SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On October 9, 2019, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination in this investigation.^[1] On November 14, 2019, Commerce published the Amended Preliminary Determination.^[2] The petitioner is the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance. The mandatory respondents in this investigation are The Ancientree Cabinet Co., Ltd. (Ancientree), Dalian Meisen Woodworking Co., Ltd. (Meisen), and Rizhao Foremost Woodwork Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Foremost).

A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the Amended Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final determination, are discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.^[3] 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 http://access.trade.gov, and to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum is available at http://enforcement.trade.gov/​frn/​index.html. The signed and electronic versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Period of Investigation

The period of investigation is July 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018.

Scope of the Investigation

The scope of the investigation covers wooden cabinets and vanities from China. For a complete description of the scope of the investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

On October 2, 2019, Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope Decision ( printed page 11954) Memorandum.^[4] Several interested parties submitted case and rebuttal briefs concerning the scope of this investigation. For a summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal comments submitted to the record for this final determination, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely received, see the Final Scope Decision Memorandum.^[5] Based on the comments received, Commerce is not modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Preliminary Determination. The scope in Appendix I remains unchanged from that which appeared in the Preliminary Determination.

Analysis of Comments Received

All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation are discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues that parties raised in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice as Appendix II.

Verification

As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), Commerce conducted verification of the information submitted by Ancientree and Foremost for use in the final determination. We used standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting records and original source documents provided by the respondents.^[6] Commerce did not verify the information submitted by Meisen.^[7]

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

Based on our review and analysis of the comments received from parties, minor corrections presented at verification, and our verification findings, we have made certain changes to the margin calculations for Ancientree and Foremost. For a discussion of these changes, see the “Changes Since the Preliminary Determination” section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum and the Final Calculation Memoranda.^[8]

Adverse Facts Available

In determining Meisen's dumping margin, we find that the application of facts available with an adverse inference is appropriate under sections 776(a)(2)(A) through (C) and 776(b) of the Act as discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.^[9] Therefore, as adverse facts available (AFA), we have assigned Meisen the rate of 262.18 percent, which is the highest petition rate.^[10]

For the reasons explained in the Preliminary Determination, we continue to find that the use of AFA, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, is warranted in determining the rate for the China-wide entity.^[11] In selecting the AFA rate for the China-wide entity, Commerce's practice is to select a rate that is sufficiently adverse to ensure that the uncooperative party does not obtain a more favorable result by failing to cooperate than if it had fully cooperated.^[12] For the final determination, we are also assigning the China-wide entity, as AFA, the rate of 262.18 percent, which is the highest petition rate.^[13]

Separate Rates

Generally, Commerce looks to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in a market economy antidumping duty (AD) investigation, for guidance when calculating the rate for separate rate respondents that we did not individually examine in a non-market economy AD investigation. Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act states that the estimated all-others 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 de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely on the basis of facts available.^[14]

In this final determination, Commerce has calculated rates for Ancientree and Foremost that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts available. Thus, looking to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act for guidance, and consistent with our practice,^[15] based on publicly ranged sales data, we are assigning the weighted-average of these mandatory respondents' rates as the rate for non-individually examined companies that have qualified for a separate rate, other than Meisen, whose rate is based entirely on section 776 of the Act as discussed above.

Final Determination

The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as follows: ( printed page 11955)

Disclosure

We intend to disclose to parties the calculations performed in this proceeding within five days of any public announcement of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of wooden cabinets and vanities from China, as described in the “Scope of the Investigation” section, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after October 9, 2019, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination notice in the Federal Register .

Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit ^[17] equal to the weighted-average amount by which normal value exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the exporter/producer combination listed in the table above will be the rate identified for that combination in the table; (2) for all combinations of China exporters/producers of merchandise under consideration that have not received their own separate rate above, ( printed page 11961) the cash-deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate established for the China-wide entity; and (3) for all non-China exporters of the 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 China exporter/producer combination that supplied that non-China exporter. These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

We normally adjust AD cash deposit rates by the amount of export subsidies, where appropriate. In the companion countervailing duty (CVD) investigation, with respect to the mandatory respondents individually examined in the CVD investigation, and the separate-rate companies, we find that an export subsidy adjustment of 10.54 percent to the cash deposit rate is warranted because this is the export subsidy rate included in the CVD all-others rate to which the separate-rate companies are subject. As part of our determination in this final determination to apply AFA the China-wide entity, Commerce has adjusted the China-wide entity's AD cash deposit rate by the lowest export subsidy rate determined for any party in the companion CVD proceeding, i.e., 10.54 percent.^[18 19]

Pursuant to section 777A(f) of the Act, we normally adjust cash deposit rates for estimated domestic subsidy pass-through, where appropriate. However, in this case there is no basis to grant a domestic subsidy pass-through adjustment.^[20]

International Trade Commission Notification

In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we notified the International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. As Commerce's final determination is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will determine, within 45 days, whether the domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of wooden cabinets and vanities for sale from China, or sales (or the likelihood of sales) for importation, of wooden cabinets and vanities from China. If the ITC determines that such injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated and all securities posted will be refunded or canceled. If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of liquidation.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders (APO)

In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties subject to the APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of the return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO is a violation which is subject to sanction.

Notification to Importers

This notice also serves as an initial reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of doubled antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

This determination is issued and published in accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

The merchandise subject to this investigation consists of wooden cabinets and vanities that are for permanent installation (including floor mounted, wall mounted, ceiling hung or by attachment of plumbing), and wooden components thereof. Wooden cabinets and vanities and wooden components are made substantially of wood products, including solid wood and engineered wood products (including those made from wood particles, fibers, or other wooden materials such as plywood, strand board, block board, particle board, or fiberboard), or bamboo. Wooden cabinets and vanities consist of a cabinet box (which typically includes a top, bottom, sides, back, base blockers, ends/end panels, stretcher rails, toe kicks, and/or shelves) and may or may not include a frame, door, drawers and/or shelves. Subject merchandise includes wooden cabinets and vanities with or without wood veneers, wood, paper or other overlays, or laminates, with or without non-wood components or trim such as metal, marble, glass, plastic, or other resins, whether or not surface finished or unfinished, and whether or not completed.

Wooden cabinets and vanities are covered by the investigation whether or not they are imported attached to, or in conjunction with, faucets, metal plumbing, sinks and/or sink bowls, or countertops. If wooden cabinets or vanities are imported attached to, or in conjunction with, such merchandise, only the wooden cabinet or vanity is covered by the scope.

Subject merchandise includes the following wooden component parts of cabinets and vanities: (1) Wooden cabinet and vanity frames (2) wooden cabinet and vanity boxes (which typically include a top, bottom, sides, back, base blockers, ends/end panels, stretcher rails, toe kicks, and/or shelves), (3) wooden cabinet or vanity doors, (4) wooden cabinet or vanity drawers and drawer components (which typically include sides, backs, bottoms, and faces), (5) back panels and end panels, (6) and desks, shelves, and tables that are attached to or incorporated in the subject merchandise.

Subject merchandise includes all unassembled, assembled and/or “ready to assemble” (RTA) wooden cabinets and vanities, also commonly known as “flat packs,” except to the extent such merchandise is already covered by the scope of antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Hardwood Plywood from the People's Republic of China. See Certain Hardwood Plywood Products from the People's Republic of China: Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Antidumping Duty Order,83 FR 504 (January 4, 2018); Certain Hardwood Plywood Products from the People's Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Order,83 FR 513 (January 4, 2018). RTA wooden cabinets and vanities are defined as cabinets or vanities packaged so that at the time of importation they may include: (1) Wooden components required to assemble a cabinet or vanity (including drawer faces and doors); and (2) parts ( e.g., screws, washers, dowels, nails, handles, knobs, adhesive glues) required to assemble a cabinet or vanity. RTAs may enter the United States in one or in multiple packages.

Subject merchandise also includes wooden cabinets and vanities and in-scope components that have been further processed in a third country, including but not limited to one or more of the following: Trimming, ( printed page 11962) cutting, notching, punching, drilling, painting, staining, finishing, assembly, or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope product.

Excluded from the scope of this investigation, if entered separate from a wooden cabinet or vanity are:

(1) Aftermarket accessory items which may be added to or installed into an interior of a cabinet and which are not considered a structural or core component of a wooden cabinet or vanity. Aftermarket accessory items may be made of wood, metal, plastic, composite material, or a combination thereof that can be inserted into a cabinet and which are utilized in the function of organization/accessibility on the interior of a cabinet; and include:

• Inserts or dividers which are placed into drawer boxes with the purpose of organizing or dividing the internal portion of the drawer into multiple areas for the purpose of containing smaller items such as cutlery, utensils, bathroom essentials,etc.etc.
• Round or oblong inserts that rotate internally in a cabinet for the purpose of accessibility to foodstuffs, dishware, general supplies,etc.

(2) Solid wooden accessories including corbels and rosettes, which serve the primary purpose of decoration and personalization.

(3) Non-wooden cabinet hardware components including metal hinges, brackets, catches, locks, drawer slides, fasteners (nails, screws, tacks, staples), handles, and knobs.

(4) Medicine cabinets that meet all of the following five criteria are excluded from the scope: (1) Wall mounted; (2) assembled at the time of entry into the United States; (3) contain one or more mirrors; (4) be packaged for retail sale at time of entry; and (5) have a maximum depth of seven inches.

Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are:

(1) All products covered by the scope of the antidumping duty order on Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People's Republic of China. See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People's Republic of China,70 FR 329 (January 4, 2005).

(2) All products covered by the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Hardwood Plywood from the People's Republic of China. See Certain Hardwood Plywood Products from the People's Republic of China: Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Antidumping Duty Order,83 FR 504 (January 4, 2018); Certain Hardwood Plywood Products from the People's Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Order,83 FR. 513 (January 4, 2018).

Imports of subject merchandise are classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) statistical numbers 9403.40.9060 and 9403.60.8081. The subject component parts of wooden cabinets and vanities may be entered into the United States under HTSUS statistical number 9403.90.7080. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Period of Investigation

IV. Scope of the Investigation

V. Scope Comments

VI. Use of Adverse Facts Available

VII. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

VIII. Adjustments Under Section 777A(f) of the Act

IX. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies

X. Discussion of the Issues

General Comments

Comment 1: Initiation of the Investigation

Comment 2: Respondent Selection

Comment 3: Separate Rate Applicants

Comment 4: Company Name for Supree (Fujian) Wood Co., Ltd. (Supree)

Comment 5: Calculation of the Separate Rate Assigned to Non-Selected Companies

Surrogate Value (SV) Comments

Comment 6: Surrogate Country

Comment 7: SVs for Birch and Poplar

Comment 8: Calculation of Financial Ratios

Comment 9: Labor Rate Calculation

Company-Specific Comments

Ancientree

Comment 10: Whether to Apply AFA to Ancientree

Comment 11: Treatment of Jiangsu Hongjia Wood Ltd. (Jiangsu Hongjia) as an Affiliate

Comment 12: SV Selections

Foremost

Comment 13: Combination Kits

Comment 14: Exempted Sales

Comment 15: Early Payment Discounts

Comment 16: Section 301 Duties

Comment 17: Foremost's U.S. Inland Freight Charges from the Port to the Warehouse

Comment 18: Foremost's U.S. Inland Freight Charges to the Customer

Comment 19: FGI's Acquisition Costs

Comment 20: Labor Hours

Comment 21: Calculation and Programing Revisions

Meisen

Comment 22: Total AFA for Meisen

XI. Recommendation

85 FR 11953