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AGENCY:
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that producers and exporters of certain softwood lumber products (softwood lumber) from Canada received countervailable subsidies during the period of review (POR), January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022.
DATES:
Applicable August 19, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Samuel Brummitt or 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 or (202) 482-4793, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 6, 2024, Commerce published the preliminary results of this administrative review in the Federal Register and invited interested parties to comment. On April 25, 2024, Commerce extended the deadline for issuing the final results of this review until August 2, 2024, which was tolled by seven days until August 9, 2024. On August 7, 2024, Commerce extended the deadline for the final results of this review until August 12, 2024.
See Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022, 89 FR 8147 (February 6, 2024) ( Preliminary Results).
See Memorandum, “Extension of Deadline for Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022,” dated April 25, 2024; see also Memorandum, “Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings,” dated July 22, 2024.
See Memorandum, “Second Extension of Deadline for Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022,” dated August 7, 2024.
For a complete description of the events that occurred since the Preliminary Results, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix I to this notice. The Issues and 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 Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
See Memorandum, “Decision Memorandum for the Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty Order on Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada; 2022,” dated concurrently with, and herby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
Scope of the Order 5
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 Issues and Decision Memorandum.
Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received
Commerce conducted this 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 to be countervailable, we find that there is a subsidy, i.e., a government-provided financial contribution 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.
Changes Since the Preliminary Results
The subsidy programs under review, and the issues raised in case and rebuttal briefs submitted by the interested parties, are discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. Based on our analysis of the comments received from the interested parties, we made changes to the subsidy rates calculated for certain respondents. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review
Because the rates calculated for the companies selected for individual review are above de minimis and not based entirely on facts available, we applied a subsidy rate based on a weighted average of the subsidy rates calculated for the reviewed companies using sales data submitted by those companies to calculate a rate for the companies not selected for review. This is consistent with the methodology that we would use in an investigation to establish the all-others rate, pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act.
For further information on the calculation of the non-selected rate, see the section titled “Final Ad Valorem Rate for Non-Selected Companies under Review” in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For a list of the non-selected companies, see Appendix II to this notice.
Final Results of Review
In accordance with section 751(a)(1)(A) and of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(5), we determine that the following total net countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022:
Commerce finds the following companies to be cross-owned with Canfor Corporation: Canadian Forest Products; Ltd. and Canfor Wood Products Marketing, Ltd.
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.
Commerce finds Meadow Lake OSB Mill Corp. and several holding companies, the identities of which are business proprietary information, to be cross-owned with Tolko Marketing and Sales Ltd. and Tolko Industries Ltd.
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.; and West Fraser Alberta Holdings, Ltd.; and West Fraser Timber Co., Ltd.
For a list of these companies, see Appendix II.