Raw Honey From Argentina: Preliminary Results and Rescission, in Part, of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2023

AGENCY:

Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that Asociación De Cooperativas Argentinas Cooperativa Limitada (ACA), and the non-individually-examined companies for which a review was requested made sales of raw honey from Argentina is being sold in the United States at less than normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR), November 23, 2021, through May 31, 2023. Additionally, Commerce preliminarily determines that NEXCO S.A. (NEXCO) did not make sales of raw honey at prices below NV during the POR. We are also rescinding this review, in part, with respect to five companies which had no suspended entries. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES:

Applicable July 8, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas Martin or Zachary Shaykin, 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) 482-2638, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On June 10, 2022, Commerce published in the Federal Register the antidumping duty (AD) order on raw honey from Argentina. On August 3, 2023, Commerce initiated an administrative review of the Order covering 24 companies, in accordance with section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). On February 13, 2024, we extended the deadline for the preliminary results of this review to June 28, 2024.

For details regarding the events that occurred subsequent to the initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included in as Appendix I 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 Order

The merchandise covered by the Order is raw honey from Argentina. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission, in Part, of Administrative Review

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), Commerce will rescind an administrative review when there are no entries of subject merchandise during the POR for which liquidation is suspended. Normally, upon completion of an administrative review, the suspended entries are liquidated at the AD assessment rate calculated for the review period. Therefore, for an administrative review of a company to be conducted, there must be a suspended entry that Commerce can instruct and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to liquidate at the AD assessment rate calculated for the POR.

On June 14, 2024, we notified parties of our intent to rescind this administrative review, in part, with respect to the five companies listed in Appendix II because there were no suspended entries of subject merchandise produced or exported by these companies during the POR. We invited interested parties to comment. No parties commented on our intent to rescind the review, in part. In the absence of suspended entries of subject merchandise from these companies during the POR, we are rescinding, in part, the administrative review for the companies listed in Appendix II, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and (2) of the Act. We calculated constructed export price in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. We calculated NV in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying these preliminary results, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rate for Non-Examined Companies

The statute and Commerce's regulations do not address the establishment of a rate to be applied to companies not selected for individual examination when Commerce limits its examination in an administrative review pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. Generally, Commerce looks to section 735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in a market economy investigation, for guidance when calculating the rate for companies which were not selected for individual examination in an administrative review. Under section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the all-others rate is normally “an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero or de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely | on the basis of facts available.” In this review, we calculated a weighted-average dumping margin for the two mandatory respondents, ACA and NEXCO, of 58.34 percent and 0.00 percent, respectively, and we have assigned to the non-selected companies a rate of 58.34 percent, which is the rate calculated for ACA.

Preliminary Results of the Review

We preliminarily determine that the following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period of November 23, 2021, through May 31, 2023:

Disclosure

Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis performed for these preliminary results within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within five days of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

As provided in section 782(i)(3) of the Act, we intend to verify the information upon which we will rely in determining our final results of review with respect to the mandatory respondents, ACA and NEXCO.

Public Comment

As stated below, Commerce intends to verify the information upon which it will rely in making its final determination. Interested parties may submit case briefs within seven days after issuance of the last verification report. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be filed no later than five days after the date for filing case briefs. 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.

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. Further, we request that interested parties limit their public executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, no including citations. We intend to use the public 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 public 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).

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain: (1) party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to be discussed. Oral presentations at the hearing will be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, parties will be notified of the time and date for the hearing.

Assessment Rates

Upon completion of this administrative review, Commerce shall determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. The final results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by this review and for future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable. Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results of this review in the Federal Register . If a timely summons is filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired ( i.e., within 90 days of publication).

For an individually examined respondent whose weighted-average dumping margin is not zero or de minimis ( i.e., less than 0.50 percent), upon completion of the final results, Commerce intends to calculate importer-specific AD assessment rates on the basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for each importer's examined sales to the total entered value of those sales. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), neither ACA nor NEXCO reported actual entered value for all of its U.S. sales; in such instances, we calculated importer-specific per-unit duty assessment rates by aggregating the importer's amount of dumping calculated for the examined sales and dividing this amount by the total quantity of those sales. to consider whether the importer-specific assessment rate is de minimis, we estimated the enter value for each U.S. sales and calculated an estimated ad valorem importer-specific assessment rate as the importer's aggregated amount of dumping divided by the estimated entry value of those sales. Where either a respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is zero or de minimis, or an importer-specific estimated ad valorem assessment rate is zero or de minimis, we intend to instruct CBP to liquidate appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties.

Commerce's “automatic assessment” practice will apply to entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by ACA or NEXCO for which it did not know that the merchandise it sold to an intermediary ( e.g., a reseller, trading company, or exporter) was destined for the United States. In such instances, we will instruct CBP to liquidate those entries at the all-others rate ( i.e., 16.92 percent) if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.

For the companies that were not selected for individual examination, we the antidumping duty assessment rate will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margin calculated for each companies in the final results of this review.

For the companies listed in Appendix II for which we are rescinding this review, we will instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(l)(i), not before 35 days after the publication date of these preliminary results.

Cash Deposit Requirements

The following cash deposit requirements will be effective for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for the companies listed above will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margin established in the final results of this review, except if the rate is de minimis ( i.e., less than 0.50 percent), in which case the cash deposit rate will be zero; (2) for an exporter of subject merchandise previously reviewed or investigated companies not covered by this review, the cash deposit rate will continue to be equal to the company-specific rate published for the most recently-completed segment of this proceeding in which they were examined; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the LTFV investigation, but the producer is, the cash deposit rate will continue to be equal to the rate established for the most recently-completed segment of this proceeding for the producer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will continue to be 16.92 percent, the all-others rate established in the Amended Final Determination.

These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Final Results of Review

Unless otherwise extended, Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative review including the results of its analysis of issues raised in written briefs, no later than 120 days after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register , pursuant to 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(1).

Notification to Importers

This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, 19 CFR 351.213, and 19 351.221(b)(4).

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Scope of the Order

IV. Discussion of the Methodology

V. Currency Conversion

VI. Recommendation

Appendix II

Companies for Which Commerce is Rescinding this Review

1. Algodonera Avellaneda S.A.

2. Apicola Danangie.

3. Argentik LLC.

4. Camino de Circunvalancion y Calle.

5. Mieles Cor Pam Srl.

Appendix III

Non-Examined Companies Receiving a Review-Specific Rate

1. Azul Agronegocios S.A.

2. Compaia Apicola Argentina S.A.

3. Compania Inversora Platense S.A.

4. Cooperativa Apicola La Colmena Ltda.

5. D'Ambros Maria de Los Angeles y D'Ambros Maria Daniela SRL.

6. Gasrroni S.R.L.

7. Geomiel S.A.

8. Gruas San Blas S.A.

9. Honey & Grains Srl.

10. Industrial Haedo S.A.

11. Industrias Haedo S.A.

12. Naiman S.A.

13. Newsan S.A.

14. Patagonik Food S.A.,

15. Promiel Srl (Vicentin S.A.I.C.).

16. Terremare Foods S.A.S.

17. Villamora S.A.