Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Thailand; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, Rescission of Review, in Part, and Preliminary Determination of No Shipments; 2014-2015

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce (Department) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from Thailand. The review covers 163 producers/exporters of the subject merchandise. The Department selected two mandatory respondents for individual examination, Mayao and Thai Union. The period of review (POR) is February 1, 2014, through January 31, 2015. We preliminarily determine that sales to the United States have been made below normal value and, therefore, are subject to antidumping duties. Additionally, we preliminarily determine that certain companies for which we initiated a review did not have any shipments during the POR. If these preliminary results are adopted in the final results of this review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES:

Effective March 10, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dennis McClure or Alice Maldonado, AD/CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5973 and (202) 482-4682, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

As explained in the memorandum from the Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement & Compliance, the Department has exercised its discretion to toll all administrative deadlines due to the recent closure of the Federal Government. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been extended by four business days. The revised deadline for the preliminary results of this review is now March 4, 2016.

Scope of the Order

The merchandise subject to the order is certain frozen warmwater shrimp. The product is currently classified under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) item numbers: 0306.17.00.03, 0306.17.00.06, 0306.17.00.09, 0306.17.00.12, 0306.17.00.15, 0306.17.00.18, 0306.17.00.21, 0306.17.00.24, 0306.17.00.27, 0306.17.00.40, 1605.21.10.30, and 1605.29.10.10. Although the HTSUS numbers are provided for convenience and for customs purposes, the written product description remains dispositive.

Methodology

The Department is conducting this review in accordance with section 751(a)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Export price is calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal value is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act.

For a full description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 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 it 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://trade.gov/enforcement/frn/index.html. The signed and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content. A list of the topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached as the Appendix to this notice.

Partial Rescission of Review

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the Secretary 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 of the requested review. This review was initiated on March 30, 2015. Two producers/exporters of shrimp in Thailand, Gallant Ocean (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (Gallant Ocean) and Southport Seafood Co., Ltd. (Southport), withdrew their requests for review on May 28, 2015, which is within the 90-day deadline. While no other party requested an administrative review of Southport, we received other requests for review of Gallant Ocean. Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), and consistent with our practice, we are rescinding this review only with respect to Southport. We are continuing the administrative review with respect to Gallant Ocean because we received properly-filed requests for a review of this company, and we did not receive timely withdrawal of review requests from all parties with respect to it.

Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

Among the companies under review, four companies properly filed statements reporting that they made no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. Based on the certifications submitted by two of these companies and our analysis of CBP information, we preliminarily determine that the following companies had no reviewable transactions during the POR: (1) Gallant Ocean; and (2) Lucky Union Foods Co., Ltd. The Department finds that it is not appropriate to preliminarily rescind the review with respect to these companies but, rather, to complete the review with respect to these companies and issue appropriate instructions to CBP based on the final results of this review.

With respect to the two remaining companies, Marine Gold Products Ltd (Marine Gold) and Thai Union Manufacturing Company Limited (Thai Union Manufacturing), we preliminarily find that there is insufficient evidence on the record of this review to conclude that these companies made no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. Therefore, we are continuing to include both Marine Gold and Thai Union Manufacturing in this administrative review for purposes of the preliminary results. However, we requested additional information from CBP with respect to any potential entries made by these companies during the POR, and we will consider this information in making a final determination on this issue for purposes of the final results.

Preliminary Results of the Review

As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that weighted-average dumping margins exist for the respondents for the period February 1, 2014, through January 31, 2015, as follows:

Review-Specific Average Rate Applicable to the Following Non-Selected Companies:

Disclosure and Public Comment

The Department intends to disclose the calculations performed in connection with these preliminary results to interested parties within five days after the date of publication of this notice. Interested parties may submit cases briefs to the Department no later than 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no later than five days after the time limit for filing case briefs. Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding 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. Case and rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS.

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via ACCESS. An electronically-filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Hearing requests should contain: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, parties will be notified of the time and date for the hearing to be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.

The Department intends to issue the final results of this administrative review, including the results of its analysis raised in any written briefs, not later than 120 days after the publication date of this notice, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

Upon issuance of the final results, the Department shall determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review.

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), where Mayao and Thai Union reported the entered value for of their U.S. sales, we calculated importer-specific ad valorem duty assessment rates based on the ratio of the total aount of antidumping duties calculated for the examined sales to the total entered value of the sales for which entered value was reported. Where Mayao and Thai Union have not reported entered value, we calculated the entered value in order to calculate the assessment rates. Where either the respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is zero or de minimis within the meaning of 19 CFR 351.106(c), or an importer-specific rate is zero or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties.

For the companies which were not selected for individual review, we will assign an assessment rate based on the average of the cash deposit rates calculated for the companies selected for mandatory review (i.e., Mayao and Thai Union), excluding any which are de minimis or determined entirely on adverse facts available. The final results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by the final results of this review and for future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable.

We intend to issue liquidation instructions to CBP 15 days after publication of the final results of this review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

The following deposit requirements will be effective for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for each specific company listed above will be that established in the final results of this review, except if the rate is less than 0.50 percent and, therefore, de minimis within the meaning of 19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), in which case the cash deposit rate will be zero; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated companies not participating in this review, the cash deposit will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recently completed segment; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, or the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recent segment for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 5.34 percent, the all-others rate made effective by the Section 129 Determination. 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) 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.

We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary

2. Background

3. Scope of the Order

4. Treatment of Voluntary Respondents

5. Rescission of Review, In Part

6. Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

7. Discussion of the Methodology

a. Normal Value Comparisons

b. Determination of Comparison Method

c. Results of Differential Pricing Analysis

d. Product Comparisons

e. Export Price/Constructed Export Price

f. Normal Value

i. Home Market Viability

ii. Affiliated-Party Transactions and Arm's-Length Test

iii. Level of Trade

iv. Cost of Production Analysis

1. Calculation of Cost of Production

2. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices

3. Results of the COP Test

v. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Comparison Market Prices

8. Currency Conversion

9. Recommendation