[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79250-79252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22157]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-881]


Aluminum Lithographic Printing Plates From Japan: Final 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair-Value

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
aluminum lithographic printing plates (printing plates) from Japan are 
being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair 
value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2022, 
through June 30, 2023.

DATES: Applicable September 27, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caroline Carroll, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office IX, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4948.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On May 1, 2024, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
Preliminary Determination in this investigation and invited interested 
parties to comment.\1\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain 
deadlines in this investigation by seven days.\2\ The deadline for the 
final determination is now September 20, 2024. For a complete 
description of the events that occurred since the Preliminary 
Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\3\ The Issues 
and 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 Issues and Decision Memorandum can 
be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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    \1\ See Aluminum Lithographic Printing Plates from Japan: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of 
Provisional Measures, 89 FR 35065 (May 1, 2024) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
(PDM).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Aluminum Lithographic Printing Plates from Japan,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the scope of this investigation is 
printing plates from Japan. For a complete description of the scope of 
this investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    We received no comments from interested parties on the scope of the 
investigation as it appeared in the Preliminary Determination. 
Therefore,

[[Page 79251]]

we made no changes to the scope of the investigation.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), in May 2024, Commerce conducted on-site verifications of the 
data reported by Fujifilm and its U.S. affiliate, Fujifilm North 
America Corporation, using standard verification procedures.\4\
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    \4\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Sales Response of 
Fujifilm Corporation,'' dated July 17, 2024; ``Verification of the 
U.S. Sales Response of Fujifilm North America Corporation,'' dated 
July 18, 2024; and ``Verification of the Cost Response of Fujifilm 
Corporation,'' dated August 7, 2024.
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Analysis of Comments Received

    The issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by the parties in 
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. 
For a list of the issues raised by interested parties and addressed in 
the Issues and Decision Memorandum, see Appendix II.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our review and analysis of the information at verification 
and comments received from interested parties, we made certain changes 
to the margin calculations for Fujifilm. For a discussion of these 
changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    As discussed in the Preliminary Determination, Commerce assigned to 
one of the mandatory respondents in this investigation, Miraclon 
Corporation Ltd. (Miraclon), an estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin on the basis of adverse facts available (AFA), pursuant to 
sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, because it failed to cooperate by 
not acting to the best of its ability to comply with Commerce's 
requests for information.\5\ As discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum, we find no basis to change our decision in the Preliminary 
Determination to apply AFA to Miraclon. As AFA, we continue to apply 
the highest transactions specific margin calculated for Fujifilm (i.e., 
160.11 percent) because it is a rate derived from information submitted 
on the record and is sufficiently adverse to ensure that the 
uncooperative party does not obtain a more favorable result by failing 
to cooperate than if it had fully cooperated.\6\
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    \5\ See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR at 35065.
    \6\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 6.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters 
not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
individually investigated exporters and producers, excluding rates that 
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act.
    In this investigation, Commerce assigned a rate based entirely on 
facts available to Miraclon. Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, 
de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate 
calculated for Fujifilm. Consequently, the rate calculated for Fujifilm 
is also assigned as the rate for all other producers and/or exporters.

Final Determination

    The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are listed 
below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
                                                              average
                    Exporter/producer                     dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Fujifilm Corporation; Fujifilm Shizuoka Co., Ltd........           91.83
Miraclon Corporation Ltd................................        * 160.11
All Others..............................................           91.83
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Rate is based on AFA.

Disclosure

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

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all entries of aluminum lithographic printing 
plates, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered 
or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after May 1, 2024, 
the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination of this 
investigation in the Federal Register.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), upon the publication of this notice, we will instruct CBP 
to require a cash deposit for estimated antidumping duties for such 
entries as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents 
listed in the table above will be equal to the company-specific 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin determined in this final 
determination; (2) if the exporter is not the respondent listed in the 
table above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be 
equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
listed for the 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 listed in the 
table above. These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain 
in effect until further notice.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this 
investigation is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of 
the Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured or 
threatened with material injury by reason of imports of printing plates 
from Japan no later than 45 days after our final determination. If the 
ITC determines that such injury does not exist, this proceeding will be 
terminated, all cash deposits posted will be refunded, and suspension 
of liquidation will be lifted. If the ITC determines that such injury 
does exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP 
to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on 
all imports of the subject merchandise entered or withdrawn from 
warehouse for consumption on or after the effective date of the 
suspension of liquidation, as discussed in the ``Continuation of 
Suspension of Liquidation'' section.

Administrative Protective Order

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 
written notification of the return or destruction of APO materials, or 
conversion to judicial protective order, is hereby requested. Failure 
to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO is a violation which 
is subject to sanction.

[[Page 79252]]

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: September 20, 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.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is aluminum 
lithographic printing plates. Aluminum lithographic printing plates 
consist of a flat substrate containing at least 90 percent aluminum. 
The aluminum-containing substrate is generally treated using a 
mechanical, electrochemical, or chemical graining process, which is 
followed by one or more anodizing treatments that form a hydrophilic 
layer on the aluminum-containing substrate. An image-recording, 
oleophilic layer that is sensitive to light, including but not 
limited to ultra-violet, visible, or infrared, is dispersed in a 
polymeric binder material that is applied on top of the hydrophilic 
layer, generally on one side of the aluminum lithographic printing 
plate. The oleophilic light-sensitive layer is capable of capturing 
an image that is transferred onto the plate by either light or heat. 
The image applied to an aluminum lithographic printing plate 
facilitates the production of newspapers, magazines, books, 
yearbooks, coupons, packaging, and other printed materials through 
an offset printing process, where an aluminum lithographic printing 
plate facilitates the transfer of an image onto the printed media. 
Aluminum lithographic printing plates within the scope of this 
investigation include all aluminum lithographic printing plates, 
irrespective of the dimensions or thickness of the underlying 
aluminum substrate, whether the plate requires processing after an 
image is applied to the plate, whether the plate is ready to be 
mounted to a press and used in printing operations immediately after 
an image is applied to the plate, or whether the plate has been 
exposed to light or heat to create an image on the plate or remains 
unexposed and is free of any image.
    Subject merchandise also includes aluminum lithographic printing 
plates produced from an aluminum sheet coil that has been coated 
with a light-sensitive image-recording layer in a subject country 
and that is subsequently unwound and cut to the final dimensions to 
produce a finished plate in a third country (including the United 
States), or exposed to light or heat to create an image on the plate 
in a third country (including in a foreign trade zone within the 
United States).
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are lithographic 
printing plates manufactured using a substrate produced from a 
material other than aluminum, such as rubber or plastic.
    Aluminum lithographic printing plates are currently classifiable 
under Harmonized Tariff of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 
3701.30.0000 and 3701.99.6060. Further, merchandise that falls 
within the scope of this investigation may also be entered into the 
United States under HTSUS subheadings 3701.99.3000 and 8442.50.1000. 
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this 
investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Whether Miraclon Corporation Ltd. (Miraclon) Made 
Sales of Subject Merchandise During the POI
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce Should Offset Fujifilm's Reported 
U.S. Freight Expenses by its Reported Freight Revenue
    Comment 3: Whether the Price Used to Calculate Fujifilm's U.S. 
Credit Expenses should Exclude Price Adjustments
    Comment 4: Whether the Price Used to Calculate Fujifilm's U.S. 
Indirect Selling Expenses (INDIRS1U, INDIRS2U, INDIRS3U) Should 
Exclude Price Adjustments
    Comment 5: Whether Fujifilm's Revenues from the Sale of Aluminum 
Scrap Should Offset Repacking and Resizing Costs
    Comment 6: Whether Commerce Should Grant Fujifilm a Constructed 
Export Price (CEP) Offset
    Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Apply Adverse Facts Available 
(AFA) for Fujifilm's Failure to Submit Downstream Home Market Sales 
for One Home Market Affiliate
    Comment 8: Whether Fujifilm's Allocation of Warehouse and Other 
U.S. Transportation Expenses is Distortive
    Comment 9: Whether to Include Fujifilm's Home Market Quantity 
Discount Program Discovered at Verification
    Comment 10: Whether Commerce Should Include the Net Hedging 
Expenses Recorded in Fujifilm's Audited Financial Statements as Part 
of Fujifilm's Interest Expenses
    Comment 11: Whether Commerce Should Revise the General and 
Administrative (G&A) Expense Ratio to Incorporate Missing Expenses
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-22157 Filed 9-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P