[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3772-3774]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01339]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-899]


Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From India: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports 
of granular polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin from India are being, 
or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV).

DATES: Applicable January 25, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexis Cherry or Katherine Johnson, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0607 
or (202) 482-4929, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On September 2, 2021, Commerce published its preliminary 
determination in the LTFV investigation of granular PTFE resin from 
India, in which we also postponed the final determination until January 
18, 2022.\1\ For a complete description of the events that followed the 
Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\ 
The

[[Page 3773]]

Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made 
available to the public via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). 
ACCESS is available to registered users at http://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 Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of 
Provisional Measures, 86 FR 49299 (September 2, 2021) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from 
India,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is January 1, 2020, through December 
31, 2020.

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is granular PTFE resin 
from India. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    No interested party commented on the scope of the investigation as 
it appeared in the Preliminary Determination. Therefore, no changes 
were made to the scope of the investigation.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by 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 to this notice.

Verification

    Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verification of the 
information relied upon in making its final determination in this 
investigation. However, we took additional steps in lieu of an on-site 
verification 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).\3\
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    \3\ See Commerce's Letter, ``In Lieu of On-Site Verification 
Questionnaire,'' dated September 14, 2021; see also GFCL's Letter, 
``Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited's Response to Questionnaire In-
Lieu of On-Site Verification,'' dated September 22, 2021.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    In accordance with section 733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, 
Commerce preliminarily determined that critical circumstances exist for 
Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited (GFCL) and for all other producers and 
exporters.\4\ Commerce did not receive any comments in response to its 
preliminary determination with respect to critical circumstances. Based 
on our preliminary analysis, we continue to find that critical 
circumstances exist in the final determination.
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    \4\ For a full description of the methodology and results of 
Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, see Preliminary 
Determination Memorandum at 13-16.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on the comments received from interested parties and record 
information, we made no changes to our preliminary weighted-average 
dumping margin calculations for GFCL.

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 
exporters and producers individually investigated excluding rates that 
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act. Commerce calculated an individual estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for GFCL, the only individually examined exporter/
producer in this investigation. Because the only individually 
calculated dumping margin is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on 
facts otherwise available, the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin calculated for GFCL is the margin assigned to all other 
producers and exporters, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Determination

    The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Estimated     Cash deposit
                                             weighted-    rate (Adjusted
            Exporter/producer                 average       for Subsidy
                                          dumping margin     Offsets)
                                             (percent)       (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited.........           13.09           10.01
All Others..............................           13.09           10.01
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    Normally, Commerce discloses to the parties in a proceeding the 
calculations that it performed in connection with the final 
determination in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because we 
made no changes to our preliminary weighted-average dumping margin 
calculations for GFCL, there are no calculations to disclose for this 
final determination.

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 appropriate entries of granular PTFE resin 
from India, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which are 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
September 2, 2021, the date of publication in the Federal Register of 
the affirmative Preliminary Determination.
    Section 735(c)(4) of the Act provides that if there is 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. As noted 
above, Commerce finds that critical circumstances exist for imports of 
subject merchandise

[[Page 3774]]

produced and/or exported by GFCL and by all other producers and 
exporters. Therefore, in accordance with section 735(c)(4) of the Act, 
suspension of liquidation shall continue to apply to unliquidated 
entries of subject merchandise produced and/or exported by GFCL and by 
all other producers and exporters that were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date which is 90 days before 
the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal 
Register.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), we will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin as follows: (1) The cash 
deposit rate for the respondent listed above will be equal to the 
respondent-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
determined in this final 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 respondent-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.
    In the event that a countervailing duty (CVD) order is issued, and 
suspension of liquidation is resumed in the companion CVD investigation 
on granular PTFE resin from India, Commerce will instruct CBP to 
require cash deposits adjusted by the amount of export subsidies, as 
appropriate. These adjustments are reflected in the final column of the 
rate chart, above. Until such suspension of liquidation is resumed in 
the companion CVD investigation, and so long as suspension of 
liquidation continues under this antidumping duty (AD) investigation, 
the cash deposit rates for this AD investigation will be the rates 
identified in the estimated weighted-average dumping margin column in 
the rate chart, above.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of this final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination 
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 or sales (or the likelihood of 
sales) for importation of granular PTFE resin from India no later than 
45 days after this final determination. If the ITC determines that such 
injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, and 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 AD order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by Commerce, AD 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 
above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation'' section.
    In addition, we are making available to the ITC all non-privileged 
and nonproprietary information related to this investigation. We will 
allow the ITC access to all privileged and business proprietary 
information in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not 
disclose such information, either publicly or under an administrative 
protective order (APO), without the written consent of the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Notification Regarding APO

    In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury 
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties 
subject to an APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction of 
proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of return or destruction of 
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an 
APO is a violation which is subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: January 18, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is granular 
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin. PTFE is covered by the scope 
of this investigation whether filled or unfilled, whether or not 
modified, and whether or not containing co-polymer, additives, 
pigments, or other materials. Also included is PTFE wet raw polymer. 
The chemical formula for PTFE is C2F4, and the Chemical Abstracts 
Service Registry number is 9002-84-0.
    Subject merchandise includes material matching the above 
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed 
in a third country, including by filling, modifying, compounding, 
packaging with another product, or performing any other finishing, 
packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the granular PTFE.
    The product covered by this investigation does not include 
dispersion or coagulated dispersion (also known as fine powder) 
PTFE.
    PTFE further processed into micropowder, having particle size 
typically ranging from 1 to 25 microns, and a melt-flow rate no less 
than 0.1 gram/10 minutes, is excluded from the scope of this 
investigation.
    Granular PTFE is classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS) under subheading 3904.61.0010. Subject 
merchandise may also be classified under HTSUS subheading 
3904.69.5000. Although the HTSUS subheadings and CAS Number are 
provided for convenience and Customs purposes, 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. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: U.S. Movement Expenses
    Comment 2: Constructed Export Price (CEP) Offset
    Comment 3: Non-Prime Product Costing
    Comment 4: Financial Expense Rate
    Comment 5: Restructuring Expenses
IV. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2022-01339 Filed 1-24-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P