[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 208 (Monday, October 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85508-85510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24958]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-331-805]


Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Ecuador: Final Negative 
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 
imports of frozen warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from Ecuador are not being, 
or not likely to be, sold in the United

[[Page 85509]]

States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period of investigation 
(POI) October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023.

DATES: Applicable October 28, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle Clahane or Matthew Palmer, 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) 482-5449 or (202) 482-1678, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 30, 2024, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of 
shrimp from Ecuador.\1\ We invited interested parties to comment on the 
Preliminary Determination.\2\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain 
deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven days.\3\ The 
deadline for the final determination of this investigation is now 
October 21, 2024.
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    \1\ See Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 89 FR 46857 (May 30, 2024) (Preliminary Determination), 
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ Id. 89 FR at 46859.
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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    A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues 
raised by parties for this final determination, may be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\4\ 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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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value in 
the Investigation of Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador,'' 
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues 
and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is shrimp from Ecuador. 
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, we made no changes to the scope of the investigation.

Verification

    Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verifications of the 
information relied on in making its final determination in this 
investigation. However, in August 2024, we took additional steps in 
lieu of on-site verifications to verify the information relied upon in 
making this final determination, in accordance with section 782(i) of 
the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), by conducting virtual 
verifications of Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila S.A. (Santa 
Priscila) and Sociedad Nacional de Gal[aacute]pagos C.A. (SONGA).\5\
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    \5\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Cost Response of 
Sociedad Nacional de Galapagos C.A. in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador,'' dated 
September 20, 2024 (SONGA's Cost Verification Report); ``Sales 
Verification of Sociedad Nacional de Gal[aacute]pagos C.A,'' dated 
August 27, 2024 (SONGA's Sales Verification Report) (collectively, 
SONGA's Verification Reports); ``Verification of the Cost Response 
of Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Frozen warm Water Shrimp from Ecuador,'' dated 
September 18, 2024 (Santa Priscila's Cost Verification Report); and 
``Sales Verification of Industrial Santa Priscila,'' dated September 
19, 2024 (Santa Priscila's Sales Verification Report) (collectively, 
Santa Priscila's Verification Reports).
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs submitted by 
interested parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice as Appendix II.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    We made certain changes regarding Santa Priscila and SONGA's 
reported sales and cost data since the Preliminary Determination. For a 
discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Final Determination

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Weighted-average dumping
             Exporter/Producer                     margin (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sociedad Nacional de Gal[aacute]pagos C.A./  0.00.
 Marina del Rey.
Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila S.A./     0.48 (de minimis).
 Tropical Packing Ecuador Tropack S.A.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Consistent with section 735(c) of the Act, Commerce has not 
calculated an estimated weighted-average dumping margin for all other 
producers and exporters because it has not made an affirmative final 
determination of sales at LTFV.

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 
notice in the Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Suspension of Liquidation

    Because Commerce has made a negative final determination of sales 
at LTFV with regard to subject merchandise, Commerce will not direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation or to require 
a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties for entries of shrimp 
from Ecuador.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission of this final negative 
determination of sales at LTFV. As our final determination is negative, 
this proceeding is terminated in accordance with section 735(c)(2) of 
the Act.

Administrative Protective Order

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of

[[Page 85510]]

their responsibility concerning the disposition 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 sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

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

    Dated: October 21, 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 scope of this investigation includes certain frozen 
warmwater shrimp and prawns whether wild-caught (ocean harvested) or 
farm-raised (produced by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, shell-on 
or peeled, tail-on or tail-off, deveined or not deveined, cooked or 
raw, or otherwise processed in frozen form. ``Tails'' in this 
context means the tail fan, which includes the telson and the 
uropods.
    The frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products included in the 
scope, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (HTSUS), are products which are processed from 
warmwater shrimp and prawns through freezing and which are sold in 
any count size.
    The products described above may be processed from any species 
of warmwater shrimp and prawns. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are 
generally classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae 
family. Some examples of the farmed and wild-caught warmwater 
species include, but are not limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus 
vannemei), banana prawn (Penaeus merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus 
chinensis), giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant 
tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), redspotted shrimp (Penaeus 
brasiliensis), southern brown shrimp (Penaeus subtilis), southern 
pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus 
curvirostris), southern white shrimp (Penaeus schmitti), blue shrimp 
(Penaeus stylirostris), western white shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis), 
and Indian white prawn (Penaeus indicus).
    Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed with marinade, spices 
or sauce are included in the scope. In addition, food preparations, 
which are not ``prepared meals,'' that contain more than 20 percent 
by weight of shrimp or prawn are also included in the scope.
    Excluded from the scope are: (1) breaded shrimp and prawns 
(HTSUS subheading 1605.21.1020); (2) shrimp and prawns generally 
classified in the Pandalidae family and commonly referred to as 
coldwater shrimp, in any state of processing; (3) fresh shrimp and 
prawns whether shell-on or peeled (HTSUS subheadings 0306.36.0020 
and 0306.36.0040); (4) shrimp and prawns in prepared meals (HTSUS 
subheadings 1605.21.0500 and 1605.29.0500); (5) dried shrimp and 
prawns; (6) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns (HTSUS subheading 
1605.29.1040); and (7) certain battered shrimp. Battered shrimp is a 
shrimp-based product: (1) that is produced from fresh (or thawed-
from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; (2) to which a ``dusting'' layer of 
rice or wheat flour of at least 95 percent purity has been applied; 
(3) with the entire surface of the shrimp flesh thoroughly and 
evenly coated with the flour; (4) with the non-shrimp content of the 
end product constituting between four and ten percent of the 
product's total weight after being dusted, but prior to being 
frozen; and (5) that is subjected to individually quick frozen (IQF) 
freezing immediately after application of the dusting layer. When 
dusted in accordance with the definition of dusting above, the 
battered shrimp product is also coated with a wet viscous layer 
containing egg and/or milk, and par-fried.
    The products covered by the scope are currently classified under 
the following HTSUS subheadings: 0306.17.0004, 0306.17.0005, 
0306.17.0007, 0306.17.0008, 0306.17.0010, 0306.17.0011, 
0306.17.0013, 0306.17.0014, 0306.17.0016, 0306.17.0017, 
0306.17.0019, 0306.17.0020, 0306.17.0022, 0306.17.0023, 
0306.17.0025, 0306.17.0026, 0306.17.0028, 0306.17.0029, 
0306.17.0041, 0306.17.0042, 1605.21.1030, and 1605.29.1010. These 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and for customs 
purposes only and are not dispositive, but rather the written 
description of the scope 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 Commerce Should Revise SONGA's Cost 
Adjustment for Its Purchases of Raw Shrimp From Affiliated Suppliers
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce Should Recalculate SONGA's Reported 
Financial Expenses
    Comment 3: Whether Revisions are Warranted to SONGA's Reported 
Indirect Selling Expenses
    Comment 4: Whether Commerce Should Continue To Offset G&A 
Expenses by the Amount of Scrap Sales Revenue
    Comment 5: Whether Commerce Should Revise SONGA's Per-Unit Costs 
for the Additional Wrapping and Finger-Laying Processes
    Comment 6: Whether Commerce Should Compare U.S. Sales of Broken 
Shrimp to Constructed Value
    Comment 7: Treatment of Clerical Errors in SONGA's Preliminary 
Margin Calculation
    Comment 8: Inclusion of SONGA's Revised Sales and Cost Databases
    Comment 9: Treatment of SONGA's Reported U.S. Customs Duty and 
Brokerage and Handling Expenses
    Comment 10: Treatment of Export Subsidies for Santa Priscila and 
SONGA
    Comment 11: Whether Commerce Should Apply Adverse Facts 
Available (AFA) to Santa Priscila for its Misrepresentation of its 
Payment Dates and its Failure To Report All Expenses
    Comment 12: Whether Commerce Should Apply AFA to Santa 
Priscila's Credit Expenses, Other Discounts and Bank Charges.
    Comment 13: Whether Commerce Should Apply the Market Price 
Adjustment to all Santa Priscila Raw Shrimp Purchases
    Comment 14: Whether Commerce Should Reject Santa Priscila's 
Claimed Scrap Offset
    Comment 15: Treatment of Santa Priscila's Return Expenses
    Comment 16: Whether Commerce Should Incorporate Santa Priscila's 
Cost Verification Minor Corrections
    Comment 17: Treatment of Clerical Errors in Santa Priscila's 
Preliminary Margin Calculation
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-24958 Filed 10-25-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P