AGENCY:
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
DATES:
Effective Date: May 3, 2013.
SUMMARY:
The Department of Commerce (“Department”) preliminarily determines that hardwood and decorative plywood (“plywood”) from the People's Republic of China (“PRC”) is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (“LTFV”), as provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (“the Act”). The period of investigation (“POI”) is January 1, 2012, through June 30, 2012. The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the “Preliminary Determination” section of this notice. The final determination will be issued 75 days after publication of this preliminary determination in the Federal Register.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katie Marksberry or Kabir Archuletta, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-7906 or (202) 482-2593, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise subject to this investigation is hardwood and decorative plywood. Hardwood and decorative plywood is a flat panel composed of an assembly of two or more layers or plies of wood veneers in combination with a core. The veneers, along with the core, are glued or otherwise bonded together to form a finished product. A hardwood and decorative plywood panel must have face and back veneers which are composed of one or more species of hardwoods, softwoods, or bamboo. Hardwood and decorative plywood may include products that meet the American National Standard for Hardwood and Decorative Plywood, ANSI/HPVA HP-1-2009.
All hardwood and decorative plywood is included within the scope of this investigation, without regard to dimension (overall thickness, thickness of face veneer, thickness of back veneer, thickness of core, thickness of inner veneers, width, or length). However, the most common panel sizes of hardwood and decorative plywood are 1219 × 1829 mm (48 × 72 inches), 1219 × 2438 mm (48 × 96 inches), and 1219 × 3048 mm (48 × 120 inches).
A “veneer” is a thin slice of wood which is rotary cut, sliced or sawed from a log, bolt or flitch. The face veneer is the exposed veneer of a hardwood and decorative plywood product which is of a superior grade than that of the back veneer, which is the other exposed veneer of the product (i.e., as opposed to the inner veneers). When the two exposed veneers are of equal grade, either one can be considered the face or back veneer. For products that are entirely composed of veneer, such as Veneer Core Platforms, the exposed veneers are to be considered the face and back veneers, in accordance with the descriptions above.
The core of hardwood and decorative plywood consists of the layer or layers of one or more material(s) that are situated between the face and back veneers. The core may be composed of a range of materials, including but not limited to veneers, particleboard, and medium-density fiberboard (“MDF”).
All hardwood and decorative plywood is included within the scope of this investigation regardless of whether or not the face and/or back veneers are surface coated, unless the surface coating obscures the grain, texture or markings of the wood. Examples of surface coatings which may not obscure the grain, texture or markings of the wood include, but are not limited to, ultra-violet light cured polyurethanes, oil or oil-modified or water based polyurethanes, wax, epoxy-ester finishes, and moisture-cured urethanes. Hardwood and decorative plywood that has face and/or back veneers which have an opaque surface coating which obscures the grain, texture or markings of the wood, are not included within the scope of this investigation. Examples of surface coatings which may obscure the grain, texture or markings of wood include, but are not limited to, paper, aluminum, high pressure laminate (“HPL”), MDF, medium density overlay (“MDO”), and phenolic film). Additionally, the face veneer of hardwood and decorative plywood may be sanded, smoothed or given a “distressed” appearance through such methods as hand-scraping or wire brushing. The face veneer may be stained.
The scope of the investigation excludes the following items: (1) Structural plywood (also known as “industrial plywood” or “industrial panels”) that is manufactured and stamped to meet U.S. Products Standard PS 1-09 for Structural Plywood (including any revisions to that standard or any substantially equivalent international standard intended for structural plywood), including but not limited to the “bond performance” requirements set forth at paragraph 5.8.6.4 of that Standard and the performance criteria detailed at Table 4 through 10 of that Standard; (2) products which have a face and back veneer of cork; (3) multilayered wood flooring, as described in the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on Multilayered Wood Flooring from the People's Republic of China, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce Investigation Nos. A-570-970 and C-570-971 (published December 8, 2011); (4) plywood which has a shape or design other than a flat panel.
Imports of the subject merchandise are provided for under the following subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”): 4412.10.0500; 4412.31.0520; 4412.31.0540; 4412.31.0560; 4412.31.2510; 4412.31.2520; 4412.31.4040; 4412.31.4050; 4412.31.4060; 4412.31.4070; 4412.31.5135; 4412.31.5155; 4412.31.5165; 4412.31.5175; 4412.31.6000; 4412.31.9100; 4412.32.0520; 4412.32.0540; 4412.32.0560; 4412.32.2510; 4412.32.2520; 4412.32.3135; 4412.32.3155; 4412.32.3165; 4412.32.3175; 4412.32.3185; 4412.32.5600; 4412.39.1000; 4412.39.3000; 4412.39.4011; 4412.39.4012; 4412.39.4019; 4412.39.4031; 4412.39.4032; 4412.39.4039; 4412.39.4051; 4412.39.4052; 4412.39.4059; 4412.39.4061; 4412.39.4062; 4412.39.4069; 4412.39.5010; 4412.39.5030; 4412.39.5050; 4412.94.1030; 4412.94.1050; 4412.94.3111; 4412.94.3121; 4412.94.3131; 4412.94.3141; 4412.94.3160; 4412.94.3171; 4412.94.4100; 4412.94.6000; 4412.94.7000; 4412.94.8000; 4412.94.9000; 4412.99.0600; 4412.99.1020; 4412.99.1030; 4412.99.1040; 4412.99.3110; 4412.99.3120; 4412.99.3130; 4412.99.3140; 4412.99.3150; 4412.99.3160; 4412.99.3170; 4412.99.4100; 4412.99.5710; 4412.99.6000; 4412.99.7000; 4412.99.8000; 4412.99.9000; 4412.10.9000; 4412.31.4080; 4412.32.0570; 4412.32.2530; 4412.94.5100; 4412.94.9500; 4412.99.5115; and 4412.99.9500.
While HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the subject merchandise as set forth herein is dispositive.
Methodology
The Department has conducted this investigation in accordance with section 731 of the Act. Export prices have been calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. Because the PRC is a non-market economy within the meaning of section 771(18) of the Act, normal value (“NV”) has been calculated in accordance with section 773(c). Specifically, the Department preliminarily selected the Philippines as the surrogate country, which is economically comparable to the PRC and is a significant producer of comparable merchandise. Thus, we calculated NV using Philippine prices, when available, to value the respondents' factors of production (“FOPs”).
For a full description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see “Decision Memorandum for Preliminary Determination for the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Hardwood and Decorative Plywood from the People's Republic of China,” (“Preliminary Decision Memorandum”) from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, dated concurrently with this determination and hereby adopted by this notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made available to the public via Import Administration's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (“IA ACCESS”). IA ACCESS is available to registered users at https://iaaccess.trade.gov and in the Department's Central Records Unit, located in room 7046 of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be found on the Internet at http://www.trade.gov/ia/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
Preliminary Determination
The preliminary weighted-average antidumping duty (“AD”) margin percentages are as follows:
Jiangyang Group consists of Xuzhou Jiangyang Wood Industries Co., Ltd. and Xuzhou Jiangheng Wood Products Co., Ltd.
This rate also applies to the companies listed in Attachment II of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Disclosure and Public Comment
We will disclose the calculations performed to parties in this proceeding within five days of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration no later than seven days after the date on which the final verification report is issued in this proceeding and rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for case briefs. Additionally the Department will consider case briefs regarding scope-related issues filed by interested parties within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Interested parties may file rebuttal briefs regarding scope issues, limited to those issues which are raised in the scope case briefs. The Department will consider scope-related rebuttal briefs filed not later than five days after the time limit for filing scope case briefs. Additionally, all scope-related case and rebuttal briefs are required to be filed on the record of this investigation and the companion countervailing duty (“CVD”) investigation identically. A table of contents, list of authorities used and an executive summary of issues should accompany any briefs submitted to the Department. This summary should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes.
See 19 CFR 351.309.
Interested parties, who wish to request a hearing, or to participate if one is requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, filed electronically using Import Administration's IA ACCESS. An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by the Department's electronic records system, IA ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. 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 time and location to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
For the final determination in this investigation interested parties may submit publicly available information to value the FOPs within 40 days after the publication of this preliminary determination. Pursuant to section 735(a)(1) of the Act, we will make our final determination no later than 75 days after the date of publication of this preliminary determination.
See 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3)(i). In accordance with 19 CFR 351.301(c)(1), for the final determination of this investigation, interested parties may submit factual information to rebut, clarify, or correct factual information submitted by any other interested party less than ten days before, on, or after, the applicable deadline for submission of such factual information. However, the Department notes that 19 CFR 351.301(c)(1) permits new information only insofar as it rebuts, clarifies, or corrects information recently placed on the record. The Department generally will not accept the submission of additional, previously absent-from-the-record alternative surrogate value information. See Glycine from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Final Rescission, in Part, 72 FR 58809 (October 17, 2007), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2. Additionally, for each piece of factual information submitted with surrogate value rebuttal comments, the interested party must provide a written explanation of what information that is already on the record of the ongoing proceeding the factual information is rebutting, clarifying, or correcting.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d) of the Act, with the exception of entries produced and exported by Linyi San Fortune Wood, Co., Ltd. and Jiangyang Group, the Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to suspend liquidation of all entries of plywood from the PRC, as described in the “Scope of the Investigation” section, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by which NV exceeds U.S. price, adjusted where appropriate for export subsidies and estimated domestic subsidy pass-through, as follows: (1) The separate rate margin for the exporter/producer combinations listed in the table above will be the rate the Department has determined in this preliminary determination; (2) for all combinations of PRC exporters/producers of merchandise under consideration which have not received their own separate rate AD margin above, the cash-deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate established for the PRC-wide entity; and (3) for all non-PRC exporters of merchandise under consideration which have not received their own separate rate above, the cash-deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate applicable to the PRC exporter/producer combination that supplied that non-PRC exporter.
See sections 772(c)(1)(C) and 777A(f) of the Act, respectively. Unlike in administrative reviews, the Department calculates the adjustment for export subsidies in investigations not in the margin calculation program, but in the cash deposit instructions issued to the CBP. See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances: Certain Lined Paper Products from India, 71 FR 45012 (August 8, 2006), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
We have not adjusted the preliminary determination AD margins for export subsidies because the Department did not find evidence of export subsidies in the companion CVD proceeding. Additionally, the Department has not adjusted the preliminary determination AD margins for estimated domestic subsidy pass-through because it has concluded that concurrent application of non-market economy ADs and CVDs do not necessarily and automatically result in overlapping remedies.
See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
International Trade Commission (“ITC”) Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the ITC of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires the ITC to make its final determination as to whether the domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of hardwood and decorative plywood, or sales (or the likelihood of sales) for importation, of the merchandise under consideration within 45 days of our final determination.
This determination is issued and published in accordance with sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: April 29, 2013.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
1. Initiation
2. Period of Investigation
3. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
4. Scope of the Investigation
5. Scope Comments
6. Non-market Economy Country Status
7. Selection of Respondents
8. Surrogate Country
9. Surrogate Value Comments
10. Separate Rates
a. Separate Rate Recipients
b. Companies Not Receiving a Separate Rate
11. Margin for the Separate Rate Companies
12. Combination Rates
13. The PRC-Wide Entity
14. Application of Facts Available and Adverse Facts Available
15. Corroboration of Information
16. Affiliation/Single Entity
17. Date of Sale
18. Jiangyang's Reported Salvage Sales
19. Fair Value Comparisons
20. Export Price
21. Constructed Export Price
22. Normal Value
23. Factor Valuations Methodology
24. Determination To Apply an Alternative Methodology
25. Currency Conversion
26. Verification
27. Section 777A(f) of the Act
28. International Trade Commission Notification
29. Conclusion
[FR Doc. 2013-10532 Filed 5-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P