[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 165 (Monday, August 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40746-40748]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18167]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-560-831]


Biodiesel From the Republic of Indonesia: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination

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/or exporters of biodiesel from the Republic of Indonesia 
(Indonesia). The period of investigation is January 1, 2016, through 
December 31, 2016. Interested parties are invited to comment on this 
preliminary determination.

DATES: August 28, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gene Calvert or Joseph Traw, 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) 482-3586 or (202) 482-6079, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The Department 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on April 19, 
2017.\1\ On June 5, 2017, the Department postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation until no later than August 20, 
2017. However, because August 20, 2017, falls on a Sunday, the 
preliminary determination was postponed until August 21, 2017.\2\ A 
complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this 
investigation can be found in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\ A 
list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as Appendix II to this notice. 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 
parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department 
of Commerce building. A complete version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum can also be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the

[[Page 40747]]

Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia: Initiation of 
Countervailing Duty Investigations, 82 FR 18423 (April 19, 2017) 
(Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Biodiesel From Argentina and Indonesia: Postponement of 
Preliminary Determinations of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 82 
FR 25773 (June 5, 2017); see also Notice of Clarification: 
Application of ``Next Business Day'' Rule for Administrative 
Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, As 
Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
    \3\ See Department Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Biodiesel from the Republic of Indonesia,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is biodiesel from 
Indonesia. A complete description of the scope of this investigation is 
included as Appendix I to this notice.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preamble to the Department's regulations,\4\ 
the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for interested parties 
to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ No 
interested party commented on the scope of this investigation as it 
appeared in the Initiation Notice.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties: Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) (Preamble).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice at the section, ``Comments on Scope of 
the Investigations.''
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be 
countervailable, the Department preliminarily determines that there is 
a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution provided by an ``authority'' 
that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is 
specific.\6\
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    \6\ See sections 771(5)(B) and 771(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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Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation

    We preliminarily determine that countervailable subsidies are being 
provided with respect to the manufacture, production, or exportation of 
the subject merchandise. In accordance with sections 703(d) and 
705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, for companies not individually examined, we 
apply an ``all-others'' rate, which is normally calculated by weighting 
the subsidy rates of the individually-examined company respondents by 
those companies' exports of the subject merchandise to the United 
States during the period of investigation. Under section 
705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, the ``all-others'' rate should exclude zero 
and de minimis rates or any rates based solely on the facts otherwise 
available calculated for the producers/exporters individually 
investigated. Neither of the individually-examined company respondents' 
rates in in this preliminary determination is zero, de minimis, or 
based entirely on facts otherwise available. Accordingly, in this 
preliminary determination, we have calculated the ``all-others'' rate 
by weight averaging the calculated subsidy rates of the two 
individually examined company respondents. In order to ensure that 
business proprietary information is not disclosed through the all-
others rate, we are using a weighted average of the publicly-ranged 
information provided by Musim Mas and Wilmar Trading for their sales of 
subject merchandise to the United States during the POI. The Department 
preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable 
subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PT Musim Mas............................................           68.28
Wilmar Trading PTE Ltd..................................           41.06
All-Others..............................................           44.92
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    In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(B) and 703(d)(2) of the Act, 
we are directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of biodiesel from Indonesia that are 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the 
date of the publication of this notice in the Federal Register, and to 
require a cash deposit equal to the subsidy rates indicated above.

Disclosure

    The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection of this preliminary determination 
within five days of its public announcement.\7\
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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we intend to verify 
the information submitted by the respondents prior to making our final 
determination.

Public Comment and Request for Hearing

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance via ACCESS no later 
than seven days after the date on which the last verification report is 
issued in this investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised 
in case briefs, may be submitted by no later than five days after the 
deadline for case briefs.\8\ A table of contents, list of authorities 
used, and an executive summary of issues should accompany any briefs 
submitted to the Department, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 19 
CFR 351.309(d)(2). This summary should be limited to five pages, 
including footnotes.
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 for general 
filing requirements.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c) interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, via ACCESS. An 
electronically-filed request must be successfully received, in its 
entirety, by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, within 30 days after the 
date of the publication of this notice. Requests should contain the 
party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list 
of the issues to be discussed. If a hearing is requested, the 
Department intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a date 
and time to be determined. Parties will be notified of the date, time, 
and location of any hearing via ACCESS. Parties should confirm by 
telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing date two days 
before the scheduled date of the hearing.

U.S. International Trade Commission

    Pursuant to section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the U.S. 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of this preliminary determination. 
In addition, we are making available to the ITC all non-privileged and 
non-proprietary information relating 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, without the written consent of the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
    In accordance with section 705(b)(2) of the Act, if our final 
determination is affirmative,\9\ the ITC will make its final 
determination within 45 days after the Department makes its final 
determination.
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    \9\ As of the signing of this notice, the petitioner (the 
National Biodiesel Fair Trade Coalition) had not requested that the 
date of the final determination of this investigation be aligned 
with the date of the final determination of the companion 
antidumping investigation, pursuant to section 705(a)(1) of the Act. 
Therefore, the current date for the final determination of this 
investigation is 75 days from the signature of this preliminary 
determination, November 6, 2017.
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    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).


[[Page 40748]]


     Dated: August 21, 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. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Injury Test
VI. New Subsidy Allegation
VII. Subsidies Valuation
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Calculation of All-Others Rate
X. ITC Notification
XI. Disclosure and Public Comment
XII. Verification
XIII. Conclusion
    Appendix I--List of Additional Companies Preliminarily Found to 
be Cross-Owned with Musim Mas and Intibenua
    Appendix II--List of Additional Companies Preliminarily Found to 
be Cross-Owned with Wilmar Trading

Appendix II--Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is biodiesel, which is 
a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids 
derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, including biologically-
based waste oils or greases, and other biologically based oil or fat 
sources. This investigation covers biodiesel in pure form (B100) as 
well as fuel mixtures containing at least 99 percent biodiesel by 
volume (B99). For fuel mixtures containing less than 99 percent 
biodiesel by volume, only the biodiesel component of the mixture is 
covered by the scope of this investigation.
    Biodiesel is generally produced to American Society for Testing 
and Materials International (ASTM) D6751 specifications, but it can 
also be made to other specifications. Biodiesel commonly has one of 
the following Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers, generally 
depending upon the feedstock used: 67784-80-9 (soybean oil methyl 
esters); 91051-34-2 (palm oil methyl esters); 91051-32-0 (palm 
kernel oil methyl esters); 73891-99-3 (rapeseed oil methyl esters); 
61788-61-2 (tallow methyl esters); 68990-52-3 (vegetable oil methyl 
esters); 129828-16-6 (canola oil methyl esters); 67762-26-9 
(unsaturated alkylcarboxylic acid methyl ester); or 68937-84-8 
(fatty acids, C12-C18, methyl ester).
    The B100 product subject to this investigation is currently 
classifiable under subheading 3826.00.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), while the B99 product is 
currently classifiable under HTSUS subheading 3826.00.3000. Although 
the HTSUS subheadings, ASTM specifications, and CAS numbers are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2017-18167 Filed 8-25-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P