[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 213 (Monday, November 6, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51387-51389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24078]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-876]


Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber From India: 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 exporters of fine denier polyester staple fiber (fine 
denier PSF) from India. The period of investigation is January 1, 2016, 
through December 31, 2016.

DATES: Applicable November 6, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Trisha Tran or Eli Lovely, 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) 482-4852 or (202) 482-1593, 
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 June 27, 
2017.\1\ On August 8, 2017, the Department postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation and the revised deadline is now 
October 30, 2017.\2\ For a complete description of the events that 
followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary 
Decision

[[Page 51388]]

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 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 electronic versions of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber from India and the 
People's Republic of China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty 
Investigations, 82 FR 29028 (June 27,2017) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's 
Republic of China and India: Postponement of Preliminary 
Determinations in the Countervailing Duty Investigations, 82 FR 
37048 (August 8, 2017).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Fine 
Denier Polyester Staple Fiber from India,'' 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 fine denier PSF from 
India. 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,\4\ 
the Initiation Notice 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, as well as additional language proposed by the 
Department.\6\ The Department intends to issue its preliminary decision 
regarding comments concerning the scope of the antidumping duty (AD) 
and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations in the preliminary 
determination of the companion AD investigation.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice.
    \6\ Letter from from David C. Poole Company Inc., ``Fine Denier 
Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's Republic of China, India, 
the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam; Scope Comments,'' dated 
July 10, 2017; Letter from Suominen Corporation, ``Fine Denier 
Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's Republic of China, India, 
the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam,'' dated July 10, 2017; Letter from Consolidated Fibers, 
Inc., ``Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's 
Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam--Scope Comments,'' dated July 10, 
2017; Letter from Reliance, ``Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber 
from the People's Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, 
Taiwan, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Reliance Industries, 
Ltd.'s Comments Regarding the Scope of the Investigation,'' dated 
July 10, 2017; Letter from the petitioners, ``Fine Denier Polyester 
Staple Fiber from the People's Republic of China, India, the 
Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam--
Petitioners' Scope Comments,'' dated July 12, 2017; Letter from the 
petitioners, ``Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's 
Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam--Petitioners' Rebuttal Scope Comments 
to the Importers' Scope Exclusion Requests,'' dated July 12, 2017.
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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 
countervailable, the Department preliminarily determines that there is 
a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that 
gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is 
specific.\7\
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    \7\ 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.
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    The Department notes that, in making these findings, it relied, in 
part, on facts available and, because it finds that one or more 
respondents did not act to the best of their ability to respond to the 
Department's requests for information, it drew an adverse inference 
where appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise 
available.\8\ For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise 
Available and Adverse Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \8\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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All-Others Rate

    Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in the 
preliminary determination, the Department shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate 
shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated 
subsidy rates established for those companies individually examined, 
excluding any zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely 
under section 776 of the Act.
    In this investigation, the Department calculated individual 
estimated countervailable subsidy rates for Bombay Dyeing & 
Manufacturing Company Limited (Bombay Dyeing) and Reliance Limited 
Industries (Reliance) that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely 
on facts otherwise available. The Department calculated the all-others' 
rate using a weighted average of the individual estimated subsidy rates 
calculated for the examined respondents using each company's publicly-
ranged values for the merchandise under consideration.\9\
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    \9\ With two respondents under examination, the Department 
normally calculates (A) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy 
rates calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average 
of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined 
respondents; and (C) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy 
rates calculated for the examined respondents using each company's 
publicly-ranged U.S. sale quantities for the merchandise under 
consideration. The Department then compares (B) and (C) to (A) and 
selects the rate closest to (A) as the most appropriate rate for all 
other producers and exporters. See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts 
Thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, Final 
Results of Changed-Circumstances Review, and Revocation of an Order 
in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 (September 1, 2010). As complete 
publicly ranged sales data was available, the Department based the 
all-others rate on the publicly ranged sales data of the mandatory 
respondents. For a complete analysis of the data, please see the 
All-Others' Rate Calculation Memorandum.
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Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company Limited...........            7.18
Reliance Industries Limited.............................            9.86
All-Others..............................................            9.37
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(B) and (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 
the scope of the investigation section entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), 
the Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the 
rates indicated above.

Disclosure

    The Department intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of this notice in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, the Department intends 
to verify the information relied upon in making its final 
determination.

[[Page 51389]]

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance 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 no later than five days after the deadline 
date for case briefs.\10\ 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.
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    \10\ 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 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.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, the Department will 
notify the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its 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.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: October 30, 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

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is fine denier 
polyester staple fiber (fine denier PSF), not carded or combed, 
measuring less than 3.3 decitex (3 denier) in diameter. The scope 
covers all fine denier PSF, whether coated or uncoated. The 
following products are excluded from the scope:
    (1) PSF equal to or greater than 3.3. decitex (more than 3 
denier, inclusive) currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 5503.20.0045 and 
5503.20.0065.
    (2) Low-melt PSF defined as a bicomponent fiber with a polyester 
core and anouter, polyester sheath that melts at a significantly 
lower temperature than its inner polyester core currently classified 
under HTSUS subheading 5503.20.0015.
    Fine denier PSF is classifiable under the HTSUS subheading 
5503.20.0025. Although the 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. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Injury Test
VI. Subsidies Valuation
VII. Benchmarks and Discount Rates
VIII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
IX. Analysis of Programs
X. Calculation of the All-Others Rate
XI. ITC Notification
XII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XIII. Verification
XIV. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-24078 Filed 11-3-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P