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AGENCY:
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable (CVD) subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of ceramic tile from India. The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES:
Applicable September 27, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jinny Ahn or Natasia Harrison, AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0339 or (202) 482-1240, respectively.
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 investigation on May 16, 2024. On June 24, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination in this investigation until September 16, 2024. On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven days. The deadline for this preliminary determination is now September 23, 2024.
See Ceramic Tile from India: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 89 FR 42841 (May 16, 2024) ( Initiation Notice).
See Ceramic Tile from India: Postponement of Preliminary Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation,89 FR 53958 (June 28, 2024).
See Memorandum, “Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings,” dated July 22, 2024.
For a complete description of the 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.
See Memorandum, “Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Affirmative Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Ceramic Tile from India,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is ceramic tile from India. 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). We received several comments concerning the scope of this investigation, as well as in the companion less-than-fair value (LTFV) investigation of ceramic tile, as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. We are currently evaluating the scope comments filed by interested parties. We intend to issue our preliminary decision regarding the scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations on or before the preliminary determination of the companion LTFV investigation, the deadline for which is November 22, 2024. We will incorporate the scope decisions from the LTFV investigation into the scope of the final CVD determination for this investigation after considering any relevant comments submitted in scope case and rebuttal briefs.
See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 42842.
The deadline for interested parties to submit scope case and rebuttal briefs will be established in the preliminary scope decision memorandum.
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. In making its determination, Commerce relied, in part, on adverse facts available. For a full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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.
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part
In accordance with section 703(e)(1) of the Act, Commerce preliminarily determines that critical circumstances do not exist with respect to U.S. imports of subject merchandise from Antiqa Minerals (Antiqa) and Win-Tel Ceramics Private Limited (Win-Tel). However, Commerce preliminarily finds that critical circumstances exist for all other exporters or producers not individually examined. For a full description of the methodology and results of Commerce's analysis, see the “Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances” section in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Alignment
As noted in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 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 companion antidumping duty (AD) investigation of ceramic tile from India based on a request made by the petitioner. Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the final AD determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than February 5, 2025, unless postponed.
See Petitioner's Letter, “Petitioner's Request to Align Countervailing Duty Investigation Final Determination with Antidumping Duty Investigation Final Determination,” dated September 9, 2024. The petitioner is the Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile.
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 zero and de minimis rates and any rates determined entirely under section 776 of the Act.
In this investigation, Commerce calculated individual estimated countervailable subsidy rates for Antiqa and Win-Tel that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on 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.
With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents using each company's publicly ranged U.S. sale values for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closer to (A) as the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part,75 FR 53661, 53662 (September 1, 2010), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1. As complete publicly ranged sales data were available, Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly ranged sales data of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of the data, see the All-Others Rate Calculation Memorandum, dated concurrently with this notice.
Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist: