2021-24858. Certain Aluminum Foil From the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Turkey: Countervailing Duty Orders

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing the countervailing duty orders on certain aluminum foil (aluminum foil) from the Sultanate of Oman (Oman) and the Republic of Turkey (Turkey).

DATES:

Applicable November 12, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John Conniff at [phone] (Oman); and Whitley Herndon or Eliza Siordia at [phone] or [phone], respectively (Turkey), AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In accordance with section 705(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), on September 23, 2021, Commerce published its affirmative final determinations that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey.^[1] On November 5, 2021, the ITC notified Commerce of its affirmative final determinations that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, by reason of subsidized imports of aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey.^[2]

Scope of the Orders

The products covered by these orders are aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey. For a complete description of the scope of these orders, see the appendix to this notice.

Countervailing Duty Orders

On November 5, 2021, in accordance with sections 705(b)(1)(A)(i) and 705(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determinations in these investigations, in which it found that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of subsidized imports of aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey.^[3] Therefore, in accordance with section 705(c)(2) of the Act, Commerce is issuing these countervailing duty orders. Because the ITC determined that imports of aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from Oman and Turkey, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment of countervailing duties.

Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties for all relevant entries of aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey. With the exception of entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before the publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations, as further described below, countervailing duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after March 5, 2021, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determinations.^[4]

Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits

In accordance with section 706 of the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to reinstitute the suspension of liquidation of aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register , and to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, pursuant to section 706(a)(1) of the Act, countervailing duties for each entry of the subject merchandise in an amount based on the net countervailable subsidy rates below. On or after the date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination in the Federal Register , CBP must require, at the same time as importers would deposit estimated normal customs duties on this merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the rates listed in the table below. These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice. The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed, as appropriate.

Producer/exporter	Subsidy rate (percent)
Oman
Oman Aluminium Rolling Company LLC	1.93
All Others	1.93
Turkey
Assan Aluminyum Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S 5	2.60
All Others	2.60

Provisional Measures

Section 703(d) of the Act states that instructions issued pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four months. In the underlying investigations, Commerce published the Preliminary Determinations on March 5, 2021. Therefore, the four-month period beginning on the date of the publication of the Preliminary Determinations ended on July 2, 2021.

In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, we instructed CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to countervailing duties, unliquidated entries of aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption after July 2, 2021, the final day on which the provisional measures were in effect, until and through the day preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination in the Federal Register . Suspension of liquidation will resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determination in the Federal Register .

Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service Lists

On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the final rule titled “ Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws ” in the Federal Register .^[6] On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the notice titled “ Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions ” in the Federal Register .^[7] The Final Rule and Procedural Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same country of origin.^[8]

In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at https://access.trade.gov,, within five business days of publication of the notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type called “AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.” ^[9]

Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30 days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance, the new annual inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when the Opportunity Notice for the anniversary month of the order is published.

Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the ACCESS website at https://access.trade.gov.

Special Instructions for Petitioners and Foreign Governments

In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, “after an initial request and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry service list in the years that follow.” ^[10] Accordingly, as stated above, the petitioners and foreign governments should submit their initial entry of appearance after publication of this notice in order to appear in the first annual inquiry service list for those orders for which they qualify as an interested party. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioners and foreign governments will not need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to be included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioners and foreign governments are responsible for making amendments to their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.

Notification to Interested Parties

This notice constitutes the countervailing duty orders with respect to aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey pursuant to section 706(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of countervailing duty orders currently in effect at http://enforcement.trade.gov/​stats/​iastats1.html.

These orders are issued and published in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

Dated: November 8, 2021.

Ryan Majerus,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, Performing the Non-Exclusive Functions and Duties of The Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Orders

The merchandise covered by these orders is aluminum foil having a thickness of 0.2 mm or less, in reels exceeding 25 pounds, regardless of width. Aluminum foil is made from an aluminum alloy that contains more than 92 percent aluminum. Aluminum foil may be made to ASTM specification ASTM B479, but can also be made to other specifications. Regardless of specification, however, all aluminum foil meeting the scope description is included in the scope, including aluminum foil to which lubricant has been applied to one or both sides of the foil.

Excluded from the scope of these orders is aluminum foil that is backed with paper, paperboard, plastics, or similar backing materials on one side or both sides of the aluminum foil, as well as etched capacitor foil and aluminum foil that is cut to shape. Where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions set forth above. The products under these orders are currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 7607.11.3000, 7607.11.6090, 7607.11.9030, 7607.11.9060, 7607.11.9090, and 7607.19.6000.

Further, merchandise that falls within the scope of these proceedings may also be entered into the United States under HTSUS subheadings 7606.11.3060, 7606.11.6000, 7606.12.3045, 7606.12.3055, 7606.12.3091, 7606.12.3096, 7606.12.6000, 7606.91.3095, 7606.91.6095, 7606.92.3035, and 7606.92.6095. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of these orders is dispositive.

Footnotes

1.   See Certain Aluminum Foil from the Sultanate of Oman: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 86 FR 52888 (September 23, 2021); and Certain Aluminum Foil from the Republic of Turkey: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 86 FR 52884 (September 23, 2021).

2.   See ITC Notification Letter, Investigation Nos Inv. No. 701-TA-658-659 and 731-TA-1538-1542 (Final), dated November 5, 2021.

3.   Id.

4.   See Certain Aluminum Foil from the Sultanate of Oman: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination with Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 86 FR 12913 (March 5, 2021); and Certain Aluminum Foil from the Republic of Turkey: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of Final Determination with Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 86 FR 12911 (March 5, 2021) (collectively, Preliminary Determinations ).

5.  Commerce has found Kibar Dis Ticaret A.S., Kibar Holding, and Ispak Esnek Ambalaj Sanayi A.S. to be cross-owned with Assan Aluminyum Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.

6.   See Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws, 86 FR 52300 (September 20, 2021) ( Final Rule ).

7.   See Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions, 86 FR 53205 (September 27, 2021) ( Procedural Guidance ).

8.   Id.

9.  This segment will be combined with the ACCESS Segment Specific Information (SSI) field which will display the month in which the notice of the order or suspended investigation was published in the Federal Register , also known as the anniversary month. For example, for an order under case number A-000-000 that was published in the Federal Register in January, the relevant segment and SSI combination will appear in ACCESS as “AISL-January Anniversary.” Note that there will be only one annual inquiry service list segment per case number, and the anniversary month will be pre-populated in ACCESS.

10.   See Final Rule, 86 FR at 52335.