Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires From the People's Republic of China: Final Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2018

Christian Marsh
Department of Commerce
22 April 2021

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 76 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21275-21277]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08362]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-017]


Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires From the People's 
Republic of China: Final Results and Partial Rescission of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2018

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that certain 
producers/exporters of passenger vehicle and light truck tires 
(passenger tires) from the People's Republic of China (China) received 
countervailable subsidies during the period of review, January 1, 2018, 
through December 31, 2018.

DATES: Applicable April 22, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Kolberg, 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) 482-1785.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Commerce published the Preliminary Results of the administrative 
review in the Federal Register on December 18, 2020.\1\ We invited 
interested parties to comment on the Preliminary Results.
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    \1\ See Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Countervailing 
Duty Administrative Review, Rescission in Part, and Intent to 
Rescind in Part; 2018, 85 FR 82437 (December 18, 2020) (Preliminary 
Results), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    On January 19, 2021, we received a case brief and a letter in lieu 
of a case brief from Triangle Tyre Co., Ltd. (Triangle Tyre) and 
Qingdao Fullrun Tyre Tech Corp., Ltd. (Fullrun Tyre), respectively.\2\ 
On January 29, 2021, we received a rebuttal brief from United Steel, 
Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied

[[Page 21276]]

Industrial and Service Workers Union, AFL-CIO (collectively, the 
petitioner).\3\ For a complete description of the events that occurred 
since the Preliminary Results, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.\4\
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    \2\ See Triangle Tyre's Letter, ``Certain Passenger Vehicle and 
Light Truck Tires from the People's Republic of China: Case Brief of 
Triangle Tyre Co., Ltd.,'' dated January 19, 2021; see also Fullrun 
Tyre Tech's Letter, ``Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from 
China-Letter in Lieu of Case Brief,'' dated January 19, 2021.
    \3\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Administrative Review of the 
Countervailing Duty Order on Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light 
Truck Tires from the People's Republic of China: Petitioner's 
Rebuttal Brief,'' dated January 29, 2021.
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Results of the 2018 Administrative Review of the 
Countervailing Duty Order of Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires 
from the People's Republic of China,'' dated concurrently with, and 
hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order \5\
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    \5\ See Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires from the 
People's Republic of China: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping 
Duty Determination and Antidumping Duty Order; and Amended Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Countervailing 
Duty Order, 80 FR 47902 (August 10, 2015) (CVD Order).
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    The products covered by the order are passenger tires from China. 
For a complete description of the scope of order, see the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in parties' briefs are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed is attached to 
this notice as an appendix. The Issues and 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. In addition, a complete version of the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/.

Methodology

    Commerce conducted this administrative review in accordance with 
section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). 
For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, we determine 
that there is a subsidy, i.e., a government-provided financial 
contribution that gave rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the 
subsidy is specific.\6\ For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our conclusions, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \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.
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    Commerce notes that, in making these findings, it relied, in part, 
on facts otherwise available pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act, as 
well as adverse facts available pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act. 
For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available'' in 
the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Partial Rescission of Review

    It is Commerce's practice to rescind an administrative review of a 
countervailing duty order, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), when there 
are no reviewable entries of subject merchandise during the POR for 
which liquidation is suspended.\7\ Normally, upon completion of an 
administrative review, the suspended entries are liquidated at the 
countervailing duty assessment rate calculated for the review 
period.\8\ Therefore, for an administrative review of a company to be 
conducted, there must be a reviewable, suspended entry that Commerce 
can instruct CBP to liquidate at the calculated countervailing duty 
assessment rate calculated for the review period.\9\
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    \7\ See, e.g., Lightweight Thermal Paper from the People's 
Republic of China: Notice of Rescission of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review; 2015, 82 FR 14349 (March 20, 2017); see also 
Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic 
of China: Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 
2017, 84 FR 14650 (April 11, 2019).
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).
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    According to the CBP import data, three of the six companies 
subject to this review, which were not chosen as mandatory respondents 
and which did not withdraw their review requests, did not have 
reviewable entries of subject merchandise during the POR for which 
liquidation is suspended.\10\ Because there is no evidence on the 
record to indicate that these companies had entries, exports, or sales 
of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR, pursuant to 
19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), we are rescinding the review with respect to 
these companies. In the Preliminary Results, we also stated that we 
intended to rescind the administrative review with respect Qingdao 
Fullrun Tyre Tech Corp., Ltd. However, because Qingdao Fullrun Tyre 
Tech Corp., Ltd. did not request a review and was not identified in the 
Initiation Notice, we are not rescinding the review with respect to 
this company. Rather, we are rescinding the review with respect to 
Qingdao Fullrun Tech Tyre Corp., the company that requested a review, 
was named in the Initiation Notice, and for which we found no 
reviewable entries (see Comment 2 of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum).
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    \10\ These three companies are Hankook Tire China Co., Ltd.; 
Qingdao Fullrun Tech Tyre Corp., Ltd.; and Qingdao Powerich Tyre 
Co., Ltd.
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Companies Not Selected for Individual Review

    To determine the rate for companies not selected for individual 
examination in administrative reviews, Commerce's practice is to weight 
average the net subsidy rates for the selected mandatory companies, 
excluding rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
available. In this review, we calculated rates based entirely on facts 
available for each of the mandatory respondents during the POR. In 
countervailing duty administrative reviews, where the number of 
respondents being individually examined has been limited, Commerce has 
determined that a ``reasonable method'' to determine the rate 
applicable to companies that were not individually examined when all 
the rates of selected mandatory respondents are zero, de minimis, or 
based entirely on adverse facts available is to assign to the non-
selected respondents the average of the most recently determined rates 
that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
available.\11\ However, if a non-selected respondent has its own 
calculated rate that is contemporaneous with or more recent than such 
previous rates, Commerce has found it appropriate to apply that 
calculated rate to the non-selected respondent, even when that rate is 
zero or de minimis.\12\
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    \11\ See, e.g., Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes 
from Turkey: Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Review; Calendar Year 2012 and Rescission of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review, in Part, 79 FR 51140 (August 27, 2014); see 
also Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from the Republic of 
Korea; Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 
2012, 79 FR 46770 (August 11, 2014), and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at ``Non-Selected Rate.''
    \12\ Id.
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    With regard to the three remaining non-selected companies, which 
have no prior individual rates from prior segments, we are assigning 
the rate of 20.05 percent ad valorem, which is the average of the 
above-de minimis rates calculated in the last review.

Final Results of Review

    We determine the following net countervailable subsidy rates for 
the period January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2018:

[[Page 21277]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                Producers/exporters \13\                    (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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Shandong Duratti Rubber Corporation Co., Ltd............          116.50
Shandong Longyue Rubber Co. Ltd.........................          116.50
Shandong Anchi Tyre Co., Ltd............................          116.50
Triangle Tyre Co. Ltd...................................          116.50
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   Review-Specific Average Rate Applicable to the Following Companies
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Jiangsu Hankook Tire Co., Ltd...........................           20.05
Qingdao Fullrun Tyre Corp., Ltd.........................           20.05
Shandong Province Sanli Tire Manufactured Co., Ltd......           20.05
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Assessment and Cash Deposit Requirements

    Consistent with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(2), upon issuance of these final results, Commerce will 
determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, 
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered by this 
review. For the companies for which this review is rescinded, Commerce 
will instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate 
entries at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing 
duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for 
consumption, during the period January 1, 2018, through December 31, 
2018, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). We intend to issue 
instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after publication of the 
final results of this review. 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).
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    \13\ We are not disclosing any final calculations as we did make 
any revisions to the preliminary AFA calculations in connection with 
the final results of this review. See Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum at 18-20.
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Cash Deposit Requirements

    In accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce also 
intends to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated 
countervailing duties in the amounts shown above for the respective 
companies listed above with regard to shipments of subject merchandise 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
date of publication of the final results of this review. For all non-
reviewed firms, CBP will continue to collect cash deposits of estimated 
countervailing duties at the all-others rate or the most recent 
company-specific rate applicable to the company, as appropriate. These 
cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.

Administrative Protective Order

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). 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 the terms of an APO is a 
sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These final results of this review are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: April 16, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Rescission of the Administrative Review, in Part
V. Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review
VI. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
VII. Analysis of Comments
    Comment 1: Whether the Application of Adverse Facts Available to 
Triangle Tyre Co., Ltd. was Lawful
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce Should Rescind the Review with 
Respect to Qingdao Fullrun Tyre Tech Corp., Ltd.
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-08362 Filed 4-21-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P