2014-28149. Certain Frozen Fish Fillets From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Continuation of Antidumping Duty Order

AGENCY:

Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Commerce.

SUMMARY:

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (the “Department”) and the International Trade Commission (the “ITC”) that revocation of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen fish fillets (“fish fillets”) from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (“Vietnam”) would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury to an industry in the United States, the Department is publishing a notice of continuation of the antidumping duty order.

DATED:

Effective November 28, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul Walker, AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On June 2, 2014, the Department published a notice of initiation of the second sunset review of the antidumping duty order on fish fillets from Vietnam, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (“the Act”).^[1] As a result of its review, the Department determined that revocation of the antidumping duty order on fish fillets from Vietnam would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and, therefore, notified the ITC of the magnitude of the margins likely to prevail should the order be revoked.^[2] On November 4, 2014, the ITC published notice of its determination, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act, that revocation of the antidumping duty order on fish fillets from Vietnam would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States within a reasonably foreseeable time.^[3]

Scope of the Order

The product covered by the order is frozen fish fillets, including regular, shank, and strip fillets and portions thereof, whether or not breaded or marinated, of the species Pangasius Bocourti, Pangasius Hypophthalmus (also known as Pangasius Pangasius) and Pangasius Micronemus.

Frozen fish fillets are lengthwise cuts of whole fish. The fillet products covered by the scope include boneless fillets with the belly flap intact (“regular” fillets), boneless fillets with the belly flap removed (“shank” fillets) and boneless shank fillets cut into strips (“fillet strips/finger”), which include fillets cut into strips, chunks, blocks, skewers, or any other shape.

Specifically excluded from the scope are frozen whole fish (whether or not dressed), frozen steaks, and frozen belly-flap nuggets. Frozen whole, dressed fish are deheaded, skinned, and eviscerated. Steaks are bone-in, cross-section cuts of dressed fish. Nuggets are the belly-flaps.

The subject merchandise will be hereinafter referred to as frozen “basa” and “tra” fillets, which are the Vietnamese common names for these species of fish. These products are classifiable under tariff article codes 0304.29.6033, 0304.62.0020, 0305.59.0000, 0305.59.4000, 1604.19.2000, 1604.19.2100, 1604.19.3000, 1604.19.3100, 1604.19.4000, 1604.19.4100, 1604.19.5000, 1604.19.5100, 1604.19.6100 and 1604.19.8100 (Frozen Fish Fillets of the species Pangasius including basa and tra) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”).^[4]

The order covers all frozen fish fillets meeting the above specifications, regardless of tariff classification. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope of the order is dispositive.

Continuation of the Order

As a result of the determinations by the Department and the ITC that revocation of the antidumping duty order would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury to an industry in the United States, pursuant to section 751(d)(2) of the Act, the Department hereby orders the continuation of the antidumping order on fish fillets from Vietnam. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue to collect antidumping duty cash deposits at the rates in effect at the time of entry for all imports of subject merchandise. The effective date of the continuation of the order will be the date of publication in the Federal Register of this notice of continuation. Pursuant to section 751(c)(2) of the Act, the Department intends to initiate the next five-year review of the order not later than 30 days prior to the fifth anniversary of the effective date of continuation.

This five-year (“sunset”) review and this notice are in accordance with section 751(c) of the Act and published pursuant to section 777(i)(1) of the Act.

Dated: November 17, 2014.

Paul Piquado,

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Footnotes

1.  See Initiation of Five-Year (“Sunset”) Review, 79 FR 31306, 31306 (June 2, 2014).

2.  See Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final Results of Expedited Second Sunset Review of the Antidumping Duty Order, 79 FR 60452 (October 7, 2014) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.

3.  See Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Determination, 79 FR 65423 (November 4, 2014); see also Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Investigation No. 731-TA-1012, USITC Publication 4498 (October 2014).

4.  Until July 1, 2004 these products were classifiable under HTSUS 0304.20.6030 (Frozen Catfish Fillets), 0304.20.6096 (Frozen Fish Fillets, NESOI), 0304.20.6043 (Frozen Freshwater Fish Fillets) and 0304.20.6057 (Frozen Sole Fillets). Until February 1, 2007 these products were classifiable under HTSUS 0304.20.6033 (Frozen Fish Fillets of the species Pangasius, including basa and tra). On March 2, 2011 the Department added two HTSUS numbers at the request of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”): 1604.19.2000 and 1604 19.3000. On January 30, 2012 the Department added eight HTSUS numbers at the request of CBP: 0304.62.0020, 0305.59.0000, 1604.19.2100, 1604.19.3100, 1604.19.4100, 1604.19.5100, 1604.19.6100 and 1604.19.8100.