[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34098-34100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14539]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-912]
Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the People's
Republic of China: Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') has received
[[Page 34099]]
information sufficient to warrant initiation of a changed circumstances
review of the antidumping duty order on certain new pneumatic off-the-
road tires (``OTR tires'') from the People's Republic of China
(``PRC''). Specifically, based upon a request filed by LingLong North
America LLC, d/b/a Atlas Tire (``Atlas Tire''), an affiliated importer
of record, the Department is initiating a changed circumstances review
to determine whether Shandong Linglong Tyre Co., Ltd. (``Shandong
Linglong'') is the successor-in-interest to Zhaoyuan Leo Rubber Co.,
Ltd. (``Leo Rubber''), a separate-rate respondent in the original
investigation.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 16, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Raquel Silva or Charles Riggle, AD/CVD
Operations, Office 8, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue,
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 202-482-6475 or 202-482-0650,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On September 4, 2008, the Department published in the Federal
Register an antidumping duty order on OTR tires from the PRC. See
Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From the People's Republic of
China: Notice of Amended Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order, 73 FR 51624 (September
4, 2008) (``Order''). As part of that order, Leo Rubber received the
separate-rate respondent amended rate of 12.91 percent. Id. at 51627.
On April 21, 2010, Atlas Tirefiled a submission requesting that the
Department conduct a changed circumstances review of the Order to
confirm that Shandong Linglong is the successor-in-interest to Leo
Rubber. In its submission, Atlas Tire provided an Enterprise Changing
List, an Ownership Declaration, and business licenses for Leo Rubber
and Shandong Linglong demonstrating that Leo Rubber has changed its
name to Shandong Linglong. See Letter from Atlas Tire to the Department
regarding Certain New Pneumatic Off-The-Road Tires from the People's
Republic of China, Request for Changed Circumstances Review (Case No.
A-570-912) (April 21, 2010).
Scope of the Order
The products covered by the order are new pneumatic tires designed
for off-the-road (OTR) and off-highway use, subject to exceptions
identified below. Certain OTR tires are generally designed,
manufactured and offered for sale for use on off-road or off-highway
surfaces, including but not limited to, agricultural fields, forests,
construction sites, factory and warehouse interiors, airport tarmacs,
ports and harbors, mines, quarries, gravel yards, and steel mills. The
vehicles and equipment for which certain OTR tires are designed for use
include, but are not limited to: (1) agricultural and forestry vehicles
and equipment, including agricultural tractors,\1\ combine
harvesters,\2\ agricultural high clearance sprayers,\3\ industrial
tractors,\4\ log-skidders,\5\ agricultural implements, highway-towed
implements, agricultural logging, and agricultural, industrial, skid-
steers/mini-loaders;\6\ (2) construction vehicles and equipment,
including earthmover articulated dump products, rigid frame haul
trucks,\7\ front end loaders,\8\ dozers,\9\ lift trucks, straddle
carriers,\10\ graders,\11\ mobile cranes,\12\ compactors; and (3)
industrial vehicles and equipment, including smooth floor, industrial,
mining, counterbalanced lift trucks, industrial and mining vehicles
other than smooth floor, skid-steers/mini-loaders, and smooth floor
off-the-road counterbalanced lift trucks.\13\ The foregoing list of
vehicles and equipment generally have in common that they are used for
hauling, towing, lifting, and/or loading a wide variety of equipment
and materials in agricultural, construction and industrial settings.
Such vehicles and equipment, and the descriptions contained in the
footnotes are illustrative of the types of vehicles and equipment that
use certain OTR tires, but are not necessarily all-inclusive. While the
physical characteristics of certain OTR tires will vary depending on
the specific applications and conditions for which the tires are
designed (e.g., tread pattern and depth), all of the tires within the
scope have in common that they are designed for off-road and off-
highway use. Except as discussed below, OTR tires included in the scope
of the order range in size (rim diameter) generally but not exclusively
from 8 inches to 54 inches. The tires may be either tube-type\14\ or
tubeless, radial or non-radial, and intended for sale either to
original equipment manufacturers or the replacement market. The subject
merchandise is currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States (``HTSUS'') subheadings: 4011.20.10.25,
4011.20.10.35, 4011.20.50.30, 4011.20.50.50, 4011.61.00.00,
4011.62.00.00, 4011.63.00.00, 4011.69.00.00, 4011.92.00.00,
4011.93.40.00, 4011.93.80.00, 4011.94.40.00, and 4011.94.80.00. While
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes,
our written description of the scope is dispositive.
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\1\ Agricultural tractors are dual-axle vehicles that typically
are designed to pull farming equipment in the field and that may
have front tires of a different size than the rear tires.
\2\ Combine harvesters are used to harvest crops such as corn or
wheat.
\3\ Agricultural sprayers are used to irrigate agricultural
fields.
\4\ Industrial tractors are dual-axle vehicles that typically
are designed to pull industrial equipment and that may have front
tires of a different size than the rear tires.
\5\ A log-skidder has a grappling lift arm that is used to
grasp, lift and move trees that have been cut down to a truck or
trailer for transport to a mill or other destination.
\6\ Skid-steer loaders are four-wheel drive vehicles with the
left-side drive wheels independent of the right-side drive wheels
and lift arms that lie alongside the driver with the major pivot
points behind the driver's shoulders. Skid-steer loaders are used in
agricultural, construction and industrial settings.
\7\ Haul trucks, which may be either rigid frame or articulated
(i.e., able to bend in the middle) are typically used in mines,
quarries and construction sites to haul soil, aggregate, mined ore,
or debris.
\8\ Front loaders have lift arms in front of the vehicle. They
can scrape material from one location to another, carry material in
their buckets, or load material into a truck or trailer.
\9\ A dozer is a large four-wheeled vehicle with a dozer blade
that is used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc.,
typically around construction sites. They can also be used to
perform ``rough grading'' in road construction.
\10\ A straddle carrier is a rigid frame, engine-powered machine
that is used to load and offload containers from container vessels
and load them onto (or off of) tractor trailers.
\11\ A grader is a vehicle with a large blade used to create a
flat surface. Graders are typically used to perform ``finish
grading.'' Graders are commonly used in maintenance of unpaved roads
and road construction to prepare the base course onto which asphalt
or other paving material will be laid.
\12\ i.e., ``on-site'' mobile cranes designed for off-highway
use.
\13\ A counterbalanced lift truck is a rigid framed, engine-
powered machine with lift arms that has additional weight
incorporated into the back of the machine to offset or
counterbalance the weight of loads that it lifts so as to prevent
the vehicle from overturning. An example of a counterbalanced lift
truck is a counterbalanced fork lift truck. Counterbalanced lift
trucks may be designed for use on smooth floor surfaces, such as a
factory or warehouse, or other surfaces, such as construction sites,
mines, etc.
\14\ While tube-type tires are subject to the scope of this
proceeding, tubes and flaps are not subject merchandise and
therefore are not covered by the scope of this proceeding,
regardless of the manner in which they are sold (e.g., sold with or
separately from subject merchandise).
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Specifically excluded from the scope are new pneumatic tires
designed, manufactured and offered for sale primarily for on-highway or
on-road use, including passenger cars, race cars, station wagons, sport
utility vehicles, minivans, mobile homes, motorcycles, bicycles, on-
road or on-highway trailers, light trucks, and trucks and buses. Such
tires generally have in
[[Page 34100]]
common that the symbol ``DOT'' must appear on the sidewall, certifying
that the tire conforms to applicable motor vehicle safety standards.
Such excluded tires may also have the following designations that are
used by the Tire and Rim Association:
Prefix letter designations:
P - Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on
passenger cars;
LT - Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on light
trucks; and,
ST - Identifies a special tire for trailers in highway
service.
Suffix letter designations:
TR - Identifies a tire for service on trucks, buses, and other
vehicles with rims having specified rim diameter of nominal plus
0.156`` or plus 0.250''
MH - Identifies tires for Mobile Homes;
HC - Identifies a heavy duty tire designated for use on ``HC''
15'' tapered rims used on trucks, buses, and other vehicles. This
suffix is intended to differentiate among tires for light trucks, and
other vehicles or other services, which use a similar designation.
Example: 8R17.5 LT, 8R17.5 HC;
LT - Identifies light truck tires for service on trucks,
buses, trailers, and multipurpose passenger vehicles used in nominal
highway service; and
MC - Identifies tires and rims for motorcycles.
The following types of tires are also excluded from the scope:
pneumatic tires that are not new, including recycled or retreaded tires
and used tires; non-pneumatic tires, including solid rubber tires;
tires of a kind designed for use on aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, and
vehicles for turf, lawn and garden, golf and trailer applications. Also
excluded from the scope are radial and bias tires of a kind designed
for use in mining and construction vehicles and equipment that have a
rim diameter equal to or exceeding 39 inches. Such tires may be
distinguished from other tires of similar size by the number of plies
that the construction and mining tires contain (minimum of 16) and the
weight of such tires (minimum 1500 pounds).
Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review
Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(``Act''), the Department will conduct a changed circumstances review
upon receipt of information concerning, or a request from, an
interested party for a review of an antidumping duty order which shows
changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order.
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(d), the Department has determined
that the information submitted by Atlas Tire constitutes sufficient
evidence to conduct a changed circumstances review. In an antidumping
duty changed circumstances review involving a successor-in-interest
determination, the Department typically examines several factors
including, but not limited to, changes in: (1) management; (2)
production facilities; (3) supplier relationships; and (4) customer
base. See, e.g., Certain Activated Carbon From the People's Republic of
China: Notice of Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review, 74 FR
19934, 19935 (April 30, 2009). While no single factor or combination of
factors will necessarily be dispositive, the Department generally will
consider the new company to be the successor to the predecessor if the
resulting operations are essentially the same as those of the
predecessor company. See, e.g., Notice of Initiation of Antidumping
Duty Changed Circumstances Review: Certain Forged Stainless Steel
Flanges from India, 71 FR 327 (January 4, 2006). Thus, if the record
demonstrates that, with respect to the production and sale of the
subject merchandise, the new company operates as the same business
entity as the predecessor company, the Department may assign the new
company the cash deposit rate of its predecessor. See, e.g., Fresh and
Chilled Atlantic Salmon From Norway; Final Results of Changed
Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 64 FR 9979, 9980
(March 1, 1999).
Based on the information provided in its submission, Atlas Tire has
provided sufficient evidence to warrant a review to determine if
Shandong Linglong is the successor-in-interest to Leo Rubber.
Therefore, pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.216(d), we are initiating a changed circumstances review.
The Department will issue questionnaires requesting additional
information for the review and will publish in the Federal Register a
notice of the preliminary results of the antidumping duty changed
circumstances review, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(2) and (4),
and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(i). That notice will set forth the factual and
legal conclusions upon which our preliminary results are based and a
description of any action proposed. Pursuant to 19 CFR
351.221(b)(4)(ii), interested parties will have an opportunity to
comment on the preliminary results of review. In accordance with 19 CFR
351.216(e), the Department will issue the final results of its
antidumping duty changed circumstances review not later than 270 days
after the date on which the review is initiated.
This notice is published in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and
777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216.
Dated: June 7, 2010.
John M. Andersen,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing
Duty Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-14539 Filed 6-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S