[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 108 (Monday, June 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27109-27114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13345]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-848]


Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat From the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review 
and Intent to Rescind Review in Part

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: In response to timely requests, the Department of Commerce 
(Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping 
duty order on freshwater crawfish tail meat from the People's Republic 
of China (PRC). The period of review (POR) is September 1, 2007, 
through August 31, 2008.
    We have preliminarily determined that sales have not been made 
below normal value by the exporter covered by the administrative 
review. If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results 
of this review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) to liquidate entries of merchandise exported by Xiping Opeck Food 
Co., Ltd., during the POR without regard to antidumping duties.
    We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary 
results. Parties who submit comments in this review are requested to 
submit with each argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief 
summary of the argument.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 8, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dmitry Vladimirov or Minoo Hatten, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0665 and (202) 482-1690, respectively.

Background

    On September 15, 1997, the Department published an amended final 
determination and antidumping duty order on freshwater crawfish tail 
meat from the PRC. See Notice of Amendment to Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Freshwater 
Crawfish Tail Meat From the People's Republic of China, 62 FR 48218 
(September 15, 1997). On September 2, 2008, the Department published a 
notice of opportunity to request an administrative review of the order. 
See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended 
Investigation; Opportunity To Request Administrative Review, 73 FR 
51272 (September 2, 2008).
    On September 17, 2008, Xiping Opeck Food Co., Ltd. (Xiping Opeck), 
a producer and exporter of crawfish tail meat from the PRC, requested 
an administrative review. On September 30, 2008, the petitioner, the 
Crawfish Processors Alliance, requested an administrative review of 
Shanghai Now Again International Trading Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Now 
Again), Xiping Opeck, and Yancheng Hi-King Agriculture Developing Co., 
Ltd. (Hi-King).
    On October 29, 2008, based on timely requests for an administrative 
review, the Department published a notice of initiation of an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on freshwater 
crawfish tail meat from the PRC. See Initiation of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Deferral of 
Administrative Review, 73 FR 64305 (October 29, 2008). The review was 
initiated with respect to Xiping Opeck, Shanghai Now Again, and Hi-
King.
    The POR is September 1, 2007, through August 31, 2008. We are 
conducting this review in accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended (the Act).

Scope of the Order

    The product covered by the antidumping duty order is freshwater 
crawfish tail meat, in all its forms (whether washed or with fat on, 
whether purged or unpurged), grades, and sizes; whether frozen, fresh, 
or chilled; and regardless of how it is packed, preserved, or prepared. 
Excluded from the scope of the order are live crawfish and other whole 
crawfish, whether boiled, frozen, fresh, or chilled. Also excluded are 
saltwater crawfish of any type and parts thereof. Freshwater crawfish 
tail meat is currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (HTSUS) under item numbers 1605.40.10.10 and 
1605.40.10.90, which are the HTSUS numbers for prepared foodstuffs, 
indicating peeled crawfish tail meat and other, as introduced by CBP in 
2000,

[[Page 27110]]

and HTSUS numbers 0306.19.00.10 and 0306.29.00.00, which are reserved 
for fish and crustaceans in general. The HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes only. The written description of 
the scope of the order is dispositive.

Intent to Rescind Review in Part

    Record evidence indicates that Shanghai Now Again and Hi-King did 
not have any exports of subject merchandise during the POR. See the 
November 19, 2008, submissions of Shanghai Now Again and Hi-King. 
Moreover, we have reviewed the CBP entry data for the POR and found no 
evidence of exports from these two entities. See Memorandum to File 
entitled ``Placement of Certain Import Data from the U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection Automated Commercial System on the Record of the 
Administrative Review,'' dated April 6, 2009. Additionally, on April 8, 
2009, we made a no-shipments inquiry to CBP, requesting that, if any 
CBP import office has contrary information, appraising officers should 
report this information within 10 days of receipt of the message. To 
date, we have not received any evidence that these two entities had any 
shipments to the United States of subject merchandise during the POR. 
Therefore, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), the Department intends to 
rescind this review in part with respect to Shanghai Now Again and Hi-
King.

Non-Market-Economy Country Status

    The Department considers the PRC to be a non-market-economy (NME) 
country. In accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, any 
determination that a country is an NME country shall remain in effect 
until revoked by the administering authority. See Brake Rotors From the 
People's Republic of China: Final Results and Partial Rescission of the 
2004/2005 Administrative Review and Notice of Rescission of 2004/2005 
New Shipper Review, 71 FR 66304 (November 14, 2006). None of the 
parties to this proceeding has contested NME treatment for the PRC. 
Therefore, for these preliminary results of review we have treated the 
PRC as an NME country and applied our current NME methodology in 
accordance with section 773(c) of the Act.
    In antidumping proceedings involving NME countries, pursuant to 
section 773(c)(1) of the Act, the Department generally bases normal 
value on the value of the NME producer's factors of production (FOP). 
In accordance with section 773(c)(4) of the Act, in valuing the FOP the 
Department uses, to the extent possible, the prices or costs of the FOP 
in one or more market-economy countries that are at a level of economic 
development comparable to that of the NME country which are significant 
producers of merchandise comparable to the subject merchandise. The 
Department has determined that India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Peru, 
Colombia, and Thailand are countries that are at a level of economic 
development comparable to that of the PRC.\1\ While none of these 
countries is a significant producer of freshwater crawfish tail 
meat,\2\ India has a seafood-processing industry that is comparable to 
the crawfish industry with respect to factory overhead, selling, 
general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses, and profit. Therefore, we 
have selected India as the primary surrogate country in which to value 
all inputs with the exception of live crawfish, the primary input, and 
the by-product, crawfish-shell scrap.
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    \1\ See Memorandum from Kelly Parkhill, Acting Director, Office 
of Policy, to Laurie Parkhill, Office Director, AD/CVD Enforcement 
5, ``Request for a List of Surrogate Countries for an Administrative 
Review of the Antidumping Duty Order on Freshwater Crawfish Tail 
Meat (``FCTM'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'')'' 
(January 15, 2009).
    \2\ See Memorandum to Laurie Parkhill, Office Director, AD/CVD 
Enforcement 5, entitled ``Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat from the 
People's Republic of China: Selection of a Surrogate Country,'' 
dated June 1, 2009 (Surrogate-Country Memorandum).
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    Because India does not have a fresh-crawfish industry (although it 
has a sea-crawfish industry) and we have determined that other forms of 
seafood are not sufficiently comparable to crawfish to serve as 
surrogates for live crawfish, we have valued live crawfish using the 
data submitted by the petitioner, which was obtained from the same 
source that was used to value live crawfish in several previous 
segments of this proceeding.\3\ The petitioner submitted data on 
imports of live crawfish from Portugal into Spain as reported by 
Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish government agency responsible for trade 
statistics. Spain is a significant producer of comparable merchandise, 
i.e., whole processed crawfish,\4\ and there are publicly available 
import statistics for Spain that are contemporaneous with the POR.
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    \3\ See the March 10, 2009, submission by the petitioner 
entitled ``Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat from the People's Republic 
of China: Surrogate Value Data.'' See also Freshwater Crawfish Tail 
Meat From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results and 
Partial Rescission of the 2005-2006 Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review and Preliminary Intent to Rescind 2005-2006 New Shipper 
Reviews, 72 FR 57288 (October 9, 2007) (unchanged in Freshwater 
Crawfish Tail Meat From the People's Republic of China: Final 
Results and Partial Rescission of the 2005-2006 Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Rescission of 2005-2006 New Shipper 
Reviews, 73 FR 20249 (April 15, 2008)). For an example of a previous 
segment of the proceeding where this source was used, see Freshwater 
Crawfish Tail Meat From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Intent to 
Rescind Review in Part, 73 FR 58115 (October 6, 2008) (unchanged in 
Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat From the People's Republic of China: 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and 
Rescission of Review in Part, 74 FR 6571 (February 10, 2009)).
    \4\ See Surrogate-Country Memorandum.
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    We have selected Indonesia as a secondary surrogate country for 
purposes of valuing the crawfish shell by-product because there are no 
appropriate Indian surrogate values for crawfish shell by-product on 
the record of this review. We find that Indonesia is at a level of 
economic development comparable to the PRC, it produced wet crab and 
shrimp shells, merchandise comparable to the shell by-product, and has 
publicly available data, i.e., a public price quote from an Indonesian 
company that has been used in prior segments of this proceeding.\5\ No 
other parties commented on the selection of surrogate values.
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    \5\ See Memorandum to Barbara E. Tillman from Christian Hughes 
and Adina Teodorescu through Maureen Flannery re: Surrogate 
Valuation of Shell Scrap: Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat from the 
People's Republic of China, Administrative Review 9/1/00-8/31/01 and 
New Shipper Reviews 9/1/00-8/31/01 and 9/1/00-10/15/01 (August 5, 
2002), which was placed on the record of this review.
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Separate Rates

    In proceedings involving NME countries, the Department has a 
rebuttable presumption that all companies within the country are 
subject to government control and thus should be assessed a single 
antidumping duty rate. It is the Department's policy to assign all 
exporters of merchandise subject to a proceeding involving an NME 
country this single rate unless an exporter can demonstrate that it is 
sufficiently independent so as to be entitled to a separate rate. The 
Department assigns separate rates in NME proceedings only if 
respondents can demonstrate the absence of both de jure and de facto 
government control over export activities under a test developed by the 
Department and described in Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Sparklers From the People's Republic of China, 56 FR 20588 
(May 6, 1991) (Sparklers), and Notice of Final Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value: Silicon Carbide From the People's Republic of 
China, 59 FR 22585 (May 2, 1994) (Silicon Carbide).
    The Department's separate-rate test is used to determine whether an 
exporter

[[Page 27111]]

and/or producer is independent from government control and does not 
consider, in general, macroeconomic/border-type controls, e.g., export 
licenses, quotas, and minimum export prices, particularly if these 
controls are imposed to prevent dumping. See Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Preserved 
Mushrooms from the People's Republic of China, 63 FR 72255, 72256 
(December 31, 1998) (Mushrooms). The test focuses, rather, on controls 
over the investment, pricing, and output decision-making process at the 
individual firm level. See Mushrooms, 63 FR at 72256 (citing Notice of 
Final Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value: Certain Cut-to-
Length Carbon Steel Plate From Ukraine, 62 FR 61754, 61758 (November 
19, 1997), and Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and 
Unfinished, From the People's Republic of China; Final Results of 
Antidumping Administrative Review, 62 FR 61276, 61279 (November 17, 
1997)).

Absence of De Jure Control

    The Department considers the following de jure criteria in 
determining whether an individual company may be granted a separate 
rate: (1) an absence of restrictive stipulations associated with an 
individual exporter's business and export licenses; (2) any legislative 
enactments decentralizing control of companies; (3) other formal 
measures by the government decentralizing control of companies. See 
Sparklers, 56 FR at 20589.
    Xiping Opeck demonstrated that it is an independent legal entity 
and provided copies of its business license (wherein it is stated that 
the operational scope of the company allows it to engage in the 
exportation of freshwater crawfish tail meat) and its foreign-trade 
operator registration. See Xiping Opeck's November 19, 2008, submission 
at pages 1-4 and Exhibit SR-1, and December 24, 2008, submission at 
pages A-1 through A-8 and Exhibit A-3. Xiping Opeck also reported that 
no export quotas apply to crawfish and that no export license is 
required to export freshwater crawfish tail meat to the United States. 
See Xiping Opeck's December 24, 2008, submission at page A-5. Prior 
verifications have confirmed that there are no commodity-specific 
export licenses required and no quotas for the seafood category 
``Other,'' which includes crawfish, in China's Tariff and Non-Tariff 
Handbook for 1996. See Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat From The People's 
Republic of China; Preliminary Results of New Shipper Review, 64 FR 
8543 (February 22, 1999) (unchanged in Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat 
From the People's Republic of China; Final Results of New Shipper 
Review, 64 FR 27961 (May 24, 1999)).
    In addition, we have confirmed previously that freshwater crawfish 
tail meat is not on the list of commodities with planned quotas in the 
1992 PRC Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation document 
entitled Temporary Provisions for Administration of Export Commodities. 
See Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat From The People's Republic of China; 
Preliminary Results of New Shipper Review, 64 FR at 8544 (unchanged in 
Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat From the People's Republic of China; 
Final Results of New Shipper Review). We found no evidence of de jure 
governmental control over Xiping Opeck's exportation of freshwater 
crawfish tail meat.
    In Exhibit A-2 of its December 24, 2008, submission Xiping Opeck 
provided the Company Law of the People's Republic of China. The 
Department has found previously that the Company Law of the People's 
Republic of China, made effective on July 1, 1994, with the amended 
version promulgated on August 28, 2004, states that a company is an 
enterprise legal person, that shareholders shall assume liability 
towards the company to the extent of their shareholdings, and that the 
company shall be liable for its debts to the extent of all its assets. 
See Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of the 2005-2006 Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review and Preliminary Intent to Rescind 2005-2006 
New Shipper Reviews (unchanged in Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat from 
the People's Republic of China: Final Results and Partial Rescission of 
the 2005-2006 Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Rescission of 
the 2005-2006 New Shipper Reviews).
    Additionally, the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of 
China which Xiping Opeck placed on the record of this review also 
indicates a lack of de jure government control. Specifically, this 
document identifies the rights and responsibilities of organizations 
engaged in foreign trade, grants autonomy to foreign-trade operators in 
management decisions, and establishes the foreign-trade operator's 
accountability for profits and losses. See Xiping Opeck's December 24, 
2008, submission at Exhibit A-2. Based on the foregoing, the Department 
has preliminarily determined that there is an absence of de jure 
governmental control over the export activities of Xiping Opeck.

Absence of De Facto Control

    Typically the Department considers the following four factors in 
evaluating whether each respondent is subject to de facto governmental 
control of its export functions: (1) whether the export prices are set 
by, or are subject to the approval of, a governmental agency; (2) 
whether the respondent has authority to negotiate and sign contracts 
and other agreements; (3) whether the respondent has autonomy from the 
government in making decisions regarding the selection of management; 
(4) whether the respondent retains the proceeds of its export sales and 
makes independent decisions regarding disposition of profits or 
financing of losses. See Silicon Carbide, 59 FR at 22586-87; see also 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Furfuryl Alcohol From the People's Republic of China, 60 FR 22544, 
22545 (May 8, 1995). The Department considers an analysis of de facto 
control to be critical in determining whether a respondent is, in fact, 
subject to a degree of governmental control that would preclude the 
Department from assigning the respondent a separate rate.
    Xiping Opeck has asserted the following: (1) it establishes its own 
export prices through direct negotiations with its customers; (2) it 
negotiates contracts not subject to review or guidance from any 
governmental entities or organizations; (3) its shareholders elect 
managers and make personnel decisions independent of the PRC 
government's approval or review; (4) it is not required to sell any 
portion of the foreign currency it earns to the government, it retains 
the proceeds of its export sales, and uses profits according to its 
business needs. See Xiping Opeck's December 24, 2008, submission at 
pages A-6 through A-8. Based upon the record information, the 
Department has preliminarily determined that there is an absence of de 
facto governmental control over the export activities of Xiping Opeck. 
Given that the Department has found that Xiping Opeck operates free of 
de jure and de facto governmental control, it has preliminarily 
determined that Xiping Opeck has satisfied the criteria for a separate 
rate.

U.S. Price

    In accordance with section 772(a) of the Act, we based Xiping 
Opeck's U.S. price on export price (EP) because the first sales to 
unaffiliated purchasers were made prior to importation and constructed 
export price was not otherwise warranted by the facts on the record. We 
calculated EP based on the

[[Page 27112]]

free-on-board packed price to the first unaffiliated purchaser in the 
United States. In accordance with section 772(c) of the Act, we 
calculated net EP by deducting, where applicable, foreign inland-
freight expenses, foreign brokerage and handling expenses, ocean-
freight expenses, and credit expenses from the starting price (gross 
unit price) charged to the first unaffiliated customer in the United 
States. We based all movement expenses on surrogate values because a 
PRC company provided the movement services (see the ``Normal Value'' 
section of this notice for further details).

Normal Value

    Section 773(c)(1) of the Act provides that the Department shall 
determine normal value using an FOP methodology if the merchandise is 
exported from an NME country and the available information does not 
permit the calculation of normal value using home-market prices, third-
country prices, or constructed value under section 773(a) of the Act. 
The Department uses an FOP methodology because the presence of 
government controls on various aspects of NMEs renders price 
comparisons and the calculation of production costs invalid under its 
normal methodologies. See Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, 
Finished or Unfinished, From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and 
Notice of Intent to Rescind in Part, 70 FR 39744, 39754 (July 11, 2005) 
(unchanged in Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and 
Unfinished, from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of 2003-
2004 Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Review, 71 FR 2517 
(January 17, 2006)).
    We calculated normal value by adding together the value of the FOP, 
general expenses, profit, and packing costs.\6\ Specifically, we valued 
material, labor, energy, and packing by multiplying the amount of the 
factor consumed in producing the subject merchandise by the average 
unit surrogate value of the factor. In addition, we added freight costs 
to the surrogate costs that we calculated for material inputs. We 
calculated freight costs by multiplying surrogate freight rates by the 
shorter of the reported distance from the domestic supplier to the 
factory that produced the subject merchandise or the distance from the 
nearest seaport to the factory that produced the subject merchandise, 
as appropriate. This adjustment is in accordance with the decision by 
the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Sigma 
Corp. v. United States, 117 F.3d 1401, 1407-1408 (Fed. Cir. 1997). We 
increased the calculated costs of the FOP for surrogate general 
expenses and profit. See Memorandum to the File entitled ``Fresh 
Crawfish Tail Meat from the People's Republic of China: Surrogate-Value 
Memorandum,'' dated June 1, 2009 (Surrogate-Value Memo).
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    \6\ We based the values of the FOPs on surrogate values (see 
``Surrogate Values'' section below).
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Surrogate Values

    In selecting surrogate values, to the extent practicable we 
followed our practice of choosing publicly available values which are 
non-export averages, representative of a range of prices in effect 
during the POR or over a period as close as possible in time to the 
POR, product-specific, and tax-exclusive. See, e.g., Notice of 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Negative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances and Postponement of 
Final Determination: Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater Shrimp From 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 69 FR 42672, 42682 (July 16, 2004) 
(unchanged in Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater Shrimp From the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam, 69 FR 71005 (December 8, 2004)). We also considered the 
quality of the source of surrogate information in selecting surrogate 
values. See Manganese Metal From the People's Republic of China; Final 
Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 63 FR 12440 (March 13, 1998). Where we could only obtain 
surrogate values that were not contemporaneous with the POR, we 
inflated the surrogate values using, where appropriate, the Indian 
Wholesale Price Index (Indian WPI) and the Indonesian Wholesale Price 
Index (Indonesian WPI) as published in the International Financial 
Statistics of the International Monetary Fund. See Surrogate-Value 
Memo.
    In calculating surrogate values from import statistics and in 
accordance with our practice, we disregarded statistics for imports 
from NME countries and countries deemed to maintain broadly available, 
non-industry-specific subsidies which may benefit all exporters to all 
export markets (i.e., Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand). 
See, e.g., Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Certain Automotive Replacement Glass Windshields From The People's 
Republic of China, 67 FR 6482 (February 12, 2002), and accompanying 
Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1. See also Notice of 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Critical Circumstances: Certain Color Television 
Receivers From the People's Republic of China, 68 FR 66800, 66808 
(November 28, 2003) (unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Negative Final Determination of 
Critical Circumstances: Certain Color Television Receivers From the 
People's Republic of China, 69 FR 20594 (April 16, 2004)). 
Additionally, we excluded from our calculations imports that were 
labeled as originating from an unspecified country because we could not 
determine whether they were from an NME country.
    We used the following surrogate values in our margin calculations 
for these preliminary results of review. We valued coal and packing 
materials using September 2007-August 2008 weighted-average Indian 
import values derived from the World Trade Atlas online (WTA). The 
Indian import statistics that we obtained from the WTA were published 
by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics, 
Ministry of Commerce of India, and are contemporaneous with the POR. We 
valued whole live crawfish using the publicly available data for 
Spanish imports of whole live crawfish from Portugal during the POR 
submitted by the petitioner. We valued the crawfish shell by-product 
using a 2001 price quote from Indonesia for wet crab and shrimp shells 
and inflated this value using the Indonesian WPI to make it 
contemporaneous with the POR.
    We valued water using data from the Maharashtra Industrial 
Development Corporation (www.midcindia.org) because this source 
includes a wide range of industrial water tariffs. Specifically, this 
source provides 386 industrial water rates within the Maharashtra 
province for June 2003 (193 for the ``inside industrial areas'' usage 
category and 193 for the ``outside industrial areas'' usage category). 
We inflated the surrogate value for water using the Indian WPI to make 
it contemporaneous with the POR. We valued electricity using price data 
for small, medium, and large industries as published by the Central 
Electricity Authority of the Government of India in its publication 
entitled Electricity Tariff & Duty and Average Rates of Electricity 
Supply in India, dated July 2006. These electricity rates represent 
actual country-wide, publicly available information on tax-exclusive 
electricity

[[Page 27113]]

rates charged to industries in India. Because the electricity rates are 
not contemporaneous with the POR, we inflated the values using the 
Indian WPI to make it contemporaneous with the POR.
    We valued non-refrigerated truck-freight expenses using a per-unit 
average rate for September 2008, which we calculated from data at 
www.infobanc.com/logistics/logtruck.htm. The logistics section of this 
website contains rates for inland-freight trucking between many large 
Indian cities. We deflated the per-unit average truck-freight rate 
using the Indian WPI to make it contemporaneous with the POR. We valued 
refrigerated-truck freight expenses based on price quotations for April 
2004 from CTC Freight Carriers of Delhi, India, placed on the record of 
the antidumping investigation of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from 
the PRC. We inflated this surrogate value using the Indian WPI.
    To value brokerage and handling, we used the average of the 
publicly summarized versions of values for brokerage and handling 
expenses reported in the following sources: Navneet Publications 
(India) Ltd.'s March 20, 2009, Section C submission (taken from the 
2007-2008 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on 
certain lined paper products from India); Essar Steel Limited's 
(Essar's) October 15, 2008, Section C submission (taken from the 2006-
2007 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on hot-rolled 
carbon steel flat products from India); Himalaya International Ltd.'s 
(Himalaya's) May 26, 2006, Section C submission (taken from 2005-2006 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain 
preserved mushrooms from India). Because data reported by Essar and 
Himalaya were not contemporaneous with the POR, we inflated the 
surrogate values for domestic brokerage and handling expenses for these 
companies using the Indian WPI. See Surrogate-Value Memo for further 
details on the surrogate values we used for these preliminary results.
    We valued ocean-freight expenses using publicly available data we 
collected from Maersk Line's website at http://www.maerskline.com. We 
obtained a price quote in effect during the month of the POR in which 
Xiping Opeck made shipments of frozen freshwater crawfish tail meat to 
the United States. This price quote is for a reefer-high cube 40-foot 
container for the points of origin and destination reported by Xipng 
Opeck. See Surrogate-Value Memo.
    The Department's regulations require the use of a regression-based 
wage rate. See 19 CFR 351.408(c)(3). Therefore, to value labor, we used 
the regression-based wage rate for the PRC published on the Import 
Administration (IA) website. See the IA website at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/wages/05wages/05wages-041608.html. See also Corrected 
2007 Calculation of Expected Non-Market Economy Wages, 73 FR 27795 (May 
14, 2008). We applied the same wage rate to all skill levels and types 
of labor (i.e., direct production, indirect, packing) reported by 
Xiping Opeck because this regression-based wage rate does not separate 
the labor rates into different skill levels or types of labor.
    We valued SG&A expenses, factory-overhead costs, and profit using 
the 2002-2003 financial statements of Nekkanti Sea Foods Ltd., an 
Indian seafood processor. See Surrogate-Value Memo.

Currency Conversion

    We made currency conversions into U.S. dollars, in accordance with 
section 773A(a) of the Act, based on the exchange rates in effect on 
the dates of the U.S. sales as certified by the Federal Reserve Bank. 
These exchange rates are available on the IA web site at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/exchange/index.html.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that the 
weighted-average dumping margin for merchandise exported by Xiping 
Opeck is 0.00 percent for the period September 1, 2007, through August 
31, 2008.

Comments

    We will disclose the calculations used in our analysis to 
interested parties in this review within five days of the date of 
publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). 
Interested parties may submit publicly available information to value 
factors no later than 20 days after the date of publication of these 
preliminary results of review. See 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3)(ii). Any 
interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of the date of 
publication of this notice. See 19 CFR 351.310. Interested parties who 
wish to request a hearing or to participate in a hearing if one is 
requested must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Import Administration within 30 days of the date of publication of this 
notice. Requests should contain the following: (1) the party's name, 
address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; (3) a 
list of issues to be discussed. See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised in the 
case briefs. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Case briefs from interested parties 
may be submitted not later than 30 days after the date of publication 
of this notice of preliminary results of review. See 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(1)(ii). Rebuttal briefs from interested parties, limited to 
the issues raised in the case briefs, may be submitted not later than 
five days after the time limit for filing the case briefs or comments. 
See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1). If requested, any hearing will be held two 
days after the scheduled date for submission of rebuttal briefs. See 19 
CFR 351.310(d). Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in 
this proceeding are requested to submit with each argument a statement 
of the issue, a summary of the arguments not exceeding five pages, and 
a table of statutes, regulations, and cases cited. See 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(2).
    The Department will issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of its analysis of issues raised by 
parties in their comments, within 120 days after the date of 
publication of this notice. See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results, the Department will determine, 
and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. 
The Department intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP 15 days 
after the date of publication of the final results of review. If these 
preliminary results are adopted in our final results of review, because 
we calculated a margin of zero percent for Xiping Opeck, we will 
instruct CBP to liquidate the entries of merchandise exported by Xiping 
Opeck without regard to antidumping duties.

Cash-Deposit Requirements

    The following cash-deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this review for all shipments of 
the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the publication date as provided by section 
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) for subject merchandise exported by Xiping 
Opeck, the cash-deposit rate will be that established in the final 
results of review; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated 
companies not listed above that have separate rates, the cash-deposit 
rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the 
most recent period; (3) for all other PRC exporters of subject 
merchandise which

[[Page 27114]]

have not been found to be entitled to a separate rate, the cash-deposit 
rate will be PRC-wide rate of 223.01 percent; (4) for all non-PRC 
exporters of subject merchandise the cash-deposit rate will be the rate 
applicable to the PRC entity that supplied that exporter. These deposit 
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further 
notice.

Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    This administrative review and this notice are in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: June 1, 2009.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-13345 Filed 6-5-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S