AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

On February 13, 2015, the Department of Commerce (the “Department”) received a request for revocation, in part, of the antidumping duty (“AD”) order on wooden bedroom furniture from the People's Republic of China (“PRC”) ^[1] with respect to jewelry armoires that have at least one front door. We preliminarily determine that the producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product to which the Order pertains lack interest in the relief provided by the Order with respect to jewelry armoires that have at least one front door as described below. Accordingly, we intend to revoke, in part, the Order as to imports of jewelry armoires with at least one front door. The Department invites interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES:

Effective Date: August 11, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patrick O'Connor or Howard Smith, AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0989 or (202) 482-5193, respectively.

Background

On January 4, 2005, the Department published the Order in the Federal Register . On February 13, 2015, the Department received a request on behalf of Pier 1 Imports (U.S.), Inc. (“Pier One”) for a changed circumstances review to revoke, in part, the Order with respect to jewelry armoires with at least one front door.^[2] On March 11, 2015, the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade and Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company, Inc. (collectively, “Petitioners”) stated that they agree with the scope exclusion language proposed by Pier One.^[3]

On April 2, 2015, we published the Initiation Notice in the Federal Register .^[4] Because the statement submitted by Petitioners in support of Pier One's Request did not indicate whether Petitioners account for substantially all of the domestic wooden bedroom furniture production, in the Initiation Notice, we invited interested parties to submit comments concerning industry support for the revocation in part, as well as comments and/or factual information regarding the changed circumstances review. No comments were submitted by any party.

Scope of the Order

The product covered by the order is wooden bedroom furniture. Wooden bedroom furniture is generally, but not exclusively, designed, manufactured, and offered for sale in coordinated groups, or bedrooms, in which all of the individual pieces are of approximately the same style and approximately the same material and/or finish. The subject merchandise is made substantially of wood products, including both solid wood and also engineered wood products made from wood particles, fibers, or other wooden materials such as plywood, strand board, particle board, and fiberboard, with or without wood veneers, wood overlays, or laminates, with or without non-wood components or trim such as metal, marble, leather, glass, plastic, or other resins, and whether or not assembled, completed, or finished.

The subject merchandise includes the following items: (1) Wooden beds such as loft beds, bunk beds, and other beds; (2) wooden headboards for beds (whether stand-alone or attached to side rails), wooden footboards for beds, wooden side rails for beds, and wooden canopies for beds; (3) night tables, night stands, dressers, commodes, bureaus, mule chests, gentlemen's chests, bachelor's chests, lingerie chests, wardrobes, vanities, chessers, chifforobes, and wardrobe-type cabinets; (4) dressers with framed glass mirrors that are attached to, incorporated in, sit on, or hang over the dresser; (5) chests-on-chests,^[5] highboys,^[6] lowboys,^[7] chests of drawers,^[8] chests,^[9] door chests,^[10] chiffoniers,^[11] hutches,^[12] and armoires;^[13] ( printed page 48076) (6) desks, computer stands, filing cabinets, book cases, or writing tables that are attached to or incorporated in the subject merchandise; and (7) other bedroom furniture consistent with the above list.

The scope of the order excludes the following items: (1) Seats, chairs, benches, couches, sofas, sofa beds, stools, and other seating furniture; (2) mattresses, mattress supports (including box springs), infant cribs, water beds, and futon frames; (3) office furniture, such as desks, stand-up desks, computer cabinets, filing cabinets, credenzas, and bookcases; (4) dining room or kitchen furniture such as dining tables, chairs, servers, sideboards, buffets, corner cabinets, china cabinets, and china hutches; (5) other non-bedroom furniture, such as television cabinets, cocktail tables, end tables, occasional tables, wall systems, book cases, and entertainment systems; (6) bedroom furniture made primarily of wicker, cane, osier, bamboo or rattan; (7) side rails for beds made of metal if sold separately from the headboard and footboard; (8) bedroom furniture in which bentwood parts predominate; ^[14] (9) jewelry armories; ^[15] (10) cheval mirrors; ^[16] (11) certain metal parts; ^[17] (12) mirrors that do not attach to, incorporate in, sit on, or hang over a dresser if they are not designed and marketed to be sold in conjunction with a dresser as part of a dresser-mirror set; (13) upholstered beds; ^[18] and (14) toy boxes.^[19] Also excluded from the scope are certain enclosable wall bed units, also referred to as murphy beds, which are composed of the following three major sections: (1) A metal wall frame, which attaches to the wall and uses coils or pistons to support the metal mattress frame; (2) a metal frame, which has euro slats for supporting a mattress and two legs that pivot; and (3) wood panels, which attach to the metal wall frame and/or the metal mattress frame to form a cabinet to enclose the wall bed when not in use. Excluded enclosable wall bed units are imported in ready-to-assemble format with all parts necessary for assembly. Enclosable wall bed units do not include a mattress. Wood panels of enclosable wall bed units, when imported separately, remain subject to the order.

Also excluded from the scope are certain shoe cabinets 31.5-33.5 inches wide by 15.5-17.5 inches deep by 34.5-36.5 inches high. They are designed strictly to store shoes, which are intended to be aligned in rows perpendicular to the wall along which the cabinet is positioned. Shoe cabinets do not have drawers, rods, or other indicia for the storage of clothing other than shoes. The cabinets are not designed, manufactured, or offered for sale in coordinated groups or sets and are made substantially of wood, have two to four shelves inside them, and are covered by doors. The doors often have blinds that are designed to allow air circulation and release of bad odors. The doors themselves may be made of wood or glass. The depth of the shelves does not exceed 14 inches. Each shoe cabinet has doors, adjustable shelving, and ventilation holes.

Imports of subject merchandise are classified under subheadings 9403.50.9042 and 9403.50.9045 of the HTSUS as “wooden . . . beds” and under subheading 9403.50.9080 of the HTSUS as “other . . . wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom.” In addition, wooden headboards for beds, wooden footboards for beds, wooden side rails for beds, and wooden canopies for beds may also be entered under subheading 9403.50.9042 or 9403.50.9045 of the HTSUS as “parts of wood.” Subject merchandise may also be entered under subheadings 9403.50.9041, 9403.60.8081, 9403.20.0018, or 9403.90.8041. Further, framed glass mirrors may be entered under subheading 7009.92.1000 or 7009.92.5000 of the HTSUS as “glass mirrors . . . framed.” The order covers all wooden bedroom furniture meeting the above description, regardless of tariff classification. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope of this proceeding is dispositive. ( printed page 48077)

Scope of Changed Circumstances Review

The scope of the order currently excludes certain jewelry armoires with at least one side door but does not exclude jewelry armoires with at least one front door. Pier One proposes adding the phrase “or at least one front door” to the existing exclusion for jewelry armoires. Thus, excluded jewelry armoires would be: “{A}ny armoire, cabinet or other accent item for the purpose of storing jewelry, not to exceed 24 inches in width, 18 inches in depth, and 49 inches in height, including a minimum of 5 lined drawers lined with felt or felt-like material, at least one side door or one front door (whether or not the door is lined with felt or felt-like material), with necklace hangers, and a flip-top lid with inset mirror.”

Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent To Revoke the Order, in Part

Pursuant to section 751(d)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the “Act”), and 19 CFR 351.222(g), the Department may revoke an AD order, in whole or in part, based on a review under section 751(b) of the Act ( i.e., a changed circumstances review). Section 751(b)(1) of the Act requires a changed circumstances review to be conducted upon receipt of a request which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review. Section 782(h)(2) of the Act gives the Department the authority to revoke an order if producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product have expressed a lack of interest in the order. 19 CFR 351.222(g) provides that the Department will conduct a changed circumstances review under 19 CFR 351.216, and may revoke an order (in whole or in part), if it concludes that (i) producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product to which the order pertains have expressed a lack of interest in the relief provided by the order, in whole or in part, or (ii) if other changed circumstances sufficient to warrant revocation exist. Both the Act and the Department's regulations require that “substantially all” domestic producers express a lack of interest in the order for the Department to revoke the order, in whole or in part.^[20] The Department has interpreted “substantially all” to represent producers accounting for at least 85 percent of U.S. production of the domestic like product.^[21]

On February 13, 2015, Pier One requested that the Department expedite the changed circumstances review.^[22] The Department's regulations do not specify a deadline for the issuance of preliminary results of a changed circumstances review, but provide that the Department will issue the final results of review within 270 days after the date on which the changed circumstances review is initiated, or within 45 days if all parties to the proceeding agree to the outcome of the review.^[23] The Department did not issue a combined notice of initiation and preliminary results because, as discussed above, the statement provided by Petitioners and offered in support of Pier One's Request did not indicate whether Petitioners account for substantially all domestic wooden bedroom furniture production.^[24] Thus, the Department did not determine in the Initiation Notice that producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product lacked interest in the continued application of the Order as to certain jewelry armoires. Further, the Department requested interested party comments on the issue of domestic industry support of a partial revocation.^[25] Because the Department received no comments concerning a lack of industry support or opposing initiation of the changed circumstances review of the Order, the Department now preliminarily finds that producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product lack interest in the relief afforded by the Order with respect to the jewelry armoires described in Pier One's Request. We will consider comments from interested parties on these preliminary results before issuing the final results of this review.^[26]

As noted in the Initiation Notice, Pier One requested the revocation of the Order, in part, and supported its request. In light of Pier One's Request and the absence of any interested party comments received during the comment period, we preliminarily conclude that changed circumstances warrant revocation of the Order, in part, because the producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product to which the Order pertains lack interest in the relief provided by the Order with respect to the jewelry armoires that are the subject of Pier One's Request.

Accordingly, we are notifying the public of our intent to revoke the Order, in part, with respect to jewelry armoires with at least one front door. We intend to carry out this revocation by stating that the scope of the order excludes any armoire, cabinet or other accent item for the purpose of storing jewelry, not to exceed 24 inches in width, 18 inches in depth, and 49 inches in height, including a minimum of 5 lined drawers lined with felt or felt-like material, at least one side door or one front door (whether or not the door is lined with felt or felt-like material), with necklace hangers, and a flip-top lid with inset mirror.

Public Comment

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results in accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii). Written comments may be submitted no later than 14 days after the date of publication of these preliminary results. Rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues raised in such comments, may be filed no later than seven days after the due date for comments. All submissions must be filed electronically using Enforcement and Compliance's AD and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (“ACCESS”). ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov and in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the day it is due.

The Department will issue the final results of this changed circumstances review, which will include its analysis of any written comments, no later than 270 days after the date on which this review was initiated.

If, in the final results of this review, the Department continues to determine ( printed page 48078) that changed circumstances warrant the revocation of the Order, in part, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to liquidate without regard to antidumping duties, and to refund any estimated antidumping duties, on all unliquidated entries of the merchandise covered by the revocation that are not covered by the final results of an administrative review or automatic liquidation.

The current requirement for cash deposits of estimated antidumping duties on all entries of subject merchandise will continue unless until they are modified pursuant to the final results of this changed circumstances review.

These preliminary results of review and notice are in accordance with sections 751(b) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221 and 19 CFR 351.222.