[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 197 (Friday, October 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47697-47700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22203]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-122-859]


100- to 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft from Canada: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft (aircraft) from 
Canada is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less 
than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 
2016, through March 31, 2017.

DATES: Applicable October 13, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Drew Jackson or Lilit Astvatsatrian, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4406 or (202) 
482-6412, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended

[[Page 47698]]

(the Act). The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on May 26, 2017.\1\ For a complete description of the 
events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\2\ A list of topics included 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 https://access.trade.gov, 
and to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main 
Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the electronic versions of 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See 100- to 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft From Canada: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 82 FR 24296 (May 
26, 2017) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less Than Fair Value Investigation of 100- To 
150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft from Canada,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is aircraft from Canada. 
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to the Department's regulations,\3\ 
in the Initiation Notice, the Department set aside a period of time for 
parties to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\4\ 
Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation 
as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product 
coverage comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for 
this preliminary determination, and accompanying discussion and 
analysis of all scope comments timely received, see the Scope Comments 
Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination.\5\ The 
Department is not preliminarily modifying the scope language as it 
appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the scope in Appendix I to this 
notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Initiation Notice.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``100- To 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft from 
Canada: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination'' (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum), dated 
concurrently with this preliminary determination.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adverse Facts Available

    Bombardier Inc. (Bombardier) is the sole mandatory respondent in 
this investigation, and failed to provide information requested in the 
Department's questionnaire. Accordingly, we preliminarily determine to 
base Bombardier's dumping margin on adverse facts available (AFA), in 
accordance with sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.308. 
As AFA, we applied the highest dumping margin calculated for Canadian 
exports of subject merchandise contained in the Petition, which is 
79.82 percent.\6\ For further discussion, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ See Letter to the Honorable Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Secretary 
of Commerce, from the petitioner, concerning, ``Petitions for the 
Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties On 100- To 150-
Seat Large Civil Aircraft from Canada,'' dated April 27, 2017 (the 
Petition); see also Letter to the Honorable Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., 
Secretary of Commerce from the petitioner, concerning, ``100-To 150-
Seat Large Civil Aircraft from Canada--Petitioner's Response to AD 
Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated May 2, 2017'' (May 4, 2017) 
(Petition Supplement).
    \7\ See also memorandum, ``Application of Adverse Facts 
Available to Bombardier Inc.,'' dated October 4, 2017.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Pursuant to section 776(a) and (b) of the Act, 
the Department has preliminarily relied upon facts otherwise available 
with adverse inferences for Bombardier. For a full description of the 
methodology underlying the preliminary determination, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in 
the preliminary determination the Department shall determine an 
estimated all-others rate for all exporters and producers not 
individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the 
weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
established for exporters and producers individually investigated, 
excluding any zero and de minimis dumping margins, and any dumping 
margins determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. Pursuant to 
section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins established for all exporters and producers 
individually examined are zero, de minimis or determined based entirely 
on facts otherwise available, the Department may use any reasonable 
method to establish the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for 
all-other producers or exporters.
    The Department has preliminarily determined the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin for the individually examined respondent 
entirely under section 776 of the Act. Consequently, pursuant to 
section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, the Department's normal practice under 
these circumstances has been to calculate the ``all-others''` rate as a 
simple average of the alleged dumping margins from the Petition.\8\ The 
Petition for this investigation included a single alleged dumping 
margin. Therefore, for purposes of determining the ``all-others'' rate 
and pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, we are using the 
alleged dumping margin in the Petition as the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin assigned to all other producers and exporters of 
subject merchandise. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying the Department's analysis, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ See, e.g., Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of 
Germany, 73 FR 21909, 21912 (April 23, 2008), unchanged in Notice of 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite 
from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 38986, 38987 (July 8, 
2008), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2; 
see also Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Raw Flexible Magnets from Taiwan, 73 FR 39673, 39674 (July 
10, 2008); Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 
79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from 
Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 
14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist:

[[Page 47699]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Estimated
                                  weighted-        Cash deposit rate
      Exporter/producer            average       (adjusted for subsidy
                               dumping margin     offset(s)) (percent)
                                  (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bombardier, Inc..............           79.82  Not Applicable.
All-Others...................           79.82  Not Applicable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, the Department 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix 
I, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit 
equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the estimated 
all-others rate, as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the 
respondent listed above will be equal to the company-specific estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin determined in this preliminary 
determination; (2) if the exporter is not the respondent 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.
    The Department normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated 
antidumping duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a 
companion countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding, when CVD provisional 
measures are in effect. However, because the Department has not made a 
preliminary affirmative determination for countervailable export 
subsidies in the companion CVD proceeding, the Department has not 
adjusted the estimated weighted-average dumping margin to offset 
countervailable export subsidies.

Disclosure

    Normally, the Department discloses to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with a preliminary determination 
within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of the notice 
of preliminary determination in the Federal Register, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because the Department preliminarily 
applied total AFA to the individually examined company, Bombardier, in 
this investigation, in accordance with section 776 of the Act, and the 
applied AFA rate is based solely on the Petition, there are no 
calculations to disclose.

Verification

    Because the examined respondent in this investigation did not 
provide information requested by the Department, and the Department 
preliminarily determines the examined respondent to have been 
uncooperative, we will not conduct verification.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 21 
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination, 
unless the Secretary alters the time limit. Rebuttal briefs, limited to 
issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days 
after the deadline date for case briefs.\9\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal 
briefs in this investigation are encouraged to submit with each 
argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the 
argument; and (3) a table of authorities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days 
after the date of 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 request for a hearing is made, the 
Department intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time 
and date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the 
date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled 
date.

Final Determination

    Section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1) provide that 
the Department will issue the final determination within 75 days after 
the date of its preliminary determination. Accordingly, the Department 
intends to make its final determination no later than 75 days after the 
signature date of this preliminary determination.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, the Department will 
notify the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination. If the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will 
determine before the later of 120 days after the date of this 
preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination 
whether imports of the subject merchandise are materially injuring, or 
threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: October 4, 2017.
Carole Showers,
Executive Director, Office of Policy performing the duties of the 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is aircraft, 
regardless of seating configuration, that have a standard 100- to 
150-seat two-class seating capacity and a minimum 2,900 nautical 
mile range, as these terms are defined below.
    ``Standard 100- to 150-seat two-class seating capacity'' refers 
to the capacity to accommodate 100 to 150 passengers, when eight 
passenger seats are configured for a 36-inch pitch, and the 
remaining passenger seats are configured for a 32-inch pitch. 
``Pitch'' is the distance between a point on one seat and the same 
point on the seat in front of it.

[[Page 47700]]

    ``Standard 100- to 150-seat two-class seating capacity'' does 
not delineate the number of seats actually in a subject aircraft or 
the actual seating configuration of a subject aircraft. Thus, the 
number of seats actually in a subject aircraft may be below 100 or 
exceed 150.
    A ``minimum 2,900 nautical mile range'' means:
    (i) Able to transport between 100 and 150 passengers and their 
luggage on routes equal to or longer than 2,900 nautical miles; or
    (ii) covered by a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 
type certificate or supplemental type certificate that also covers 
other aircraft with a minimum 2,900 nautical mile range.
    The scope includes all aircraft covered by the description 
above, regardless of whether they enter the United States fully or 
partially assembled, and regardless of whether, at the time of entry 
into the United States, they are approved for use by the FAA.
    The merchandise covered by this investigation is currently 
classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) subheading 8802.40.0040. The merchandise may alternatively 
be classifiable under HTSUS subheading 8802.40.0090. Although these 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
the written description of the scope of the investigation is 
dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Scope Comments
VI. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
    A. Application of Facts Available
    B. Use of Adverse Inference
    C. Preliminary Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margin Based 
on Adverse Facts Available
    D. Corroboration of the AFA Rate
VII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-22203 Filed 10-12-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P