Certain New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2016

Gary Taverman
Department of Commerce
11 July 2018

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32080-32081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14829]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-913]


Certain New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires From the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2016

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and 
exporters of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires (OTR Tires) from 
the People's Republic of China (China) during the period of review 
(POR) January 1 through December 31, 2016. Additionally, Commerce is 
rescinding this review, in part, with respect to two companies. We 
invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable July 11, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chloee Sagmoe or Chien-Min Yang, 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) 482-2273 or (202) 
482-5484.

Background

    On September 1, 2017, Commerce published a notice of opportunity to 
request an administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order 
on OTR Tires from China covering the period January 1, 2016, through 
December 31, 2016.\1\ Commerce received timely requests from Shandong 
Huitong Tyre Co., Ltd. (Shandong Huitong), Techking Tires Limited 
(Techking), and Tianjin Leviathan International Trade Co., Ltd. 
(Tianjin Leviathan), for an administrative review of the countervailing 
duty order.\2\ On November 13, 2017, Commerce published a notice of 
initiation of an administrative review of the CVD order on OTR Tires 
from China with regard to the three companies.\3\ On November 17, 2017, 
Shandong Huitong and Techking each timely withdrew its request for an 
administrative review.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity To Request Administrative 
Review, 82 FR 41595 (September 1, 2017).
    \2\ See Shandong Huitong's letter, ``New Pneumatic Off-The-Road 
Tires from the People's Republic of China: Shandong Huitong Tire 
Co., Ltd.'s Request for Administrative Review,'' dated October 2, 
2017. See also Techking's letter, ``New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires 
from the People's Republic of China: Techking Tires Limited's 
Request for Administrative Review,'' dated October 2, 2017. See also 
Tianjin Leviathan's letter, ``New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from 
the PRC: Request for Antidumping Administrative Review,'' dated 
September 26, 2017.
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 82 FR 52268 (November 13, 2017) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \4\ See Shandong Huitong's letter, ``New Pneumatic Off-The-Road 
Tires from the People's Republic of China: Withdrawal of Request for 
Review for Shandong Huitong Tyre Co., Ltd.,'' dated on November 17, 
2017. See also Techking's letter, ``New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires 
from the People's Republic of China: Withdrawal of Request for 
Review for Techking Tires Limited,'' dated on November 17, 2017.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rescission, in Part, of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if a party that requested 
the review withdraws the request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation of the requested review. 
Shandong Huitong and Techking timely submitted withdrawal requests 
within the 90-day period. Accordingly, we are rescinding the 
administrative review of the CVD order on OTR Tires from China with 
respect to these two companies, and continuing the administrative 
review with respect to Tianjin Leviathan.

Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse Inferences 
to Tianjin Leviathan

    Subsequent to the initiation of this administrative review, 
Commerce issued the initial questionnaire in a letter to Government of 
China (GOC) and Tianjin Leviathan dated January 19, 2018.\5\ Tianjin 
Leviathan, which did not withdraw its review request, failed to respond 
entirely to the questionnaire by the specified deadline. Additionally, 
the GOC did not submit requested information related to Tianjin 
Leviathan in response to Commerce's initial questionnaire. Therefore, 
because necessary information is not available on the record and 
because both Tianjin Leviathan and the GOC failed to respond to 
Commerce's request for information, we preliminarily find that the use 
of facts available is warranted, pursuant to section 776(a)(1) and 
776(a)(2)(A) and (C) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). 
Moreover, because Tianjin Leviathan and the GOC did not cooperate to 
the best of their ability, pursuant to 776(b) of the Act, we 
preliminarily find that use of adverse facts available (AFA) is 
warranted to ensure that Tianjin Leviathan does not obtain a more 
favorable result by failing to cooperate than if it had fully complied 
with our request for information. For further information, see ``Use of 
Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences'' in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ See Letter to GOC, ``2016 Administrative Review of the 
Countervailing Duty Order on Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road 
Tires from China: Questionnaire,'' dated on January 19, 2018 
(Initial Questionnaire).
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Certain 
New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires from the People's Republic of 
China; 2016'' (Preliminary Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Results of Review

    Consistent with Commerce's CVD AFA methodology, we preliminarily 
determine the net AFA countervailing subsidy rate for Tianjin Leviathan 
to be 91.94 percent ad valorem.

Disclosure

    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with the preliminary results of a review within 
ten days of its public announcement, or if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of

[[Page 32081]]

publication of the notice of preliminary results in the Federal 
Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because 
Commerce preliminarily applied AFA to the sole company that is still 
under review (Tianjin Leviathan), in accordance with section 776 of the 
Act, and because our calculation of the AFA subsidy rate is outlined in 
the Tianjin Leviathan AFA Memorandum,\7\ there are no further 
calculations to disclose.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Results of the Countervailing 
Duty Administrative Review of Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road 
Tires from the People's Republic of China: Application of Adverse 
Facts Available for Tianjin Leviathan International Trade Co., 
Ltd.,'' (Tianjin Leviathan AFA Memorandum), dated concurrently with 
this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice.\8\ 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.\9\ 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.\10\ Case and 
rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(ii).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 Time within 30 days after 
the date of publication of this notice.\12\ 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, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.\13\ 
Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of its analysis of arguments raised in 
any written briefs, not later than 120 days after the publication of 
these preliminary results in the Federal Register, unless otherwise 
extended.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \13\ [thinsp]Id.
    \14\ See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assessment

    Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
assess CVDs on all appropriate entries. Shandong Huitong and Techking 
shall be assessed CVDs at rates equal to the cash deposit of estimated 
countervailing duties in effect at the time of entry, or withdrawal 
from warehouse, for consumption, during the period January 1, 2016, 
through December 31, 2016, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). 
Commerce intends to issue appropriate assessment instructions to CBP 15 
days after publication of this notice.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to the 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
an APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3), which continues to 
govern business proprietary information in this segment of the 
proceeding. Timely written notification of the return or destruction of 
APO materials, or conversion to judicial protective order, is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO 
is a violation which is subject to sanction.
    This notice is issued and published in accordance with sections 
751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.213(d)(4) and 
351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: July 5, 2018.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2018-14829 Filed 7-10-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P