[Federal Register: December 11, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 237)]
[Notices]
[Page 65751-65752]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11de09-33]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-549-821]
Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags From Thailand: Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On August 10, 2009, the Department of Commerce published the
preliminary results of the 2007/2008 administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on polyethylene retail carrier bags from
Thailand. We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on the
preliminary results. Based on our analysis of the comments received and
an examination of our calculations, we have made certain changes for
the final results. The final weighted-average dumping margins for the
respondents are listed below in the ``Final Results of the Review''
section of this notice.
DATES: Effective Date: December 11, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristin Case or Richard Rimlinger, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-
3174 or (202) 482-4477, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On August 10, 2009, the Department of Commerce (the Department)
published Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from Thailand: Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 74 FR 39928 (August
9, 2009) (Preliminary Results), in the Federal Register. The
administrative review covers Thai Plastic Bags Industries Co., Ltd.,
and Master Packaging Co., Ltd. (Master Packaging). The Department has
determined previously that Thai Plastic Bags Industries Co., Ltd., Apec
Film Ltd., and Winner's Pack Co., Ltd., comprise the Thai Plastic Bags
Group (TPBG). See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags From Thailand, 69 FR
34122, 34123 (June 18, 2004). The period of review is August 1, 2007,
through July 31, 2008.
We invited parties to comment on the Preliminary Results. On
September 9, 2009, we received a case brief from TPBG. On September 10,
2009, we received a case brief from the Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bag
Committee and its individual members, Hilex Poly Co., LLC, and Superbag
Corporation (collectively, the petitioners). On September 14, 2009, we
received a rebuttal brief from TPBG. On September 15, 2009, we received
a rebuttal brief from the petitioners. We did not hold a hearing as
none was requested.
We have conducted this review in accordance with section 751(a) of
the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).
Scope of the Order
The merchandise subject to the antidumping duty order is
polyethylene retail carrier bags (PRCBs) which may be referred to as t-
shirt sacks, merchandise bags, grocery bags, or checkout bags. The
subject merchandise is defined as non-sealable sacks and bags with
handles (including drawstrings), without zippers or integral extruded
closures, with or without gussets, with or without printing, of
polyethylene film having a thickness no greater than 0.035 inch (0.889
mm) and no less than 0.00035 inch (0.00889 mm), and with no length or
width shorter than 6 inches (15.24 cm) or longer than 40 inches (101.6
cm). The depth of the bag may be shorter than 6 inches but not longer
than 40 inches (101.6 cm).
PRCBs are typically provided without any consumer packaging and
free of charge by retail establishments, e.g., grocery, drug,
convenience, department, specialty retail, discount stores, and
restaurants, to their customers to package and carry their purchased
products. The scope of the order excludes (1) polyethylene bags that
are not printed with logos or store names and that are closeable with
drawstrings made of polyethylene film and (2) polyethylene bags that
are packed in consumer packaging with printing that refers to specific
end-uses other than packaging and carrying merchandise from retail
establishments, e.g., garbage bags, lawn bags, trash-can liners.
As a result of recent changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (HTSUS), imports of the subject merchandise are
currently classifiable under statistical category 3923.21.0085 of the
HTSUS. Furthermore, although the HTSUS subheading is provided for
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope
of the order is dispositive.
Use of Adverse Facts Available
In the Preliminary Results and pursuant to section 776(a) of the
Act, we determined that, because Master Packaging significantly impeded
this proceeding by failing to respond to our antidumping questionnaire,
it was necessary to use facts otherwise available to establish a
dumping margin for Master Packaging. See Preliminary Results, 74 FR at
39930. Moreover, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act, we determined
that it was appropriate to use an adverse inference with respect to
Master Packaging. Id. No party commented on the Department's
preliminary determination with respect to Master Packaging.
Accordingly, for these final results we have continued to apply adverse
facts available to establish a dumping margin for Master Packaging. For
the reasons explained in the Preliminary Results, we have applied
122.88 percent as adverse facts available to Master Packaging.
Duty Absorption
In the preliminary results of this administrative review, pursuant
to section 751(a)(4) of the Act, the Department found that Master
Packaging absorbed antidumping duties on all U.S. sales. See
Preliminary Results, 74 FR at 39929. Master Packaging did not present
evidence to rebut the presumption that unaffiliated customers in the
United States will not pay the full duty ultimately assessed on the
subject merchandise. Thus, for the final results of this review, we
continue to find that Master Packaging absorbed antidumping duties.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case briefs by parties to this review are
addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review of Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from
Thailand for the Period of Review August 31, 2007, through July 31,
2008 (Decision Memo), which is dated concurrently with this notice, and
hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues which parties have
raised and to which we have responded is in the Decision Memo and
attached to this notice as an Appendix. The Decision Memo, which is a
public document, is on file in the Department's Central Records Unit
(CRU) of the main Commerce building, Room 1117, and is accessible on
the Web at http://
[[Page 65752]]
ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/index.html. The paper copy and electronic version of
the Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
Changes Since the Preliminary Results
For TPBG, we excluded packing expenses from the cost-of-goods-sold
denominator we used in our calculations of both the general and
administrative (G&A) and financial-expense ratios. Because the record
evidence does not include a detailed description of TPBG's inventory-
valuation loss, pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act, we have
estimated the portion of the loss which is attributable to finished
goods by applying the ratio of ending finished goods to total ending
inventory. We have included the portion of the loss which is not
attributable to finished goods in TPBG's G&A expenses. Additionally,
because the record does not indicate the portion of TPBG's interest
income which is attributable to short-term interest-bearing assets,
pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act, we have estimated the amount of
interest income which is attributable to short-term interest-bearing
assets by applying the ratio of short-term interest-bearing assets to
total interest-bearing assets. We have used the amount of interest
income attributable to short-term interest-bearing assets as an offset
to TPBG's financial expenses. We have applied TPBG's revised G&A and
financial expense factors to TPBG's costs as reallocated for the
Preliminary Results. Finally, we have applied the major-input
adjustment to TPBG's total cost of manufacturing and corrected a
ministerial error.
Sales Below Cost in the Home Market
For these final results of review, the Department disregarded home-
market sales by TPBG that failed the cost-of-production test.
Final Results of Review
As a result of our review, we determine that the following
percentage weighted-average dumping margins exist on PRCBs from
Thailand for the period August 1, 2007, through July 31, 2008:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margin
Producer/exporter (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TPBG........................................................ 21.99
Master Packaging............................................ 122.88
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assessment Rates
The Department shall determine, and U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate
entries.
We calculated importer/customer-specific duty-assessment amounts
with respect to export-price sales by TPBG in the following manner. We
divided the total dumping margins (calculated as the difference between
normal value and the export price) for each importer or customer by the
total number of units TPBG sold to that importer or customer. We will
direct CBP to assess the resulting per-unit dollar amount against each
unit of merchandise on each of that importer's or customer's entries
during the period of review. See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1). Where the
assessment amount is above de minimis, we will instruct CBP to assess
duties on all entries of subject merchandise by that importer or
customer.
The Department clarified its ``automatic assessment'' regulation on
May 6, 2003. See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings:
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003)
(Assessment-Policy Notice). This clarification will apply to entries of
subject merchandise during the period of review produced by TPBG for
which it did not know that the merchandise it sold to an intermediary
(e.g., a reseller, trading company, or exporter) was destined for the
United States. In such instances, we will instruct CBP to liquidate
unreviewed entries at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the
intermediary(ies) involved in the transaction. See Assessment-Policy
Notice for a full discussion of this clarification.
Because we are relying on total adverse facts available to
establish the dumping margin for Master Packaging, we will instruct CBP
to apply a dumping margin of 122.88 percent to all entries of subject
merchandise produced and/or exported by Master Packaging.
The Department intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP 15
days after the date of publication of these final results of review.
Cash-Deposit Requirements
The following deposit requirements will be effective upon
publication of this notice of final results of administrative review
for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication,
consistent with section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) The cash-deposit
rates for the reviewed companies will be the rates shown above; (2) for
previously investigated or reviewed companies not listed above, the
cash-deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate
published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm
covered in this or a previous review or the original less-than-fair-
value (LTFV) investigation but the manufacturer is, the cash-deposit
rate will be the rate established for the most recent period for the
manufacturer of the merchandise; (4) the cash-deposit rate for all
other manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 2.80 percent, the
all-others rate from the amended final determination of the LTFV
investigation published on July 15, 2004. See Notice of Amended Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Polyethylene Retail
Carrier Bags From Thailand, 69 FR 42419 (July 15, 2004).
These deposit requirements shall remain in effect until further
notice.
Notification Requirements
This notice serves as a reminder to importers of their
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate regarding
the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the
relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this
requirement could result in the Department's presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent
assessment of doubled antidumping duties. See id.
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 notification of the
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.
We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(5).
Dated: December 7, 2009.
Carole A. Showers,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
Appendix
1. Conversion-Cost Reallocation
2. Cost of Goods Sold
3. General and Administrative Expenses
4. Offset for Interest Income
5. Total Production Quantities
6. Major-Input Adjustment
7. Clerical Error
[FR Doc. E9-29597 Filed 12-10-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P