SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In accordance with section 705(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), on June 28, 2022, Commerce published its affirmative final determination in the countervailing duty investigation of sodium nitrite from Russia.^[1] On August 15, 2022, the ITC notified Commerce of its affirmative final determination that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of subsidized imports of subject merchandise from Russia.^[2]

Scope of the Order

The product covered by this order is sodium nitrite from Russia. For a ( printed page 51342) complete description of the scope of the order, see the appendix to this notice.

Countervailing Duty Order

As noted above, on August 15, 2022, in accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination in this investigation, in which it found that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of subsidized imports of sodium nitrite from Russia.^[3] Therefore, in accordance with section 705(c)(2) of the Act, Commerce is issuing this countervailing duty order. Because the ITC determined that imports of sodium nitrite from Russia are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from Russia, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment of countervailing duties.

In accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties for all relevant entries of sodium nitrite from Russia. With the exception of entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before the publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination, as further described below, countervailing duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of sodium nitrite from Russia entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after April 15, 2022, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination.^[4]

Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 706 of the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to reinstitute the suspension of liquidation of sodium nitrite from Russia, effective the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register , and to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, pursuant to section 706(a)(1) of the Act, countervailing duties for each entry of the subject merchandise in an amount based on the net countervailable subsidy rates below. On or after the date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination in the Federal Register , CBP must require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated customs duties on this merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the rates listed in the table below. The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed, as appropriate.

Provisional Measures

Section 703(d) of the Act states that suspension of liquidation pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four months. In the underlying investigation, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination on April 15, 2022. Therefore, the four-month period beginning on the date of the publication of the Preliminary Determination ended on August 12, 2022.

In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, we instructed CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to countervailing duties, unliquidated entries of sodium nitrite from Russia entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption after August 12, 2022, the final day on which the provisional measures were in effect, until and through the day preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination in the Federal Register . Suspension of liquidation and the collection of cash deposits will resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determination in the Federal Register .

Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service Lists

On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the final rule titled “ Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws” in the Federal Register .^[5] On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the notice titled “ Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions” in the Federal Register .^[6] The Final Rule and Procedural Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same country of origin.^[7]

In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at https://access.trade.gov, within five business days of publication of the notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type called “AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.” ^[8]

Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30 days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance, the new annual inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when the Opportunity Notice for the anniversary month of the order is published.

Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and representatives or to update contact information. Any changes or announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the ACCESS website at https://access.trade.gov. ( printed page 51343)

Special Instructions for Petitioners and Foreign Governments

In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, “after an initial request and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry service list in the years that follow.” ^[9] Accordingly, as stated above, the petitioner and the Government of Russia should submit their initial entry of appearance after publication of this notice in order to appear in the first annual inquiry service list. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioner and the Government of Russia will not need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to be included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioner and the Government of Russia are responsible for making amendments to their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.

Notification to Interested Parties

This notice constitutes the countervailing duty order with respect to sodium nitrite from Russia, pursuant to section 706(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of countervailing duty orders currently in effect at https://enforcement.trade.gov/​stats/​iastats1.html.

This countervailing order is issued and published in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

Appendix

Scope of the Order

The merchandise covered by this order is sodium nitrite in any form, at any purity level. In addition, the sodium nitrite covered by this investigation may or may not contain an anti-caking agent. Examples of names commonly used to reference sodium nitrite are nitrous acid, sodium salt, anti-rust, diazotizing salts, erinitrit, and filmerine. Sodium nitrite's chemical composition is NaNO₂, and it is generally classified under subheading 2834.10.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). The American Chemical Society Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) has assigned the name “sodium nitrite” to sodium nitrite. The CAS registry number is 7632-00-0. For purposes of the scope of this order, the narrative description is dispositive, not the tariff heading, CAS registry number or CAS name, which are provided for convenience and customs purposes.

87 FR 51341