Laminated Woven Sacks From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation

AGENCY:

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

DATES:

Applicable July 31, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Drew Jackson or Celeste Chen, 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) 482-0890, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On March 27, 2018, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) initiated a less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of imports of laminated woven sacks (LWS) from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam). Currently, the preliminary determination is due no later than August 14, 2018.

Postponement of Preliminary Determination

Section 733(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), requires Commerce to issue the preliminary determination in a LTFV investigation within 140 days after the date on which Commerce initiated the investigation. However, section 733(c)(1)(A)(b)(1) of the Act permits Commerce to postpone the preliminary determination until no later than 190 days after the date on which Commerce initiated the investigation if: (A) The petitioner makes a timely request for a postponement; or (B) Commerce concludes that the parties concerned are cooperating, that the investigation is extraordinarily complicated, and that additional time is necessary to make a preliminary determination. Under 19 CFR 351.205(e), the petitioner must submit a request for postponement 25 days or more before the scheduled date of the preliminary determination and must state the reasons for the request. Commerce will grant the request unless it finds compelling reasons to deny the request.

On July 17, 2018, the petitioners submitted a timely request that Commerce postpone the preliminary determination in the LTFV investigation. The petitioners stated that they request postponement “because the initial questionnaire responses submitted by the respondents in this investigation are substantially deficient, and it may not be possible for {Commerce} to obtain usable corrected responses within the current schedule.”

For the reasons stated above, and because there are no compelling reasons to deny the request, Commerce, in accordance with section 733(c)(1)(A) of the Act, is postponing the deadline for the preliminary determination by 50 days (i.e., 190 days after the date on which this investigations was initiated). As a result, Commerce will issue its preliminary determination no later than October 3, 2018. In accordance with section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1), the deadline for the final determination of this investigation will continue to be 75 days after the date of the preliminary determination, unless postponed at a later date.

This notice is issued and published pursuant to section 733(c)(2) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(f)(1).