[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 72 (Thursday, April 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22184-22186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07993]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-552-833]
Raw Honey From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports
of raw honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) are
being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair
value (LTFV) for the period of investigation (POI) October 1, 2020,
through March 31, 2021.
DATES: Applicable April 14, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Hill or Paola Aleman Ordaz,
AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3518 or (202)
482-4031, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On November 23, 2021, Commerce published the Preliminary
Determination in the LTFV investigation of raw honey from Vietnam, in
which it also postponed the final determination until April 7, 2022.\1\
Additionally, on January 13, 2021, Commerce published the Preliminary
Determination of Critical Circumstances in the LTFV investigation of
raw honey from Vietnam.\2\ The petitioners in this investigation are
the American Honey Producers Association and Sioux Honey Association
(collectively, the petitioners). The two mandatory respondents in this
investigation are Ban Me Thuot Honeybee Joint Stock Company (Ban Me
Thuot) and Daklak Honeybee Joint Stock Company (DakHoney).\3\ We
invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary
Determination.\4\ For a complete summary of the events that occurred
since Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a
full discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final
determination, see Issues and Decision Memorandum.\5\
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\1\ See Raw Honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of
Provisional Measures, 86 FR 66526 (November 23, 2021) (Preliminary
Determination) and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
\2\ See Raw Honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances in
the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 87 FR 2127 (January 13,
2022), corrected by Raw Honey from the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation; Correction,
87 FR 7800 (February 10, 2022) (collectively, Preliminary Critical
Circumstances Determination).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Raw
Honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Selection of Mandatory
Respondents for Individual Examination,'' dated June 15, 2021.
\4\ See Preliminary Determination, 86 FR at 66526.
\5\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Raw Honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,''
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues
and Decision Memorandum).
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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 https://access.trade.gov. In
addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can
be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is raw honey from
Vietnam. For a full description of the scope of this investigation, see
Appendix I.
Scope Comments
Commerce received no comments from interested parties regarding the
scope of this investigation. Accordingly, Commerce has not modified the
scope language from the Preliminary Determination.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues
and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice at Appendix II.
Verification
Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verification of the
information relied upon in making its final determination in this
investigation. However, we took additional steps in lieu of an on-site
verification to verify the information relied upon in making this final
determination, in accordance with section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act).\6\
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\6\ See Commerce's Letters, ``Supplemental Questionnaire In-Lieu
of Onsite Verification,'' dated December 6, 2021.
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Methodology
Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section
731 of the Act. Export price was calculated in accordance with section
772(a) of the Act. Because Vietnam is a non-market economy within the
meaning of section 771(18) of the Act, normal value was calculated in
accordance with section 773(c) of the Act. For a full description of
the methodology underlying Commerce's determination, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum; see also the Issues and Decision
Memorandum.
Vietnam-Wide Entity
For the reasons explained in our Preliminary Determination, we
continue to find that neither the Vietnam-wide entity nor any company
which is part of the Vietnam-wide entity has failed to cooperate in
this investigation. Therefore, in accordance with our practice, to
determine the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for the
Vietnam-wide entity, Commerce assigns to the Vietnam-wide entity a rate
equal to the average of publicly available ranged U.S. sales quantities
of the mandatory respondents.
[[Page 22185]]
Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our analysis of the comments received, we made certain
changes to the margin calculations for Ban Me Thuot and DakHoney. In
light of these changes to the margin calculations and the resulting
revised estimated weighted-average dumping margin for Ban Me Thuot and
DakHoney, we have also revised the rates assigned to companies eligible
for a separate rate and to the Vietnam-wide entity. For a discussion of
these changes, see the ``Changes Since the Preliminary Determination''
section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum, and the Final Analysis
Memoranda.\7\
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\7\ See Memoranda, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Raw
Honey from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final Determination
Calculations for Ban Me Thuot Honeybee Joint Stock Company,'' and
``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Raw Honey from the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam: Final Determination Calculations for Ban Me
Thuot Honeybee Joint Stock Company,'' dated concurrently with this
notice (Final Analysis Memoranda).
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
Commerce preliminarily determined that critical circumstances did
exist for Ban Me Thuot and DakHoney, the eligible separate rate
companies, and the Vietnam-wide entity.\8\ Parties submitted comments
regarding our affirmative preliminary critical circumstances
determination; see the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For the final
determination, in accordance with section 735(a)(3) of the Act and 19
CFR 351.206, Commerce continues to find that critical circumstances do
exist for Ban Me Thuot and DakHoney, the eligible separate rate
companies, and the Vietnam-wide entity. For a full description of the
methodology and results of Commerce's critical circumstances analysis,
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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\8\ See Preliminary Critical Circumstances Determination.
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Separate Rates
No party commented on our preliminary separate rate determinations
with respect to the mandatory respondents and the non-individually
examined companies. Thus, there is no basis to reconsider the
Preliminary Determination with respect to separate rate status for this
final determination.
Combination Rates
In the Initiation Notice,\9\ Commerce stated that it would
calculate producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that
are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation.\10\ For the
list of respondents that established eligibility for separate rates and
exporter-producer combination rates applicable to these respondents,
see the Final Determination section.
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\9\ See Raw Honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine, and
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigation, 86 FR 26897 (May 18, 2021) (Initiation Notice).
\10\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1,
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy
Countries,'' dated April 5, 2005, available at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Final Determination
Commerce determines that the final estimated weighted-average
dumping margins are as follows:
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Estimated weighted-
Producer Exporter average dumping
margin (percent)
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Ban Me Thuot Honeybee Joint Ban Me Thuot 61.27
Stock Company. Honeybee Joint
Stock Company.
Daklak Honeybee Joint Stock Daklak Honeybee 58.74
Company. Joint Stock Company.
Dak Nguyen Hong Exploitation Dak Nguyen Hong 60.03
of Honey Company Limited TA, Exploitation of
Nguyen Hong Honey Co., LTDTA. Honey Company
Limited TA, Nguyen
Hong Honey Co.,
LTDTA.
Nhieu Loc Company Limited.... Nhieu Loc Company 60.03
Limited.
Hoang Tri Honey Bee Company Hoang Tri Honey Bee 60.03
Limited (a.k.a. Hoang Tri Company Limited
Honey Bee Co., Ltd), H. T (a.k.a. Hoang Tri
Honey Co., Ltd. Honey Bee Co.,
Ltd), H. T Honey
Co., Ltd.
Viet Thanh Food Technology Viet Thanh Food 60.03
Development Investment Technology
Company Limited, Viet Thanh Development
Food Co., Ltd. Investment Company
Limited, Viet Thanh
Food Co., Ltd.
Dongnai HoneyBee Corporation. Dongnai HoneyBee 60.03
Corporation.
Sai Gon Bees Limited Company, Sai Gon Bees Limited 60.03
Saigon Bees Co., Ltd., Sai Company, Saigon
Gon Bees Co., Ltd. Bees Co., Ltd., Sai
Gon Bees Co., Ltd.
Huong Rung Trading-- Huong Rung Trading-- 60.03
Investment and Export Investment and
Company, Huong Rung Co., Ltd. Export Company,
Huong Rung Co., Ltd.
Hai Phong Honeybee Company Hai Phong Honeybee 60.03
Limited. Company Limited.
Bao Nguyen Honeybee Co., Ltd. Bao Nguyen Honeybee 60.03
Co., Ltd.
Southern Honey Bee Company Southern Honey Bee 60.03
LTD. Company LTD.
Golden Bee Company Limited... Golden Bee Company 60.03
Limited.
Thanh Hao Bees Company Thanh Hao Bees 60.03
Limited. Company Limited.
Daisy Honey Bee Joint Stock Daisy Honey Bee 60.03
Company, Daisy Honey Bee Joint Stock
JSC, Daisy Honey Bee J.S.C. Company, Daisy
Honey Bee JSC,
Daisy Honey Bee
J.S.C.
Bee Honey Corporation of Ho Bee Honey 60.03
Chi Minh City, Bee Honey Corporation of Ho
Corp. of Ho Chi Minh City, Chi Minh City, Bee
Behonex Corp. Honey Corp. of Ho
Chi Minh City,
Behonex Corp.
Phong Son Limited Company, Phong Son Limited 60.03
Phong Son Co., Ltd. Company, Phong Son
Co., Ltd.
Hoa Viet Honeybee One Member Hoa Viet Honeybee 60.03
Company Limited, Hoa Viet One Member Company
Honey Bee Co., Ltd., Hoa Limited, Hoa Viet
Viet Honeybee Co., Ltd. Honey Bee Co.,
Ltd., Hoa Viet
Honeybee Co., Ltd.
Vietnam-wide Entity.......... Vietnam-wide Entity. 60.03
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Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties under
Administrative Protective Order (APO), the calculations performed in
connection with this final determination within five days of its public
announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within five days
of the date of publication of the notice of final determination in the
Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
[[Page 22186]]
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 735(c)(4)(A) of the Act, because we
continue to find that critical circumstances exist, Commerce will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of raw honey from
Vietnam, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered,
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after August 25,
2021, which is 90 days prior to the date of publication of the
affirmative Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register.
Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(d), upon publication of this notice, Commerce will instruct CBP
to require a cash deposit for estimated antidumping duties for such
entries as follows: (1) For the exporter/producer combinations listed
in the table above, the cash deposit rate is equal to the estimated
weighted-average dumping margin listed for that combination in the
table; (2) for all combinations of Vietnamese exporters/producers not
listed in the above table, the cash deposit rate is equal to the
estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed in the table for the
Vietnam-wide entity; and (3) for all third-country exporters, the cash
deposit rate is equal to the cash deposit rate applicable to the
Vietnamese exporter/producer combination (or the Vietnam-wide entity)
that supplied that third-country exporter. These suspension of
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV.
Because the final determination is affirmative, in accordance with
section 735(b)(2)(B) of the Act, the ITC will make its final
determination as to whether the domestic industry in the United States
is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, no later
than 45 days after this final determination. If the ITC determines that
material injury or threat of material injury does not exist, this
proceeding will be terminated, and all cash deposited will be refunded.
If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material injury
does exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP
to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on
all imports of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective date of the
suspension of liquidation.
Notification Regarding APO
This notice serves as a reminder to the parties subject to APO of
their responsibility concerning the disposition of propriety
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, alternatively, conversion to judicial protective
order, is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and
terms of an APO is a violation that is subject to sanction.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
Dated: April 7, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is raw honey. Raw
honey is honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by
extraction, settling and skimming, or coarse straining. Raw honey
has not been filtered to a level that results in the removal of most
or all of the pollen, e.g., a level that removes pollen to below 25
microns. The subject products include all grades, floral sources and
colors of raw honey and also include organic raw honey.
Excluded from the scope is any honey that is packaged for retail
sale (e.g., in bottles or other retail containers of five (5) lbs.
or less).
The merchandise subject to this investigation is currently
classifiable under statistical subheading 0409.00.0005,
0409.00.0035, 0409.00.0045, 0409.00.0056, and 0409.00.0065 of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although
the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs
purposes, the written description of the scope of this investigation
is dispositive.
Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: The Appropriate Surrogate Value (SV) for Raw Honey
Comment 2: The Appropriate SV for New and Refurbished Drums
Comment 3: The Appropriate Financial Statements
Comment 4: Whether to Make Certain Adjustments to the Surrogate
Financial Statements
Comment 5: Whether Commerce Should Establish a Comments Schedule
to Submit Factual Information to Rebut the Critical Circumstances
Allegation
Comment 6: Whether Commerce Should Include the Trade Names of
the Separate Rate Companies
Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Adjust Ban Me Thuot's Gross
Unit Price by its Reported Testing Expenses
Comment 8: Whether Commerce Should Include DakHoney's
Consumption of Unpainted Drums in the Calculation of DakHoney's Raw
Material Cost
Comment 9: Whether Commerce Should Treat Certain Claimed
Discounts as Warranty Expenses
Comment 10: Whether to Make an Adjustment to Raw Honey
Consumption Factors
VI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2022-07993 Filed 4-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P