81 FR 48741 - Large Residential Washers From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part, and Postponement of Final Determination

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 143 (July 26, 2016)

The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily determines that large residential washers (LRWs) from the People's Republic of China (PRC) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2015, through September 30, 2015. The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 26, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48741-48744]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17680]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-033]


Large Residential Washers From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part, and 
Postponement of Final Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that large residential washers (LRWs) from the People's 
Republic of China (PRC) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the 
United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 
733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The period of 
investigation (POI) is April 1, 2015, through September 30, 2015. The 
estimated margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the ``Preliminary 
Determination'' section of this notice. Interested parties are invited 
to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective July 26, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Smith or David Goldberger, AD/
CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
1766 or (202) 482-4136, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on January 12, 2016.\1\ For a complete description of the 
events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum that is dated concurrently with and 
hereby adopted by this notice.\2\ The Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
is a public document and is made available to the public via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at http://access.trade.gov, and is available to all 
parties in the Department's Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the 
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version 
of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the 
internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the 
electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical.
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    \1\ See Large Residential Washers From the People's Republic of 
China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 81 FR 1398 
(January 12, 2016) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum entitled ``Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determination of the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Large Residential Washers from the People's Republic of China'' 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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    As explained in the memorandum from the Acting Assistant Secretary 
for Enforcement and Compliance, the Department has exercised its 
discretion to toll all administrative deadlines due to the closure of 
the Federal Government. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding 
have been extended by four business days. The revised deadline for the 
preliminary determination is July 19, 2016.\3\
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    \3\ See Memorandum to the Record from Ron Lorentzen, Acting A/S 
for Enforcement & Compliance, ``Tolling of Administrative Deadlines 
As a Result of the Government Closure During Snowstorm Jonas'' 
(January 27, 2016).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are LRWs. For a full 
description of the scope of this investigation, see the ``Scope of the 
Investigation,'' in Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preamble to the Department's regulations,\4\ 
the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation, as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice. After consideration of these comments, we 
preliminarily determined not to amend the scope as published in the 
Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product coverage comments and 
rebuttal responses submitted to the record, and an accompanying 
discussion and analysis of all comments timely received, see the 
Department's Scope Memorandum issued concurrently with this notice.\6\
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27323 (May 19, 1997) (Preamble).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice, 80 FR at 73716.
    \6\ See Memorandum entitled ``Scope Issues for the Preliminary 
Determination of the Less-Than-Fair-Value (LTFV) Investigation of 
Large Residential Washers (LRWs) from the People's Republic of 
China,'' dated concurrently with this notice (Scope Memorandum).

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[[Page 48742]]

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. We calculated constructed export prices in 
accordance with section 772 of the Act. Because the PRC is a non-market 
economy, within the meaning of section 771(18) of the Act, we 
calculated normal value (NV) in accordance with section 773(c) of the 
Act. For a full discussion of the Department's methodology, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Affirmative Negative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, in Part

    On May 6, 2016, Whirlpool Corporation (the petitioner) timely filed 
an allegation of critical circumstances, pursuant to section 733(e)(1) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206(1), alleging that critical circumstances 
exist with respect to imports of the merchandise under consideration. 
We preliminarily determine that critical circumstances do not exist for 
Nanjing LG-Panda Appliances Co., Ltd., but do exist with respect to 
Suzhou Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd./Suzhou Samsung Electronics Co. 
Ltd--Export (collectively, Samsung) and the PRC-wide entity. For a full 
description of the methodology and results of our analysis, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
weighted-average dumping margins exist during the period April 1, 2015, 
through September 30, 2015:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
            Exporter                     Producer         average margin
                                                                (%)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nanjing LG-Panda Appliances      Nanjing LG-Panda                  49.88
 Co., Ltd./LG Electronics, Inc.   Appliances Co., Ltd.
Suzhou Samsung Electronics Co.,  Suzhou Samsung                   111.09
 Ltd./Suzhou Samsung              Electronics Co., Ltd./
 Electronics Co. Ltd--Export/     Suzhou Samsung
 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.    Electronics Co. Ltd--
                                  Export.
PRC-Wide Entity................  .......................           80.49
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PRC-Wide Rate

    In calculating rates for non-individually investigated respondents 
in the context of non-market economy cases, the Department looks to 
section 735(c)(5)(A)-(B) of the Act, which provides instructions for 
calculating the all-others rate in an investigation.\7\ Section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated all-others rate 
shall be equivalent to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-
average dumping margins calculated for exporters and producers 
individually investigated, excluding any margins that are zero, de 
minimis, or based entirely on facts available. Section 735(c)(5)(B) of 
the Act provides that where all individually investigated exporters or 
producers receive rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on 
facts available, then the Department may use ``any reasonable method'' 
to establish the all-others rate for those companies not individually 
investigated.
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    \7\ See Xanthan Gum from the People's Republic of China: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 78 FR 33351 (June 4, 
2013), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at page 4-5.
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    Apart from the mandatory respondents in this investigation, no 
other PRC exporters of the subject merchandise during the POI 
established entitlement to a separate rate.\8\ Thus, no non-
individually examined separate rates are being assigned in this 
segment. Moreover, the PRC-wide entity is not being individually 
examined in this investigation. Furthermore, there currently exist no 
respondents that have failed to cooperate in this investigation, and 
there are no zero or de minimis margins. Therefore, we are 
preliminarily determining the PRC-wide rate based on a simple average 
of the calculated rates determined for the mandatory respondents,\9\ in 
accordance with section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.\10\
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    \8\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \9\ With two respondents, we would normally calculate (A) a 
weighted-average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory 
respondents; (B) a simple average of the dumping margins calculated 
for the mandatory respondents; and (C) a weighted-average of the 
dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents using each 
company's publicly-ranged values for the merchandise under 
consideration. We would compare (B) and (C) to (A) and select the 
rate closest to (A) as the most appropriate rate for all other 
companies. See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof From France, Germany, 
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances 
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 
(September 1, 2010). In this case, however, we do not have complete 
publicly-ranged quantities from either respondent on the record to 
properly conduct this comparison. Therefore, we are using a simple 
average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory 
respondents as the PRC-wide rate for this preliminary determination, 
and we intend to ask the respondents to provide a complete, 
publicly-ranged summary of their U.S. sales quantities for 
consideration in the final determination.
    \10\ See Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe From the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 79 FR 31092-93 (May 30, 2014); and Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Small 
Diameter Carbon and Alloy Seamless Standard, Line and Pressure Pipe 
From Romania, 65 FR 39125, 39127 (June 23, 2000).
    .
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, the Department 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of LRWs from the PRC, 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.
    Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative 
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation 
shall apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of (a) 
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of 
liquidation was first ordered, or (b) the date on which notice of 
initiation of the investigation was published. We preliminarily find 
that critical circumstances exist for imports of LRWs from the PRC 
produced and/or exported by Samsung and the PRC-wide entity. 
Accordingly, for Samsung and the PRC-wide entity, in accordance with 
section 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of liquidation shall 
apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date which is 90 days before 
the publication of this notice.
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit \11\ equal to the weighted-average amount by 
which NV exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for 
the exporter/producer combinations listed in the table above will be 
the rate identified in the table; (2) for all combinations of PRC

[[Page 48743]]

exporters/producers of merchandise under consideration that have not 
received their own separate rate above, the cash-deposit rate will be 
the cash deposit rate established for the PRC-wide entity; and (3) for 
all non-PRC exporters of merchandise under consideration which have not 
received their own separate rate above, the cash-deposit rate will be 
the cash deposit rate applicable to the PRC exporter/producer 
combination that supplied that non-PRC exporter. These suspension of 
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \11\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 
(October 3, 2011).
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties in this 
proceeding within five days after public announcement of the 
preliminary determination in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). 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 final verification report is issued in this 
proceeding and rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case 
briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline 
date for case briefs.\12\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), 
parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding 
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.
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
filed electronically using ACCESS. An electronically filed document 
must be received successfully in its entirety by the Department's 
electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, within 30 
days after the date of publication of this notice.\13\ Hearing requests 
should contain the party's name, address, and telephone number, the 
number of participants, and a list of the issues parties intend to 
present at the hearing. If a request for a hearing is made, the 
Department intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20230, at a time and location to be determined. Parties should confirm 
by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two days 
before the scheduled date.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination by the Department, a request for 
such postponement is made by exporters who account for a significant 
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a 
negative preliminary determination by the Department, a request for 
such postponement is made by the petitioner. 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2) 
requires that requests by respondents for postponement of a final 
antidumping determination be accompanied by a request for extension of 
provisional measures from a four-month period to a period not more than 
six months in duration.
    On June 27 and 29, 2016, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), LG 
and Samsung, respectively, requested that the Department postpone its 
final determination, and extend the application of the provisional 
measures prescribed under section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(e)(2), from a four-month period to a period not to exceed six 
months.
    In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii) and (e)(2), because (1) our preliminary determination 
is affirmative; (2) the requesting exporters account for a significant 
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling 
reasons for denial exist, we are postponing the final determination and 
extending the provisional measures from a four-month period to a period 
not greater than six months. Accordingly, we will make our final 
determination no later than 135 days after the date of publication of 
this preliminary determination, pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the 
Act.\14\
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.210(e).
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our affirmative preliminary determination of sales at LTFV. 
Because the preliminary determination in this investigation is 
affirmative, section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires that the ITC make 
its final determination whether the domestic industry in the United 
States is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by 
reason of imports of LRWs from the PRC before the later of 120 days 
after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after our 
final determination. Because we are postponing the deadline for our 
final determination to 135 days from the date of publication of this 
preliminary determination, as discussed above, the ITC will make its 
final determination no later than 45 days after our final 
determination.
    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).

    Dated: July 19, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Period of Investigation
4. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
5. Scope Comments
6. Scope of the Investigation
7. Product Characteristics
8. Critical Circumstances
9. Discussion of the Methodology
    a. Non-Market Economy Country
    b. Surrogate Country
    c. Surrogate Value Comments
    d. Separate Rates
    e. Combination Rates
    f. The PRC-Wide Entity
    g. Date of Sale
    h. Fair Value Comparisons
    i. U.S. Price
    j. Normal Value
    k. Factor Valuation Methodology
    l. Currency Conversion
10. Verification
11. International Trade Commission Notification
12. Conclusion

Appendix I: Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are all large 
residential washers and certain parts thereof from the People's 
Republic of China.
    For purposes of this investigation, the term ``large residential 
washers'' denotes all automatic clothes washing machines, regardless 
of the orientation of the rotational axis, with a cabinet width 
(measured from its widest point) of at least 24.5 inches (62.23 cm) 
and no more than 32.0 inches (81.28 cm), except as noted below.
    Also covered are certain parts used in large residential 
washers, namely: (1) All cabinets, or portions thereof, designed for 
use in large residential washers; (2) all assembled tubs \15\ 
designed for use in large residential washers which incorporate, at 
a minimum: (a) A tub;

[[Page 48744]]

and (b) a seal; (3) all assembled baskets \16\ designed for use in 
large residential washers which incorporate, at a minimum: (a) A 
side wrapper; \17\ (b) a base; and (c) a drive hub; \18\ and (4) any 
combination of the foregoing parts or subassemblies.
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    \15\ A ``tub'' is the part of the washer designed to hold water.
    \16\ A ``basket'' (sometimes referred to as a ``drum'') is the 
part of the washer designed to hold clothing or other fabrics.
    \17\ A ``side wrapper'' is the cylindrical part of the basket 
that actually holds the clothing or other fabrics.
    \18\ A ``drive hub'' is the hub at the center of the base that 
bears the load from the motor.
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    Excluded from the scope are stacked washer-dryers and commercial 
washers. The term ``stacked washer-dryers'' denotes distinct washing 
and drying machines that are built on a unitary frame and share a 
common console that controls both the washer and the dryer. The term 
``commercial washer'' denotes an automatic clothes washing machine 
designed for the ``pay per use'' segment meeting either of the 
following two definitions:
    (1) (a) It contains payment system electronics; \19\ (b) it is 
configured with an externally mounted steel frame at least six 
inches high that is designed to house a coin/token operated payment 
system (whether or not the actual coin/token operated payment system 
is installed at the time of importation); (c) it contains a push 
button user interface with a maximum of six manually selectable wash 
cycle settings, with no ability of the end user to otherwise modify 
water temperature, water level, or spin speed for a selected wash 
cycle setting; and (d) the console containing the user interface is 
made of steel and is assembled with security fasteners; \20\ or
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    \19\ ``Payment system electronics'' denotes a circuit board 
designed to receive signals from a payment acceptance device and to 
display payment amount, selected settings, and cycle status. Such 
electronics also capture cycles and payment history and provide for 
transmission to a reader.
    \20\ A ``security fastener'' is a screw with a non-standard head 
that requires a non-standard driver. Examples include those with a 
pin in the center of the head as a ``center pin reject'' feature to 
prevent standard Allen wrenches or Torx drivers from working.
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    (2) (a) it contains payment system electronics; (b) the payment 
system electronics are enabled (whether or not the payment 
acceptance device has been installed at the time of importation) 
such that, in normal operation,\21\ the unit cannot begin a wash 
cycle without first receiving a signal from a bona fide payment 
acceptance device such as an electronic credit card reader; (c) it 
contains a push button user interface with a maximum of six manually 
selectable wash cycle settings, with no ability of the end user to 
otherwise modify water temperature, water level, or spin speed for a 
selected wash cycle setting; and (d) the console containing the user 
interface is made of steel and is assembled with security fasteners.
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    \21\ ``Normal operation'' refers to the operating mode(s) 
available to end users (i.e., not a mode designed for testing or 
repair by a technician).
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    Also excluded from the scope are automatic clothes washing 
machines that meet all of the following conditions: (1) Have a 
vertical rotational axis; (2) are top loading; \22\ (3) have a drive 
train consisting, inter alia, of (a) a permanent split capacitor 
(PSC) motor,\23\ (b) a belt drive,\24\ and (c) a flat wrap spring 
clutch.\25\
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    \22\ ``Top loading'' means that access to the basket is from the 
top of the washer.
    \23\ A ``PSC motor'' is an asynchronous, alternating current 
(AC), single phase induction motor that employs split phase 
capacitor technology.
    \24\ A ``belt drive'' refers to a drive system that includes a 
belt and pulleys.
    \25\ A ``flat wrap spring clutch'' is a flat metal spring that, 
when engaged, links abutted cylindrical pieces on the input shaft 
with the end of the concentric output shaft that connects to the 
drive hub.
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    Also excluded from the scope are automatic clothes washing 
machines that meet all of the following conditions: (1) Have a 
horizontal rotational axis; (2) are front loading; \26\ and (3) have 
a drive train consisting, inter alia, of (a) a controlled induction 
motor (CIM),\27\ and (b) a belt drive.
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    \26\ ``Front loading'' means that access to the basket is from 
the front of the washer.
    \27\ A ``controlled induction motor'' is an asynchronous, 
alternating current (AC), polyphase induction motor.
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    Also excluded from the scope are automatic clothes washing 
machines that meet all of the following conditions: (1) Have a 
horizontal rotational axis; (2) are front loading; and (3) have 
cabinet width (measured from its widest point) of more than 28.5 
inches (72.39 cm).
    The products subject to this investigation are currently 
classifiable under subheadings 8450.20.0040 and 8450.20.0080 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Products 
subject to this investigation may also enter under HTSUS subheadings 
8450.11.0040, 8450.11.0080, 8450.90.2000, and 8450.90.6000. Although 
the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the written description of the merchandise subject to this 
investigation is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2016-17680 Filed 7-25-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P