Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 173 / Thursday, September 6, 2018 / Notices 45217 

1See Letter from the petitioner, ‘‘Petition for the 

Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing 

Duties: Rubber Bands from Thailand, China, and Sri 

Lanka,’’ dated January 30, 2018 (Petition). 

2See 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), and 

accompanying Initiation Checklist. 

3See Rubber Bands from the People’s Republic of 

China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty 

Determination and Alignment of Final 

Determination with Final Antidumping 

Determination, 83 FR 31729 (July 9, 2018) 

(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM). 

Dated: August 29, 2018. 

Christian Marsh, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement 

and Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19336 Filed 9–5–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

President’s Advisory Council on Doing 

Business in Africa 

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Commerce, 

International Trade Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of an open meeting of the 

President’s Advisory Council on Doing 

Business in Africa (PAC–DBIA or 

Council). 

SUMMARY: The President’s Advisory 

Council on Doing Business in Africa 

will hold the final meeting of its term 

to deliberate and consider adopting a 

report containing recommendations to 

the President on actions the United 

States Government could take to 

mitigate obstacles that U.S. companies 

face in doing business in Africa, as well 

as findings from the Council’s June 24– 

July 5, 2018 Fact-Finding Trip to 

Ethiopia, Kenya, Coˆte d’Ivoire and 

Ghana, countries the Council identified 

as holding particular promise of 

business opportunities for U.S. 

companies, that was led by Commerce 

Secretary Wilbur Ross and Under 

Secretary for International Trade Gil 

Kaplan. The recommendations in the 

Council’s report may include updates to 

recommendations the Council 

previously adopted on April 18, 2018 

for Ethiopia, Kenya, Coˆte d’Ivoire and 

Ghana, new recommendations that 

focus on those or other African 

countries, and recommendations that 

apply to the African region broadly. 

The Secretary of Commerce extended 

the appointments of the members of the 

PAC–DBIA by 60 days, to expire on 

November 5, 2018, to allow the Council 

sufficient time to complete its final 

report following the Fact-Finding Trip. 

The final agenda for the meeting will 

be posted at least one week in advance 

of the meeting on the Council’s website 

at http://trade.gov/pac-dbia. 

DATES: September 26, 2018, 9:30 a.m.– 

11:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: The President’s Advisory 

Council on Doing Business in Africa 

meeting will be broadcast via live 

webcast on the internet at http://

whitehouse.gov/live. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Giancarlo Cavallo or Ashley Bubna, 

Designated Federal Officers, President’s 

Advisory Council on Doing Business in 

Africa, Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Ave. NW, Room 22004, 

Washington, DC, 20230, telephone: 202– 

482–2091, email: dbia@trade.gov, 

Giancarlo.Cavallo@trade.gov, 

Ashley.Bubna@trade.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: The Council was 

established on November 4, 2014, to 

advise the President, through the 

Secretary of Commerce, on 

strengthening commercial engagement 

between the United States and Africa. 

The Council’s charter was renewed for 

a second, two-year term in September 

2017. The Council was established in 

accordance with the provisions of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 

Public Submissions: The public is 

invited to submit written statements to 

the Council. Statements must be 

received by 5:00 p.m. September 19, 

2018 by either of the following methods: 

a. Electronic Submissions 

Submit statements electronically to 

Giancarlo Cavallo and Ashley Bubna, 

Designated Federal Officers, President’s 

Advisory Council on Doing Business in 

Africa, via email: dbia@trade.gov. 

b. Paper Submissions 

Send paper statements to Giancarlo 

Cavallo and Ashley Bubna, Designated 

Federal Officers, President’s Advisory 

Council on Doing Business in Africa, 

Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Ave. NW, Room 22004, 

Washington, DC, 20230. 

Statements will be provided to the 

members in advance of the meeting for 

consideration and also will be posted on 

the Council website (http://trade.gov/ 

pac-dbia). Any business proprietary 

information should be clearly 

designated as such. All statements 

received, including attachments and 

other supporting materials, are part of 

the public record and subject to public 

disclosure. 

Meeting minutes: Copies of the 

Council’s meeting minutes will be 

available within ninety (90) days of the 

meeting on the Council’s website at 

http://trade.gov/pac-dbia. 

Dated: August 30, 2018. 

Fred Stewart, 

Director, Office of Africa. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19346 Filed 9–5–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–570–070] 

Rubber Bands From the People’s 

Republic of China: Preliminary 

Affirmative Determination of Critical 

Circumstances, in Part, in the 

Countervailing Duty Investigation, and 

Amendment to the Scope of the 

Preliminary Determination in the 

Countervailing Duty Investigation 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(Commerce) has preliminarily 

determined that critical circumstances 

exist with respect to imports of rubber 

bands from certain producers and 

exporters from the People’s Republic of 

China (China). Further, Commerce has 

amended the scope of the countervailing 

duty (CVD) investigation on rubber 

bands from China. 

DATES: Applicable September 6, 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. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On January 30, 2018, Commerce 

received a CVD petition concerning 

imports of rubber bands from China 

filed in proper form on behalf of 

Alliance Rubber Co. (the petitioner).1

The investigation was initiated on 

February 20, 2018,2 and the affirmative 

Preliminary Determination was 

published on July 9, 2018.3

Commerce selected Graceful Imp. & 

Exp. Co., Ltd. (Graceful), Moyoung 

Trading Co., Ltd. (Moyoung), and 

Ningbo Syloon Imp & Exp Co., Ltd. 

(Ningbo Syloon) (collectively, the 

mandatory respondents) as the 

individually-examined respondents in 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
45218 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 173 / Thursday, September 6, 2018 / Notices 

4See Preliminary Determination PDM at Use of 

Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences. 

5See Letter from the petitioner, ‘‘Rubber Bands 

from the People’s Republic of China: Critical 

Circumstances Allegation,’’ dated June 11, 2018 

(Critical Circumstances Allegation). 

6See Letter to the petitioner, ‘‘Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Investigations of Rubber Bands 

from the People’s Republic of China: Critical 

Circumstances Allegation,’’ dated June 27, 2018. 

7See Letter from the petitioner, ‘‘Rubber Bands 

from the People’s Republic of China: Critical 

Circumstances Allegation, Supplement to Brief,’’ 

dated August 7, 2018 (Amended Critical 

Circumstances Allegation). 

8The final determination for this CVD 

investigation is due no later than November 13, 

2018. 

9See 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii). 

10See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing 

Duties, Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 

1997). 

11See Initiation Notice, 83 FR at 8430. 

12See Letter from Greenbrier International, Inc. 

and Conair Corporation, ‘‘Rubber Bands from, 

Thailand, China, and Sri Lanka: Scope Comments,’’ 

dated March 12, 2018; Letter from Jafferjee Brothers 

Exports (Pvt) Ltd., ‘‘Rubber Bands from Thailand: 

Scope Comments,’’ dated March 12, 2018; and 

Letter from the petitioner, ‘‘Petition for the 

Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing 

Duties on Rubber Bands from Thailand and China— 

Rebuttal Scope Comments,’’ dated March 22, 2018. 

13See Memorandum, ‘‘Rubber Bands from 

Thailand and the People’s Republic of China: Scope 

Comments Decision Memorandum for the 

Preliminary Determination,’’ dated concurrently 

with this notice (Preliminary Scope Decision 

Memorandum). 

14See Amended Critical Circumstances 

Allegation at Exhibit 1. 

15For ‘‘U.S. imports for consumption,’’ DataWeb 

reports only US$ value data for the harmonized 

tariff schedule number 4016.99.3510. 

16See Amended Critical Circumstances 

Allegation at 3. 

17See Critical Circumstances Allegation at 3–5. 

18Commerce limits its critical circumstances 

findings to those subsidies contingent upon export 

performance or use of domestic over imported 

goods (i.e., those prohibited under Article 3 of the 

SCM Agreement). See e.g., Final Affirmative 

Countervailing Duty Determination and Final 

Negative Critical Circumstances Determination: 

Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire from Germany, 

67 FR 55808, 55809–10 (August 30, 2002). 

19See 19 CFR 351.206(i). 

20See 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2). 

this investigation. Because neither the 

Government of China (GOC) nor the 

three mandatory respondents responded 

to Commerce’s CVD questionnaire and, 

thus, are not cooperating in this 

investigation, Commerce’s preliminary 

determination was based on the 

application of adverse facts available 

(AFA) in accordance with section 776(a) 

and (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 

amended (the Act).4

On June 11, 2018, the petitioner 

alleged that critical circumstances exist 

with respect to imports of rubber bands 

from China, pursuant to section 

703(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.206.5 On June 27, 2018, we notified 

the petitioner that additional 

information was needed to support the 

allegation, in particular monthly import 

data and an explanation for the 

proposed base period.6 On August 7, 

2018, the petitioner submitted an 

amended allegation of critical 

circumstances.7

In accordance with 19 CFR 

351.206(c)(1), if the petitioner submits 

an allegation of critical circumstances 

30 days or more before the scheduled 

date of the final determination,8

Commerce will make a preliminary 

finding whether there is a reasonable 

basis to believe or suspect that critical 

circumstances exist. Commerce will 

issue its preliminary finding of critical 

circumstances within 30 days after the 

petitioner submits the allegation.9

Period of Investigation (POI) 

The POI is January 1, 2017, through 

December 31, 2017. 

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 the 

Appendix to this notice. 

Scope Comments 

In accordance with the preamble to 

Commerce’s regulations,10 the Initiation 

Notice set aside a period of time for 

parties to raise issues regarding product 

coverage (i.e., scope).11 Certain 

interested parties provided comments 

on the scope of the investigation as it 

appeared in the Initiation Notice.12 For 

a summary of the product coverage 

comments and rebuttal responses 

submitted to the record of this CVD 

investigation, and accompanying 

discussion and analysis of all comments 

timely received, see the Preliminary 

Scope Decision Memorandum.13 We are 

preliminarily modifying the scope 

language as it appeared in the Initiation 

Notice and Preliminary Determination. 

See the revised scope in the Appendix 

to this notice. 

Allegation of Critical Circumstances 

The petitioner alleges a massive 

increase of imports of rubber bands from 

China and provided monthly import 

data, sourced from the U.S. 

International Trade Commission’s (ITC) 

Tariff and Trade DataWeb (DataWeb) for 

the period January 2017 through April 

2018.14 The petitioner states that a 

comparison of total imports (by value) 15

for the period February 2017 through 

April 2017, to the period February 2018 

through April 2018, shows that imports 

of rubber bands from China increased by 

17.22 percent,16 which is considered 

‘‘massive’’ under 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2). 

The petitioner also alleges that there 

is a reasonable basis to believe that there 

are subsidies in this investigation which 

are inconsistent with the Subsidies and 

Countervailing Measures Agreement 

(SCM Agreement).17

Critical Circumstances Analysis 

Section 703(e)(1) of the Act provides 

that Commerce will preliminarily 

determine that critical circumstances 

exist if there is a reasonable basis to 

believe or suspect that: (A) The alleged 

countervailable subsidy is inconsistent 

with the SCM Agreement,18 and (B) 

there have been massive imports of the 

subject merchandise over a relatively 

short period. 

In determining whether there are 

‘‘massive imports’’ over a ‘‘relatively 

short period,’’ pursuant to section 

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

351.206(h) and (i), Commerce normally 

compares the import volumes of the 

subject merchandise for at least three 

months immediately preceding the 

filing of the petition (i.e., the base 

period) to a comparable period of at 

least three months following the filing 

of the petition (i.e., the comparison 

period). The regulations also provide, 

however, that if Commerce finds that 

importers, or exporters or producers, 

had reason to believe, at some time prior 

to the beginning of the proceeding, that 

a proceeding was likely, Commerce may 

consider a period of not less than three 

months from the earlier time.19 Imports 

must increase by at least 15 percent 

during the comparison period to be 

considered massive.20

Application of Facts Available for the 

Mandatory Respondents 

Sections 776(a)(1) and (2) of the Act 

provide that Commerce shall, subject to 

section 782(d) of the Act, apply ‘‘facts 

otherwise available’’ if necessary 

information is not on the record or an 

interested party or any other person: (A) 

Withholds information that has been 

requested; (B) fails to provide 

information within the deadlines 

established, or in the form and manner 

requested by Commerce, subject to 

subsections (c)(1) and (e) of section 782 

of the Act; (C) significantly impedes a 

proceeding; or (D) provides information 

that cannot be verified as provided by 

section 782(i) of the Act. Because the 

mandatory respondents decided to not 

participate in this investigation, we 

have made this preliminary 

determination with respect to critical 

circumstances on the basis of facts 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 173 / Thursday, September 6, 2018 / Notices 45219 

21See Initiation Checklist at 23. 

22See e.g., Countervailing Duty Investigation of 

Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the 

People’s Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative 

Determination, Preliminary Partial Affirmative 

Critical Circumstances Determination, and 

Alignment of Final Determination with Final 

Antidumping Duty Determination, 80 FR 79558 

(December 22, 2015), and accompanying PDM at 

17–20, unchanged in Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat 

Products from the People’s Republic of China: Final 

Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and 

Final Partial Affirmative Critical Circumstances 

Determination, 81 FR 32729 (May 24, 2016). 

23See Critical Circumstances Allegation at 6. 

24 Id. and Amended Critical Circumstances 

Allegation. 

25When a petition is filed in the second half of 

the month, Commerce’s practice is to consider the 

month in which the petition was filed as part of the 

base period. Based on the date of filing of the 

Petition, i.e., January 30, 2018, which is in the 

second half of the month, February 2018 begins the 

comparison period. See e.g., Certain Carbon and 

Alloy Steel Wire Rod from the Russian Federation 

and the United Arab Emirates: Affirmative 

Preliminary Determinations of Sales at Less Than 

Fair Value, and Affirmative Preliminary 

Determination of Critical Circumstances for Imports 

of Certain Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from 

the Russian Federation, 82 FR 42794 (September 

12, 2017), and accompanying PDM at 13. 

26See Memorandum, ‘‘Countervailing Duty 

Investigation of Rubber Bands from the People’s 

Republic of China: Import Data for Preliminarily 

Determination of Critical Circumstances,’’ dated 

concurrently with this notice. 

27 Id. 

28ACCESS is Enforcement and Compliance’s 

Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized 

Electronic Service System. It is available to 

registered users at http://access.trade.gov, and in 

the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main 

Commerce building. 29See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 

351.303 (for general filing requirements). 

30See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1). 

31See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2). 

32See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1). 

otherwise available, pursuant to section 

776(a)(2)(A), (B), and (C) of the Act. 

Section 776(b) of the Act provides 

that Commerce may use an adverse 

inference in selecting from among the 

facts otherwise available when a party 

fails to cooperate by not acting to the 

best of its ability to comply with a 

request for information. Further, section 

776(b)(2) of the Act states that an 

adverse inference may include reliance 

on information derived from the 

petition, the final determination from 

the investigation, a previous 

administrative review, or other 

information placed on the record. 

Because Graceful, Moyoung, and Ningbo 

Syloon did not cooperate to the best of 

their ability in this investigation, in 

selecting from the facts available, we 

find that an adverse inference is 

warranted, pursuant to section 776(b) of 

the Act, with respect to critical 

circumstances. As such, we are making 

an adverse inference that Graceful, 

Moyoung, and Ningbo Syloon each 

benefited from countervailable subsidies 

under the ‘‘Export Assistance Grants’’ 

program. As determined in Commerce’s 

Initiation Checklist, the ‘‘Export 

Assistance Grants’’ program, alleged in 

the Petition and supported by 

information reasonably available to the 

petitioner, appears to be export 

contingent and thus inconsistent with 

the SCM Agreement.21 Also, based on 

AFA, we preliminarily determine that 

Graceful, Moyoung, and Ningbo Syloon 

had massive imports of subject 

merchandise over a relatively short 

period. Thus, we preliminarily 

determine that critical circumstances 

exist regarding imports of rubber bands 

shipped by Graceful, Moyoung, and 

Ningbo Syloon, pursuant to sections 

703(e)(1) and 776(a) and (b) of the Act 

and 19 CFR 351.206. 

All Other Companies 

Consistent with prior determinations, 

we have not imputed the adverse 

inference of massive imports that we 

applied to the mandatory respondents to 

the non-individually examined 

companies receiving the all-others 

rate.22 Rather, we examined data for 

total imports of subject merchandise 

during the comparison period relative to 

a base period to determine whether or 

not imports were massive with respect 

to these companies. 

The petitioner stated that it is not 

aware of any seasonal or consumption 

trends.23 The petitioner did not provide, 

pursuant to 19 CFR 351.206(i), any 

argument or evidence that importers, 

exporters, or producers had reason to 

believe, at some point prior to the filing 

of the Petition that a proceeding was 

likely.24 Therefore, to determine 

whether or not there has been a massive 

surge of imports with respect to all other 

exporters or producers, we used a 

comparison period starting with 

February 2018, because the Petition was 

filed on January 30, 2018,25 and ending 

with the most recent month for which 

we have import data on the record (i.e., 

June 2018). 

We obtained U.S. import value data 

from DataWeb for each month from 

January 2017 through June 2018.26 It is 

Commerce’s practice to base its critical 

circumstances analysis on all available 

data, using base and comparison periods 

of no less than three months. Therefore, 

we selected a five-month base period of 

September 2017 through January 2018, 

to compare to the comparison period of 

February 2018 through June 2018, to 

determine whether or not imports of 

subject merchandise were massive over 

a relatively short period. Our analysis of 

the data, which indicate a 9.1 percent 

decrease in imports of rubber bands 

from China, leads us to conclude that 

there was not a massive increase in 

imports, as defined by 19 CFR 

351.206(h)(2).27 Therefore, we 

preliminarily determine that critical 

circumstances do not exist with respect 

to all other exporters or producers. 

We will make a final determination 

concerning critical circumstances for 

rubber bands from China when we make 

our final determination in this 

investigation, which is currently 

scheduled to be signed no later than 

November 13, 2018. 

Public Comment 

Interested parties may submit case 

briefs or other written comments with 

regard to this preliminary affirmative 

critical circumstances determination 

and the preliminary scope decision. 

Such submissions must be submitted to 

the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement 

and Compliance via ACCESS 28 no later 

than 30 days after the date on which 

this notice is published in the Federal 

Register.29 Rebuttal briefs, limited to 

issues raised in case briefs, may be 

submitted no later than five days after 

the deadline date for case briefs.30

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.31

Electronically filed documents must 

be received successfully in their entirety 

by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time,32 on the due 

dates established above. 

Suspension of Liquidation 

In accordance with section 

703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, we are directing 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

(CBP) to suspend liquidation, with 

regard to Graceful, Moyoung, and 

Ningbo Syloon, of any unliquidated 

entries of subject merchandise from the 

China entered, or withdrawn from 

warehouse for consumption, on or after 

April 10, 2018, which is 90 days prior 

to the date of publication of the 

Preliminary Determination in the 

Federal Register. For such entries, CBP 

shall require a cash deposit equal to the 

estimated preliminary subsidy rates 

established for Graceful, Moyoung, and 

Ningbo Syloon in the Preliminary 

Determination. This suspension of 

liquidation will remain in effect until 

further notice. Further, as a result of the 

changes to the scope of the investigation 

in the Preliminary Scope Decision 

Memorandum, we are amending the 

scope of the investigation as published 

in the Preliminary Determination. We 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
45220 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 173 / Thursday, September 6, 2018 / Notices 

1See Rubber Bands from the People’s Republic of 

China, Sri Lanka, and Thailand: Initiation of LessThan-Fair-Value Investigations, 83 FR 8424 

(February 27, 2018) (Initiation Notice). 

2See Rubber Bands from the People’s Republic of 

China and Thailand: Postponement of Preliminary 

Determinations in the Less-Than-FairValue 

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

3See Memorandum, ‘‘Decision Memorandum for 

the Preliminary Determination in the Less-ThanFair-Value Investigation of Rubber Bands from 

Thailand,’’ 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. 

6See Greenbrier’s and Conair’s letter, ‘‘Rubber 

Bands from, Thailand, China and Sri Lanka: Scope 

Comments,’’ dated March 12, 2018; Jafferjee’s letter, 

‘‘Rubber Bands from Thailand: Scope Comments,’’ 

dated March 12, 2018; and, the petitioner’s letter, 

‘‘Petition for the Imposition of Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duties on Rubber Bands from 

Thailand and China—Rebuttal Scope Comments,’’ 

dated March 22, 2018. 

7See Memorandum, ‘‘Rubber Bands from 

Thailand: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum 

for the Preliminary Determination,’’ dated 

concurrently with this notice (Preliminary Scope 

Decision Memorandum). 

will send appropriate instructions to 

CBP to reflect these changes to the scope 

of the investigation. 

ITC Notification 

In accordance with section 703(f) of 

the Act, we will notify the ITC of this 

preliminary determination of critical 

circumstances. 

This determination is issued and 

published pursuant to sections 703(f) 

and 777(i)(1) of the Act. 

Dated: August 29, 2018. 

Christian Marsh, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement 

and Compliance. 

Appendix 

Amended 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. 

Excluded from the scope of this 

investigation are vulcanized rubber bands of 

various sizes with arrow shaped rubber 

protrusions from the outer diameter that 

exceeds at the anchor point a wall thickness 

of 0.125 inches and where the protrusion is 

used to loop around, secure and lock in 

place. 

Excluded from the scope of this 

investigation are yarn/fabric-covered 

vulcanized rubber hair bands, regardless of 

size. 

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. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19335 Filed 9–5–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–549–835] 

Rubber Bands From Thailand: 

Preliminary Affirmative Determination 

of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 

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 rubber bands from Thailand are 

being or are likely to be sold in the 

United States at less than fair value 

(LTFV). The period of investigation 

(POI) is January 1, 2017, through 

December 31, 2017. Interested parties 

are invited to comment on this 

preliminary determination. 

DATES: Applicable September 6, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laurel LaCivita or Stephanie Berger, 

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) 482–4243 or 

(202) 482–2483, respectively. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This preliminary determination is 

made in accordance with section 733(b) 

of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 

(the Act). We published the notice of 

initiation of this investigation on 

February 27, 2018.1 On June 26, 2018, 

we postponed the preliminary 

determination of this investigation. The 

revised deadline is now August 29, 

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 

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, and to all parties in the 

Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the 

main Department of 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 the 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 

Thailand. For a complete description of 

the scope of this investigation, see 

Appendix I. 

Scope Comments 

In accordance with the preamble to 

our regulations,4 the Initiation Notice 

set aside a period of time for parties to 

raise issues regarding product coverage 

(i.e., scope).5 Certain interested parties 

provided comments on the scope of the 

investigation as it appeared in the 

Initiation Notice.6 For a summary of the 

product coverage comments and 

rebuttal responses submitted to the 

record for this preliminary 

determination, and accompanying 

discussion and analysis of all comments 

timely received, see the Preliminary 

Scope Decision Memorandum.7 We are 

preliminarily modifying the scope 

language as it appeared in the Initiation 

Notice. See the revised scope in 

Appendix I to this notice. 

Methodology 

We are conducting this investigation 

in accordance with section 731 of the 

Act. We have calculated export prices in 

accordance with section 772(a) of the 

Act. Normal value (NV) 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. 


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