[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 325-328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28937]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-555-002]


Certain Paper Shopping Bags From Cambodia: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that certain paper shopping bags (paper bags) from Cambodia 
are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than 
fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2022, 
through March 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on 
this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable January 3, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Doss or Kyle Clahane, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade

[[Page 326]]

Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4474 or (202) 482-5449, 
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). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on June 27, 
2023.\1\ On October 3, 2023, Commerce postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation until December 27, 2023.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Cambodia, the People's 
Republic of China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, the 
Republic of Turkey, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 88 FR 41589 (June 
27, 2023) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Cambodia, the People's 
Republic of China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, the 
Republic of Turkey, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 
Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigations, 88 FR 68097 (October 3, 2023).
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    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.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Certain Paper Shopping Bags from Cambodia,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain paper bags 
from Cambodia. 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\ in 
the Initiation Notice, Commerce set aside a period of time for parties 
to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain 
interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it 
appeared in the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product 
coverage comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for 
this investigation and accompanying discussion and analysis of all 
comments timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum.\6\ As discussed in the Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum, Commerce preliminarily modified the scope language as it 
appeared in the Initiation Notice. In the Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum, Commerce established the deadline for parties to submit 
scope case and rebuttal briefs.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice, 88 FR at 41590.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' 
dated concurrently with this notice (Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum).
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Normal value is calculated 
in accordance with section 773 of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to 
sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce preliminarily relied upon 
facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences for Pan Pacific 
Plastics Manufacturing, Inc. (Pan Pacific). For a full description of 
the methodology underlying the preliminary determination, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

    In accordance with section 733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206(c), 
Commerce preliminarily determines that critical circumstances do not 
exist with respect to imports of paper bags from Cambodia for Nice 
Packaging (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. (Nice) and for all other producers and 
exporters, but do exist with respect to imports of paper bags from Pan 
Pacific. For a full description of the methodology and results of 
Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that 
in the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero 
and de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under 
section 776 of the Act.
    Commerce calculated an individual estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for Nice. As explained in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum, Commerce has preliminarily determined that, under section 
772(a) of the Act, UUPak Company Limited (UUPak) did not have any 
reviewable sales during the POI and, as such, has not calculated a 
preliminary margin for UUPak.\7\ As a result, because we have only 
calculated one margin and that margin is not zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts otherwise available, the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin calculated for Nice is the margin assigned to UUPak and 
all other producers and exporters, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of 
the Act.
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    \7\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at the section titled, 
``Treatment of UUPak's Sales.''
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Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                      Producer/exporter                         dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nice Packaging (Cambodia) Co., Ltd..........................       10.05
UUPak Company Limited.......................................       10.05
Pan Pacific Plastics Manufacturing, Inc.....................      248.81
All Others..................................................       10.05
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(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 Appendix I, entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative 
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation 
shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of: (a) 
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of 
liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the date on which notice of 
initiation of the investigation was published. Commerce preliminarily 
finds that critical circumstances exist

[[Page 327]]

for imports of subject merchandise produced or exported by Pan Pacific. 
In accordance with section 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of 
liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of shipments of subject 
merchandise from the producer/exporter identified in this paragraph 
that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the date which is 90 days before the publication of this notice.
    Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal 
to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the estimated all-
others rate, as follows: (1) the cash deposit rates for the respondents 
listed above will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-
average dumping margins calculated in this preliminary determination; 
(2) if the exporter is not a respondent identified above, but the 
producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-
specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that 
producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for 
all other producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin. These suspension of 
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with this preliminary determination within five 
days of its public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, 
within five days of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    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 final verification report is issued in 
this investigation.\8\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in 
case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the 
deadline date for case briefs.\9\ 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.\10\
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    \8\ Case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted in response to 
this preliminary LTFV determination should not include scope-related 
issues. See Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
    \10\ 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).
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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 investigation, we instead request 
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a 
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\11\ 
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 investigation. 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).\12\
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    \11\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \12\ See APO and Final Service 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 date of publication of this notice. 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 a date and time to be 
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and 
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), Commerce requires 
that requests by exporters for postponement of a final determination be 
accompanied by a request for extension of provisional measures from a 
four-month period to a period not more than six months in duration.
    On November 17, 2023, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Nice, 
requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and that 
provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six 
months.\13\ On November 21, 2023, the Coalition For Fair Trade in 
Shopping Bags (the petitioner) requested that Commerce postpone the 
final determination in the event of a negative preliminary 
determination.\14\ In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act 
and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) the preliminary 
determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter accounts for 
a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) 
no compelling reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the 
final determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-
month period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, 
Commerce will make its final determination no later than 135 days after 
the date of publication of this preliminary determination.
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    \13\ See Nice's Letter, ``Request to Extend Final Results,'' 
dated November 17, 2023.
    \14\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitioner's Request For 
Postponement Of The Final Determinations,'' dated November 21, 2023.
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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination of sales at LTFV. 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

[[Page 328]]

whether imports of the subject merchandise 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 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: December 27, 2023.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy 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:
    <bullet> 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;
    <bullet> Paper sacks or bags with die-cut handles, a grams per 
square meter paper weight of less than 86 GSM, and a height of less 
than 11.5 inches; and
    <bullet> Paper sacks or bags (i) with non-paper handles made 
wholly of woven ribbon or other similar woven fabric \15\ 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.
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    \15\ Paper sacks or bags with handles made of braided or twisted 
materials, such as rope or cord, do not qualify for this exclusion.
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    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. Period of Investigation
IV. Affiliation
V. Use of Facts Available With Adverse Inference
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
VII. Critical Circumstances
VIII. Currency Conversion
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2023-28937 Filed 1-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P