Hexamethylenetetramine From the People's Republic of China and India: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>International Trade Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[C-570-181, C-533-933]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Hexamethylenetetramine From the People's Republic of China and India: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Applicable October 21, 2024. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Eliza Delong at 202-482-3878 (the People's Republic of China (China)), and Nicholas Czajkowski at 202-482-1395 (India), AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">The Petitions</HD> On September 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) received countervailing duty (CVD) petitions concerning imports of hexamethylenetetramine (hexamine) from China and India filed in proper form on behalf of Bakelite LLC (the petitioner). <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> The CVD Petitions were accompanied by antidumping duty (AD) petitions concerning imports of hexamine from China, Germany, India, and Saudi Arabia. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Petitioner's Letter, “Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties,” dated September 30, 2024 (Petitions). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> </FTNT> Between October 2 and 11, Commerce requested supplemental information pertaining to certain aspects of the Petitions. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> Between October 7 and 18, 2024, the petitioner filed timely responses to these requests for additional information. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Commerce's Letters, “Supplemental Questions,” dated October 2, 2024 (First General Issues Questionnaire), <E T="03">see also</E> Country-Specific CVD Supplemental Questionnaires: China Supplemental and India Supplemental, dated October 2, 2024; Commerce's Letter, “Second Supplemental Questions,” dated October 11, 2024 (Second General Issues Questionnaire); and Memorandum, “Phone Call,” dated October 15, 2024 (October 15, 2024, Memorandum). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Petitioner's Letters, “Response to Supplemental Questions,” dated October 7, 2024 (First General Issues Supplement); <E T="03">see also</E> Country-Specific CVD Supplemental Responses: China CVD Supplement and India CVD Supplement, dated October 7 and 8, 2024; Petitioner's Letter, “Petitioner's Response to Second Supplemental Questions,” dated October 17, 2024 (Second General Issues Supplement), and Petitioner's Letter, “Erratum to Response to Supplemental Questions,” dated October 18, 2024 (Second General Issues Errata). </FTNT> In accordance with section 702(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), the petitioner alleges that the Government of China (GOC), and the Government of India (GOI) (collectively, Governments) are providing countervailable subsidies, within the meaning of sections 701 and 771(5) of the Act, to producers of hexamine from China and India, and that such imports are materially injuring, or threatening material injury to, the domestic industry producing hexamine in the United States. Consistent with section 702(b)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.202(b), for those alleged programs on which we are initiating CVD investigations, the Petitions were accompanied by information reasonably available to the petitioner supporting its allegations. Commerce finds that the petitioner filed the Petitions on behalf of the domestic industry because the petitioner is an interested party, as defined in section 771(9)(C) of the Act. Commerce also finds that the petitioner demonstrated sufficient industry support with respect to the initiation of the requested CVD investigations. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> section on “Determination of Industry Support for the Petitions,” <E T="03">infra.</E> </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Periods of Investigation</HD> Because the Petitions were filed on September 30, 2024, the periods of investigation for the China and India CVD investigations are January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 19 CFR 351.204(b)(2). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Scope of the Investigations</HD> The merchandise covered by these investigations is hexamine from China and India. For a full description of the scope of these investigations, <E T="03">see</E> the appendix to this notice. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Comments on the Scope of the Investigations</HD> On October 2 and 11, 2024, Commerce requested information and clarification from the petitioner regarding the proposed scope to ensure that the scope language in the Petitions is an accurate reflection of the products for which the domestic industry is seeking relief. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> During October 7 through 18, 2024, the petitioner provided clarifications and revised the scope. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> The description of merchandise covered by these investigations, as described in the appendix to this notice, reflects these clarifications. <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> First General Issues Questionnaire; <E T="03">see also</E> Second General Issues Questionnaire; and October 15, 2024, Memorandum. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> First General Issues Supplement at 3-5; <E T="03">see also</E> Second General Issues Supplement at 1-3 and Second General Issues Errata. </FTNT> As discussed in the <E T="03">Preamble</E> to Commerce's regulations, we are setting aside a period for interested parties to raise issues regarding product coverage ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> scope). <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> Commerce will consider all comments received from interested parties and, if necessary, will consult with interested parties prior to the issuance of the preliminary determinations. If scope comments include factual information, all such factual information should be limited to public information. <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> To facilitate preparation of its questionnaires, Commerce requests that scope comments be submitted by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on November 12, 2024, which is the next business day after 20 calendar days from the signature date of this notice. <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> Any rebuttal comments, which may include factual information, must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on November 22, 2024, which is 10 calendar days from the initial comment deadline. <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>   <E T="03">See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final Rule,</E> 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) ( <E T="03">Preamble</E> ). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) (defining “factual information”). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>11</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1). The deadline for scope comments falls on November 10, 2024, which is a Sunday. Monday, November 11, 2024 is a federal holiday. In accordance with 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1), Commerce will accept comments filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on November 12, 2024 (“For both electronically filed and manually filed documents, if the applicable due date falls on a non-business day, the Secretary will accept documents that are filed on the next business day.”). </FTNT> Commerce requests that any factual information that parties consider relevant to the scope of the investigations be submitted during that time period. However, if a party subsequently finds that additional factual information pertaining to the scope of the investigations may be relevant, the party must contact Commerce and request permission to submit the additional information. All scope comments must be filed simultaneously on the records of the concurrent AD and CVD investigations. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Filing Requirements</HD> All submissions to Commerce must be filed electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS), unless an exception applies. <SU>12</SU> <FTREF/> An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by the time and date it is due. <FTNT> <SU>12</SU>   <E T="03">See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order Procedures,</E> 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011); <E T="03">see also Enforcement and Compliance; Change of Electronic Filing System Name,</E> 79 FR 69046 (November 20, 2014), for details of Commerce's electronic filing requirements, effective August 5, 2011. Information on using ACCESS can be found at <E T="03">https://access.trade.gov/help.aspx</E> and a handbook can be found at <E T="03">https://access.trade.gov/help/Handbook_on_Electronic_Filing_Procedures.pdf.</E> </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Consultations</HD> Pursuant to sections 702(b)(4)(A)(i) and (ii) of the Act, Commerce notified the Governments of the receipt of the Petitions and provided an opportunity for consultations with respect to the Petitions. <SU>13</SU> <FTREF/> Commerce held consultations with the GOI on October 10, 2024, <SU>14</SU> <FTREF/> and the GOC on October 16, 2024. <SU>15</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>13</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Commerce's Letters, “Invitation for Consultation to Discuss the Countervailing Duty Petition,” dated September 5, 2024, and September 6, 2024. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>14</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Memorandum, “Consultations with the Government of India,” dated October 10, 2024 (GOI Consultations Memorandum). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>15</SU>   <E T="03">See ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 32k characters. 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