Honey from the People's Republic of China: Final Results and ...

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Honey from the People's Republic of China: Final Results andRescission, In Part, of Aligned Antidumping Duty AdministrativeReview and New Shipper...

Released : Monday, July 21, 2008 12:34 PM
Honey from the People's Republic of China: Final Results andRescission, In Part, of Aligned Antidumping Duty AdministrativeReview and New Shipper Review
SUMMARY: On January 16, 2008, the Department published thepreliminary results of the aligned fifth administrative review andtenth new shipper review of the antidumping duty order on honeyfrom the People's Republic of China ("PRC"). See Honey from thePeople's Republic of China: Preliminary Results and PartialRescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 73 FR 2890(January 16, 2008) ("Preliminary Results"). These aligned reviewscover seven exporters or producer/exporters: (1) Dongtai Peak HoneyIndustry Co, Ltd. ("Dongtai Peak") (2) Zhejiang Native Produce& Animal By-Products I/E Group Corporation ("Zhejiang Native");(3) Wuhu Qinshi Tangye Co., Ltd. ("Wuhu Qinshi"); (4) Jiangsu LightIndustry Products Imp & Exp (Group) Corp. ("Jiangsu Light");(5) Qinhuangdao Municipal Dafeng Industrial Co., Ltd. ("QMD"); (6)Inner Mongolia Altin Bee-Keeping ("IMA"), and (7) QHD Sanhai HoneyCo., Ltd. ("QHD Sanhai"). For these final results, the Departmentfinds that Wuhu Qinshi, Jiangsu Light, QMD, and IMA failed tocooperate by not acting to the best of their ability to comply withthe Department's request for information and, as a result, havebeen assigned a rate based on adverse facts available ("AFA"). TheDepartment has assigned Dongtai Peak and Zhejiang Native a separaterate for non-selected entities based on the calculation proposed bythe Department. /1/ Finally, after reexamining the bona fides ofQHD Sanhai's single sale, the Department finds that sale is not abona fide transaction; therefore, for these final results, theDepartment has rescinded the review with respect to QHD Sanhai. Theperiod of review ("POR") is December 1, 2005, through November 30,2006. See "Final Results of Review" section below.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 21, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bobby Wong or Susan Pulongbarit,AD/CVD Operations, Office 9, Import Administration, InternationalTrade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street andConstitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202)482-0409 or (202) 482-4031, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 16, 2008, we published in theFederal Register the preliminary results of the aligned 2005/2006administrative and new shipper reviews. See Preliminary Results.The POR is December 1, 2005, through November 30, 2006.
On April 18, 2008, the Department invited parties to comment intheir case briefs on the Department's proposed methodology tocalculate: 1) a rate for Zhejiang Native and Dongtai Peak, theseparate rate entities in the instant review that were not selectedfor individual examination; and 2) a per-kilogram cash deposit ratefor the separate rate entities and the PRC-wide entity. See ChangesSince the Preliminary Results section below.
On April 25, 2008, the Department received case briefs from QHDSanhai, Zhejiang Native, and the American Honey ProducersAssociation and the Sioux Honey Association (collectively,"petitioners"). On May 6, 2008, the Department received rebuttalbriefs from QHD Sanhai and petitioners. On May 20, 2008, thepetitioners submitted new factual information on the record of thereview regarding QHD Sanhai's U.S. customer. On June 13, 2008, theDepartment accepted petitioners' submission of new factualinformation and invited comments from parties regarding the newinformation. On June 23, 2008, the Department received commentsfrom QHD Sanhai regarding the new factual information.
Scope of the Order
The products covered by this order are natural honey, artificialhoney containing more than 50 percent natural honey by weight,preparations of natural honey containing more than 50 percentnatural honey by weight, and flavored honey. The subjectmerchandise includes all grades and colors of honey whether inliquid, creamed, comb, cut comb, or chunk form, and whetherpackaged for retail or in bulk form.
The merchandise subject to this order is currently classifiableunder subheadings 0409.00.00, 1702.90.90, and 2106.90.99 of theHarmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States ("HTSUS"). Althoughthe HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customspurposes, the Department's written description of the merchandiseunder the order is dispositive.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the briefs are addressed in the Issues andDecision Memorandum for the Final Results in the 2005-2006Administrative Review and New Shipper Review of Honey from thePeople's Republic of China from Stephen J. Claeys, Deputy AssistantSecretary, to David M. Spooner, Assistant Secretary, dated July 14,2008, ("I&D Memo"), which is hereby adopted by this notice. /2/A list of the issues raised, all of which are in the I&D Memo,is attached to this notice as Appendix I. Parties can find acomplete discussion of all issues raised in the briefs and thecorresponding recommendations in this public memorandum, which ison file in the Central Records Unit ("CRU"), room 1117 of theDepartment of Commerce. In addition, a complete version of theI&D Memo can be accessed directly on the Web athttp://trade.gov/ia. The paper copy and electronic version of theI&D Memo are identical in content.
Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
In the Preliminary Results, the Department issued a notice ofintent to rescind this administrative review with respect tocertain companies, as Mgl Yun Sheng Honey Co., Ltd. ("Mgl YunSheng"); Inner Mongolia Youth Trade Development Co., Ltd. ("InnerMongolia Youth"); and Shanghai Bloom International Trading Co.,Ltd. ("Shanghai Bloom"), certified that they did not export honeyfrom China to the United States during the POR. See PreliminaryResults, 73 FR 2890. The Department received no comments on thisissue and there is no record evidence to challenge this finding.Therefore, the Department is rescinding this administrative reviewwith respect to Inner Mongolia Youth, Mgl Yung Sheng, and ShanghaiBloom.
Finally, in light of comments from petitioners requesting arevision of the Department's bona fides analysis, with respect toits analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Production ("CBP") data,the Department has subsequently reevaluated the circumstancessurrounding QHD Sanhai's POR transaction and finds that the sale inquestion is not a bona fide transaction. Initially, in its bonafides analysis for the Preliminary Results, the Department analyzedthe HTSUS subcategory 0409.00.0020: "NATURAL HONEY PACKAGED FORRETAIL SALE." For the final results, the Department finds that theHTSUS subcategory 0409.00.0025: "COMB HONEY AND HONEY PACKAGED FORRETAIL SALE" is more appropriate because it is more specific to thesubject merchandise sold by QHD Sanhai, and thus, the Departmenthas reevaluated CBP data accordingly. As a result of ourreevaluation and the change in HTS category examined, we haveconcluded that the single sale made by QHD Sanhai during the POR isnot a bona fide commercial transaction based specifically on: 1)the high price and low quantity of QHD Sanhai's single POR sale;and 2) other indicia of a non-bona fide transaction. In sum, thetotality of circumstances leads the Department to find that QHDSanhai's single POR sale is a non-bona fide commercial transaction.Therefore, this sale does not provide a reasonable or reliablebasis for calculating a dumping margin. As QHD Sanhai had no othersales of subject merchandise during the instant POR, the Departmentis rescinding the new shipper review with respect to QHD Sanhai.For further discussion of this issue, See Comment 1 of the Issuesand Decision Memorandum; see also Memorandum to James C. Doyle,Director, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9, regarding the Final BonaFides Analysis of QHD Sanhai Co., Ltd. in the Aligned FifthAdministrative and Tenth New Shipper Review of Honey From thePeople's Republic of China, dated July 14, 2008.
Separate Rates
QMD, IMA, Zhejiang Native, and Dongtai Peak requested separate,company-specific antidumping duty rates. In the PreliminaryResults, we found that Dongtai Peak and Zhejiang Native met thecriteria for the application of a separate antidumping duty rate.Preliminary Results, 73 FR at 2893. Therefore, the Department hasapplied a rate to Dongtai Peak and Zhejiang Native separate fromthe rate established for the PRC-wide entity. Also in thePreliminary Results, the Department found that IMA and QMDultimately ceased to participate in the administrative review, andhence do not qualify for separate rate status, but rather areappropriately considered to be part of the PRC-wide entity which isassigned an AFA rate of 221.02 percent. Id. The Department did notreceive comments on this issue prior to these final results.
Use of Facts Otherwise Available and the PRC-Wide Rate
In the Preliminary Results, the Department found that QMD and IMAceased participating in the administrative review, and both WuhuQinshi and Jiangsu Light did not respond to the Department'smultiple requests for information. As noted above, the Departmentfound that these two entities did not establish their eligibilityfor separate rate status, and thus such entities are deemed part ofthe PRC-wide entity. As the Department found that the PRC-wideentity failed to cooperate to the best of its ability in respondingto the Department's requests for information, the Departmentassigned the PRC-wide entity a rate based on AFA. The Departmentdid not receive comments prior to these final results regarding theDepartment's preliminary application of AFA to the PRC-wide entity.See Preliminary Results, 73 FR 2890.
Therefore, for these final results, the Department has not alteredits decision to apply total AFA to the PRC-wide entity inaccordance with sections 776(a)(2)(A) and (B) and section 776(b) ofthe Tariff Act of 1930, as amended ("the Act").
Changes Since the Preliminary Results
For the Preliminary Results, with respect to Zhejiang Native andDongtai Peak, the two respondents in the administrative revieweligible for a separate rate but not selected for individualexamination, the Department preliminarily assigned the separaterate margin from the most recent segment of this proceeding inwhich such rate was issued, which in this case is the less thanfair value investigation. We note, however, that in the secondadministrative review of honey from the PRC, the Departmentdetermined that per-kilogram antidumping duty cash deposit andassessment rates were appropriate. See Honey from the People'sRepublic of China: Final Results and Final Rescission, In Part, ofAntidumping Duty Administrative Review, 70 FR 38873 (July 6, 2005)("AR2 Final Results "), and accompanying Issues and DecisionMemorandum at Comment 7. The Department further stated that thequantity-based collection and assessment method would begin uponcompletion of those final results, and would be employed thereafterfor all future reviews of this order. Given that the AR2 FinalResults did not address per-kilogram rates for non-selectedseparate rate respondents or the PRC-wide entity, for the finalresults of the instant review, the Department proposed a newmethodology to calculate: 1) a per-kilogram cash deposit rate fornon-selected separate entities; and 2) a per-kilogram cash depositrate for the PRC-wide entity. See April 18, 2008, Letter.
--This is a summary of a Federal Register article originallypublished on the page number listed below--
Citation: "73 FR 42321"
Document Number: "A-570-863"
Federal Register Page Number: "42321"
"Notices"
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