Notice of Extension of the Deadline for Determining the Adequacy of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions: Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tires From Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam

James Maeder
Department of Commerce
28 May 2020

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 103 (Thursday, May 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 32013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11451]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-908, A-583-869, A-549-842, A-552-828, C-552-829]


Notice of Extension of the Deadline for Determining the Adequacy 
of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions: Passenger Vehicle 
and Light Truck Tires From Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam

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


DATES: Applicable May 20, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex Villanueva; AD/CVD Operations, 
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-3208.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Extension of Initiation of Investigations

The Petitions

    On May 13, 2020, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) received 
antidumping duty petitions on imports of passenger vehicle and light 
truck tires (passenger tires) from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam 
and a countervailing duty petition on imports of passenger tires from 
Vietnam, filed by the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, 
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers 
International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (the petitioner) on behalf of the 
domestic industry producing passenger tires.\1\
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    \1\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitions for the Imposition of 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties: Passenger Vehicle and Light 
Truck Tires from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam,'' dated May 
13, 2020 (the Petitions).
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Determination of Industry Support for the Petitions

    Sections 702(b)(1) and 732(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), require that a petition be filed by or on behalf of 
the domestic industry. To determine that the petition has been filed by 
or on behalf of the industry, sections 702(c)(4)(A) and 732(c)(4)(A) of 
the Act require that the domestic producers or workers who support the 
petition account for: (i) At least 25 percent of the total production 
of the domestic like product; and (ii) 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. 
Moreover, sections 702(c)(4)(D) and 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act provide 
that, if the petition does not establish support of domestic producers 
or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production 
of the domestic like product, Commerce shall: (i) Poll the industry or 
rely on other information in order to determine if there is support for 
the petition, as required by subparagraph (A); or (ii) if there is a 
large number of producers, determine industry support using a 
statistically valid sampling method to poll the industry.

Extension of Time

    Sections 702(c)(1)(A) and 732(c)(1)(A) of the Act provide that 
within 20 days of the filing of an antidumping or countervailing duty 
petition, Commerce will determine, inter alia, whether the petition has 
been filed by or on behalf of the U.S. industry producing the domestic 
like product. Sections 702(c)(1)(B) and 732(c)(1)(B) of the Act provide 
that the deadline for the initiation determination, in exceptional 
circumstances, may be extended by 20 days in any case in which Commerce 
must ``poll or otherwise determine support for the petition by the 
industry.'' Because it is not clear from the Petitions whether the 
industry support criteria have been met, Commerce has determined it 
should extend the time period for determining whether to initiate 
investigations in order to further examine the issue of industry 
support.
    Commerce will need additional time to gather and analyze additional 
information regarding industry support. Therefore, it is necessary to 
extend the deadline for determining the adequacy of the Petitions for a 
period not to exceed 40 days from the filing of the Petitions. As a 
result, Commerce's initiation determination will now be due no later 
than June 22, 2020.

International Trade Commission Notification

    Commerce will contact the International Trade Commission (ITC) and 
will make this extension notice available to the ITC.

    Dated: May 21, 2020.
James Maeder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2020-11451 Filed 5-27-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P