Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 131 / Monday, July 9, 2018 / Notices 31729 

7See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 

(for general filing requirements). 

8See 19 CFR .309(c)(2) and (d)(2). 

9See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1). 

Public Comment 

Interested parties may submit case 

and rebuttal briefs, as well as request a 

hearing. Case briefs or other written 

comments may be submitted to the 

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance no later than seven days 

after the date on which the last 

verification report is issued in this 

investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to 

issues raised in case briefs, may be 

submitted no later than five days after 

the deadline date for case briefs.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.8 This 

summary should be limited to five pages 

total, including footnotes. 

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 in the 

Federal Register via ACCESS. Hearing 

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 the U.S. 

Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20230, at a time and date to be 

determined. Prior to the date of the 

hearing, Commerce will contact all 

parties that submitted case or rebuttal 

briefs to determine if they wish to 

participate in the hearing. Commerce 

will then provide a hearing schedule to 

the parties prior to the hearing and only 

those parties listed on the schedule may 

present issues raised in their briefs. 

Parties should confirm by telephone the 

date, time, and location of the hearing 

two days before the scheduled date. 

Electronically filed documents must 

be received successfully in their entirety 

by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time,9 on the due 

dates established above. 

International Trade Commission (ITC) 

Notification 

In accordance with section 703(f) of 

the Act, we will notify the ITC of our 

determination. In addition, Commerce 

will make available to the ITC all nonprivileged and non-proprietary 

information relating to this 

investigation. Commerce will allow the 

ITC access to all privileged and business 

proprietary information in the files, 

provided the ITC confirms that it will 

not disclose such information, either 

publicly or under an APO, without the 

written consent of the Assistant 

Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance. 

Pursuant to section 705(b)(2) of the 

Act, if Commerce’s final determination 

is affirmative, the ITC will make its final 

determination before the later of 120 

days after the date of this preliminary 

determination, or 45 days after 

Commerce’s final determination. 

Notification to Interested Parties 

This determination is issued and 

published pursuant to sections 703(f) 

and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.205(c). 

Disclosure 

Commerce intends to disclose its 

calculations and analysis performed to 

interested parties in this preliminary 

determination within five days of its 

public announcement 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. 

Dated: July 2, 2018. 

Gary Taverman, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping 

and Countervailing Duty Operations 

performing the non-exclusive functions and 

duties of the Assistant Secretary for 

Enforcement and Compliance. 

Appendix I—Scope of the Investigation 

The products subject to this investigation 

are bands made of vulcanized rubber, with a 

flat length, as actually measured end-to-end 

by the band lying flat, no less than 1⁄2 inch 

and no greater than 10 inches; with a width, 

which measures the dimension 

perpendicular to the length, actually of at 

least 3/64 inch and no greater than 2 inches; 

and a wall thickness actually from 0.020 inch 

to 0.125 inch. Vulcanized rubber has been 

chemically processed into a more durable 

material by the addition of sulfur or other 

equivalent curatives or accelerators. Subject 

products are included regardless of color or 

inclusion of printed material on the rubber 

band’s surface, including but not limited to, 

rubber bands with printing on them, such as 

a product name, advertising, or slogan, and 

printed material (e.g., a tag) fastened to the 

rubber band by an adhesive or another 

temporary type of connection. The scope 

includes vulcanized rubber bands which are 

contained or otherwise exist in various forms 

and packages, such as, without limitation, 

vulcanized rubber bands included within a 

desk accessory set or other type of set or 

package, and vulcanized rubber band balls. 

The scope excludes products that consist of 

an elastomer loop and durable tag all-in-one, 

and bands that are being used at the time of 

import to fasten an imported product. 

Merchandise covered by this investigation is 

currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under 

subheading 4016.99.3510. Merchandise 

covered by the scope may also enter under 

HTSUS subheading 4016.99.6050. While the 

HTSUS subheadings are provided for 

convenience and customs purposes, the 

written description of the scope of the 

investigation is dispositive. 

Appendix II—List of Topics Discussed 

in the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Background 

III. Scope Comments 

IV. Scope of the Investigation 

V. Alignment 

VI. Injury Test 

VII. Subsidies Valuation 

VIII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and 

Adverse Inferences 

IX. Analysis of Programs 

X. Verification 

XI. Calculation of the All Others Rate 

XII. Conclusion 

[FR Doc. 2018–14634 Filed 7–6–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–570–070] 

Rubber Bands From the People’s 

Republic of China: Preliminary 

Affirmative Countervailing Duty 

Determination and Alignment of Final 

Determination With Final Antidumping 

Determination 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(Commerce) preliminarily determines 

that countervailable subsidies are being 

provided to producers and exporters of 

rubber bands from the People’s Republic 

of China (China) for the period of 

investigation of January 1, 2017, through 

December 31, 2017. Interested parties 

are invited to comment on this 

preliminary determination. 

DATES: Applicable July 9, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristen Johnson, AD/CVD Operations, 

Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20230; telephone (202) 482–4793. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
31730 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 131 / Monday, July 9, 2018 / Notices 

1See Rubber Bands from Thailand, the People’s 

Republic of China, and Sri Lanka: Initiation of 

Countervailing Duty Investigations, 83 FR 8429 

(February 27, 2018) (Initiation Notice). 

2See Rubber Bands from Thailand and the 

People’s Republic of China: Postponement of 

Preliminary Determinations in the Countervailing 

Duty Investigations, 83 FR 15789 (April 12, 2018). 

3See Memorandum, ‘‘Decision Memorandum for 

the Preliminary Affirmative Determination in the 

Countervailing Duty Investigation of Rubber Bands 

from the People’s Republic of China,’’ dated 

concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 

notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum). 

4See 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. 

5Because the respondents in this investigation 

did not provide information requested by 

Commerce, and Commerce preliminarily 

determines each of the respondents to be 

uncooperative, we will not conduct verification. 

6See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. 

7The petitioner in this investigation is Alliance 

Rubber Co. See Letter from the petitioner, ‘‘Petition 

for the Imposition of Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duties on Rubber Bands from 

Thailand and China—Petitioner’s Request for 

Postponement of the Preliminary Determinations,’’ 

dated March 27, 2018. 

8The AD preliminary determination was 

postponed to no later than August 29, 2018, see 

Rubber Bands from the People’s Republic of China 

and Thailand: Postponement of Preliminary 

Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 

Investigations, 83 FR 29748 (June 26, 2018). 

Therefore, the AD final determination is currently 

due for signature no later than Monday, November 

12, 2018, which is a federal holiday. Commerce’s 

practice dictates that where a deadline falls on a 

weekend or federal holiday, the appropriate 

deadline is the next business day (see Notice of 

Clarification: Application of ‘‘Next Business Day’’ 

Rule for Administrative Determination Deadlines 

Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, As Amended, 70 

FR 24533 (May 10, 2005). As such, the AD final 

determination signature date rolls to Tuesday, 

November 13, 2018. 

9See section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act. 

10See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 

351.303 (for general filing requirements). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This preliminary determination is 

made in accordance with section 703(b) 

of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 

(the Act). On February 20, 2018, we 

initiated a countervailing duty (CVD) 

investigation of rubber bands from 

China.1 On April 12, 2018, in 

accordance with section 703(c)(1)(A) of 

the Act, we postponed the preliminary 

determination of this investigation to 

July 2, 2018.2

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 in Appendix 

II of 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 http://

access.trade.gov, and is available to all 

parties in the Central Records Unit, 

room B8024 of the main Commerce 

building. 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 are rubber bands from 

China. For a complete description of the 

scope of this investigation, see 

Appendix I. 

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 

confers a benefit to the recipient, and 

that the subsidy is specific.4

In making these findings, we relied 

solely on facts available because neither 

the Government of China nor any of the 

selected mandatory respondent 

companies responded to the 

questionnaire.5 Further, because these 

parties did not act to the best of their 

ability to respond to Commerce’s 

requests for information, we drew an 

adverse inference in selecting from 

among the facts otherwise available.6

For further information, see Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum at ‘‘Use of Facts 

Otherwise Available and Adverse 

Inferences.’’ 

Alignment 

As noted in the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum, in accordance with 

section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.210(b)(4)(i), we are aligning the 

final CVD determination in this 

investigation with the final 

determination in the companion 

antidumping duty (AD) investigation of 

rubber bands based on a request made 

by the petitioner.7 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 

November 13, 2018, unless postponed.8

All-Others Rate 

Sections 703(d)(1)(A) and 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.9

In this investigation, Commerce 

preliminarily assigned a rate based 

entirely on facts available to each of the 

mandatory respondents. There is no 

other information on the record with 

which to determine an all-others rate. 

As a result, in accordance with section 

705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act, we are using 

‘‘any reasonable method’’ and have 

established the all-others rate by 

applying the countervailable subsidy 

rate assigned to the mandatory 

respondents. 

Preliminary Determination 

Commerce preliminarily determines 

that the following estimated 

countervailable subsidy rates exist: 

Company Subsidy rate 

(percent) 

Graceful Imp. & Exp. Co., 

Ltd ..................................... 125.77 

Moyoung Trading Co., Ltd .... 125.77 

Ningbo Syloon Imp & Exp 

Co., Ltd ............................. 125.77 

All-Others .............................. 125.77 

Suspension of Liquidation 

In accordance with section 703(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 the scope 

of the investigation 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 

703(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP 

to require a cash deposit equal to the 

rates indicated above. 

Public Comment 

Interested parties may submit case 

and rebuttal briefs, as well as request a 

hearing. Case briefs or other written 

comments may be submitted to the 

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance via ACCESS no later than 

30 days after the publication of the 

preliminary determination in the 

Federal Register.10 Rebuttal briefs, 

limited to issues raised in case briefs, 

may be submitted no later than five days 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 131 / Monday, July 9, 2018 / Notices 31731 

11See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1). 

12See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2). 

13See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1). 

after the deadline date for case briefs.11

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.12 This 

summary should be limited to five pages 

total, including footnotes. 

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 within 30 days after the 

date of publication of this notice in the 

Federal Register via ACCESS. Hearing 

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 the U.S. 

Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20230, at a time and date to be 

determined. Prior to the date of the 

hearing, Commerce will contact all 

parties that submitted case or rebuttal 

briefs to determine if they wish to 

participate in the hearing. Commerce 

will then provide a hearing schedule to 

the parties prior to the hearing and only 

those parties listed on the schedule may 

present issues raised in their briefs. 

Parties should confirm by telephone the 

date, time, and location of the hearing 

two days before the scheduled date. 

Electronically filed documents must 

be received successfully in their entirety 

by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time,13 on the due 

dates established above. 

International Trade Commission (ITC) 

Notification 

In accordance with section 703(f) of 

the Act, we will notify the ITC of its 

determination. In addition, Commerce 

will make available to the ITC all nonprivileged and non-proprietary 

information relating to this 

investigation. Commerce will allow the 

ITC access to all privileged and business 

proprietary information in the files, 

provided the ITC confirms that it will 

not disclose such information, either 

publicly or under an APO, without the 

written consent of the Assistant 

Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance. 

Pursuant to section 705(b)(2) of the 

Act, if Commerce’s final determination 

is affirmative, the ITC will make its final 

determination before the later of 120 

days after the date of this preliminary 

determination, or 45 days after 

Commerce’s final determination. 

Notification to Interested Parties 

This determination is issued and 

published pursuant to sections 703(f) 

and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.205(c). 

Dated: July 2, 2018. 

Gary Taverman, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping 

and Countervailing Duty Operations, 

performing the non-exclusive functions and 

duties of the Assistant Secretary for 

Enforcement and Compliance. 

Appendix I 

Scope of the Investigation 

The products subject to this investigation 

are bands made of vulcanized rubber, with a 

flat length, as actually measured end-to-end 

by the band lying flat, no less than 1⁄2 inch 

and no greater than 10 inches; with a width, 

which measures the dimension 

perpendicular to the length, actually of at 

least 3/64 inch and no greater than 2 inches; 

and a wall thickness actually from 0.020 inch 

to 0.125 inch. Vulcanized rubber has been 

chemically processed into a more durable 

material by the addition of sulfur or other 

equivalent curatives or accelerators. Subject 

products are included regardless of color or 

inclusion of printed material on the rubber 

band’s surface, including but not limited to, 

rubber bands with printing on them, such as 

a product name, advertising, or slogan, and 

printed material (e.g., a tag) fastened to the 

rubber band by an adhesive or another 

temporary type of connection. The scope 

includes vulcanized rubber bands which are 

contained or otherwise exist in various forms 

and packages, such as, without limitation, 

vulcanized rubber bands included within a 

desk accessory set or other type of set or 

package, and vulcanized rubber band balls. 

The scope excludes products that consist of 

an elastomer loop and durable tag all-in-one, 

and bands that are being used at the time of 

import to fasten an imported product. 

Merchandise covered by this investigation is 

currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under 

subheading 4016.99.3510. Merchandise 

covered by the scope may also enter under 

HTSUS subheading 4016.99.6050. While the 

HTSUS subheadings are provided for 

convenience and customs purposes, the 

written description of the scope of the 

investigation is dispositive. 

Appendix II 

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Background 

III. Scope Comments 

IV. Scope of the Investigation 

V. Alignment 

VI. Injury Test 

VII. Application of the CVD Law to Imports 

from China 

VIII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and 

Adverse Inferences 

IX. Calculation of the All-Others Rate 

X. Conclusion 

[FR Doc. 2018–14633 Filed 7–6–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–570–909] 

Certain Steel Nails From the People’s 

Republic of China: Notice of Court 

Decision Not in Harmony With Final 

Results of Administrative Review and 

Notice of Amended Final Results of 

Antidumping Duty Administrative 

Review 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: On March 22, 2018, the 

United States Court of International 

Trade (the Court) issued its final 

judgment in Itochu Building Products 

Co., Inc., et al. v. United States, Consol. 

Court No. 12–00065, sustaining the U.S. 

Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) 

final remand results in the second 

administrative review of certain steel 

nails from the People’s Republic of 

China (China). Commerce is notifying 

the public that the final judgment in this 

case is not in harmony with Commerce’s 

final results of the administrative 

review, covering the period of review 

(POR) August 1, 2009, through July 31, 

2010, and that Commerce is amending 

the final results with respect to the 

dumping margins assigned to Tianjin 

Jinchi Metal Products Co., Ltd. (Jinchi) 

and Tianjin Jinghai County Hongli 

Industry & Business Co. (Hongli). 

Because Jinchi’s and Hongli’s margins 

changed, the margin for those 

companies not individually examined 

but receiving a separate rate also 

changed. 

DATES: Applicable April 2, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

Walker, AD/CVD Operations Office V, 

Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20230; telephone: 202.482.0413. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On March 1, 2012, Commerce issued 

the Final Results, in which it 

determined a weight-averaged dumping 

margin of 47.76 percent for Jinchi, 78.27 

percent for Hongli, and 19.30 percent 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES