Dioctyl Terephthalate From Taiwan: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>International Trade Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[A-583-875]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Dioctyl Terephthalate From Taiwan: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) from Taiwan is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Applicable November 5, 2024. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Brian Smith or Hannah Lee, AD/CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1766 or (202) 482-1216, respectively. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce published the notice of initiation of this investigation on April 22, 2024. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> On July 18, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this investigation. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven days. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> The deadline for the preliminary determination is now October 29, 2024. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See Dioctyl Terephthalate from Malaysia, Poland, Taiwan, and the Republic of Türkiye: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations,</E> 89 FR 29285 (April 22, 2024) ( <E T="03">Initiation Notice</E> ). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See Dioctyl Terephthalate from Malaysia, Poland, Taiwan, and the Republic of Türkiye: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations,</E> 89 FR 59891 (July 24, 2024). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Memorandum, “Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings,” dated July 22, 2024. </FTNT> For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this investigation, <E T="03">see</E> the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary 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 <E T="03">https://access.trade.gov.</E> In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at <E T="03">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.</E> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Memorandum, “Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Dioctyl Terephthalate from Taiwan,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Scope of the Investigation</HD> The product covered by this investigation is DOTP from Taiwan. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, <E T="03">see</E> Appendix I. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Scope Comments</HD> In accordance with the <E T="03">Preamble</E> to Commerce's regulations, <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> in the <E T="03">Initiation Notice,</E> Commerce set aside a period of time for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> scope). <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> No interested party commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the <E T="03">Initiation Notice.</E> Therefore, Commerce is not preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared in the <E T="03">Initiation Notice. See</E> the scope in Appendix I to this notice. <FTNT> <SU>5</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>6</SU>   <E T="03">See Initiation Notice,</E> 89 FR at 29286. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Methodology</HD> Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with section 731 of the Act. For the mandatory respondent, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation (Nan Ya), Commerce has calculated export prices in accordance with section 772(a) of the Act and normal value is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. In addition, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce has preliminarily relied upon facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences, for Oxyde Chemicals Singapore Pte. Ltd. and Fortune Chemical Corp., Ltd. For a full description of the methodology underlying the preliminary determination, <E T="03">see</E> the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. <HD SOURCE="HD1">All-Others Rate</HD> Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that, in a preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero and <E T="03">de minimis</E> margins, and any margins determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. In this investigation, Commerce calculated an estimated weighted average dumping margin for the sole mandatory respondent, Nan Ya, that is not zero, <E T="03">de minimis,</E> or based entirely on facts otherwise available. Consequently, the rate calculated for Nan Ya is also assigned as the rate for all other producers and exporters. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Preliminary Determination</HD> Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist: <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,tp0,i1" CDEF="s25,9"> <TTITLE> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Exporter/producer</CHED> <ENT I="01">Nan Ya Plastics Corporation</ENT> <ENT>18.73</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Oxyde Chemicals Singapore Pte. Ltd</ENT> <ENT>* 32.94</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Fortune Chemical Corp., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>* 32.94</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">All Others</ENT> <ENT>18.73</ENT> </ROW> <TNOTE>* Rate based on adverse facts available.</TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Suspension of Liquidation</HD> In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margins determined in this preliminary determination; (2) if the exporter is not a respondent identified above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average dumping margin. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Disclosure</HD> Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within five days of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR 351.224(g) following the preliminary determination. Instead, Commerce will address such allegations in the final determination together with issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Verification</HD> As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to verify the information relied upon in making its final determination. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Public Comment</HD> Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in this investigation. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the date for filing case briefs. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities. <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); <E T ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 18k characters. 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