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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 subsidies are not being provided to producers and exporters of Certain Epoxy Resins (epoxy resins) from the Republic of Korea (Korea). The period of investigation is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES:
Applicable September 13, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas Martin or Benjamin Blythe, AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3936 or (202) 482-3457, 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 countervailing duty (CVD) investigation on April 29, 2024. On May 28, 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.
See Certain Epoxy Resins from the People's Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 89 FR 33319 (April 29, 2024) (Initiation Notice).
See Certain Epoxy Resins from the People's Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Countervailing Duty Investigations, 89 FR 46016 (May 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 Negative Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Epoxy Resins from the Republic of Korea,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are epoxy resins. 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) and other CVD investigations of epoxy resins, as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. We are currently evaluating the scope comments filed by the interested parties. We intend to issue our preliminary decision regarding the scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations in the preliminary determinations of the companion LTFV investigations, the deadline for which is November 6, 2024. We will incorporate the scope decisions from the LTFV investigations 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.
See Certain Epoxy Resins from the People's Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 89 FR 65583 (August 12, 2024) (LTFV Prelim Postponement).
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 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.
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 Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
In accordance with section 703(e)(1) of the Act, Commerce preliminarily determines that critical circumstances do not exist with respect to imports of epoxy resins from Korea for Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd. (Kukdo), Kumho P&B Chemicals Inc. (Kumho), all other exporters or producers not individually examined. For a full description of the methodology and results of Commerce's analysis, see 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 with the final determination in the companion LTFV investigation of epoxy resins from Korea 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.
See Petitioner's Letter, “Petitioner's Request to Align Countervailing Duty Investigation Final Determination with Antidumping Duty Investigation Final Determination,” dated August 15, 2024. The petitioner is the U.S. Epoxy Resin Producers Ad Hoc Coalition.
See LTFV Prelim Postponement.
Preliminary Determination
For this preliminary determination, Commerce calculated de minimis estimated countervailable subsidies for all individually examined producers/exporters of the subject merchandise. Consistent with section 703(b)(4)(A) of the Act, Commerce has disregarded the de minimis rates. Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist:
| Company | Subsidy rate (percent ad valorem) |
|---|---|
| Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd. | * 0.74 |
| Kumho P&B Chemicals Inc. | * 0.89 |
| * De minimis. |
As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-owned with Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd.: Kukdo Finechem Co., Ltd.
As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-owned with Kumho P&B Chemicals Inc.: Kumho Petrochemical Co. Ltd. and Chemoil Corporation.