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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 17 (Tuesday, January 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8281-8283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01808]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-165]

Certain Paper Plates From the People's Republic of China: Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Final Affirmative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters 
of certain paper plates (paper plates) from the People's Republic of 
China (China). The period of investigation is January 1, 2023, through 
December 31, 2023.

DATES: Applicable January 28, 2025.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On July 1, 2024, Commerce published its Preliminary Determination 
in the Federal Register and invited interested parties to comment.\1\ 
On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this 
administrative proceeding by seven days.\2\ The deadline for the final 
determination is now January 21, 2025.
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    \1\ See Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in 
Part, and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping 
Duty Determination, 89 FR 54432 (July 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.
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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.\3\ The 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 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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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of 
China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are paper plates from 
China. 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.

Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received

    The subsidy programs under investigation, and the issues raised in 
the case and rebuttal briefs that were submitted by parties in this 
investigation, are discussed 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.

Methodology

    Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section 
701 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each of the 
subsidy programs found to be countervailable, Commerce determines that 
there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' 
that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is 
specific.\4\ For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
final determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \4\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; see also section 771(5)(E) of the Act 
regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding 
specificity.
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    In making this final determination, Commerce relied, in part, on 
facts otherwise available, including with an

[[Page 8282]]

adverse inference (AFA), pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the 
Act. For a full discussion of our application of AFA, see the 
Preliminary Determination,\5\ and the Issues and Decision Memorandum 
section entitled ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of 
Adverse Inferences.''
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    \5\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 8-32.
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in August and September 
2024, we conducted verification of information submitted by Fuzhou 
Hengli Paper Co., Ltd. (Fuzhou Hengli) and Jinhua P&P Product Co., Ltd. 
(Jinhua P&P) for use in our final determination. We used standard 
verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
accounting records, and original source documents provided by Fuzhou 
Hengli and Jinhua P&P.\6\
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    \6\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of Fuzhou Hengli Paper Co., 
Ltd. Questionnaire Responses,'' dated October 9, 2024; 
``Verification of Jinhua P&P Product Co., Ltd. Questionnaire 
Responses,'' dated October 9, 2024; and ``Export Buyer's Credit 
Program Questionnaire Response Verification (Customer A),'' dated 
October 9, 2024.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

    Commerce preliminarily determined, in accordance with sections 
703(e)(1)(A) and (B) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.206, that critical 
circumstances existed with respect to imports of subject merchandise 
for Fuzhou Hengli, the ``all-other'' producers and/or exporters, and 
four companies who did not respond to our quantity and value 
questionnaire (hereinafter referred to as the ``non-responsive 
companies''),\7\ and did not exist for Jinhua P&P.\8\ For this final 
determination, in accordance with section 705(a)(2) of the Act, 
Commerce continues to find that critical circumstances exist with 
respect to imports of subject merchandise for Fuzhou Hengli, all-other 
producers and/or exporters, and the non-responsive companies, and do 
not exist with respect to imports of subject merchandise for Jinhua 
P&P. For a full description of the methodology and results of our 
critical circumstances analysis, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \7\ These companies are: (1) Ningbo Artcool Co., Ltd.; (2) 
Ningbo Fenghua Yongfa Printing Stationery Co., Ltd.; (3) Zhejiang 
Kingsun Eco-Pack Co., Ltd.; and (4) Zhejiang Lingrong Crafts Co., 
Ltd.
    \8\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 7.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received from interested 
parties and our verification findings, we made certain changes to the 
subsidy rate calculations for Fuzhou Hengli and Jinhua P&P. For a 
discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, Commerce will 
determine an all-others rate equal to the weighted-average 
countervailable subsidy rates established for exporters and/or 
producers individually examined, excluding any rates that are zero, de 
minimis, or rates based entirely under section 776 of the Act. In this 
investigation, Commerce calculated total net subsidy rates for Fuzhou 
Hengli and Jinhua P&P that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely 
on the facts otherwise available. Because Commerce calculated 
individual estimated countervailable subsidy rates for Fuzhou Hengli 
and Jinhua P&P that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on the 
facts otherwise available, we have calculated the all-others rate using 
a weighted-average of the individual estimated subsidy rates calculated 
for the examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged sales 
values.

Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated countervailable 
subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                            (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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Fuzhou Hengli Paper Co., Ltd............................           11.38
Jinhua P&P Product Co., Ltd.............................            4.47
Ningbo Artcool Co., Ltd.................................        * 295.08
Ningbo Fenghua Yongfa Printing Stationery Co., Ltd......        * 295.08
Zhejiang Kingsun Eco-Pack Co., Ltd......................        * 295.08
Zhejiang Lingrong Crafts Co., Ltd.......................        * 295.08
All Others..............................................           10.61
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Rate based on AFA.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed in connection with this final determination within five days 
of its public announcement, or if there is no public announcement, 
within five days of the date of publication of this notice in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Suspension of Liquidation

    As a result of our Preliminary Determination and pursuant to 
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, we instructed U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of 
subject merchandise from China that were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption, on or after July 1, 2024, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal 
Register.\9\ Because we preliminarily determined that critical 
circumstances existed with respect to Fuzhou Hengli, the non-responsive 
companies, and companies covered by the all-others rate, we instructed 
CBP to suspend such entries on or after April 2, 2024, which is 90 days 
prior to the date of the publication of the Preliminary Determination 
in the Federal Register. In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, 
we instructed CBP to discontinue the suspension of liquidation of all 
entries of subject merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse, on 
or after October 29, 2024, but to continue the suspension of 
liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise that were subject to 
suspension of liquidation between April 2, 2024, and October 28, 2024.
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    \9\ See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR at 54433.
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    If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final 
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a countervailing duty 
order, reinstate the suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of 
the Act, and require a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties 
for entries of subject merchandise in the amounts indicated above. If 
the ITC determines that material injury, or threat of material injury, 
does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, and all estimated 
duties deposited or securities posted as a result of the suspension of 
liquidation will be refunded or canceled.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our final affirmative determination that countervailable 
subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of paper plates 
from China. Because the final determination is affirmative, in 
accordance with section 705(b) 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 paper plates from China no later than 45 days after our 
final determination. 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

[[Page 8283]]

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.
    If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material 
injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated and all cash 
deposits will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such injury does 
exist, Commerce will issue a CVD order directing CBP to assess, upon 
further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties on all imports 
of the subject merchandise that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective date of the 
suspension of liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Administrative Protective Order

    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 the return/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.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: January 21, 2025.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise subject to this investigation is certain paper 
plates. Paper plates subject to this investigation may be cut from 
rolls, sheets, or other pieces of paper and/or paper board. Paper 
plates subject to this investigation have a depth up to and 
including two (2.0) inches, as measured vertically from the base to 
the top of the lip, or the edge if the plate has no lip. Paper 
plates subject to this investigation may be uncolored, white, 
colored, or printed. Printed paper plates subject to this 
investigation may have any type of surface finish, and may be 
printed by any means with images, text and/or colors on one or both 
surfaces. Colored paper plates subject to this investigation may be 
colored by any method, including but not limited to printing, 
beater-dyeing, and dip-dyeing. Paper plates subject to this 
investigation may be produced from paper of any type (including, but 
not limited to, bamboo, straws, bagasse, hemp, kenaf, jute, sisal, 
abaca, cotton inters and reeds, or from non-plant sources, such as 
synthetic resin (petroleum)-based resins), may have any caliper or 
basis weight, may have any shape or size, may have one or more than 
one section, may be embossed, may have foil or other substances 
adhered to their surface, and/or may be uncoated or coated with any 
type of coating.
    The paper plates subject to this investigation remain covered by 
the scope of this investigation whether imported alone, or in any 
combination of subject and non-subject merchandise. When paper 
plates subject to this investigation are imported in combination 
with non-subject merchandise, only the paper plates subject to this 
investigation are subject merchandise.
    The paper plates subject to this investigation include paper 
plates matching the above description that have been finished, 
packaged, or otherwise processed in a third country by performing 
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 paper plates. Examples of 
finishing, packaging, or other processing in a third country that 
would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the 
investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the 
paper plates include, but are not limited to, printing, application 
of other surface treatments such as coatings, repackaging, 
embossing, and application of foil surface treatments.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper plates 
molded or pressed directly from paper pulp (including but not 
limited to unfelted pulp), which are currently classifiable under 
subheading 4823.70.0020 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS).
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are articles 
that otherwise would be covered but which exhibit the following two 
physical characteristics: (a) depth (measured vertically from the 
base to the top of the lip, or edge if no lip) equal to or greater 
than 1.25 inches but less than two (2.0) inches, and (b) a base not 
exceeding five (5.0) inches in diameter if round, or not exceeding 
20 square inches in area if any other shape.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper 
bowls, paper buckets, and paper food containers with closeable lids.
    Paper plates subject to this investigation are currently 
classifiable under HTSUS subheading 4823.69.0040. Paper plates 
subject to this investigation also may be classified under HTSUS 
subheading 4823.61.0040. If packaged with other articles, the paper 
plates subject to this investigation also may be classified under 
HTSUS subheadings 9505.90.4000 and 9505.90.6000. While the HTSUS 
subheading(s) are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written description of the subject merchandise is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part
IV. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
V. Subsidies Valuation Information
VI. Analysis of Programs
VII. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Countervailability of Policy Loans to the Paper Plate 
Industry
    Comment 2: Countervailability of the Enterprise Income Tax (EIT) 
Law Research and Development (R&D) Program
    Comment 3: Countervailability of the Provision of Electricity 
for Less Than Adequate Remuneration (LTAR)
    Comment 4: Appropriate Electricity Benchmark
    Comment 5: Appropriate Denominator for Other Subsidy Programs
    Comment 6: Countervailability of Other Subsidies
    Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Modify its Adverse Facts 
Available (AFA) Rate Selection Methodology
    Comment 8: Whether Commerce Should Apply AFA Regarding the 
Export Buyer's Credits Program (EBCP)
    Comment 9: Whether To Apply AFA to the Provision of Land-Use 
Rights for LTAR
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2025-01808 Filed 1-27-25; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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