Certain Paper Plates From the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>International Trade Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[A-570-164]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Certain Paper Plates From the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part</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) determines that certain paper plates (paper plates) from the People's Republic of China (China) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) during the period of investigation (POI) July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Applicable January 28, 2025. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Toni Page or Lingjun Wang, AD/CVD Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1398 or (202) 482-2316, respectively. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> On September 5, 2024, Commerce published the <E T="03">Preliminary Determination</E> in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> and invited interested parties to comment. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> For a complete description of the events that followed the <E T="03">Preliminary Determination, see</E> the Issues and Decision Memorandum. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures,</E> 89 FR 72367 (September 5, 2024) ( <E T="03">Preliminary Determination</E> ), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Memorandum, “Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of China,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum). </FTNT> The Issues and 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">http://access.trade.gov.</E> In addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at <E T="03">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Scope of the Investigation</HD> The products covered by this investigation are paper plates from China. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, <E T="03">see</E> Appendix I. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Scope Comments</HD> We received no comments from interested parties on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the <E T="03">Preliminary Determination.</E> Therefore, we made no changes to the scope of the investigation. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Verification</HD> As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), between November 12 and 24, 2024, Commerce conducted verification of the sales and factors of production information submitted by Fuzhou Hengli Paper Co., Ltd. (Fuzhou Hengli) and Jinhua P&P Product Co., Ltd (Jinhua). <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> We used standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting records and original source documents provided by Fuzhou Hengli and Jinhua. <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Memoranda, “Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of Jinhua P&P Product Co., Ltd. (JPP) in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Certain Paper Plates from the People's Republic of China (China),” dated December 16, 2024; and “Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of Hengli Paper Co., Ltd. (Hengli) and its producer Guangdong Ecosource Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. (Ecosource),” dated December 17, 2024. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Analysis of Comments Received</HD> The issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by the parties in this investigation are discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For a list of the issues raised by interested parties and addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, <E T="03">see</E> Appendix II. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part</HD> In accordance with section 735(a)(3)(B) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.206(h), Commerce finds for the final determination that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of paper plates for the non-selected companies eligible for a separate rate  <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> and continues to find that critical circumstances exist with respect to the China-wide entity. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> We find for the final determination that critical circumstances exist with respect to Fuzhou Hengli and its unaffiliated producers, but that critical circumstances do not exist for Jinhua. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> For a full description of the methodology and the results of Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, <E T="03">see</E> the Issues and Decision Memorandum. <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Issues and Decision Memorandum at 5. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>   <E T="03">See Preliminary Determination,</E> 89 FR at 72367. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Issues and Decision Memorandum at 5. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Changes Since the Preliminary Determination</HD> Based on our review and analysis of the information received during verification and comments received from interested parties for this final determination, we made certain changes to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins for Fuzhou Hengli and Jinhua. For a discussion of these changes, <E T="03">see</E> the Issues and Decision Memorandum. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Use of Adverse Facts Available (AFA)</HD> Consistent with the <E T="03">Preliminary Determination,</E> <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> Commerce continues to find, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, that the use of facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences, is warranted in determining the dumping rate for the China-wide entity. In addition, for this final determination, we are also assigning a rate based on AFA to Fuzhou Hengli. We are assigning a rate of 515.40 percent, which is the highest calculated individual dumping margin of any respondent in the investigation, to the China-wide entity and Fuzhou Hengli. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>   <E T="03">See Preliminary Determination</E> PDM at 15-18. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at 18. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Separate Rates</HD> No interested party commented on Commerce's preliminary separate rate determinations  <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> and we have no basis to reconsider those determinations. Accordingly, we continue to find that Fuzhou Hengli, Jinhua, and certain non-individually examined companies that are listed in the rate table below, are eligible for a separate rate. <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at 9-12. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Combination Rates</HD> Consistent with the <E T="03">Preliminary Determination,</E> and Policy Bulletin 05.1, <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> Commerce calculated combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a separate rate. <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1, regarding, “Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy Countries,” (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available at <E T="03"> https://access.trade.gov/Resources/policy/bull05-1.pdf.</E> </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Final Determination</HD> Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023: <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,nj,tp0,i1" CDEF="s50,r50,16,17"> <TTITLE> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Producer</CHED> <CHED H="1">Exporter</CHED> <CHED H="1"> Estimated weighted-average <ENT I="01">Guangdong Ecosource Environmental Technology Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Fuzhou Hengli Paper Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>* 515.40</ENT> <ENT>504.86</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Ningbo Hongtai Package New Material Technology Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Fuzhou Hengli Paper Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>* 515.40</ENT> <ENT>504.86</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Jinhua P&P Products Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Jinhua P&P Products Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Festa Party Products Mfy. (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Festa (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Top Printing Paper Products (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Festa (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Festa Party Products Mfy. (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Festa Limited</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Top Printing Paper Products (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Festa Limited</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Jieyang Weikangda Paper Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Fujian Putian Zhonghao Trade Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> <ENT>267.63</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Dongyang Founder Paper Product Co., Ltd</ENT> <ENT>Fuj ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 25k characters. 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