Stilbenic Optical Brightening Agents From Taiwan: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2019-2020

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily finds that Teh Fong Min International Co., Ltd. (TFM), the sole producer and/or exporter subject to this administrative review, made sales of stilbenic optical brightening agents (OBAs) at less than normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR) May 1, 2019, through April 30, 2020. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES:

Applicable July 16, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dmitry Vladimirov, AD/CVD Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-0665.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On May 10, 2012, we published in the Federal Register an antidumping duty order on OBAs from Taiwan. On May 1, 2020, we published in the Federal Register a notice of opportunity to request an administrative review of the Order. On July 10, 2020, based on timely requests for an administrative review, Commerce initiated an administrative review of one company, TFM.

On July 21, 2020, Commerce tolled all deadlines in administrative reviews by 60 days, thereby tolling the deadline for the preliminary results of review until April 1, 2021. On March 12, 2021, Commerce extended the time limit for issuing the preliminary results of this review by 120 days to no later than July 30, 2021.

Scope of the Order

The products covered by the Order are OBAs. A full description of the scope of the Order is contained in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 751(a)(2) of the Act. Export price and constructed export price are calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. NV 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. A list of the topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached as an Appendix to this notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made available to the public 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. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/.

Preliminary Results of the Administrative Review

We preliminarily determine that the following weighted-average dumping margin exists for TFM for the period May 1, 2019, through April 30, 2020:

Disclosure and Public Comment

We intend to disclose the calculations performed for these preliminary results to parties within five days after public announcement of the preliminary results in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case briefs 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 not later than seven days after the date for filing case briefs. Commerce has modified certain of its requirements for serving documents containing business proprietary information until further notice. 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.

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. 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 those raised in the respective case briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be determined. An electronically filed hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.

Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative review, including the results of its analysis of the issues raised in any written briefs, no later than 120 days after the date of publication of this notice, unless extended, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

Upon completion of the final results, Commerce will determine and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review. If the weighted-average dumping margin for TFM is not zero or de minimis (i.e., less than 0.50 percent) in the final results of this review, we intend to calculate an importer-specific assessment rate based on the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for each importer's examined sales and the total entered value of the sales in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1). If TFM's weighted-average dumping margin or an importer-specific assessment rate is zero or de minimis in the final results of review, then we intend to instruct CBP not to assess duties on any of its entries in accordance with the Final Modification for Reviews. The final results of this administrative review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise under review and for future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable.

For entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by TFM for which it did not know its merchandise was destined for the United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.

Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results of this review in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within 90 days of publication).

Cash Deposit Requirements

The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register of the notice of final results of administrative review for all shipments of OBAs from Taiwan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication as provided by section 751(a)(2) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for TFM, subject to this review, will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margin established for it in the final results of the review; (2) for merchandise exported by a company not covered in this review but covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published in the completed segment for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the original investigation but the producer is, the cash deposit rate will be the rate established in the completed segment for the most recent period for the producer of the merchandise; (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will be the all-others rate established in the less-than-fair-value investigation for this proceeding, 6.19 percent. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this period of review. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

Commerce is issuing and publishing these results in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Scope of the Order

IV. Discussion of the Methodology

V. Currency Conversion

VI. Recommendation