Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Sunset Reviews and Revocation of Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders

Jeffrey I. Kessler
Department of Commerce
10 May 2019

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 91 (Friday, May 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20616-20618]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09670]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-912 and C-570-913]


Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From the People's 
Republic of China: Final Results of Sunset Reviews and Revocation of 
Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is revoking the 
antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on certain new 
pneumatic off-the-road tires (OTR Tires) from the People's Republic of 
China (China).

DATES: Applicable February 4, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Dunne or Jacqueline Arrowsmith 
AD/CVD Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2328 
or (202) 482-5255, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On September 4, 2008, Commerce issued antidumping duty and 
countervailing duty orders on OTR Tires from China.\1\ In the first 
sunset review of each order, Commerce and the International Trade 
Commission (ITC) determined that continuation of each order was 
warranted.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Notice of Amended Final Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty 
Order, 73 FR 51624 (September 4, 2008); see also Certain New 
Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the People's Republic of China: 
Countervailing Duty Order, 73 FR 51627 (September 4, 2008).
    \2\ See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Continuation of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Orders 79 FR 6539 (February 4, 2014) 
(Continuation Notice).
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    On February 5, 2019, Commerce initiated the current sunset reviews 
pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act) and 19 CFR 351.218.\3\ We did not receive a notice of intent to 
participate from the domestic interested parties in either sunset 
review. As a result, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.218(d)(1)(iii)(A), 
Commerce has determined that no domestic interested party intends to 
participate in these sunset reviews. On February 21, 2019, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.218(d)(1)(iii)(B)(2), Commerce notified the 
ITC in writing that we intended to revoke the antidumping duty and 
countervailing duty orders on OTR Tires China.\4\
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    \3\ See Initiation of Five-Year (Sunset) Reviews 84 FR 1705 
(February 5, 2019).
    \4\ See Department Letter re: Sunset Review Initiated on 
February 5, 2019 Applicable to January 2019 (February 21, 2019).
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Scope of the Orders

    The products covered by the orders are certain new pneumatic tires 
designed for off-the-road (OTR) and off highway use, subject to 
exceptions identified below. Certain OTR tires are generally designed, 
manufactured and offered for sale for use on off-road or off-highway 
surfaces, including but not

[[Page 20617]]

limited to, agricultural fields, forests, construction sites, factory 
and warehouse interiors, airport tarmacs, ports and harbors, mines, 
quarries, gravel yards, and steel mills. The vehicles and equipment for 
which certain OTR tires are designed for use include, but are not 
limited to: (1) Agricultural and forestry vehicles and equipment, 
including agricultural tractors,\5\ combine harvesters,\6\ agricultural 
high clearance sprayers,\7\ industrial tractors,\8\ log-skidders,\9\ 
agricultural implements, highway towed implements, agricultural 
logging, and agricultural, industrial, skid-steers/mini-loaders; \10\ 
(2) construction vehicles and equipment, including earthmover 
articulated dump products, rigid frame haul trucks,\11\ front end 
loaders,\12\ dozers,\13\ lift trucks, straddle carriers,\14\ 
graders,\15\ mobile cranes,\16\ compactors; and (3) industrial vehicles 
and equipment, including smooth floor, industrial, mining, 
counterbalanced lift trucks, industrial and mining vehicles other than 
smooth floor, skid-steers/mini-loaders, and smooth floor off-the road 
counterbalanced lift trucks.\17\ The foregoing list of vehicles and 
equipment generally have in common that they are used for hauling, 
towing, lifting, and/or loading a wide variety of equipment and 
materials in agricultural, construction and industrial settings. Such 
vehicles and equipment, and the descriptions contained in the footnotes 
are illustrative of the types of vehicles and equipment that use 
certain OTR tires but are not necessarily all-inclusive. While the 
physical characteristics of certain OTR tires will vary depending on 
the specific applications and conditions for which the tires are 
designed (e.g., tread pattern and depth), all the tires within the 
scope have in common that they are designed for off-road and off-
highway use. Except as discussed below, OTR tires included in the scope 
of the proceedings range in size (rim diameter) generally but not 
exclusively from 8 inches to 54 inches. The tires may be either tube-
type 17 or tubeless, radial or non-radial, and intended for sale either 
to original equipment manufacturers or the replacement market. The 
subject merchandise is currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 4011.20.10.25, 
4011.20.10.35, 4011.20.50.30, 4011.20.50.50, 4011.61.00.00, 
4011.62.00.00, 4011.63.00.00, 4011.69.00.00, 4011.92.00.00, 
4011.93.40.00, 4011.93.80.00, 4011.94.40.00, and 4011.94.80.00. While 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
our written description of the scope is dispositive. Specifically 
excluded from the scope are new pneumatic tires designed, manufactured 
and offered for sale primarily for on-highway or on-road use, including 
passenger cars, race cars, station wagons, sport utility vehicles, 
minivans, mobile homes, motorcycles, bicycles, on-road or on-highway 
trailers, light trucks, and trucks and buses. Such tires generally have 
in common that the symbol ``DOT'' must appear on the sidewall, 
certifying that the tire conforms to applicable motor vehicle safety 
standards. Such excluded tires may also have the following designations 
that are used by the Tire and Rim Association:
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    \5\ Agricultural tractors are dual-axle vehicles that typically 
are designed to pull farming equipment in the field and that may 
have front tires of a different size than the rear tires.
    \6\ Combine harvesters are used to harvest crops such as corn or 
wheat.
    \7\ Agricultural sprayers are used to irrigate agricultural 
fields.
    \8\ Industrial tractors are dual-axle vehicles that typically 
are designed to pull industrial equipment and that may have front 
tires of a different size than the rear tires.
    \9\ A log-skidder has a grappling lift arm that is used to 
grasp, lift and move trees that have been cut down to a truck or 
trailer for transport to a mill or other destination.
    \10\ Skid-steer loaders are four-wheel drive vehicles with the 
left-side drive wheels independent of the right-side drive wheels 
and lift arms that lie alongside the driver with the major pivot 
points behind the driver's shoulders. Skid-steer loaders are used in 
agricultural, construction and industrial settings.
    \11\ Haul trucks, which may be either rigid frame or articulated 
(i.e., able to bend in the middle) are typically used in mines, 
quarries and construction sites to haul soil, aggregate, mined ore, 
or debris.
    \12\ Front loaders have lift arms in front of the vehicle. They 
can scrape material from one location to another, carry material in 
their buckets, or load material into a truck or trailer.
    \13\ A dozer is a large four-wheeled vehicle with a dozer blade 
that is used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., 
typically around construction sites. They can also be used to 
perform ``rough grading'' in road construction.
    \14\ A straddle carrier is a rigid frame, engine powered machine 
that is used to load and offload containers from container vessels 
and load them onto (or off of) tractor trailers.
    \15\ A grader is a vehicle with a large blade used to create a 
flat surface. Graders are typically used to perform ``finish 
grading.'' Graders are commonly used in maintenance of unpaved roads 
and road construction to prepare the base course onto which asphalt 
or other paving material will be laid.
    \16\ I.e., ``on-site'' mobile cranes designed for off highway 
use.
    \17\ A counterbalanced lift truck is a rigid framed, engine-
powered machine with lift arms that has additional weight 
incorporated into the back of the machine to offset or 
counterbalance the weight of loads that it lifts so as to prevent 
the vehicle from overturning. An example of a counterbalanced lift 
truck is a counterbalanced fork lift truck. Counterbalanced lift 
trucks may be designed for use on smooth floor surfaces, such as a 
factory or warehouse, or other surfaces, such as construction sites, 
mines, etc.
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    Prefix letter designations:
     P--Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on 
passenger cars;
     LT--Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on 
light trucks; and,
     ST--Identifies a special tire for trailers in highway 
service. Suffix letter designations:
     TR--Identifies a tire for service on trucks, buses, and 
other vehicles with rims having specified rim diameter of nominal plus 
0.156'' or plus 0.250''
     MH--Identifies tires for Mobile Homes;
     HC--Identifies a heavy duty tire designated for use on 
``HC'' 15'' tapered rims used on trucks, buses, and other vehicles. 
This suffix is intended to differentiate among tires for light trucks, 
and other vehicles or other services, which use a similar designation.
     Example: 8R17.5 LT, 8R17.5 HC;
     LT--Identifies light truck tires for service on trucks, 
buses, trailers, and multipurpose passenger vehicles used in nominal 
highway service; and
     MC--Identifies tires and rims for motorcycles.
    The following types of tires are also excluded from the scope: 
Pneumatic tires that are not new, including recycled or retreaded tires 
and used tires; non-pneumatic tires, including solid rubber tires; 
tires of a kind designed for use on aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, and 
vehicles for turf, lawn and garden, golf and trailer applications. Also 
excluded from the scope are radial and bias tires of a kind designed 
for use in mining and construction vehicles and equipment that have a 
rim diameter equal to or exceeding 39 inches. Such tires may be 
distinguished from other tires of similar size by the number of plies 
that the construction and mining tires contain (minimum of 16) and the 
weight of such tires (minimum 1500 pounds).

Revocation

    Pursuant to section 751(c)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.218(d)(1)(iii)(B)(3), if no domestic interested parties respond to 
a notice of initiation, Commerce shall, within 90 days after the 
initiation of the review, revoke the order. Because no domestic 
interested party filed a notice of intent to participate in these 
sunset reviews, we are revoking the antidumping duty and countervailing 
duty orders on OTR Tires from China.

Effective Date of Revocation

    Pursuant to sections 751(c)(3)(A) and 751(c)(6)(A)(iii) of the Act, 
and 19 CFR

[[Page 20618]]

351.222(i)(2)(i), Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection to terminate the suspension of liquidation of the 
merchandise subject to these orders entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, on or after February 4, 2019, the fifth anniversary of the 
date of publication of the last continuation notice.\18\ Entries of 
subject merchandise prior to the effective date of revocation will 
continue to be subject to suspension of liquidation and antidumping 
duty and countervailing duty deposit requirements. Commerce will 
complete any pending reviews of these orders and will conduct 
administrative reviews of subject merchandise entered prior to the 
effective date of revocation in response to appropriately filed 
requests for review.
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    \18\ See Continuation Notice.
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    These five-year (sunset) reviews, the revocation of the AD and CVD 
orders, and this notice are issued and published in accordance with 
sections 751(c)(3)(A) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.218(d)(1)(iii)(B)(3).

    Dated: May 6, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary, for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2019-09670 Filed 5-9-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P