2022-27520. Certain Superabsorbent Polymers From the Republic of Korea: Antidumping Duty Order

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 antidumping duty order on certain superabsorbent polymers (SAP) from the Republic of Korea (Korea).

DATES:

Applicable December 20, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Charles DeFilippo or Elfi Blum, AD/CVD Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone] or [phone], respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.210(c), on October 27, 2022, Commerce published its final affirmative determination in the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of SAP from Korea.^[1] On December 8, 2022, the ITC notified Commerce of its final affirmative determination that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, by reason of LTFV imports of SAP from Korea.^[2]

Scope of the Order

The products covered by this order are SAP from Korea. For a complete description of the scope of this order, see the appendix to this notice.

Antidumping Duty Order

On December 8, 2022, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination in this investigation, in which it found that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of LTFV imports of SAP from Korea.^[3] Therefore, in accordance with section 735(c)(2) of the Act, Commerce is issuing this antidumping duty order. Because the ITC determined that imports of SAP from Korea are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from Korea, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment of antidumping duties.

As a result of the ITC's final affirmative determination, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price or constructed export price of the merchandise, for all relevant entries of SAP from Korea. Antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of SAP from Korea entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after June 7, 2022, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination,^[4] but will not include entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before publication of the ITC's final injury determination, as further described below.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

Except as noted in the “Provisional Measures” section of this notice, in accordance with section 736 of the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation of all relevant entries of SAP from Korea, as described in the Appendix to this notice, which are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the ITC's notice of final determination in the Federal Register . These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.

Commerce will also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins included in the table below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication in the Federal Register of the notice of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination, CBP will require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit Customs duties on subject merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins listed in the tables below. The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed.

Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margins

The estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

Exporter/Producer	Estimated weighted-average dumping margin (percent)
LG Chem, Ltd	17.64
All Others	17.64

Provisional Measures

Section 733(d) of the Act states that suspension of liquidation pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four months, except that Commerce may extend the four-month period to no more than six months at the request of exporters representing a significant portion of exports of the subject merchandise. At the request of an exporter that accounts for a significant proportion of SAP from Korea, Commerce extended the four-month period to six months in the Preliminary Determination, published on June 7, 2022.^[5] Therefore, the extended provisional measures period, beginning on the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination, ended on December 3, 2022. Pursuant to section 737(b) of the Act, the collection of cash deposits at the rates listed above will begin on the date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination.

Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act and our practice, we will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, unliquidated entries of SAP from Korea, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after December 4, 2022, the first day provisional measures were no longer in effect, until and through the day preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final injury 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 petitioner and Government of Korea should submit their initial entry of appearance after publication of this notice in order to appear in the first annual inquiry service list for this order. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioner and the Government of Korea will not need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to be included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioner and the Government of Korea 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 antidumping duty order with respect to SAP from Korea, pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of antidumping duty orders currently in effect at https://enforcement.trade.gov/​stats/​iastats1.html.

This order is issued and published in accordance with section 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

Dated: December 13, 2022.

Lisa W. Wang,

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix—Scope of the Order

The merchandise covered by this order is superabsorbent polymers (SAP), which is cross-linked sodium polyacrylate most commonly conforming to Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry number 9003-04-7, where at least 90 percent of the dry matter, by weight on a nominal basis, corrected for moisture content, is comprised of a polymer with a chemical formula of (C₃ H₃ O₂ Na_x H_1-x)_n, where x is within a range of 0.00—1.00 and there is no limit to n. The subject merchandise also includes merchandise with a chemical formula of {(C₂ H₃)COONa_y H(_1-y)}_n, where y is within a range of 0.00—1.00 and there is no limit to n. The subject merchandise includes SAP which is fully neutralized as well as SAP that is not fully neutralized.

The subject merchandise may also conform to CAS numbers 25549-84-2, 77751-27-0, 9065-11-6, 9033-79-8, 164715-58-6, 445299-36-5, 912842-45-6, 561012-86-0, 561012-85-9, or 9003-01-4.

All forms and sizes of SAP, regardless of packaging type, including but not limited to granules, pellets, powder, fibers, flakes, liquid, or gel are within the scope of this order. The scope also includes SAP whether or not it incorporates additives for anticaking, anti-odor, anti-yellowing, or similar functions.

The scope also includes SAP that is combined, commingled, or mixed with other products after final sieving. For such combined products, only the SAP component is covered by the scope of this order. SAP that has been combined with other products is included within the scope, regardless of whether the combining occurs in third countries. A combination is excluded from this order if the total SAP component of the combination (regardless of the source or sources) comprises less than 50 percent of the combination, on a nominal dry weight basis.

SAP is classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading 3906.90.5000. SAP may also enter the United States under HTSUS 3906.10.0000. Although the HTSUS subheadings and CAS registry numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is dispositive.

Footnotes

1.   See Certain Superabsorbent Polymers from the Republic of Korea: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,87 FR 65035 (October 27, 2022) ( Final Determination), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.

2.   See ITC's Letter, “Notification of Final Determination,” dated December 8, 2022.

3.   Id.

4.   See Certain Superabsorbent Polymers from the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional Measures,87 FR 34647 (June 7, 2022) ( Preliminary Determination).

5.   See Preliminary Determination.

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.