2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce published the notice of initiation of this countervailing duty (CVD) investigation on April 30, 2024. On June 10, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination until September 3, 2024. On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven days. The deadline for the preliminary determination is now September 9, 2024.

For a complete description of events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. 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 Investigation

The product covered by this investigation is 2,4-D from China. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations, the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage ( i.e., scope). Commerce issued a supplemental questionnaire on June 4, 2024, requesting clarification regarding two of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings under which the subject merchandise may also be classified. On June 11, 2024, Corteva Agriscience LLC (the petitioner) confirmed that the HTSUS subheadings petitioner intended to include were as follows: 3808.93.0500 and 3808.93.1500. As a result, Commerce is preliminarily modifying the scope language. The scope as described in Appendix I incorporates the modified language.

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an “authority” that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific. For a full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Commerce notes that, in making these findings, it relied, in part, on facts available, and, because it finds that certain respondents and the Government of China did not act to the best of their ability to respond to Commerce's requests for information, it drew an adverse inference where appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise available. For further information, see the “Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences” section in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Alignment

In accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the final CVD determination in this investigation with the final determination in the concurrent less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of 2,4-D from China, based on a request made by the petitioner. Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the final LTFV determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than January 21, 2025, unless postponed.

All-Others Rate

Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that, in the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates established for those companies individually examined, excluding any rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely under section 776 of the Act.

In this investigation, Commerce preliminarily calculated individual estimated countervailable subsidy rates for Jiangxi Tianyu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Tianyu) and Shandong Rainbow Agrosciences Co., Ltd. (Rainbow Agrosciences) that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on the facts otherwise available. Commerce calculated the all-others rate using a weighted-average of the individual estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents using each company's publicly ranged values for the merchandise under consideration.

Preliminary Determination

Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist: