[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 18, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76448-76450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21224]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-007, C-533-909]


Barium Chloride From the People's Republic of China and India: 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review and 
Intent To Revoke the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders

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

SUMMARY: Based on a request from Honeywell International Inc. 
(Honeywell), the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating 
and issuing preliminary results for changed circumstances reviews 
(CCRs) of the antidumping duty (AD) order on barium chloride from the 
People's Republic of China (China) and the countervailing duty (CVD) 
order on barium chloride from India. We preliminarily determine that 
the AD order on barium chloride from China and the CVD order on barium 
chloride from India should be revoked, in their entirety. Interested 
parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable September 18, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sun Cho, AD/CVD Operations, Office V 
(China), and Harrison Tanchuck, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance 
(India), International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-6458 and (202) 482-7421, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On October 17, 1984, Commerce issued the AD order on barium 
chloride from China, and on March 7, 2023, issued the CVD order on 
barium chloride from India.\1\ On August 6 and September 5, 2024, 
Honeywell, an importer of barium chloride from China and India, 
requested that Commerce conduct expedited CCRs of the AD Order and the 
CVD Order, respectively, pursuant to section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff 
Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.216(b).\2\ Honeywell 
stated that it qualifies as an interested party pursuant to section 
771(9)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.102(b)(29)(ii) as a U.S. importer 
of barium chloride.\3\ Honeywell submitted a letter from Chemical 
Products Corporation (CPC), the only domestic producer of the subject 
merchandise and the petitioner of the underlying Orders, stating that 
it is ceasing production of the subject merchandise in the United 
States and has ``no objection to Honeywell's changed circumstances 
review request.'' \4\ In its requests, Honeywell addressed the 
conditions under which Commerce may revoke an order in whole or in part 
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.222(g).
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    \1\ See Antidumping Duty Order; Barium Chloride from the 
People's Republic of China, 49 FR 40635 (October 17, 1984) (AD 
Order); and Barium Chloride from India: Countervailing Duty Order, 
88 FR 14120 (March 7, 2023) (CVD Order) (collectively, Orders).
    \2\ See Honeywell's Letters, ``Barium Chloride from the People's 
Republic of China: Changed Circumstances Review Request,'' dated 
August 6, 2024 (AD CCR Request); and ``Barium Chloride from India: 
Changed Circumstances Review Request,'' dated September 5, 2024 (CVD 
CCR Request).
    \3\ See AD CCR Request at 2; see also CVD CCR request at 2.
    \4\ See AD CCR Request at 3 and Exhibit 1; see also CVD CCR 
request at 5 and Exhibit 4.
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Scope of the Orders

    The merchandise covered by the Orders is barium chloride, a 
chemical compound having the formulas BaC12 or BaC12-2H20, currently 
classifiable under subheading 2827.39.4500 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).\5\ Although the HTSUS subheading 
is provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope of these Orders is dispositive.
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    \5\ The scope reflects the HTSUS subheading currently in effect.
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Initiation of CCRs

    Section 751(b)(1) of the Act states that Commerce shall conduct a 
CCR upon receipt of a request from an interested party that shows 
changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order. 
Section 751(d)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.222(g)(1)(i) provide that 
Commerce may revoke an order (in whole or in part) if it determines 
that producers accounting for substantially all of the production of 
the domestic like product have expressed a lack of interest in the 
order, in whole or in part.\6\ Further, 19 CFR 351.222(g)(2) provides 
that Commerce will conduct a CCR under 19 CFR 351.216, and may revoke 
an order, in whole or in part, if

[[Page 76449]]

it determines that revocation is warranted.
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    \6\ See section 782(h) of the Act.
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    In the event that Commerce determines that ``substantially all'' 
domestic producers have expressed a lack of interest in an order, both 
the Act and Commerce's regulations grant Commerce the authority to 
revoke the order.\7\ Commerce has interpreted ``substantially all'' to 
represent producers accounting for at least 85 percent of U.S. 
production of the domestic like product.\8\ Honeywell's requests 
indicated that CPC is the sole producer of the domestic like product 
and, therefore, accounts for at least 85 percent of domestic 
production.\9\ In accordance with section 751(b)(1) of the Act, 19 CFR 
351.216(d), 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3), and 19 CFR 351.222(g), we are 
initiating these CCRs.
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    \7\ Id.; see also 19 CFR 351.222(g).
    \8\ See, e.g., Certain Cased Pencils from the People's Republic 
of China: Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent to Revoke Order in Part, 77 
FR 42276 (July 18, 2012), unchanged in Certain Cased Pencils from 
the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, and Determination To Revoke Order, in 
Part, 77 FR 53176 (August 31, 2012).
    \9\ See AD CCR Request at 2; see also CVD CCR Request at 2-3.
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    Section 751(b)(4)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(c) state that, 
``in the absence of good cause shown,'' Commerce may not review a final 
determination less than 24 months after the date of publication of the 
notice of final determination or notice of suspension of an 
investigation. The final determination in the CVD investigation of 
barium chloride from India was published on January 6, 2023.\10\ CPC 
has ceased production of the subject merchandise in the United States 
and has indicated that it has no interest in the Orders; we find that 
these facts constitute ``good cause'' for the conduct of the CCR with 
respect to the CVD Order.\11\
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    \10\ See Barium Chloride from India: Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination, 88 FR 1044 (January 6, 2023).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.216(d); see also Carbon and Certain Alloy 
Steel Wire Rod from Canada: Initiation of Countervailing Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, 68 FR 62282, 62283-84 (November 3. 
2003) (that ``no further interest . . . in continuing the order . . 
. serves as good cause'' sufficient to review a determination made 
less than 24 months after the date of publication an order).
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Preliminary Results of CCRs

    If Commerce concludes that expedited action is warranted, it may 
concurrently publish the notice of initiation and preliminary results 
of a CCR.\12\ Commerce has combined the notice of initiation and 
preliminary results in CCRs when sufficient documentation has been 
provided supporting the request to make a preliminary 
determination.\13\
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii).
    \13\ See, e.g., Multilayered Wood Flooring from the People's 
Republic of China: Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Reviews, 82 FR 9561 
(February 7, 2017), unchanged in Multilayered Wood Flooring from the 
People's Republic of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances 
Reviews, 82 FR 14691 (March 22, 2017).
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    In this instance, we determine that there is sufficient information 
on the record to support preliminary findings of changed 
circumstances.\14\ Accordingly, we find that expedited action is 
warranted, and we are combining the notice of initiation and the notice 
of preliminary results, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii).
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    \14\ See CCR Request at 4.
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    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.222(g), Commerce preliminarily 
determines that there is a reasonable basis to believe that changed 
circumstances exist sufficient to warrant revocation of the Orders. 
Therefore, Commerce is notifying the public of its preliminary intent 
to revoke the Orders in whole.

Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than 14 days 
after the date of publication of this notice.\15\ Rebuttal briefs, 
limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no later than 
three days after the due date for case briefs.\16\ 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.\17\ Furthermore, any comments submitted by parties must be 
submitted to the records of both the AD and the CVD CCRs.
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    \15\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(1)(ii) to alter the time limit for the filing of case 
briefs.
    \16\ Id.
    \17\ See 19 CFR 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 briefs that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In these CCRs, we instead request that 
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, 
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\18\ Further, 
we request that interested parties limit their public 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 results of these CCRs. We request that interested 
parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the public 
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).\19\
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    \18\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \19\ See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other 
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 
67069, 67077 (September 29, 2023).
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    All submissions, with limited exceptions, must be filed 
electronically using Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). 
ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov. An 
electronically filed document must be received successfully in its 
entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the day on which it is 
due.
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), any interested party may request a 
hearing within 14 days of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.\20\ Hearing requests should contain the following 
information: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) 
the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to be 
discussed. Oral presentations at the hearing will be limited to issues 
raised in the briefs.\21\ 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 the date and the time of the hearing two days 
before the scheduled date.
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    \20\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR 
351.310(c) to alter the time limit for requesting a hearing.
    \21\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Final Results of CCRs

    Unless extended, consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), Commerce 
intends to issue the final results of these CCRs no later than 270 days 
after the date on which this review was initiated, or within 45 days of 
publication of these preliminary results if all parties agree to the 
preliminary findings.
    If we make a final determination to revoke the Orders, we will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to discontinue the 
suspension of liquidation and the collection of cash deposits of 
estimated antidumping duties on entries of barium chloride from China 
and estimated countervailing duties on entries of

[[Page 76450]]

barium chloride from India, to liquidate all unliquidated entries that 
were entered on or after the day following the last day of the period 
covered by the most recently completed administrative review of the 
Orders, and are not already subject to automatic liquidation 
instructions, without regard to antidumping duties or countervailing 
duties, as appropriate, and to refund all antidumping duty and 
countervailing duty cash deposits on all such merchandise, with 
applicable interest.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing this initiation and preliminary 
results notice in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of the Act, 19 CFR 
351.216, 19 CFR 351.221(b) and (c)(3), and 19 CFR 351.222(f)(2)(iv).

    Dated: September 11, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2024-21224 Filed 9-17-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P