[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 172 (Thursday, September 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42287-42289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18997]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-017]


Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires From the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review and Rescission, in Part; 2014-2015

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of passenger vehicle and light truck tires 
(passenger tires) from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The period 
of review (POR) is December 1, 2014, through December 31, 2015. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable September 7, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Huston, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4261.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 10, 2015, the Department issued a countervailing duty 
(CVD) order on passenger tires from the PRC.\1\ Several interested 
parties requested that the Department conduct an administrative review 
of the countervailing duty order, and on October 14, 2016, the 
Department published in the Federal Register a notice of initiation of 
an administrative review of the CVD Order for 61 producers/exporters 
for the POR.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping 
Duty Determination and Antidumping Duty Order; and Amended Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Countervailing 
Duty Order, 80 FR 47902 (August 10, 2015) (CVD Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 81 FR 71061 (October 14, 2016). (Initiation 
Notice).
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the order are certain passenger vehicle and 
light truck tires from the PRC. A full description of the scope of the 
order is contained in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\
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    \3\ See ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of the 
Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty Order on Certain 
Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the People's Republic 
of China; 2014-2015,'' dated concurrently with this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum) and hereby adopted by this notice.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this CVD review in accordance with 
section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). 
For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, we determine 
that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an 
``authority'' that confers a benefit to the recipient, and that the 
subsidy is specific.\4\ For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary conclusions, including our reliance, in 
part, on adverse facts available pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of 
the Act, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\ 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 http://access.trade.gov, and is available to all 
parties in the Central Records Unit, Room 7046 of the main Department 
of Commerce building. In addition, a

[[Page 42288]]

complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed 
directly on the Internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the 
electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.
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    \4\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and, section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
    \5\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum can be found as an appendix to this notice.
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Partial Rescission of Administrative Review

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the Department will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if the parties that 
requested a review withdraw the request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation. Sailun Jinyu Group Co., Ltd., 
Sailun Jinyu Group (Hong Kong) Co., Limited; Sailun Tire International 
Corp., Seatex International Inc., Jinyu International Holding Co., 
Limited, Husky Tire Corp., Dynamic Tire Corp., Shandong Jinyu 
Industrial Co., Ltd., Qingdao Jinhaoyang International Co., Ltd., 
Guangzhou Pearl River Rubber Tyre Ltd., Best Choice International Trade 
Co. Limited, Winrun Tyre Co., Ltd., and Shandong Wanda Boto Tyre Co., 
Ltd. timely withdrew their requests for review.\6\ No other party 
requested a review of these producers/exporters. Therefore, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the Department is rescinding this 
review of the CVD order on passenger tires from the PRC with respect to 
these companies.
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    \6\ See Letter to the Secretary from Sailun Jinyu Group Co. 
Ltd., ``Sailun Group Withdrawal of CVD Review Request: 1st 
Administrative Review of Countervailing Duty Order on Certain 
Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the People's Republic 
of China,'' (December 15, 2016); Letter to the Secretary from 
Qingdao Jinhaoyang International Co., Ltd., ``Jinhaoyang's 
Withdrawal of CVD Review Request (POR1): Certain Passenger Vehicle 
and Light Truck Tires from China,'' (January 11, 2017); Letter to 
the Secretary from Guangzhou Pearl River Rubber Tyre Ltd., ``Certain 
Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the People's Republic 
of China--Withdrawal of Request for Administrative Review,'' January 
12, 2017; Letter to the Secretary from Best Choice International 
Trade Co., ``Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from 
the People's Republic of China--Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' January 12, 2017; Letter to the Secretary 
from Winrun Tyre Co., Ltd., ``Winrun's Withdrawal of CVD Review 
Request (POR1): Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires,'' 
(January 12, 2017); Letter to the Secretary from ITG Voma 
Corporation, ``Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Withdrawal of Request for Administrative 
Review,'' (January 12, 2017); Letter to the Secretary from Shandong 
Wanda Boto Tyre Co., Ltd, ``Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires 
from the People's Republic of China: Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' (January 12, 2017).
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Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the 
countervailable subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Subsidy
                          Company                                rate
                                                              (percent)
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GITI Tire Global Trading Pte. Ltd./GITI Tire (USA) Ltd./           25.12
 GITI Radial Tire (Anhui) Company Ltd. (GITI Anhui Radial)/
 GITI Tire (Fujian) Company Ltd (GITI Fujian)./GITI Tire
 (Hualin) Company Ltd.(GITI Hualin) (collectively, GITI)...
Cooper (Kunshan) Tire Co., Ltd. (Cooper)...................        14.56
Zhongce Rubber Group Company Limited.......................        89.78
Non Selected Companies Under Review........................        19.84
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Preliminary Rate for the Non-Selected Companies Under Review

    The statute and the Department's regulations do not directly 
address the establishment of rates to be applied to companies not 
selected for individual examination where the Department limits its 
examination in an administrative review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) 
of the Act. However, the Department normally determines the rates for 
non-selected companies in reviews in a manner that is consistent with 
section 705(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for 
calculating the all-others rate in an investigation.
    Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act instructs the Department as a 
general rule to calculate an all others rate using the weighted average 
of the subsidy rates established for the producers/exporters 
individually examined, excluding any zero, de minimis, or rates based 
entirely on facts available. In this review, the preliminary subsidy 
rates calculated for GITI and Cooper and their cross-owned affiliates 
are above de minimis and are not based entirely on facts available. 
Therefore, for the companies for which a review was requested that were 
not selected as mandatory company respondents and for which we did not 
receive a timely request for withdrawal of review, with the exception 
of Zhongce Rubber Group Limited, and which we are not finding to be 
cross-owned with the mandatory company respondents, we are 
preliminarily basing the subsidy rate on the subsidy rate calculated 
for GITI and Cooper. For a list of these non-selected companies, please 
see Appendix II to this notice.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with this preliminary 
determination within five days of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register.\7\ Interested parties may submit case and rebuttal 
briefs, as well as request a hearing.\8\ Interested parties may submit 
written comments (case briefs) within 30 days of publication of the 
preliminary results and rebuttal comments (rebuttal briefs) within five 
days after the time limit for filing case briefs.\9\ Rebuttal briefs 
must be limited to issues raised in the case briefs.\10\ Parties who 
submit case or rebuttal briefs are requested to submit with the 
argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the 
argument; and (3) a table of authorities.\11\
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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)-(d), 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(l)(ii) and 351.309(d)(l).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(2).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must do so within 
30 days of publication of these preliminary results by submitting a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, using Enforcement and 
Compliance's ACCESS system.\12\ Requests should contain the party's 
name, address, and telephone number, the number of participants, and a 
list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, 
we will inform parties of the scheduled date for the hearing which will 
be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time and location 
to be determined.\13\ Parties should confirm by telephone the date, 
time, and location of the hearing. Issues addressed at the hearing will 
be limited to those raised in the briefs.\14\ All briefs and hearing 
requests must be filed electronically and received successfully

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in their entirety through ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the due 
date.
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act, we intend to issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of our analysis of the issues raised by 
the parties in their comments, within 120 days after issuance of these 
preliminary results.

Assessment Rates and Cash Deposit Requirement

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily 
assigned subsidy rates in the amounts shown above for the producers/
exporters shown above. Upon issuance of the final results, the 
Department shall determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) shall assess, CVDs on all appropriate entries covered by this 
review. We intend to issue instructions to CBP 15 days after 
publication of the final results of review. For companies for which 
this review is rescinded, the Department will instruct CBP to assess 
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at a rate equal to the 
cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties required at the time of 
entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, during the period 
December 1, 2014, through December 31, 2015, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.212(c)(l)(i). The Department intends to issue appropriate 
assessment instructions directly to CBP 15 days after publication of 
this notice.
    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, the Department also 
intends to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated CVDs, in 
the amounts shown above for each of the respective companies shown 
above, on shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the 
final results of this review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will 
instruct CBP to continue to collect cash deposits at the most-recent 
company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company, as 
appropriate. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.
    These preliminary results are issued and published in accordance 
with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: August 31, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Partial Rescission of Review
IV. Non-Selected Companies Under Review
V. Scope of the Order
VI. Application of the Countervailing Duty Law to Imports from the 
PRC
VII. Diversification of the PRC's Economy
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Interest Rate Benchmarks, Discount Rates, Input, and Electricity 
Benchmarks
X. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
XI. Analysis of Programs
XII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XIII. Conclusion

Appendix II

Non-Selected Companies Under Review

1. American Pacific Industries, Inc.
2. BC Tyre Group Limited
3. Crown International Corporation
4. Fleming Limited
5. Guangrao Taihua International Trade Co., Ltd.
6. Haohua Orient International Trade Ltd.
7. Hong Kong Tiancheng Investment & Trading Co., Limited
8. Jilin Jixing Tire Co., Ltd.
9. Kenda Rubber (China) Co., Ltd.
10. Liaoning Permanent Tyre Co., Ltd.
11. Macho Tire Corporation Limited
12. Maxon Int'l Co., Limited
13. Qingdao Crown Chemical Co., Ltd.
14. Qingdao Goalstar Tire Co., Ltd.
15. Qingdao Keter International Co., Limited
16. Qingdao Lakesea Tyre Co., Ltd.
17. Qingdao Nama Industrial Co., Ltd.
18. Qingdao Odyking Tyre Co., Ltd.
19. Qingdao Sentury Tire Co., Ltd.
20. Qingzhou Detai International Trading Co., Ltd.
21. Riversun Industry Limited
22. Safe&Well (HK) International Trading Limited
23. Shandong Anchi Tyres Co., Ltd.
24. Shandong Changhong Rubber Technology Co., Ltd.
25. Shandong Guofeng Rubber Plastics Co., Ltd.
26. Shandong Haohua Tire Co., Ltd.
27. Shandong Hawk International Rubber Industry Co., Ltd.
28. Shandong Hengyu Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
29. Shandong Linglong Tyre Co., Ltd.
30. Shandong Longyue Rubber Co., Ltd.
31. Shandong New Continent Tire Co., Ltd.
32. Shandong Province Sanli Tire Manufactured Co., Ltd.
33. Shandong Yongtai Group Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Shandong 
Yongtai Chemical Co., Ltd.)
34. Shandong Zhongyi Rubber Co., Ltd.
35. Shangong Shuangwang Rubber Co., Ltd.
36. Shengtai Group Co., Ltd.
37. Shouguang Firemax Tyre Co., Ltd.
38. Southeast Mariner International Co., Ltd.
39. Tyrechamp Group Co., Limited
40. Windforce Tyre Co., Limited
41. Zhaoqing Junhong Co., Ltd.

[FR Doc. 2017-18997 Filed 9-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P