[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 182 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52876-52878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20538]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-523-815]


Certain Aluminum Foil From the Sultanate of Oman: Final 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports 
of certain aluminum foil (aluminum foil) from the Sultanate of Oman 
(Oman) are being, or are likely to be, sold at less than fair value 
(LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is July 1 2019, through June 
30, 2020.

DATES: Applicable September 23, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin A. Smith, 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) 482-2181.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 4, 2021, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination of 
this LTFV investigation in the Federal Register, in which we also 
postponed the final determination until September 16, 2021.\1\ This 
investigation concerns one mandatory respondent, Oman Aluminium Rolling 
Company LLC (OARC). We invited interested parties to comment on the 
Preliminary Determination. A complete summary of the events that have 
occurred since publication of the Preliminary Determination may be 
found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Aluminum Foil from the Sultanate of Oman: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less than Fair 
Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of 
Provisional Measures, 86 FR 23681 (May 4, 2021) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Certain Aluminum Foil from the Sultanate of Oman,'' 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 aluminum foil from the 
Sultanate of Oman. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations,\3\ the 
Initiation Notice \4\ set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice, and we addressed these comments in the 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ Interested parties were 
provided an opportunity to comment on the Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum.\7\ We received no scope briefs requesting changes to the 
scope of the antidumping or countervailing duty investigations of 
aluminum foil from the Republic of Armenia, Brazil, the Sultanate of 
Oman, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Turkey. Additionally, 
we received a letter from the petitioners \8\ urging Commerce to 
maintain the same scope language which was set forth in both the 
Initiation Notice or Preliminary Determination.\9\ Accordingly, 
Commerce is not modifying the scope language as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice or Preliminary Determination. See the appendix to 
this notice for the final scope of the investigation.
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Certain Aluminum Foil from the Republic of Armenia, 
Brazil, the Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, and the 
Republic of Turkey: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 85 FR 67711 (October 26, 2020) (Initiation Notice).
    \5\ Id.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Investigations of Certain Aluminum Foil from the Republic of 
Armenia, Brazil, the Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, and 
the Republic of Turkey: Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' 
dated April 27, 2021 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \7\ Id.
    \8\ The Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group and 
its individual members, Granges America Inc., JW Aluminum Company 
and Novelis Corporation constitute the petitioners.
    \9\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Certain Aluminum Foil from the 
Republic of Armenia, Brazil, the Sultanate of Oman, the Russian 
Federation, and the Republic of Turkey--Petitioners' Final Scope 
Comments,'' dated September 8, 2021.
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Analysis of Comments Received

    We addressed all issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs in 
the Issues and Decision Memorandum, which is hereby adopted by this 
notice. The issues are identified in Appendix II of this notice. 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

[[Page 52877]]

at https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/.

Verification

    Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verification of the official 
record when making our 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).\10\
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    \10\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Questionnaire in Lieu of 
Verification for Oman Aluminium Rolling Company LLC,'' dated June 4, 
2021; see also OARC's Letter, ``Aluminum Foil from Oman: Response 
Questionnaire in Lieu of Verification,'' dated June 11, 2021.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received from parties, we 
have made certain revisions to the margin calculation for OARC. For a 
discussion of these changes, see the ``Changes from the Preliminary 
Determination'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

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 OARC, 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 OARC 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:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                     Producers/Exporters                        dumping
                                                                margins
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oman Aluminium Rolling Company LLC (OARC)...................        3.89
All Others..................................................        3.89
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
performed for this final determination 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 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 the liquidation of all appropriate entries of subject 
merchandise, as described in Appendix I of this notice, entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after May 4, 2021, the 
date of publication in the Federal Register of the affirmative 
Preliminary Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), where appropriate, we will instruct CBP to require a cash 
deposit for such entries of merchandise equal to the following: (1) The 
cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the 
company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margins determined 
in this final determination; (2) if the exporter is not identified 
above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to 
the company-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.
    To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of export 
subsidies countervailed in a companion CVD proceeding, when CVD 
provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly, where we preliminarily 
make an affirmative determination for countervailable export subsidies, 
we offset the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the 
appropriate CVD rate. However, in the companion CVD final 
determination, we did not countervail any export subsidies.\11\ 
Accordingly, we made no adjustment for export subsidy offsets to the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin.
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    \11\ See unpublished Federal Register notice, ``Certain Aluminum 
Foil from the Sultanate of Oman: Final Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the 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 aluminum foil 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 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 above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of return/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 sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

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


[[Page 52878]]


    Dated: September 16, 2021.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is aluminum foil 
having a thickness of 0.2 mm or less, in reels exceeding 25 pounds, 
regardless of width. Aluminum foil is made from an aluminum alloy 
that contains more than 92 percent aluminum. Aluminum foil may be 
made to ASTM specification ASTM B479, but can also be made to other 
specifications. Regardless of specification, however, all aluminum 
foil meeting the scope description is included in the scope, 
including aluminum foil to which lubricant has been applied to one 
or both sides of the foil.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation is aluminum foil 
that is backed with paper, paperboard, plastics, or similar backing 
materials on one side or both sides of the aluminum foil, as well as 
etched capacitor foil and aluminum foil that is cut to shape. Where 
the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is within the 
scope if application of either the nominal or actual measurement 
would place it within the scope based on the definitions set forth 
above. The products under investigation are currently classifiable 
under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
subheadings 7607.11.3000, 7607.11.6090, 7607.11.9030, 7607.11.9060, 
7607.11.9090, and 7607.19.6000.
    Further, merchandise that falls within the scope of this 
proceeding may also be entered into the United States under HTSUS 
subheadings 7606.11.3060, 7606.11.6000, 7606.12.3045, 7606.12.3055, 
7606.12.3091, 7606.12.3096, 7606.12.6000, 7606.91.3095, 
7606.91.6095, 7606.92.3035, and 7606.92.6095. 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 Final Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of Comments
    Comment 1: Whether Commerce Should Continue to Find that OARC is 
Affiliated with Sohar Aluminium by Means of Common Control of Both 
Entities by OQ
    Comment 2: Whether the Price Used by Commerce for Sohar 
Aluminium's Input Purchased from an Affiliated Party is an 
Appropriate Market Price
    Comment 3: Whether Commerce Made Clerical Errors when 
Calculating Total Cost of Manufacturing and Currency Conversions of 
Third Country Market Variables
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-20538 Filed 9-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P