90 FR 61 pgs. 14356-14359 - Hard Empty Capsules From India: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination
Type: NOTICEVolume: 90Number: 61Pages: 14356 - 14359
Pages: 14356, 14357, 14358, 14359Docket number: [C-533-935]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2025-05538 Filed 3-31-25; 8:45 am]
Agency: Commerce Department
Sub Agency: International Trade Administration
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-533-935]
Hard Empty Capsules From India: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination
AGENCY:
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of hard empty capsules (capsules) from India. The period of investigation is April 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES:
Applicable April 1, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katie Smith or Gorden Struck, AD/CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; (202) 482-0557 or (202) 482-8151, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
[top] On November 20, 2024, Commerce published the notice of initiation of this countervailing duty (CVD) investigation
Footnotes:
1 ? See Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil, the People's Republic of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 89 FR 91680 (November 20, 2024) ( Initiation Notice ).
2 ? See Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil, the People's Republic of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Countervailing Duty Investigations, 90 FR 3788 (January 15, 2025).
For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 3 A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II in this notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
Footnotes:
3 ? See Memorandum, "Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Hard Empty Capsules from India," dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are hard empty capsules from India. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations, 4 the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage ( i.e., scope). 5 Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the scope comments and rebuttal responses submitted for this preliminary determination, and Commerce's accompanying preliminary analysis of all comments timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum. 6 Commerce is not preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice.
Footnotes:
4 ? See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) ( Preamble ).
5 ? See Initiation Notice.
6 ? See Memorandum, "Less-Than-Fair-Value and Countervailing Duty Investigations of Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil, the People's Republic of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination," dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an "authority" that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific. 7 For a full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Footnotes:
7 ? See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
Alignment
As noted in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, in accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the final CVD determination in this investigation with the final determination in the concurrent less than fair value (LTFV) investigation of capsules from India, based on a request made by the petitioner. 8 Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the final LTFV determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than August 5, 2025, unless postponed.
Footnotes:
8 ? See Petitioner's Letter, "Lonza's Request to Align Final Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Determinations," dated March 11, 2025.
All-Others Rate
Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates established for those companies individually examined, excluding any zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely under section 776 of the Act.
Commerce preliminarily calculated an individual estimated countervailable subsidy rate for ACG Associated Capsules Private Limited (ACPL) and its affiliates ACG Pam Pharma Technologies Private Limited (ACG PAM) and ACG Universal Capsules Private Limited (AUCPL) (collectively ACG), the only individually examined exporter/producer in this investigation, which is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available. The countervailable subsidy rate calculated for ACG is the rate assigned to all-other producers and exporters, pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act.
Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist:? 9
Footnotes:
9 ?As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce preliminarily finds ACPL to be cross-owned with the following companies: (1) ACG PAM; and (2) AUCPL.
| Company | Subsidy rate (percent ad valorem ) |
|---|---|
| ACG Associated Capsules Private Limited; ACG Pam Pharma Technologies Private Limited; ACG Universal Capsules Private Limited | 9.95 |
| All Others | 9.95 |
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public announcement, within five days of the date of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
[top] Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete allegations that do not address the significance standard
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise as described in the scope of the investigation entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register . Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the rates indicated above.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.
Public Comment
All interested parties will have the opportunity to submit scope case and rebuttal briefs on the preliminary decision regarding the scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations. The deadlines to submit scope case and rebuttal briefs are April 14, 2025, and April 21, 2025, respectively. For all scope case and rebuttal briefs, parties must file identical documents simultaneously on the records of all the ongoing LTFV and CVD capsules investigations. No new factual information or business proprietary information may be included in either scope case or rebuttal briefs.
Case briefs or other written comments, excluding scope comments, may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in this investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the date for filing case briefs. 10 Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities. 11
Footnotes:
10 ? See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 2023) ( APO and Service Final Rule ).
11 ? See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes. In this investigation, we instead request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs. 12 Further, we request that interested parties limit their public executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will accompany the final determination in this investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the public executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f). 13
Footnotes:
12 ?We use the term "issue" here to describe an argument that Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
13 ? See APO and Service Final Rule.
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date. All submissions, including case and rebuttal briefs, as well as hearing requests, should be filed using ACCESS. An electronically-filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the established deadline.
U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination, whether imports of capsules from India are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: March 24, 2025.
Christopher Abbott,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I-Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise subject to the scope of this investigation is hard empty capsules, which are comprised of two prefabricated, hollowed cylindrical sections (cap and body). The cap and body pieces each have one closed and rounded end and one open end, and are constructed with different or equal diameters at their open ends.
Hard empty capsules are unfilled cylindrical shells composed of at least 80 percent by weight of a water soluble polymer that is considered non-toxic and appropriate for human or animal consumption by the United States Pharmacopeia-National Formulary (USP-NF), Food Chemical Codex (FCC), or equivalent standards. The most common polymer materials in hard empty capsules are gelatin derived from animal collagen (including, but not limited to, pig, cow, or fish collagen), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), and pullulan.
Hard empty capsules may also contain water and additives, such as opacifiers, colorants, processing aids, controlled release agents, plasticizers, and preservatives. Hard empty capsules may also be imprinted or otherwise decorated with markings. Hard empty capsules are covered by the scope of this investigation regardless of polymer material, additives, transparency, opacity, color, imprinting, or other markings.
Hard empty capsules are also covered by the scope of this investigation regardless of their size, weight, length, diameter, thickness, and filling capacity.
Cap and body pieces of hard empty capsules are covered by the scope of this investigation regardless of whether they are imported together or separately, and regardless of whether they are imported in attached or detached form.
Hard empty capsules covered by the scope of this investigation are those that disintegrate in water within 2 hours under tests specified in Chapter 701 of the USP-NF, or equivalent disintegration tests.
[top] Hard empty capsules are classifiable under subheadings 9602.00.1040 or 9602.00.5010 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). In addition, hard empty capsules may be imported under HTSUS subheading 1905.90.9090; gelatin hard empty capsules may be imported under HTSUS subheading 3503.00.5510; HPMC
Appendix II-List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Injury Test
IV. Subsidies Valuation
V. Loan Benchmarks and Interest Rates
VI. Analysis of Programs
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-05538 Filed 3-31-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P