[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 234 (Thursday, December 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85230-85232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26858]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-093]


Refillable Stainless Steel Kegs From the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review; 2021-2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that certain producers and/or exporters made sales of 
refillable stainless steel kegs (kegs) at less than normal value during 
the period of review (POR) April 1, 2021, through March 31, 2022. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary results of 
this review.

DATES: Applicable December 7, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aleksandras Nakutis and Jacob Keller, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3147 and (202) 
482-4849, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On December 16, 2019, Commerce published in the Federal Register 
the AD order on kegs from China.\1\ On December 1, 2022, Commerce 
published a notice of opportunity to request an administrative review 
of the Order, covering the POR, pursuant to section 751(a)(1) of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).\2\ On February 2, 2023, based 
on timely requests for review, Commerce initiated an administrative 
review of the Order covering the POR.\3\ On March 6, 2023, Guangzhou 
Ulix Industrial & Trading Co., Ltd., (Ulix) and Guangzhou Jingye 
Machinery Co., Ltd., (Jingye) each timely filed a no-shipment 
certification (NSC) and a separate rate certification.\4\ This 
administrative review covers 41 companies.\5\
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    \1\ See Refillable Stainless Steel Kegs from the Federal 
Republic of Germany and the People's Republic of China: Antidumping 
Duty Orders, 84 FR 68405 (December 16, 2019) (Order).
    \2\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review and Join Annual Inquiry Service List, 87 FR 73752 (December 
1, 2022).
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 7060 (February 2, 2023) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \4\ See Ulix's Letter, ``Separate Rate Certification,'' dated 
March 6, 2023; see also Jingye's Letter, ``No Sales & Separate Rate 
Certification,'' dated March 6, 2023.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated September 
14, 2022.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by this Order are kegs, vessels, or 
containers with bodies that are approximately cylindrical in shape, 
made from stainless steel (i.e., steel containing at least 10.5 percent 
chromium by weight and less than 1.2 percent carbon by weight, with or 
without other elements), and that are compatible with a ``D Sankey'' 
extractor (refillable stainless steel kegs) with a nominal liquid 
volume capacity of 10 liters or more, regardless of the type of finish, 
gauge, thickness, or grade of stainless steel, and whether or not 
covered by or encased in other materials. The merchandise covered by 
the orders are currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (HTSUS) under subheadings 7310.10.0010, 
7310.10.0050, 7310.29.0025, and 7310.29.0050. These HTSUS subheadings 
are provided for convenience and customs purposes; the written 
description of the scope of the orders is dispositive. A full 
description of the scope of the Order is provided in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\6\
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of Refillable 
Stainless Steel Kegs from the People's Republic of China; 2021-
2022,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Preliminary Results and Referral to U.S. Customs and Border Protection

    Based on record information, Commerce preliminarily determine that 
all 41 companies subject to this administrative review are a part of 
the China-wide entity.\7\ Regarding Jingye and Ulix's NSCs, we 
preliminarily determine these responses to be unreliable and that use 
of facts otherwise available with an adverse inference is warranted, 
pursuant to sections 776(a)-(b) of the Act, to determine that Jingye 
and Ulix have not substantiated their NSCs. Moreover, for reasons 
discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce is 
preliminarily treating Jingye and Ulix as part of the China-wide entity 
and Commerce is referring its preliminary findings to U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) to investigate evasion of the Order.
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    \7\ See Appendix II.
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China-Wide Entity

    Under Commerce's policy regarding the conditional review of the 
China-wide entity,\8\ the China-wide entity will not be under review 
unless a party specifically requests, or Commerce self-initiates, a 
review of the entity. Because no party requested a review of the China-
wide entity in this review, the entity is not under review, and the 
entity's rate (i.e., 77.13 percent) is not subject to change.\9\ 
Commerce considers the 41 companies for which a review was requested 
(which did not file a separate rate application or did not demonstrate 
separate rate eligibility) listed in Appendix II to this notice, to be 
part of the China-wide entity.\10\
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    \8\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Announcement of Change in 
Department Practice for Respondent Selection in Antidumping Duty 
Proceedings and Conditional Review of the Nonmarket Economy Entity 
in NME Antidumping Duty Proceedings, 78 FR 65963 (November 4, 2013).
    \9\ See Order.
    \10\ See Initiation Notice (``All firms listed below that wish 
to qualify for separate rate status in the administrative reviews 
involving NME countries must complete, as appropriate, either a 
separate rate application or certification, as described below.''); 
see also Appendix II for the list of companies that are subject to 
this administrative review that are considered to be part of the 
China-wide entity.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(B) of the Act. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A 
list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as Appendix I 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

[[Page 85231]]

version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be found at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Public Comment

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case 
briefs no 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 not later than five days after the date for filing case 
briefs.\11\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal 
briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing 
each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\12\
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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective 
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 
2023) (APO and Service Final Rule).
    \12\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an 
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In this review, we instead request that 
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, 
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\13\ Further, 
we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of 
each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We 
intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment 
summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will 
accompany the final determination in this review. We request that 
interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the 
executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain 
of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 
351.303(f).\14\
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    \13\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \14\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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    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 publication of this notice. Requests should contain the 
party's name, address, 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.
    Unless the deadline is extended, Commerce intends to issue the 
final results of this review, including the results of its analysis of 
the issues raised in any written briefs, no later than 120 days after 
the date of publication of this notice, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h).

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuing the final results, Commerce will determine, and CBP 
shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered by 
this review.\15\ If the preliminary results are unchanged for the final 
results, we will instruct CBP to apply an ad valorem assessment rate of 
77.13 percent to all entries of subject merchandise during the POR 
which were exported by the companies considered to be a part of the 
China-wide entity listed in Appendix II of this notice.
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    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
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    Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier 
than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results of this 
review in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at the 
U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will 
direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties 
to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within 
90 days of publication).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this review for shipments of the 
subject merchandise from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after the publication date, as provided by 
section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) for all Chinese exporters of 
subject merchandise that have not been found to be entitled to a 
separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be that for the China-wide 
entity; and (2) for all non-Chinese exporters of subject merchandise 
which have not received their own rate, the cash deposit rate will be 
the rate applicable to the Chinese exporter that supplied that non-
Chinese exporter. These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

    This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping and/or countervailing duties 
prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during the POR. Failure to 
comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption 
that reimbursement of antidumping and/or countervailing duties occurred 
and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties, and/or an 
increase in the amount of antidumping duties by the amount of the 
countervailing duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    Commerce is issuing and publishing the preliminary results of this 
review in accordance with sections 751(a)(1)(B), 751(a)(3) and 777(i) 
of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.213(d)(4) and 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: November 30, 2023.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. No-Shipment Certifications and Referral to CBP of Evasion
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Recommendation

Appendix II

Companies Considered To Be Part of the China-Wide Entity

1. Dalian Yonghseng Metal Structure Co., Ltd. d/b/a DYM Brewing 
Solutions
2. Equipmentimes (Dalian) E-Commerce Co., Ltd.
3. Guangzhou Jingye Machinery Co., Ltd.
4. Guangzhou Ulix Industrial & Trading Co., Ltd.
5. Jinan Chenji International Trade Co., Ltd.
6. Jinan Chenji Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.
7. Jinan HaoLu Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.
8. Jinjiang Jiaxing Import and Export Co., Ltd.
9. NDL Keg Qingdao Inc.
10. Ningbo All In Brew Technology Co.
11. Ningbo BestFriends Beverage Containers Industry Co., Ltd.
12. Ningbo Chance International Trade Co., Ltd.
13. Ningbo Direct Import & Export Co., Ltd.
14. Ningbo Haishu Direct Import and Export Trade Co., Ltd.
15. Ningbo Haishu Xiangsheng Metal Factory
16. Ningbo Hefeng Container Manufacturer Co., Ltd.
17. Ningbo Hefeng Kitchen Utensils Manufacture Co., Ltd.
18. Ningbo HGM Food Machinery Co., Ltd.
19. Ningbo Jiangbei Bei Fu Industry and Trade Co., Ltd.
20. Ningbo Kegco International Trade Co., Ltd.

[[Page 85232]]

21. Ningbo Kegstorm Stainless Steel Co., Ltd.
22. Ningbo Minke Import & Export Co., Ltd.
23. Ningbo Sanfino Import & Export Co., Ltd.
24. Ningbo Shimaotong International Co., Ltd.
25. Ningbo Sunburst International Trading Co., Ltd.
26. Orient Equipment (Taizhou) Co., Ltd.
27. Penglai Jinfu Stainless Steel Products.
28. Pera Industry Shanghai Co., Ltd.
29. Qingdao Henka Precision Technology Co., Ltd.
30. Qingdao Xinhe Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
31. Rain Star International Trading Dalian Co., Ltd.
32. Shandong Meto Beer Equipment Co., Ltd.
33. Shandong Tiantai Beer Equipment Co., Ltd.
34. Shandong Tonsen Equipment Co., Ltd.
35. Shandong Yuesheng Beer Equipment Co., Ltd.
36. Shenzhen Wellbom Technology Co., Ltd.
37. Sino Dragon Group, Ltd.
38. Wenzhou Deli Machinery Equipment Co.
39. Wuxi Taihu Lamps and Lanterns Co., Ltd.
40. Yantai Toptech Ltd.
41. Yantai Trano New Material Co., Ltd., d/b/a Trano Keg, d/b/a SS 
Keg.

[FR Doc. 2023-26858 Filed 12-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P