2015-02448. Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent To Revoke Antidumping Duty Order in Part

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

On June 2, 2014, the Department of Commerce (the “Department”) received a request for revocation, in part, of the antidumping duty (“AD”) order on wooden bedroom furniture from the People's Republic of China (“PRC”) ^[1] with respect to certain shoe cabinets. We preliminarily determine that the producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product to which the Order pertains lack interest in the relief provided by the Order with respect to certain shoe cabinets described below. Accordingly, we intend to revoke, in part, the Order as to imports of certain shoe cabinets. The Department invites interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES:

Effective Date: February 6, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas Martin or Howard Smith, AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone] or [phone], respectively.

Background

On January 4, 2005, the Department published the Order in the Federal Register. On June 2, 2014, the Department received a request on behalf of Elements International Group LLC (“Elements”) for a changed circumstances review to revoke, in part, the Order with respect to certain shoe cabinets.^[2] In its request, Elements stated that the American Furniture Manufacturing Committee for Legal Trade and Vaughan-Basset Furniture Company, Inc. (“Petitioners”) discussed the scope exclusion described below and are in agreement with the revocation, in part. On June 3, 2014, the Department received a letter from the Petitioners in which they stated they were in agreement with the proposed scope exclusion language in Elements' June 2, 2014, changed circumstances review request.^[3]

On July 15, 2014, we published the Initiation Notice in the Federal Register.^[4] Because the statement submitted by Petitioners in support of Elements' Request did not indicate whether Petitioners account for substantially all of the domestic wooden bedroom furniture production, in the Initiation Notice, we invited interested parties to submit comments concerning industry support, as well as comments and/or factual information regarding the changed circumstances review.^[5] We received no comments concerning industry support.

Scope of the Order

The product covered by the order is wooden bedroom furniture. Wooden bedroom furniture is generally, but not exclusively, designed, manufactured, and offered for sale in coordinated groups, or bedrooms, in which all of the individual pieces are of approximately the same style and approximately the same material and/or finish. The subject merchandise is made substantially of wood products, including both solid wood and also engineered wood products made from wood particles, fibers, or other wooden materials such as plywood, strand board, particle board, and fiberboard, with or without wood veneers, wood overlays, or laminates, with or without non-wood components or trim such as metal, marble, leather, glass, plastic, or other resins, and whether or not assembled, completed, or finished.

The subject merchandise includes the following items: (1) Wooden beds such as loft beds, bunk beds, and other beds; (2) wooden headboards for beds (whether stand-alone or attached to side rails), wooden footboards for beds, wooden side rails for beds, and wooden canopies for beds; (3) night tables, night stands, dressers, commodes, bureaus, mule chests, gentlemen's chests, bachelor's chests, lingerie chests, wardrobes, vanities, chessers, chifforobes, and wardrobe-type cabinets; (4) dressers with framed glass mirrors that are attached to, incorporated in, sit on, or hang over the dresser; (5) chests-on-chests,^[6] highboys,^[7] lowboys,^[8] chests of drawers,^[9] chests,^[10] door chests,^[11] chiffoniers,^[12] hutches,^[13] and armoires;^[14] (6) desks, computer stands, filing cabinets, book cases, or writing tables that are attached to or incorporated in the subject merchandise; and (7) other bedroom furniture consistent with the above list.

The scope of the order excludes the following items: (1) Seats, chairs, benches, couches, sofas, sofa beds, stools, and other seating furniture; (2) mattresses, mattress supports (including box springs), infant cribs, water beds, and futon frames; (3) office furniture, such as desks, stand-up desks, computer cabinets, filing cabinets, credenzas, and bookcases; (4) dining room or kitchen furniture such as dining tables, chairs, servers, sideboards, buffets, corner cabinets, china cabinets, and china hutches; (5) other non-bedroom furniture, such as television cabinets, cocktail tables, end tables, occasional tables, wall systems, book cases, and entertainment systems; (6) bedroom furniture made primarily of wicker, cane, osier, bamboo or rattan; (7) side rails for beds made of metal if sold separately from the headboard and footboard; (8) bedroom furniture in which bentwood parts predominate; ^[15] (9) jewelry armories; ^[16] (10) cheval mirrors; ^[17] (11) certain metal parts; ^[18] (12) mirrors that do not attach to, incorporate in, sit on, or hang over a dresser if they are not designed and marketed to be sold in conjunction with a dresser as part of a dresser-mirror set; (13) upholstered beds ^[19] ; and (14) toy boxes.^[20]

Imports of subject merchandise are classified under subheadings 9403.50.9042 and 9403.50.9045 of the HTSUS as “wooden . . . beds” and under subheading 9403.50.9080 of the HTSUS as “other . . . wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom.” In addition, wooden headboards for beds, wooden footboards for beds, wooden side rails for beds, and wooden canopies for beds may also be entered under subheading 9403.50.9042 or 9403.50.9045 of the HTSUS as “parts of wood.” Subject merchandise may also be entered under subheadings 9403.50.9041, 9403.60.8081, or 9403.20.0018. Further, framed glass mirrors may be entered under subheading 7009.92.1000 or 7009.92.5000 of the HTSUS as “glass mirrors . . . framed.” The order covers all wooden bedroom furniture meeting the above description, regardless of tariff classification. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope of this proceeding is dispositive.

Scope of Changed Circumstances Review

The products covered by this changed circumstances review are shoe cabinets 31.5-33.5 inches wide by 15.5-17.5 inches deep by 34.5-36.5 inches high. They are designed strictly to store shoes, which are intended to be aligned in rows perpendicular to the wall along which the cabinet is positioned. Shoe cabinets do not have drawers, rods, or other indicia for the storage of clothing other than shoes. The cabinets are not designed, manufactured, or offered for sale in coordinated groups or sets and are made substantially of wood, have two to four shelves inside them, and are covered by doors. The doors often have blinds that are designed to allow air circulation and release of bad odors. The doors themselves may be made of wood or glass. The depth of the shelves does not exceed 14”. Each shoe cabinet has doors, adjustable shelving, and ventilation holes.

Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent To Revoke the Order, in Part

Pursuant to section 751(d)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the “Act”), and 19 CFR 351.222(g), the Department may revoke an AD order, in whole or in part, based on a review under section 751(b) of the Act (i.e., a changed circumstances review). Section 751(b)(1) of the Act requires a changed circumstances review to be conducted upon receipt of a request which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review. Section 782(h)(2) of the Act gives the Department the authority to revoke an order if producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product have expressed a lack of interest in the order. 19 CFR 351.222(g) provides that the Department will conduct a changed circumstances review under 19 CFR 351.216, and may revoke an order (in whole or in part), if it concludes that (i) producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product to which the order pertains have expressed a lack of interest in the relief provided by the order, in whole or in part, or (ii) if other changed circumstances sufficient to warrant revocation exist. Both the Act and the Department's regulations require that “substantially all” domestic producers express a lack of interest in the order for the Department to revoke the order, in whole or in part.^[21] The Department has interpreted “substantially all” to represent producers accounting for at least 85 percent of U.S. production of the domestic like product.^[22]

On June 2, 2014, Elements requested that the Department expedite the changed circumstances review.^[23] The Department's regulations do not specify a deadline for the issuance of preliminary results of a changed circumstances review, but provide that the Department will issue the final results of review within 270 days after the date on which the changed circumstances review is initiated, or within 45 days if all parties to the proceeding agree to the outcome of the review.^[24] The Department did not issue a combined notice of initiation and preliminary results because, as discussed above, the statement provided by Petitioners and offered in support of Elements' Request does not indicate whether Petitioners account for substantially all domestic wooden bedroom furniture production.^[25] Thus, the Department did not determine in the Initiation Notice that producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product lacked interest in the continued application of the Order as to certain shoe cabinets. Further, the Department requested interested party comments on the issue of domestic industry support of a partial revocation.^[26] Because the Department received no comments concerning a lack of industry support or opposing initiation of the changed circumstances review of the Order, the Department now preliminarily finds that producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product lack interest in the relief afforded by the Order with respect to the certain shoe cabinets described in Elements' Request. We request comment from interested parties on that preliminary finding before issuing the final results of this review.^[27]

As noted in the Initiation Notice, Elements requested the revocation of the Order, in part, and supported its request. In light of Elements' Request and the interested party comments received during the comment period, we preliminarily conclude that changed circumstances warrant revocation of the Order, in part, because the producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product to which the Order pertains lack interest in the relief provided by the Order with respect to the certain shoe cabinets that are the subject of Elements' Request.

Accordingly, we are notifying the public of our intent to revoke the Order, in part, with respect to certain shoe cabinets. We intend to revoke the Order as to certain shoe cabinets by including the following language in the scope of the Order:

Also excluded from the scope are certain shoe cabinets 31.5-33.5 inches wide by 15.5-17.5 inches deep by 34.5-36.5 inches high. They are designed strictly to store shoes, which are intended to be aligned in rows perpendicular to the wall along which the cabinet is positioned. Shoe cabinets do not have drawers, rods, or other indicia for the storage of clothing other than shoes. The cabinets are not designed, manufactured, or offered for sale in coordinated groups or sets and are made substantially of wood, have two to four shelves inside them, and are covered by doors. The doors often have blinds that are designed to allow air circulation and release of bad odors. The doors themselves may be made of wood or glass. The depth of the shelves does not exceed 14 inches. Each shoe cabinet has doors, adjustable shelving, and ventilation holes.

Public Comment

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results in accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii). If an interested party is of the view that certain arguments continue to be relevant to the Department's final results of this review, that interested party is required to file a case brief containing all such arguments, including any such arguments presented to the Department before the date of publication of the preliminary results, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2). Written comments may be submitted no later than 10 days after the date of publication of these preliminary results. Rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues raised in such comments, may be filed no later than seven days after the due date for comments. All comments are to be filed electronically using Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (“ACCESS”) which is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov and in the Central Records Unit, Room 7046 of the main Department of Commerce building. Comments must also be served on interested parties.^[28] An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the day it is due.^[29]

The Department will issue the final results of this changed circumstances review, which will include its analysis of any written comments, no later than 270 days after the date on which this review was initiated.

If, in the final results of this review, the Department continues to determine that changed circumstances warrant the revocation of the Order, in part, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to liquidate without regard to antidumping duties, and to refund any estimated antidumping duties, on all unliquidated entries of the merchandise covered by the revocation that are not covered by the final results of an administrative review or automatic liquidation.

The current requirement for cash deposits of estimated antidumping duties on all entries of subject merchandise will continue unless until they are modified pursuant to the final results of this changed circumstances review.

These preliminary results of review and notice are in accordance with sections 751(b) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221 and 19 CFR 351.222.

Dated: January 30, 2015.

Paul Piquado,

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Footnotes

1.  See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China, 70 FR 329 (January 4, 2005) (“Order”).

2.  See Submission from Elements, “Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Request for a Changed Circumstance Review Regarding Shoe Cabinets,” dated June 2, 2014 (“Elements' Request”).

3.  See Submission from Petitioners, “Wooden Bedroom Furniture From The People's Republic of China/Petitioners' Response to Elements' Letter of June 2, 2014,” dated June 3, 2014.

4.  See Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review, and Consideration of Revocation of the Antidumping Duty Order in Part, 79 FR 41260 (July 15, 2014) (“Initiation Notice”)

5.  Id. at 41262.

6.  A chest-on-chest is typically a tall chest-of-drawers in two or more sections (or appearing to be in two or more sections), with one or two sections mounted (or appearing to be mounted) on a slightly larger chest; also known as a tallboy.

7.  A highboy is typically a tall chest of drawers usually composed of a base and a top section with drawers, and supported on four legs or a small chest (often 15 inches or more in height).

8.  A lowboy is typically a short chest of drawers, not more than four feet high, normally set on short legs.

9.  A chest of drawers is typically a case containing drawers for storing clothing.

10.  A chest is typically a case piece taller than it is wide featuring a series of drawers and with or without one or more doors for storing clothing. The piece can either include drawers or be designed as a large box incorporating a lid.

11.  A door chest is typically a chest with hinged doors to store clothing, whether or not containing drawers. The piece may also include shelves for televisions and other entertainment electronics.

12.  A chiffonier is typically a tall and narrow chest of drawers normally used for storing undergarments and lingerie, often with mirror(s) attached.

13.  A hutch is typically an open case of furniture with shelves that typically sits on another piece of furniture and provides storage for clothes.

14.  An armoire is typically a tall cabinet or wardrobe (typically 50 inches or taller), with doors, and with one or more drawers (either exterior below or above the doors or interior behind the doors), shelves, and/or garment rods or other apparatus for storing clothes. Bedroom armoires may also be used to hold television receivers and/or other audio-visual entertainment systems.

15.  As used herein, bentwood means solid wood made pliable. Bentwood is wood that is brought to a curved shape by bending it while made pliable with moist heat or other agency and then set by cooling or drying. See CBP's Headquarters Ruling Letter 043859, dated May 17, 1976.

16.  Any armoire, cabinet or other accent item for the purpose of storing jewelry, not to exceed 24 inches in width, 18 inches in depth, and 49 inches in height, including a minimum of 5 lined drawers lined with felt or felt-like material, at least one side door (whether or not the door is lined with felt or felt-like material), with necklace hangers, and a flip-top lid with inset mirror. See Issues and Decision Memorandum from Laurel LaCivita to Laurie Parkhill, Office Director, concerning “Jewelry Armoires and Cheval Mirrors in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People's Republic of China,” dated August 31, 2004. See also Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Final Changed Circumstances Review, and Determination To Revoke Order in Part, 71 FR 38621 (July 7, 2006).

17.  Cheval mirrors are any framed, tiltable mirror with a height in excess of 50 inches that is mounted on a floor-standing, hinged base. Additionally, the scope of the order excludes combination cheval mirror/jewelry cabinets. The excluded merchandise is an integrated piece consisting of a cheval mirror, i.e., a framed tiltable mirror with a height in excess of 50 inches, mounted on a floor-standing, hinged base, the cheval mirror serving as a door to a cabinet back that is integral to the structure of the mirror and which constitutes a jewelry cabinet line with fabric, having necklace and bracelet hooks, mountings for rings and shelves, with or without a working lock and key to secure the contents of the jewelry cabinet back to the cheval mirror, and no drawers anywhere on the integrated piece. The fully assembled piece must be at least 50 inches in height, 14.5 inches in width, and 3 inches in depth. See Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Final Changed Circumstances Review and Determination To Revoke Order in Part, 72 FR 948 (January 9, 2007).

18.  Metal furniture parts and unfinished furniture parts made of wood products (as defined above) that are not otherwise specifically named in this scope (i.e., wooden headboards for beds, wooden footboards for beds, wooden side rails for beds, and wooden canopies for beds) and that do not possess the essential character of wooden bedroom furniture in an unassembled, incomplete, or unfinished form. Such parts are usually classified under HTSUS subheadings 9403.90.7005, 9403.90.7010, or 9403.90.7080.

19.  Upholstered beds that are completely upholstered, i.e., containing filling material and completely covered in sewn genuine leather, synthetic leather, or natural or synthetic decorative fabric. To be excluded, the entire bed (headboards, footboards, and side rails) must be upholstered except for bed feet, which may be of wood, metal, or any other material and which are no more than nine inches in height from the floor. See Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review and Determination to Revoke Order in Part, 72 FR 7013 (February 14, 2007).

20.  To be excluded the toy box must: (1) Be wider than it is tall; (2) have dimensions within 16 inches to 27 inches in height, 15 inches to 18 inches in depth, and 21 inches to 30 inches in width; (3) have a hinged lid that encompasses the entire top of the box; (4) not incorporate any doors or drawers; (5) have slow-closing safety hinges; (6) have air vents; (7) have no locking mechanism; and (8) comply with American Society for Testing and Materials (“ASTM”) standard F963-03. Toy boxes are boxes generally designed for the purpose of storing children's items such as toys, books, and playthings. See Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review and Determination to Revoke Order in Part, 74 FR 8506 (February 25, 2009). Further, as determined in the scope ruling memorandum “Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People's Republic of China: Scope Ruling on a White Toy Box,” dated July 6, 2009, the dimensional ranges used to identify the toy boxes that are excluded from the wooden bedroom furniture order apply to the box itself rather than the lid.

21.  See Section 782(h) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.222(g).

22.  See Honey From Argentina; Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Reviews; Preliminary Intent to Revoke Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, 77 FR 67790, 67791 (November 14, 2012), unchanged in Honey From Argentina; Final Results of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Reviews; Revocation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, 77 FR 77029 (December 31, 2012) (“Honey from Argentina”).

23.  See Elements' Request.

24.  19 CFR 351.216(e).

25.  See Initiation Notice.

26.  Id.

27.  See, e.g., Honey From Argentina; Aluminum Extrusions From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Reviews, and Intent To Revoke Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders in Part, 78 FR 66895, 66897 (November 7, 2013), unchanged in Aluminum Extrusions From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Reviews; Partial Revocation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, 79 FR 634 (January 6, 2014); Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent To Revoke Antidumping Duty Order in Part, 79 FR 48727, 48729 (August 18, 2014)), unchanged in Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, and Revocation of Antidumping Duty Order, in Part, 79 FR 64569 (October 30, 2014); see also 19 CFR 351.222(g)(1)(v).

28.  See 19 CFR 351.303(f).

29.  See 19 CFR 351.310(c).