Truck and Bus Tires From Thailand: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On May 20, 2024, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register . We invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination . Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) and Prinx Chengshan Tire (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (Prinx) are the mandatory respondents in this investigation. On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven days. The deadline for the final determination is now October 9, 2024.

A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final determination, may be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. 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 .

Scope of the Investigation

The products covered by this investigation are truck and bus tires from Thailand. For a full description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

We received no comments from interested parties on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the Preliminary Determination. Therefore, we made no changes to the scope of the investigation.

Verification

As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), in June and July 2024, we conducted verification of the sales information and cost information submitted by Bridgestone and Prinx for use in our final determination. We used standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant sales and accounting records, and original source documents provided by Bridgestone and Prinx.

Analysis of Comments Received

The issues raised in comments that were submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice at Appendix II.

Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

Commerce preliminarily determined, in accordance with section 733(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206(c)(1), that critical circumstances did not exist with respect to imports of truck and bus tires exported by Bridgestone, Prinx, and all other companies.

For the final determination, pursuant to section 735(a)(3)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, we continue to find that critical circumstances do not exist for Prinx and all other companies, but that critical circumstances do exist for Bridgestone. For a full description of the methodology and results of Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

As explained in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, Commerce was unable to verify the accuracy of Bridgestone's reporting with respect to its sales data. As a consequence, we find that Bridgestone's reported sales data are unverified and, thus, cannot serve as a reliable basis for calculating an accurate margin for Bridgestone in this investigation. Furthermore, based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at verification, we made changes to Prinx's dumping margin. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

Because Bridgestone's submitted data could not be verified, we are unable to use its data to calculate an accurate dumping margin for the company. Therefore, for this final determination we find it appropriate to rely on facts available with an adverse inference (AFA) to assign Bridgestone an estimated weighted-average dumping margin, in accordance with sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.308, because Bridgestone failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its ability to comply with our requests for information. In applying AFA, we assigned Bridgestone the margin identified in the Petition, i.e., 48.39 percent.

Additionally, due to findings at verification related to certain of Prinx's reported sales expenses, we find it appropriate to rely on AFA, in part, in the calculation of its dumping margin for the final determination. For further discussion, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters not individually examined shall be 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 margins determined entirely under section 776 of the Act.

For the final determination of this investigation, Prinx was the only individually examined exporter/producer for which Commerce calculated an individual estimated weighted-average dumping margin. Because Prinx's dumping margin is the only individually calculated dumping margin that is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available, the estimated weighted-average dumping margin calculated for Prinx is the margin assigned to all other producers and exporters, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Determination

The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as follows: