Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From Sri Lanka: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Determination |
|---|
|
Paul Piquado
Department of Commerce
20 June 2016
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 118 (Monday, June 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39900-39902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14538]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-542-801]
Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From Sri Lanka:
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary
Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, and Alignment of
Final Determination With Final Antidumping 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 certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires
(off road tires) from Sri Lanka and that critical circumstances exist.
The period of investigation is January 1, 2015, through December 31,
2015. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination.
DATES: Effective Date: June 20, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Eastwood, AD/CVD Operations,
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3874.
Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty (CVD) Determination With Final
Antidumping Duty (AD) Determination
On February 3, 2016, the Department initiated this CVD
investigation of off road tires from Sri Lanka.\1\ On the same day, the
Department also initiated antidumping duty (AD) and CVD investigations
of off road tires from India.2 3 This CVD investigation and
the India AD investigation cover the same class or kind of merchandise.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From India, the
People's Republic of China, and Sri Lanka: Initiation of
Countervailing Duty Investigations, 81 FR 7067 (February 10, 2016)
(Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From India and
the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Less Than-Fair-Value
Investigations, 81 FR 7073 (February 10, 2016).
\3\ At this time, the Department also initiated AD and CVD
investigations of off road tires from the People's Republic of China
(PRC). However, on March 1, 2016, the U.S. International Trade
Commission (ITC) found that imports of off road tires from the PRC
were negligible and terminated the PRC AD and CVD investigations.
See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road-Tires From China, India, and
Sri Lanka, 81 FR 10663 (March 1, 2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On May 11, 2016, in accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Tariff
Act of 1930, as amended (Act), Petitioners \4\ requested alignment of
the final CVD determination of off road tires from Sri Lanka with the
final AD determination of off road tires from India. Therefore, in
accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4),
we are aligning the final CVD determination with the India final AD
determination. Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued
on the same date as the India final AD determination, which is
currently scheduled to be issued no later than October 25, 2016, unless
postponed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Petitioners in this investigation are Titan Tire Corporation
and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing,
Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union,
AFL-CIO, CLC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scope of the Investigation
The scope of the investigation covers off road tires, which are
tires with an off road tire size designation. For a complete
description of the scope of the investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the
investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. For discussion
of those comments, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance,
regarding ``Decision Memorandum for the Affirmative Preliminary
Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain
New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires from Sri Lanka,'' dated
concurrently with this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Methodology
The Department is conducting this CVD investigation in accordance
with section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found
countervailable, we preliminarily determine 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.\6\ For a
full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
[[Page 39901]]
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 Preliminary Decision
Memorandum and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum are identical in content.
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
On May 24, 2016, Petitioners filed a timely critical circumstances
allegation, pursuant to section 703(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.206(c)(1), alleging that critical circumstances exist with respect
to imports of off road tires from Sri Lanka.\7\ We preliminarily
determine that critical circumstances exist for Camso Loadstar
(Private) Ltd. (Camso Loadstar) and the companies covered by the ``all
others'' rate. For discussion of our determination, see the Preliminary
Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ See Letter from Petitioners, regarding Certain New Pneumatic
Off-The-Road Tires from Sri Lanka--Petitioners' Critical
Circumstances Allegation, dated May 24, 2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, we
calculated a CVD rate for the individually-investigated producer/
exporter of the subject merchandise. In accordance with sections 703(d)
and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, for companies not investigated, we apply
an ``all others'' rate, which is normally calculated by weighting the
subsidy rates of the individually-examined respondents by those
companies' exports of the subject merchandise to the United States.
Under section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, the ``all others'' rate
should exclude zero and de minimis rates or any rates based solely on
the facts available calculated for the producers/exporters individually
investigated. Because we individually investigated only one producer/
exporter, we applied the rate calculated for that producer/exporter as
the ``all others'' rate.
We preliminarily determine that countervailable subsidies are being
provided with respect to the manufacture, production, or exportation of
the subject merchandise. We preliminarily determine the countervailable
subsidy rates to be:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subsidy
Company rate
(percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Camso Loadstar (Private), Ltd.\8\........................... 2.90
All Others.................................................. 2.90
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As noted above, we preliminarily determine that critical
circumstances exist for Camso Loadstar and the companies covered by the
``all others'' rate. Therefore, in accordance with sections
703(d)(1)(B) and 703(e)(2) of the Act, we are directing U.S. Customs
and Border Protection to suspend liquidation of all entries of off road
tires from Sri Lanka that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after the date which is 90 days before the
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, and to require a
cash deposit for such entries of merchandise in the amounts indicated
above.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ The Department selected as its mandatory respondents in this
investigation Camso Loadstar and Loadstar Private Limited
(Loadstar). See the Memorandum to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, from
Whitley Herndon, International Trade Compliance Analyst, entitled
``Respondent Selection for the Countervailing Duty Investigation of
Certain New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires from Sri Lanka,'' dated
February 25, 2016. However, on April 1, 2016, Camso Loadstar
notified the Department that Camso Loadstar and Loadstar are not
separate companies; rather, Loadstar is the previous name for Camso
Loadstar. Specifically, Camso Loadstar stated that, on June 24,
2015, Loadstar changed its name to Camso Loadstar. See Letter from
Camso Loadstar, entitled ``Certain Off-the-Road Tires from Sri
Lanka,'' dated April 1, 2016. As a result, we are assigning a cash
deposit rate to Camso Loadstar because this is the name of the
currently existing company. For further discussion, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we intend to verify
the information submitted by Camso Loadstar and the Government of Sri
Lanka (GOSL) prior to making our final determination.
U.S. International Trade Commission
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the
ITC of our determination. In addition, we are making available to the
ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information relating to this
investigation. We will allow the ITC access to all privileged and
business proprietary information in our files, provided the ITC
confirms that it will not disclose such information, either publicly or
under an administrative protective order, without the written consent
of the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
In accordance with section 705(b)(2) of the Act, if our final
determination is affirmative, the ITC will make its final determination
within 45 days after the Department makes its final determination.
Disclosure and Public Comment
The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the
calculations performed in connection with this preliminary
determination within five days of its public announcement.\9\ Case
briefs may be submitted to ACCESS no later than seven days after the
date on which the final verification report is issued in this
proceeding. 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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
\10\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.\11\ This summary should be limited to five pages total,
including footnotes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interested parties who wish to request a hearing, or to participate
if one is requested, must do so in writing within 30 days after the
publication of this preliminary determination in the Federal
Register.\12\ Requests should contain the party's name, address, and
telephone number; the number of participants; 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, 14th
Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a date,
time, and location to be determined. Parties will be notified of the
date, time, and location of any hearing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parties must file their case and rebuttal briefs, and any requests
for a hearing, electronically using ACCESS.\13\ Electronically-filed
documents must be received successfully in their entirety by 5:00 p.m.
Eastern Time on the due dates established above.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(2)(i).
\14\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
[[Page 39902]]
Dated: June 13, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The scope of this investigation is certain new pneumatic off-
the-road tires (certain off road tires). Certain off road tires are
tires with an off road tire size designation. The tires included in
the scope may be either tube-type \15\ or tubeless, radial, or non-
radial, regardless of whether for original equipment manufacturers
or the replacement market.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ While tube-type tires are subject to the scope of this
proceeding, tubes and flaps are not subject merchandise and
therefore are not covered by the scope of this proceeding,
regardless of the manner in which they are sold (e.g., sold with or
separately from subject merchandise).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject tires may have the following prefix or suffix
designation, which appears on the sidewall of the tire:
Prefix designations:
DH--Identifies a tire intended for agricultural and logging service
which must be mounted on a DH drop center rim.
VA--Identifies a tire intended for agricultural and logging service
which must be mounted on a VA multipiece rim.
IF--Identifies an agricultural tire to operate at 20 percent higher
rated load than standard metric tires at the same inflation
pressure.
VF--Identifies an agricultural tire to operate at 40 percent higher
rated load than standard metric tires at the same inflation
pressure.
Suffix designations:
ML--Mining and logging tires used in intermittent highway service.
DT--Tires primarily designed for sand and paver service.
NHS--Not for Highway Service.
TG--Tractor Grader, off-the-road tire for use on rims having bead
seats with nominal +0.188'' diameter (not for highway service).
K--Compactor tire for use on 5[deg] drop center or semi-drop center
rims having bead seats with nominal minus 0.032 diameter.
IND--Drive wheel tractor tire used in industrial service.
SL--Service limited to agricultural usage.
FI--Implement tire for agricultural towed highway service.
CFO--Cyclic Field Operation.
SS--Differentiates tires for off-highway vehicles such as mini and
skid-steer loaders from other tires which use similar size
designations such as 7.00-15TR and 7.00-15NHS, but may use different
rim bead seat configurations.
All tires marked with any of the prefixes or suffixes listed
above in their sidewall markings are covered by the scope regardless
of their intended use.
In addition, all tires that lack any of the prefixes or suffixes
listed above in their sidewall markings are included in the scope,
regardless of their intended use, as long as the tire is of a size
that is among the numerical size designations listed in the
following sections of the Tire and Rim Association Year Book, as
updated annually, unless the tire falls within one of the specific
exclusions set forth below. The sections of the Tire and Rim
Association Year Book listing numerical size designations of covered
certain off road tires include:
The table of mining and logging tires included in the section on
Truck-Bus tires;
The entire section on Off-the-Road tires;
The entire section on Agricultural tires; and
The following tables in the section on Industrial/ATV/Special
Trailer tires:
Industrial, Mining, Counterbalanced Lift Truck (Smooth
Floors Only);
Industrial and Mining (Other than Smooth Floors);
Construction Equipment;
Off-the-Road and Counterbalanced Lift Truck (Smooth
Floors Only);
Aerial Lift and Mobile Crane; and
Utility Vehicle and Lawn and Garden Tractor.
Certain off road tires, whether or not mounted on wheels or
rims, are included in the scope. However, if a subject tire is
imported mounted on a wheel or rim, only the tire is covered by the
scope. Subject merchandise includes certain off road tires produced
in the subject countries whether mounted on wheels or rims in a
subject country or in a third country. Certain off road tires are
covered whether or not they are accompanied by other parts, e.g., a
wheel, rim, axle parts, bolts, nuts, etc. Certain off road tires
that enter attached to a vehicle are not covered by the scope.
Specifically excluded from the scope are passenger vehicle and
light truck tires, racing tires, mobile home tires, motorcycle
tires, all-terrain vehicle tires, bicycle tires, on-road or on-
highway trailer tires, and truck and bus tires. 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 prefixes
and suffixes included as part of the size designation on their
sidewalls:
Prefix letter designations:
AT--Identifies a tire intended for service on All-Terrain Vehicles;
P--Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on passenger
cars;
LT--Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on light
trucks;
T--Identifies a tire intended for one-position ``temporary use'' as
a spare only; 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;
ST--Special tires for trailers in highway service; and
M/C--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; aircraft tires; and turf, lawn and garden, and golf tires.
Also excluded from the scope are mining and construction tires 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).
The subject merchandise is currently classifiable under
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings:
4011.20.1025, 4011.20.1035, 4011.20.5030, 4011.20.5050,
4011.61.0000, 4011.62.0000, 4011.63.0000, 4011.69.0050,
4011.92.0000, 4011.93.4000, 4011.93.8000, 4011.94.4000,
4011.94.8000, 8431.49.9038, 8431.49.9090, 8709.90.0020, and
8716.90.1020. Tires meeting the scope description may also enter
under the following HTSUS subheadings: 4011.99.4550, 4011.99.8550,
8424.90.9080, 8431.20.0000, 8431.39.0010, 8431.49.1090,
8431.49.9030, 8432.90.0005, 8432.90.0015, 8432.90.0030,
8432.90.0080, 8433.90.5010, 8503.00.9560, 8708.70.0500,
8708.70.2500, 8708.70.4530, 8716.90.5035 and 8716.90.5055. While
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes,
the written description of the subject merchandise 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. Critical Circumstances
VI. Injury Test
VII. Subsidies Valuation
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. ITC Notification
X. Verification
XI. Conclusion
[FR Doc. 2016-14538 Filed 6-17-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P