigation Final Determination,’’ dated October 

5, 2023. 

12See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 

Appendix I. 

13See Memorandum, ‘‘Calculations of ‘All 

Others’ Rate for the Preliminary Determination of 

the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain 

Paper Shopping Bags from the People’s Republic of 

China,’’ dated concurrently with this notice, at 1. 

14As discussed in the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum, Commerce has found the following 

companies to be cross-owned with Fujian Nanwang: 

Zhuhai Zhongyue Paper Cup Container Co., Ltd.; 

Anhui Nanwang Environmental Protection 

Technology Co., Ltd., Xianghe Nanwang 

Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd.; and 

Hubei Nanwang Environmental Protection 

Technology Co., Ltd. 

15See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 

(for general filing requirements). 

16See Administrative Protective Order, Service, 

and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final Rule, 88 FR 

67069 (September 29, 2023). 

available, and, because it finds that one 

or more respondents did not act to the 

best of their ability to respond to 

Commerce’s requests for information, it 

drew an adverse inference where 

appropriate in selecting from among the 

facts otherwise available.10 For further 

information, see the ‘‘Use of Facts 

Otherwise Available and Adverse 

Inferences’’ section of the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum. 

Alignment 

In accordance with section 705(a)(1) 

of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), 

Commerce is aligning the final CVD 

determination in this investigation with 

the final determination in the 

companion AD investigation of paper 

bags from China based on a request 

made by the Coalition for Fair Trade in 

Shopping Bags (the petitioner).11

Consequently, the final CVD 

determination will be issued on the 

same date as the final AD 

determination, which is currently 

scheduled to be issued no later than 

March 11, 2024, unless postponed. 

All-Others Rate 

Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of 

the Act provide that in the preliminary 

determination, 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 Dongzheng and Fujian Nanwang that 

are not zero, de minimis, or based 

entirely on facts otherwise available.12

Therefore, Commerce calculated the allothers rate using a weighted average of 

the individually estimated subsidy rates 

calculated for the examined respondents 

using each company’s public ranged 

data for the value of its exports of 

subject merchandise to the United 

States.13

Preliminary Determination 

Commerce preliminarily determines 

that the following estimated 

countervailable subsidy rates exist: 

Company 

Subsidy rate 

(percent 

ad valorem) 

Bagitan Packaging ................ 144.03 

Changzhou Anjucheng ......... 144.03 

Courage Packaging .............. 144.03 

Dongzheng Paperbag 

(DaLian) Factory ............... 12.43 

Evertrust Packaging ............. 144.03 

Fujian Nanwang Environment Protection ScienTech Co., Ltd.14 ................ 13.96 

Geotegrity EcoPack .............. 144.03 

GrandIntelligent .................... 144.03 

Li & Fung .............................. 144.03 

Qindao Chenyu Packaging 

Co., Ltd ............................. 144.03 

Shanghai Macolink Supply 

Chain Management Co., 

Ltd ..................................... 144.03 

Shanghai Shanxi Paper Co., 

Ltd ..................................... 144.03 

Xiamen C&D Pulp & Paper 

Co., Ltd ............................. 144.03 

Xiamen Champion FMCG .... 144.03 

Xiamen New Idea Packaging 

Co., Ltd ............................. 144.03 

Xiamen Wonderful Bag Import and Export Co., Ltd ... 144.03 

All Others .............................. 13.84 

Suspension of Liquidation 

In accordance with section 

703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, because we find 

that critical circumstances exist for 

Dongzhen, Fujian Nanwang, the nonresponse companies, and all other 

producers and/or exporters, Commerce 

will direct U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation 

of entries of subject merchandise as 

described in the scope of the 

investigation section entered, or 

withdrawn from warehouse, for 

consumption on or after the date 90 

days prior to the date of publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register. 

Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), 

Commerce will instruct CBP to require 

a cash deposit equal to the rates 

indicated above. 

Disclosure 

Commerce intends to disclose its 

calculations and analysis performed to 

interested parties in this preliminary 

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 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. 

Public Comment 

All interested parties will have the 

opportunity to submit scope case and 

rebuttal briefs on the preliminary 

decision regarding the scope of the AD 

and CVD investigations. The deadlines 

to submit scope case and rebuttal briefs 

will be provided in the preliminary 

scope decision memorandum. For all 

scope case and rebuttal briefs, parties 

must file identical documents 

simultaneously on the records of the 

ongoing AD and CVD paper bags 

investigations. No new factual 

information or business proprietary 

information may be included in either 

scope case or rebuttal briefs. 

Case briefs or other written comments 

on non-scope issues may be submitted 

to the Assistant Secretary for 

Enforcement and Compliance. 

Interested parties will be notified of the 

timeline for the submission of case 

briefs and written comments at a later 

date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 

raised in case briefs, may be submitted 

no later than seven days after the 

deadline date for case briefs after the 

deadline date for case briefs.15 Pursuant 

to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), 

parties who submit case 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. Note that 

Commerce has amended certain of its 

requirements pertaining to the service of 

documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).16

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, and a list of the 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
76182 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2023 / Notices 

17See 19 CFR 351.310(d). 

1See Phosphate Fertilizers from the Russian 

Federation: Preliminary Results and Partial 

Rescission of the Countervailing Duty 

Administrative Review; 2020–2021, 88 FR 28505, 

28506 (May 4, 2023) (Preliminary Results) and 

accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 

(PDM). 

2See Memorandum, ‘‘Extension of Deadline for 

Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative 

Review,’’ dated August 4, 2023. 

3See Memorandum, ‘‘Issues and Decision 

Memorandum for the Final Results of the 

Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of 

Phosphate Fertilizers from the Russian Federation; 

2020–2021,’’ dated concurrently with, and hereby 

adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision 

Memorandum). 

4See Phosphate Fertilizers from the Kingdom of 

Morocco and the Russian Federation: 

Countervailing Duty Orders, 86 FR 18037 (April 7, 

2021) (Order). 

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.17

U.S. International Trade Commission 

Notification 

In accordance with section 703(f) of 

the Act, Commerce will notify the U.S. 

International Trade Commission (ITC) of 

its preliminary determination. 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 whether 

these imports 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 

703(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 

CFR 351.205(c). 

Dated: October 30, 2023. 

Lisa W. Wang, 

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance. 

Appendix I 

Scope of the Investigation 

The products within the scope of this 

investigation are paper shopping bags with 

handles of any type, regardless of whether 

there is any printing, regardless of how the 

top edges are finished (e.g., folded, serrated, 

or otherwise finished), regardless of color, 

and regardless of whether the top edges 

contain adhesive or other material for sealing 

closed. Subject paper shopping bags have a 

width of at least 4.5 inches and depth of at 

least 2.5 inches. 

Paper shopping bags typically are made of 

kraft paper but can be made from any type 

of cellulose fiber, paperboard, or pressboard 

with a basis weight less than 300 grams per 

square meter (GSM). 

A non-exhaustive illustrative list of the 

types of handles on shopping bags covered 

by the scope include handles made from any 

materials such as twisted paper, flat paper, 

yarn, ribbon, rope, string, or plastic, as well 

as die-cut handles (whether the punchout is 

fully removed or partially attached as a flap). 

Excluded from the scope are: 

• Paper sacks or bags that are of a 1⁄6 or 1⁄7

barrel size (i.e., 11.5–12.5 inches in width, 

6.5–7.5 inches in depth, and 13.5–17.5 

inches in height) with flat paper handles or 

die-cut handles; 

• Paper sacks or bags with die-cut handles, 

a grams per square meter weight of less than 

62 GSM, and a height of less than 11.5 

inches; and 

• Shopping bags (i) with non-paper 

handles made wholly of woven ribbon or 

other similar woven fabric and (ii) that are 

finished with folded tops or for which tied 

knots or t-bar aglets (made of wood, metal, 

or plastic) are used to secure the handles to 

the bags. 

The above-referenced dimensions are 

provided for paper bags in the opened 

position. The height of the bag is the distance 

from the bottom fold edge to the top edge 

(i.e., excluding the height of handles that 

extend above the top edge). The depth of the 

bag is the distance from the front of the bag 

edge to the back of the bag edge (typically 

measured at the bottom of the bag). The 

width of the bag is measured from the left to 

the right edges of the front and back panels 

(upon which the handles typically are 

located). 

This merchandise is currently classifiable 

under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

United States (HTSUS) subheadings 

4819.30.0040 and 4819.40.0040. The HTSUS 

subheadings are provided for convenience 

and customs purposes only; the written 

description of the scope is dispositive. 

Appendix II 

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Background 

III. Scope of the Investigation 

IV. Scope Comments 

V. Injury Test 

VI. Analysis of China’s Financial System 

VII. Diversification of China’s Economy 

VIII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and 

Adverse Inferences 

IX. Subsidies Valuation 

X. Benchmarks and Interest Rates 

XI. Analysis of Programs 

XII. Critical Circumstances 

XIII. Recommendation 

[FR Doc. 2023–24473 Filed 11–3–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–821–825] 

Phosphate Fertilizers From the 

Russian Federation: Final Results of 

Countervailing Duty Administrative 

Review; 2020–2021 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Commerce (Commerce) determines that 

Joint Stock Company Apatit (JSC 

Apatit), a producer/exporter of 

phosphate fertilizers from the Russian 

Federation (Russia), received 

countervailable subsidies during the 

period of review (POR), November 30, 

2020, through December 31, 2021. 

DATES: Applicable November 6, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shane Subler or William Horn, AD/CVD 

Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement 

and Compliance, International Trade 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 

(202) 482–6241 or (202) 482–4868, 

respectively. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Commerce published the preliminary 

results of this administrative review on 

May 4, 2023.1 On August 4, 2023, 

Commerce extended the deadline for the 

final results of this review to no later 

than October 31, 2023.2 For a 

description of the events that occurred 

since the Preliminary Results, see the 

Issues and Decision Memorandum.3

We conducted this review in 

accordance with section 751 of the 

Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). 

Scope of the Order 4

The products covered by this Order 

are phosphate fertilizers. For a complete 

description of the scope of this Order, 

see the Issues and Decision 

Memorandum. 

Analysis of Comments Received 

All issues raised in interested parties’ 

case briefs are addressed in the Issues 

and Decision Memorandum 

accompanying this notice. A list of the 

issues raised by parties, and to which 

Commerce responded in the Issues and 

Decision Memorandum, is provided in 

the appendix to this notice. The Issues 

and 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 Issues and Decision 

Memorandum can be accessed directly 

at https://access.trade.gov/public/

FRNoticesListLayout.aspx. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1