[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 202 (Thursday, October 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54154-54156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-26644]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-570-848]
Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat From the People's Republic of
China; Initiation of Antidumping Investigation
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Initiation of antidumping duty investigation of freshwater
crawfish tail meat from the People's Republic of China.
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EFFECTIVE DATE: October 17, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca Trainor at (202) 482-0666,
Elisabeth Urfer at (202) 482-4052, or Maureen Flannery at (202) 482-
4733, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20230.
INITIATION OF INVESTIGATION:
The Applicable Statute
Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are
references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective
date of the amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Act)
[[Page 54155]]
by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). In addition, unless
otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department of Commerce (the
Department) regulations are to the current regulations as amended by
the interim regulations published in the Federal Register on May 11,
1995 (60 FR 25130).
The Petition
On September 20, 1996, the Department received a petition filed in
proper form by the Crawfish Processors Alliance (petitioner).
Petitioner amended the petition on October 7, 1996, in response to the
Department's request for additional information. On October 8, 1996,
petitioner submitted a clarification regarding the scope of the
petition. On October 10, 1996 petitioner amended the public summary of
the petition.
In accordance with section 732(b) of the Act, petitioner alleges
that imports of freshwater crawfish tail meat from the People's
Republic of China (PRC) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the
United States at less than fair value within the meaning of section 731
of the Act, and that such imports are materially injuring, or
threatening material injury to, an industry within the United States.
Because the petitioner is an interested party as defined under
section 771(9)(C) of the Act, it has standing to file a petition for
the imposition of antidumping duties.
Determination of Industry Support for the Petition
Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act requires the Department to
determine, prior to the initiation of an investigation, that a minimum
percentage of the domestic industry supports an antidumping petition. A
petition meets these minimum requirements if the domestic producers or
workers who support the petition account for (1) at least 25 percent of
the total production of the domestic like product; and (2) more than 50
percent of the production of the domestic like product produced by that
portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the
petition.
A review of the production data provided in the petition and other
information readily available to the Department indicates that
petitioner accounts for more than 50 percent of the total production of
the domestic like product. The Department received no expressions of
opposition to the petition from any domestic producer or workers'
organization. Accordingly, the Department determines that the petition
has been filed by or on behalf of the domestic industry.
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is freshwater crawfish
tail meat, in all its forms (whether washed or with fat on, whether
purged or unpurged), grades, and sizes; whether frozen, fresh, or
chilled; and regardless of how it is packed, preserved, or prepared.
Excluded from the scope of the investigation are live crawfish and
other whole crawfish, whether boiled, frozen, fresh, or chilled. Also
excluded are saltwater crawfish of any type and parts thereof.
Freshwater crawfish tail meat is currently classifiable in the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) under item
numbers 0306.19.00.10 and 0306.29.00.00. The HTS subheadings are
provided for convenience and customs purposes. Although the HTS numbers
are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.
Export Price
The petitioner based export price on actual FOB and CIF price
quotations from exporters of Chinese crawfish. Petitioner made
deductions to the export price for foreign inland freight, using the
average distance between cities where crawfish are processed in the PRC
and the port from which the majority of Chinese crawfish are exported.
We made no other adjustments to export price.
Normal Value
In previous investigations, the Department has determined that the
PRC is a non-market economy (NME) country within the meaning of section
771(18) of the Act. See, e.g., Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Bicycles From the People's Republic of China (61 FR
19026 (April 30, 1996)). In accordance with section 771(18)(C), the
presumption of NME status for the PRC has not been revoked by the
Department and therefore remains in effect for purposes of the
initiation of this investigation. In the course of this investigation,
all parties will have the opportunity to provide relevant information
related to the NME status of the PRC as well as the assignment of
separate rates to individual exporters and other issues related to the
PRC's status as an NME country. (See, e.g., Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Silicon Carbide from the PRC (59 FR
22585 (May 2, 1994).)
In antidumping investigations in which the comparison market is not
a market economy, section 773(c)(1) of the Act requires that the normal
value (NV) of the foreign like product be based on the producers'
factors of production valued in a surrogate market economy country or
countries considered to be appropriate by the Department. In accordance
with section 773(c)(4), the Department, in valuing the factors of
production, shall utilize, to the extent possible, the prices or costs
of factors of production in one or more market economies that are
significant producers of comparable merchandise and at a level of
economic development comparable to that of the NME country.
Petitioner lacked actual information relating to the factors of
production for material inputs in the PRC. Therefore, petitioner used
U.S. production factors for materials and labor as an approximation of
Chinese factors. Petitioner submitted an affidavit from a U.S. crawfish
producer, who stated that crawfish tail meat must be peeled by hand,
that peeling crawfish is a skill that can be learned, and that,
therefore, Chinese peelers should be able to peel crawfish at the same
rate as peelers in the United States. According to the U.S. producer,
Chinese facilities are very similar to the facilities and equipment
used in the United States, although, in some cases, they may be better.
Petitioner used in its calculations of NV the calculations made by the
U.S. producer with regard to the average yield, i.e., the number of
pounds of live crawfish needed to produce one pound of crawfish tail
meat; the time it takes an average crawfish peeler in the United States
to produce one pound of peeled product; and the time it takes to pack
crawfish tail meat in the United States.
With respect to the selection of a surrogate country in which to
value the factors, petitioner cites to the Notice of Preliminary
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of
Final Determination: Melamine Institutional Dinnerware Products from
the People's Republic of China (61 FR 43337 (August 22, 1996)), and
notes that, in that case, the Department identified India, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and Indonesia as potential surrogate
countries for China based upon level of economic development. However,
neither India nor any of these other countries is a significant
producer or processor of crawfish tail meat.
However, according to petitioner, India is an appropriate surrogate
country for valuing most of the relevant factors of production because
(1) India has a significant seafood processing industry, and (2) the
seafood processing
[[Page 54156]]
industry in India and elsewhere is comparable to the crawfish
processing industry in China in that seafood processors throughout the
world are likely to have similar factory overhead and selling, general
and administrative expenses (SG&A). Petitioner valued labor using
Indian labor rates compiled by the International Labour Organization in
its 1993 Yearbook of Labour Statistics. Petitioner based the factory
overhead, SG&A expenses, and profit elements of its NV calculation on
data from financial statements of five publicly held seafood processors
in India for the fiscal year 1995.
Petitioner argued that prices for crawfish, the primary material
input in the processing of crawfish tail meat, are not comparable to
the prices for other kinds of seafood, and therefore, the Department
should not value crawfish using Indian seafood prices. Petitioner chose
Spain as the surrogate country for purposes of valuing crawfish,
because Spain is a significant producer and processor of crawfish, is a
market economy country, and, in relation to other crawfish producing
and processing countries, has the level of economic development most
comparable to that of the PRC. Petitioner used publicly available
published information from official Spanish import data to value this
input.
Since Chinese exporters sell crawfish tail meat to the United
States at packed prices, petitioner added U.S. packing costs to NV.
Based on comparisons of export price to NV, the estimated dumping
margins range from 274 to 427 percent. If it becomes necessary at a
later date to consider the petition as a source of facts available
under section 776 of the Act, we may further review the calculations.
Fair Value Comparisons
Based on the data provided by petitioner, there is reason to
believe that imports of freshwater crawfish tail meat from the PRC are
being, or are likely to be, sold at less than fair value.
Initiation of Investigation
We have examined the petition on freshwater crawfish tail meat from
the PRC and have found that it meets the requirements of section 732 of
the Act, including the requirements concerning allegations of the
material injury or threat of material injury to a domestic industry of
a like product by reason of the complained-of imports, allegedly sold
at less than fair value. Therefore, we are initiating an antidumping
duty investigation to determine whether imports of freshwater crawfish
tail meat from the PRC are being, or are likely to be, sold at less
than fair value. Unless extended, we will make our preliminary
determination by February 27, 1997.
Distribution of Copies of the Petition
In accordance with section 732(b)(3)(A) of the Act, a copy of the
public version of the petition has been provided to the representatives
of the government of the PRC.
International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
We have notified the ITC of our initiation, as required by section
732(d) of the Act.
Preliminary Determinations by the ITC
The ITC will determine by November 4, 1996, whether there is a
reasonable indication that imports of freshwater crawfish tail meat
from the PRC are causing material injury, or threatening to cause
material injury, to a U.S. industry. A negative ITC determination will
result in the investigation being terminated; otherwise, the
investigation will proceed according to statutory and regulatory time
limits.
This notice is published pursuant to section 732(c)(2) of the Act.
Dated: October 10, 1996.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-26644 Filed 10-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
