Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of certain softwood lumber produ...
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of certain softwood lumber products (softwood lumber) from Canada during the period of review (POR), January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. With respect to four companies, we are rescinding this administrative review because the companies are excluded from the countervailing duty (CVD) order on softwood lumber from Canada. Additionally, with respect to 70 companies, we are rescinding this administrative review because either the request for review of the company was timely withdrawn or the company did not have any reviewable entries of subject merchandise during the POR. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.
DATES:
Applicable February 6, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Samuel Brummitt, Laura Griffith, and Kristen Johnson, AD/CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-7851, (202) 482-6430, and (202) 482-4793, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 3, 2018, Commerce published in the
Federal Register
the CVD order on softwood lumber from Canada.[1]
Several interested parties requested that Commerce conduct an administrative review of the
Order
and, on March 14, 2023, Commerce published in the
Federal Register
a notice of initiation of the fifth administrative review.[2]
On April 19, 2023, Commerce selected Canfor Corporation and West Fraser Mills Ltd. as the mandatory respondents in the administrative review.[3]
On September 22, 2023, Commerce selected J.D. Irving, Limited and Tolko Marketing and Sales Ltd. and Tolko Industries Ltd. (collectively, Tolko) as voluntary respondents in the administrative review.[4]
On September 22, 2023, Commerce extended the deadline for the preliminary results of this administrative review to January 31, 2024, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2).[5]
For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this review,
see
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.[6]
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
https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
Scope of the Order
The product covered by this order is certain softwood lumber products from Canada. For a complete description of the scope of the
Order, see
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
( printed page 8148)
Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
On November 20, 2023, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued an order in
Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations
v.
United States, et. al.,
Consol. Ct. No. 19-00122 (Slip Op. 23-163), reinstating the exclusion of Les Produits Forestiers D&G Ltee (D&G), Marcel Lauzon Inc. (MLI), North American Forest Products Ltd. (NAFP) (located in New Brunswick), and Scierie Alexandre Lemay & Fils Inc. (Lemay), and their cross-owned companies,[7]
from the
Order.
On December 7, 2023, Commerce published in the
Federal Register
a notice of reinstatement of exclusion from the
Order
for these companies with an effective date of August 28, 2021.[8]
Consequently, D&G, MLI, NAFP (located in New Brunswick), and Lemay, along with their cross-owned companies, are not subject to this administrative review.
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce will rescind an administrative review if the party that requested the review withdraws its request within 90 days of the publication of the notice of initiation of the requested review. On June 12, 2023, the petitioner [9]
timely withdrew its request for administrative review of certain producers/exporters.[10]
With respect to 52 producers/exporters listed in the petitioner's withdrawal of review request, neither the producer/exporter itself, nor any other party, besides the petitioner, requested a review. Accordingly, we are rescinding this review, with respect to the following companies, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1):
37. Roland Boulanger & Cie Ltee; Industries Daveluyville Inc.; Les Manufacturiers Warwick Ltee
38. S&W Forest Products Ltd.
39. Sapphire Lumber Company
40. Sonora Logging Ltd.
41. Source Forest Products
42. South Fraser Container Terminals
43. Star Lumber Canada Ltd
44. Suncoh Custom Lumber Ltd.
45. Surplus G Rioux
46. Swiftwood Forest Products Ltd.
47. T&P Trucking Ltd.
48. Valley Cedar 2 Inc.
49. Watkins Sawmills Ltd.
50. Western Timber Products, Inc.
51. Winton Homes Ltd.
52. WWW Timber Products Ltd.
Additionally, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), it is Commerce's practice to rescind an administrative review of a CVD order where it concludes that there were no reviewable entries of subject merchandise during the POR for an exporter or producer. Normally, upon completion of an administrative review, the suspended entries are liquidated at the CVD assessment rate for the review period.[11]
Therefore, for an administrative review to be conducted, there must be a reviewable, suspended entry that Commerce can instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to liquidate at the calculated CVD assessment rate for the review period.[12]
Based on our analysis of CBP data and comments received from interested parties, we determine that 18 producers/exporters, for which a review had been requested, had no reviewable shipments, sales, or entries of subject merchandise during the POR. Accordingly, absent evidence of a shipment on the record, Commerce is rescinding the administrative review of the following companies, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3):
1. Burrows Lumber (CD) Ltd.; Theo A. Burrows Lumber Company Limited
2. CarlWood Lumber Ltd.
3. Central Forest Products Inc.
4. Coast Clear Wood Ltd.
5. Glandell Enterprises Inc.
6. Les Produits Forestiers Sitka Inc. (aka Sitka Forest Products Inc.)
7. Madera Forest Products INC
8. Mainland Sawmill, a division of Terminal Forest Products Ltd.
9. Oregon Canadian Forest Products Inc., dba Oregon Canadian Forest Products
For further information,
see
“Partial Rescission of Administrative Review” in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this CVD administrative review in accordance with section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a subsidy,
i.e.,
a financial contribution by an “authority” that confers a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.[13]
For a full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary conclusions,
see
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. The list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included in Appendix I.
Preliminary Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review
There are 232 companies for which a review was requested and not rescinded but were not selected as mandatory
( printed page 8149)
respondents. The statute and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the establishment of rates to be applied to companies not selected for individual examination where Commerce limits its examination in an administrative review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act. However, Commerce normally determines the rates for non-selected companies in reviews in a manner that is consistent with section 705(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in an investigation.
Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act instructs Commerce, as a general rule, to calculate an all-others rate equal to the weighted average of the countervailable subsidy rates established for producers and/or exporters individually examined, excluding any zero,
de minimis,
or rates based entirely on facts available. In this review, none of the rates for the respondents were zero,
de minimis,
or based entirely on facts available. Therefore, for the POR, we are assigning to the non-selected companies an average of the subsidy rates calculated for the companies that were selected as respondents in the administrative review.
For further information on the calculation of the non-selected rate,
see
“Preliminary
Ad Valorem
Rate for Non-Selected Companies under Review” in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. For a list of the non-selected companies,
see
Appendix II to this notice.
Preliminary Results of Review
For the period January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022, we preliminarily determine the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates:
Companies
Subsidy
rate
(percent
ad valorem)
Canfor Corporation and its cross-owned affiliates 14
6.14
J.D. Irving, Limited and its cross-owned affiliates 15
3.88
Tolko Marketing and Sales Ltd. and Tolko Industries Ltd.16
9.61
West Fraser Mills Ltd. and its cross-owned affiliates 17
6.74
Non-Selected Companies
6.71
Disclosure
We intend to disclose to parties to this proceeding the calculations performed in these preliminary results within five days of publication of this notice in the
Federal Register
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).[18]
Public Comment
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the date for filing case briefs.[19]
Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.[20]
As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes. In this review, we instead request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.[21]
Further, we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will accompany the final results in this administrative review. We request that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).[22]
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c)(2), interested parties who wish to request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs, must do so within 30 days of publication of these preliminary results by submitting a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance using ACCESS. Requests should contain the party's name, address, and telephone number; the number of participants; 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 the date and time of the hearing two days before the scheduled date. Parties are reminded that all briefs and hearing requests must be filed electronically using ACCESS and received successfully in their entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
Final Results
Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative review, including the results of its analysis of the issues raised by parties in their comments, within 120 days after the date of publication of these preliminary results.
Assessment Rates
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), Commerce has preliminarily assigned the subsidy rates as indicated above. Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall determine, and CBP shall assess, countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review. Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 41 days after the date of publication of the final results of this review in the
Federal Register
, in accordance with 19 CFR 356.8(a). If a timely summons is filed at the CIT, the assessment instructions will direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties to file a request for statutory injunction has expired (
i.e.,
within 90 days of publication).
For the companies for which this review is rescinded,[23]
Commerce will
( printed page 8150)
instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, during the period January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce intends to issue rescission instructions to CBP no earlier than 41 days after the date of publication of the notice of rescission in the
Federal Register
.
Cash Deposit Requirements
Pursuant to section 751(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends, upon publication of the final results, to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties in the amounts indicated above for each of the respective companies listed above and in Appendix II with regard to shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of this review. For all non-reviewed companies, we will instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties at the most recent company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company, as appropriate. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.
Notification to Interested Parties
These preliminary results are issued and published in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).
Dated: January 31, 2024.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Review
IV. Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
V. Scope of the
Order
VI. New Subsidy Allegations
VII. Subsidies Valuation
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Preliminary
Ad Valorem
Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review
1.
See Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Amended Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Countervailing Duty Order,83 FR 347 (January 3, 2018) (
Order).
6.
See
Memorandum, “Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty Order on Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada; 2022,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
7.
D&G's cross-owned companies are: Le Groupe Gesco-Star Ltee; Portbec Forest Products Ltd (aka Les Produits Forestiers Portbec Ltee); and Les Produits Forestiers Startrees Ltee. MLI's cross-owned companies are: Placements Marcel Lauzon Ltee and Investissements LRC Inc. NAFP's cross-owned companies are: Parent-Violette Gestion Ltee and Le Groupe Parent Ltee. Lemay's cross-owned companies are: Bois Lemay Inc. and Industrie Lemay Inc.
8.
See Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Notice of Reinstatement of Exclusion from the Countervailing Duty Order,88 FR 85225 (December 7, 2023).
9.
The petitioner is the COALITION, an
ad hoc
association whose members are: U.S. Lumber Coalition, Inc.; Collum's Lumber Products, L.L.C.; Fox Lumber Sales, Inc.; Hankins, Inc.; Pleasant River Lumber Company; PotlatchDeltic; S.I. Storey Lumber Co., Inc.; Stimson Lumber Company; Swanson Group; Weyerhaeuser Company; Giustina Land and Timber Company; and Sullivan Forestry Consultants, Inc.
13.
See
sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
14.
Commerce finds the following companies to be cross-owned with Canfor Corporation: Canadian Forest Products., Ltd. and Canfor Wood Products Marketing, Ltd.
15.
Commerce finds the following companies to be cross-owned with J.D. Irving, Limited: Miramichi Timber Holdings Limited, The New Brunswick Railway Company, Rothesay Paper Holdings Ltd., and St. George Pulp & Paper Limited.
16.
Commerce finds Meadow Lake OSB Mill Corp. and several holding companies, the identities of which are business proprietary, to be cross-owned with Tolko Marketing and Sales Ltd. and Tolko Industries Ltd.
17.
Commerce finds the following companies to be cross-owned with West Fraser Mills Ltd.: Blue Ridge Lumber Inc., Manning Forest Products, Ltd., Sundre Forest Products Inc., Sunpine Inc., West Fraser Alberta Holdings, Ltd., and West Fraser Timber Co., Ltd.
19.
See 19 CFR 351.309(d);
see also Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings,88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 2023) (
APO and Final Service Rule).
23.
For D&G, MLI, NAFP (located in New Brunswick), and Lemay, which are excluded from the
Order,
Commerce previously issued instructions to CBP discontinuing the suspension of liquidation of these companies' entries that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or
after August 28, 2021. Thus, we do not intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP for these companies.
24.
On March 21, 2023, Olympic Industries, Inc. and Olympic Industries ULC (collectively, Olympic) notified Commerce that Olympic Industries Inc-Reman Code, Olympic Industries ULC-Reman, and Olympic Industries ULC-Reman Code are no longer used by Olympic to export softwood lumber to the United States.
See
Olympic's Letter, “Response to Department of Commerce's Clarification Request,” dated March 21, 2023.