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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89599-89600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26261]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-357-818]

Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Lemon 
Juice From Argentina; Preliminary Results of 2022-2023 Administrative 
Review

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that the respondents selected for individual examination, 
Argenti Lemon S.A. (Argenti Lemon), Citromax S.A.C.I (Citromax), and SA 
San Miguel A.G.I.C.I. y F (San Miguel), complied with the 2016 
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Lemon Juice 
from Argentina (2016 Agreement), for the period of review (POR) October 
1, 2022, through September 31, 2023. Commerce also preliminarily 
determines that the 2016 Agreement met the statutory requirements under 
sections 734(c) and (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) 
during the POR.

DATES: Applicable November 13, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Buckles, Enforcement & 
Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, telephone: 
(202) 482-6230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On October 20, 2016, Commerce signed an agreement under section 
734(c) of the Act, with representatives of Argentine lemon juice 
producers/exporters accounting for substantially all imports of lemon 
juice from Argentina, suspending the antidumping duty (AD) 
investigation on lemon juice from Argentina.\1\
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    \1\ See Lemon Juice from Argentina: Continuation of Suspension 
of Antidumping Investigation, 81 FR 74395 (October 26, 2016) (2016 
Agreement).
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    On October 30, 2023, Ventura Coastal, LLC (petitioner) filed a 
request for an administrative review of the 2016 Agreement.\2\ Commerce 
published a notice of its initiation of the administrative review of 
the 2016 Agreement on December 6, 2023.\3\ On January 23, 2024, 
Commerce selected three companies as mandatory respondents, listed in 
alphabetical order: Argenti Lemon, Citromax, and San Miguel.\4\
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    \2\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated October 30, 2023.
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 84784 (December 6, 2023).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated January 23, 
2024 (Respondent Selection Memorandum).
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    On May 30, 2024, Commerce extended the deadline for completing the 
preliminary results of this review until October 30, 2024.\5\ On July 
22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative 
proceeding by seven days.\6\ The deadline for the preliminary results 
is now November 6, 2024. For a complete description of the events 
between the

[[Page 89600]]

initiation of this review and these preliminary results, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\7\
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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of the 2023-2024 Administrative Review of the 2016 Agreement 
Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Lemon Juice from 
Argentina,'' dated May 30, 2023.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the 2022-2023 Administrative Review: Lemon Juice from 
Argentina,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the 2016 Agreement

    Merchandise covered by the 2016 Agreement is typically classified 
under the following subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of 
the United States (HTSUS), according to the season of importation: 
2009.39.6020, 2009.31.6020, 2009.31.4000, 2009.31.6040, and 
2009.39.6040. The tariff classifications are provided for convenience 
and customs purposes; however, the written description of the scope of 
this 2016 Agreement is dispositive. For a complete description of the 
scope of the 2016 Agreement, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Methodology and Preliminary Results

    Commerce has conducted this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(C) of the Act, which specifies that Commerce shall ``review 
the current status of, and compliance with, any agreement by reason of 
which an investigation was suspended.'' In this case, Commerce and 
representatives of the Argentine lemon juice producers/exporters 
accounting for substantially all imports of lemon juice from Argentina 
signed the 2016 Agreement, which suspended the underlying antidumping 
duty investigation, on October 20, 2016. Pursuant to the 2016 
Agreement, the Argentine signatories agreed to sell subject merchandise 
at or above certain minimum reference prices, and that their pricing 
would eliminate at least 85 percent of the dumping determined in the AD 
investigation.\8\ The Argentine signatories also agreed to provide 
documentation upon request from Commerce,\9\ provide certifications 
each quarter,\10\ and provide Argentine customs data each quarter \11\ 
to allow Commerce to monitor the 2016 Agreement.
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    \8\ See 2016 Agreement at Section VI and Appendix I.
    \9\ Id. at Sections VII.B.1, VII.B.2, and VII.B.4.
    \10\ Id. at Section VII.C.3.
    \11\ Id. at Section VII.A.3.
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    After reviewing the information received from the mandatory 
respondents in their initial and supplemental questionnaire responses, 
we preliminarily determine that the mandatory respondents complied with 
the requirements of the 2016 Agreement during the POR. Additionally, we 
preliminarily determine that the 2016 Agreement functioned as intended 
and that the 2016 Agreement continued to meet the statutory 
requirements under sections 734(c) and (d) of the Act during the POR.
    For a full description of the analysis underlying our conclusions, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as an appendix 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.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(3) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than seven days 
after the date on which the last verification report is issued in this 
administrative review.\12\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in 
case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the date 
for filing case briefs.\13\ 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.\14\
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \13\ 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).
    \14\ 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 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.\15\ 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 public executive summaries as the basis of the 
comment summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that 
will accompany the final results in this administrative 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).\16\
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    \15\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \16\ 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, filed electronically via ACCESS. Requests 
should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; 
(2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of issues to be 
discussed. An electronically filed hearing request must be received 
successfully in its entirety by Commerce's electronic records system, 
ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice.

Final Results of Review

    Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of its analysis of the issues raised in 
any written briefs, not later than 120 days after the date of 
publication of this notice, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the 
Act, unless extended.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: November 6, 2024.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the 2016 Agreement
IV. Preliminary Results of Review
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-26261 Filed 11-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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