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AGENCY:

Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that twist ties 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). The period of investigation is October 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES:

Applicable December 10, 2020.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alex Wood or Brittany Bauer, AD/CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement & Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1959 or (202) 482-3860, respectively.

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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

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 July 27, 2020.^[1] For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.^[2] 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 https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/​frn/​. The signed and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Scope of the Investigation

The products covered by this investigation are twist ties from China. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I to this notice.

Scope Comments

In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,^[3] the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage (scope).^[4] Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for this investigation, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Determination Memorandum.^[5] Commerce is preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the revised scope in Appendix I to this notice.

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with section 731 of the Act. Pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce preliminarily has relied upon facts otherwise available, with adverse Start Printed Page 79469inferences, with respect to the China-wide entity. The China-wide entity includes mandatory respondents Zhenjiang Hongda Commodity Co., Ltd. (Zhenjiang Hongda) and Zhenjiang Zhonglian I/E Co., Ltd. (Zhenjiang Zhonglian).^[6] These companies failed to respond to Commerce's requests for information and withdrew from participation in this investigation. For a full description of the methodology underlying Commerce's preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Combination Rates

In the Initiation Notice,^[7] Commerce stated that it would calculate producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin 05.1 describes this practice.^[8] In this investigation, we assigned producer/exporter combination rates for respondents eligible for separate rates.

Preliminary Determination

Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist:

Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of subject merchandise as described in the scope of the investigation section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register, as discussed below. 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 weighted average amount by which normal value exceeds U.S. price, as indicated in the chart above as follows: (1) For the producer/exporter combinations listed in the table above, the cash deposit rate is equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed for that combination in the table; (2) for all combinations of Chinese producers/exporters of merchandise under consideration that have not established eligibility for their own separate rates, the cash deposit rate will be equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for the China-wide entity; and (3) for all third-country exporters of merchandise under consideration not listed in the table above, the cash deposit rate is the cash deposit rate applicable to the Chinese producer/exporter combination (or China-wide entity) that supplied that third-country exporter.

To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of domestic subsidy pass-through and export subsidies determined in a companion CVD proceeding when CVD provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly, Commerce has made a preliminary affirmative determination for an export subsidy adjustment. However, Commerce has not made a preliminary affirmative determination for a domestic subsidy pass-through adjustment in this investigation. Commerce has offset the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate rate. Any such adjusted rates may be found in the chart of estimated weighted-average dumping margins in the “Preliminary Determination” section above.

Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting cash deposits at a rate equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins calculated in this preliminary determination unadjusted for export subsidies at the time the CVD provisional measures expire.

These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

Disclosure

Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations performed in connection with a preliminary determination within five days of its 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). However, because Commerce preliminarily determined that the mandatory respondents should be considered to be part of the China-wide entity and assigned the China-wide entity an AFA rate based solely on the petition, there are no calculations to disclose.

Verification

Because the mandatory respondents in this investigation did not provide information requested by Commerce and Commerce preliminarily determines in accordance with section 776(b) of the Act that each of the mandatory respondents to have been uncooperative, verification will not be conducted.

Public Comment

Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS) no later than 30 days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination, unless the Secretary alters the time limit. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than seven days after the deadline date for case Start Printed Page 79470briefs.^[10] Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities.^[11]

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.

Parties must file their case and rebuttal briefs, and any requests for a hearing, electronically using Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS.^[12] Electronically filed documents must be received successfully in their entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time,^[13] on the due dates established above. Note that Commerce has temporarily modified certain of its requirements for serving documents containing business proprietary information, until further notice.^[14]

Final Determination

Section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1) provide that Commerce will issue the final determination within 75 days after the date of its preliminary determination. Accordingly, Commerce will make its final determination no later than 75 days after the signature date of this preliminary determination.

International Trade Commission Notification

In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary determination of sales at LTFV. If the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination whether imports of the subject merchandise are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

This determination is issued and published in accordance with sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

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Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

The merchandise covered by this investigation consists of twist ties, which are thin, bendable ties for closing containers, such as bags, bundle items, or identifying objects. A twist tie in most circumstances is comprised of one or more metal wires encased in a covering material, which allows the tie to retain its shape and bind against itself. However, it is possible to make a twist tie with plastic and no metal wires. The metal wire that is generally used in a twist tie is stainless or galvanized steel and typically measures between the gauges of 19 (.0410″ diameter) and 31 (.0132″) (American Standard Wire Gauge). A twist tie usually has a width between .075″ and 1″ in the cross-machine direction (width of the tie—measurement perpendicular with the wire); a thickness between .015″ and .045″ over the wire; and a thickness between .002″ and .020″ in areas without wire. The scope includes an all-plastic twist tie containing a plastic core as well as a plastic covering (the wing) over the core, just like paper and/or plastic in a metal tie. An all-plastic twist tie (without metal wire) would be of the same measurements as a twist tie containing one or more metal wires. Twist ties are commonly available individually in pre-cut lengths (“singles”), wound in large spools to be cut later by machine or hand, or in perforated sheets of spooled or single twist ties that are later slit by machine or by hand (“gangs”).

The covering material of a twist tie may be paper (metallic or plain), or plastic, and can be dyed in a variety of colors with or without printing. A twist tie may have the same covering material on both sides or one side of paper and one side of plastic. When comprised of two sides of paper, the paper material is bound together with an adhesive or plastic. A twist tie may also have a tag or label attached to it or a pre-applied adhesive attached to it.

Excluded from the scope of the order are twist ties packaged with bags for sale together where the quantity of twist ties does not exceed twice the number of bags in each package. Also excluded are twists ties that constitute part of the packaging of the imported product, for example, merchandise anchored/secured to a backing with twist ties in the retail package or a bag of bread that is closed with a twist tie.

Twist ties are imported into the United States under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 8309.90.0000 and 5609.00.3000. Subject merchandise may also enter under HTSUS subheadings 3920.51.5000, 3923.90.0080, 3926.90.9990, 4811.59.6000, 4821.10.2000, 4821.10.4000, 4821.90.2000, 4821.90.4000, and 4823.90.8600. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for reference only. The written description of the scope of the investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Period of Investigation

IV. Scope Comments

V. Scope of the Investigation

VI. Discussion of the Methodology

VII. Adjustment Under Section 777A(f) of the Act

VIII. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies

IX. Verification

X. ITC Notification

XI. Recommendation

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Footnotes