[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 247 (Thursday, December 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66680-66681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-28063]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-201-820]
Fresh Tomatoes From Mexico: Final Results of the Full Sunset
Review of the Suspended Antidumping Duty Investigation
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On February 1, 2018, the Department of Commerce (Commerce)
initiated the fourth sunset review of the suspended antidumping duty
investigation on fresh tomatoes from Mexico. Commerce finds that
termination of the suspended antidumping duty investigation on fresh
tomatoes from Mexico would be likely to lead to continuation or
recurrence of dumping at the levels indicated in the ``Final Results of
Review'' section of this notice.
DATES: Applicable December 27, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sally C. Gannon or David Cordell,
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20230; telephone: (202) 482-0162 or (202) 482-0408, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On August 27, 2018, Commerce preliminarily determined that
termination of the suspended antidumping duty investigation on fresh
tomatoes from Mexico would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of
dumping.\1\ On September 26, 2018, the Confederaci[oacute]n de
Asociaciones Agr[iacute]colas del Estado de Sinaloa, A.C., Consejo
Agr[iacute]cola de Baja California, A.C., Asociaci[oacute]n Mexicana de
Horticultura Protegida, A.C., Asociaci[oacute]n de Productores de
Hortalizas del Yaqui y Mayo and Sistema Producto Tomate (collectively,
the Mexican growers) filed their case brief, and requested a hearing on
the matter; \2\ NS Brands, Ltd., and its affiliates (collectively,
NatureSweet) also filed their case brief on September 26, 2018.\3\ On
September 27, 2018, the Florida Tomato Exchange (the FTE) requested a
one-week extension of the October 1, 2018 deadline to file its rebuttal
brief; \4\ on September 28, 2018, Commerce granted the extension and
set the deadline for submission of rebuttal briefs as October 9, 2018,
to account for the federal holiday on October 8, 2018.\5\ The FTE
timely submitted its rebuttal brief on October 9, 2018.\6\ Commerce
scheduled the public hearing on the matter for, and the public hearing
was held on, October 16, 2018. On November 14, 2018, Commerce requested
additional information from the FTE regarding information that was not
provided in its intent to participate submittal.\7\ The FTE provided
its timely response to the request for further information on November
21, 2018.\8\ The Mexican growers timely provided rebuttal comments on
November 26, 2018.\9\ The FTE submitted a timely sur-rebuttal on
November 29, 2018.\10\
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\1\ See Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico: Preliminary Results of the
Five-Year Sunset Review of the 2013 Suspension Agreement on Fresh
Tomatoes, 83 FR 43642 (August 27, 2018).
\2\ See Mexican Growers' Case Brief, ``Sunset Review of the 2013
Suspension Agreement on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico,'' (September 26,
2018) at 1.
\3\ See NatureSweet's Case Brief, ``Case Brief of NS Brands,
LTD.'' (September 26, 2018).
\4\ See Letter to Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, from the
Florida Tomato Exchange, ``Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico: Rebuttal
Brief Extension Request'' (September 27, 2018).
\5\ See Memorandum, ``2018 Sunset Review of the 2013 Suspension
Agreement on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico; Extension for Rebuttal
Briefs: Correction of Rebuttal Deadline'' (September 28, 2018).
\6\ See FTE's Rebuttal Brief, ``Rebuttal Brief of the Florida
Tomato Exchange'' (October 9, 2018).
\7\ See Letter to Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, from the
Florida Tomato Exchange, ``Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico: Notice of
Intent to Participate'' (February 15, 2018).
\8\ See Letter to Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, from the
Florida Tomato Exchange, ``Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico: Response to
Request for Additional Information'' (November 21, 2018).
\9\ See Letter to Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, from the
Confederaci[oacute]n de Asociaciones Agr[iacute]colas del Estado de
Sinaloa, A.C., et al., ``Sunset Review of the 2013 Suspension
Agreement on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico'' (November 26, 2018).
\10\ See Letter to Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, from the
Florida Tomato Exchange, ``Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico: Reply to
CAADES' November 26, 2018 Comments'' (November 29, 2018).
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Scope of the Suspension Agreement
For a full description of the scope of the Agreement, please refer
to the accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.
[[Page 66681]]
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised for the final results of this sunset review are
addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\11\ The Issues and
Decision Memorandum is hereby adopted by this notice. The issues
discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum include: The adequacy
of the FTE's substantive response, the likelihood of recurrence of
dumping, and the margin to be reported to the International Trade
Commission. Parties can find a complete discussion of all the issues
raised in this sunset review and the corresponding recommendations in
this public memorandum, which is on file electronically via Enforcement
and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized
Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered
uses at http://access.trade.gov and in the Central Records Unit, Room
B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a
complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed
directly on the internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The
signed Issues and Decision Memorandum and the electronic version of the
Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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\11\ See Memorandum to P. Lee Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Policy and Negotiations, re ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for
the Final Results of the Full Sunset Review of the Suspended
Investigation of Tomatoes from Mexico,'' dated concurrently with and
adopted by this notice.
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Final Results of Review
Pursuant to section 752(c) of the Act, we determine that the
termination of the suspended investigation on fresh tomatoes from
Mexico would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping at
weighted-average margins up to 188.14 percent.
Notification to Interested Parties
This notice also serves as the only reminder to parties subject to
an administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely
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.
Commerce is issuing and publishing the results and notice in
accordance with sections 751(c), 752(c), and 777(i)(1) of the Act and
19 CFR 351.218(f)(1).
Dated: December 18, 2018.
P. Lee Smith,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, Enforcement and
Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2018-28063 Filed 12-26-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P