Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review and Determination to Revoke Order in Part

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 1, 2007

SUMMARY:

On January 9, 2009, the Department of Commerce (the “Department”) published a notice of initiation and preliminary results of antidumping duty (“AD”) changed circumstances review with intent to revoke, in part, the AD order on wooden bedroom furniture from the People's Republic of China (“PRC”). S ee Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People's Republic of China: Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent to Revoke Order in Part, 74 FR 886 (January 9, 2009) (“Initiation and Preliminary Results”). We are now revoking this order in part, with regard to the following product: toy boxes, as described in the relevant footnote (footnote 15 in this document) of the “Scope of the Order” section of this notice, based on the fact that domestic parties have expressed no further interest in the relief provided by the order with respect to the imports of these toy boxes, as so described.

In its November 25, 2008, submission, the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade and its individual members (the “AFMC” or “petitioners”) stated that they no longer have any interest in seeking antidumping relief from imports of such toy boxes as defined in the “Scope of the Order” section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul Stolz or Robert Bolling, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-4474 and (202)482-3434, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On November 25, 2008, the Department received a request on behalf of the petitioners, for revocation in part of the AD order on wooden bedroom furniture from the PRC pursuant to sections 751(b)(1) and 782(h) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (“the Act”), with respect to toy boxes. In their November 25, 2008, submission, Petitioners stated that they no longer have any interest in antidumping relief from imports of such toy boxes.

Scope of Changed Circumstances Review

The merchandise covered by this changed circumstances review are toy boxes from the PRC meeting the following criteria. The toy box must: 1) be wider than it is tall; (2) have dimensions within 16 27 inches in height, 15 18 inches in depth, and 21 30 inches in width; (3) have a hinged lid that encompasses the entire top of the box; (4) not incorporate any doors or drawers; (5) have slow-closing safety hinges; (6) have air vents; (7) have no locking mechanism; and (8) comply with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard F963-03. Toy boxes are boxes generally designed for the purpose of storing children's items such as toys, books, and playthings. Effective upon publication of this final results of changed circumstances review in the Federal Register, the amended scope of the order will read as follows.

Scope of the Amended Order

The product covered by the order is wooden bedroom furniture. Wooden bedroom furniture is generally, but not exclusively, designed, manufactured, and offered for sale in coordinated groups, or bedrooms, in which all of the individual pieces are of approximately the same style and approximately the same material and/or finish. The subject merchandise is made substantially of wood products, including both solid wood and also engineered wood products made from wood particles, fibers, or other wooden materials such as plywood, oriented strand board, particle board, and fiberboard, with or without wood veneers, wood overlays, or laminates, with or without non-wood components or trim such as metal, marble, leather, glass, plastic, or other resins, and whether or not assembled, completed, or finished.

The subject merchandise includes the following items: (1) wooden beds such as loft beds, bunk beds, and other beds; (2) wooden headboards for beds (whether stand-alone or attached to side rails), wooden footboards for beds, wooden side rails for beds, and wooden canopies for beds; (3) night tables, night stands, dressers, commodes, bureaus, mule chests, gentlemen's chests, bachelor's chests, lingerie chests, wardrobes, vanities, chessers, chifforobes, and wardrobe-type cabinets; (4) dressers with framed glass mirrors that are attached to, incorporated in, sit on, or hang over the dresser; (5) chests-on-chests,¹ highboys,² lowboys,³ chests of drawers,⁴ chests,⁵ door chests,⁶ chiffoniers,⁷ hutches,⁸ and armoires;⁹ (6) desks, computer stands, filing cabinets, book cases, or writing tables that are attached to or incorporated in the subject merchandise; and (7) other bedroom furniture consistent with the above list.

The scope of the order excludes the following items: (1) seats, chairs, benches, couches, sofas, sofa beds, stools, and other seating furniture; (2) mattresses, mattress supports (including box springs), infant cribs, water beds, and futon frames; (3) office furniture, such as desks, stand-up desks, computer cabinets, filing cabinets, credenzas, and bookcases; (4) dining room or kitchen furniture such as dining tables, chairs, servers, sideboards, buffets, corner cabinets, china cabinets, and china hutches; (5) other non-bedroom furniture, such as television cabinets, cocktail tables, end tables, occasional tables, wall systems, book cases, and entertainment systems; (6) bedroom furniture made primarily of wicker, cane, osier, bamboo or rattan; (7) side rails for beds made of metal if sold separately from the headboard and footboard; (8) bedroom furniture in which bentwood parts predominate;¹⁰ (9) jewelry armoires;¹¹ (10) cheval mirrors;¹² (11) certain metal parts;¹³ (12) mirrors that do not attach to, incorporate in, sit on, or hang over a dresser if they are not designed and marketed to be sold in conjunction with a dresser as part of a dresser-mirror set; (13) upholstered beds;¹⁴ and (14) toy boxes.¹⁵ Imports of subject merchandise are classified under subheading 9403.50.9040 of the HTSUS as “wooden . . . beds” and under subheading 9403.50.9080 of the HTSUS as “other . . . wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom.” In addition, wooden headboards for beds, wooden footboards for beds, wooden side rails for beds, and wooden canopies for beds may also be entered under subheading 9403.50.9040 of the HTSUS as “parts of wood” and framed glass mirrors may also be entered under subheading 7009.92.5000 of the HTSUS as “glass mirrors . . . framed.” This order covers all wooden bedroom furniture meeting the above description, regardless of tariff classification. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope of this proceeding is dispositive.

Final Results of Review; Partial Revocation of Antidumping Duty Order

The affirmative statement of no interest by petitioners concerning toy boxes, as described herein, constitutes changed circumstances sufficient to warrant revocation of this order in part. No party commented on the Initiation and Preliminary Results. Additionally, no party contests that petitioner's statement of no interest represents the views of domestic producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the particular domestic like product (i.e., toy boxes). Therefore, the Department is partially revoking the order on wooden bedroom furniture with respect to toy boxes from the PRC with regard to products which meet the specifications detailed above, in accordance with sections 751(b), (d) and 782(h) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d) and 351.222(g).

In this changed circumstances review we have determined to revoke the order in part, retroactive to January 1, 2007, (the date following the last day of the most recently completed administrative review) for unliquidated entries in light of: 1) the submission by petitioners; 2) the fact that entries after this date are not subject to a final determination by the Department; and 3) we have received no comments following our preliminary results of January 9, 2009, where we indicated that this changed circumstances review will apply retroactively. We hereby notify the public of our revocation in part with respect to toy boxes in the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture from the PRC retroactive to January 1, 2007.

We will instruct the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to liquidate without regard to antidumping duties, as applicable, and to refund any estimated antidumping duties collected for all unliquidated entries of toy boxes, made on or after January 1, 2007, meeting the specifications indicated above, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.222.

This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to administrative protective orders (“APOs”) of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.306. Timely written notification of the return/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 sanctionable violation.

This changed circumstances administrative review, partial revocation of the antidumping duty order and notice are in accordance with sections 751(b), (d) and 782(h) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(e) and 351.222(g).