On March 18, 2021, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) initiated its less-than-fair-value and countervailing duty investigations on “Certain Mobile Access Equipment and Subassemblies Thereof from the People’s Republic of China” (Initiation Notices).  These investigations have been assigned the following case numbers: A-570-139 and C-570-140.

The Scope of Merchandise covered by these investigations reads as follows:

The merchandise covered by these investigations consists of certain mobile access equipment, which consists primarily of boom lifts, scissor lifts, and material telehandlers, and subassemblies thereof. Mobile access equipment combines a mobile (self-propelled or towed) chassis, with a lifting device (e.g., scissor arms, boom assemblies) for mechanically lifting persons, tools and/or materials capable of reaching a working height of ten feet or more, and a coupler that provides an attachment point for the lifting device, in addition to other components. The scope of these investigations covers mobile access equipment and subassemblies thereof whether finished or unfinished, whether assembled or unassembled, and whether the equipment contains any additional features that provide for functions beyond the primary lifting function.

Subject merchandise includes, but is not limited to, the following subassemblies:

·       scissor arm assemblies, or scissor arm sections, for connection to chassis and platform assemblies. These assemblies include: (1) pin assemblies that connect sections to form scissor arm assemblies, and (2) actuators that power the arm assemblies to extend and retract. These assemblies may or may not also include blocks that allow sliding of end sections in relation to frame and platform, hydraulic hoses, electrical cables, and/or other components;

·       boom assemblies, or boom sections, for connection to the boom turntable, or to the chassis assembly, or to a platform assembly or to a lifting device. Boom assemblies include telescoping sections where the smallest section (or tube) can be nested in the next larger section (or tube) and can slide out for extension and/or articulated sections joined by pins. These assemblies may or may not include pins, hydraulic cylinders, hydraulic hoses, electrical cables, and/or other components;

·       chassis assemblies, for connection to scissor arm assemblies, or to boom assemblies, or to boom turntable assemblies. Chassis assemblies include: (1) chassis frames, and (2) frame sections. Chassis assemblies may or may not include axles, wheel end components, steering cylinders, engine assembly, transmission, drive shafts, tires and wheels, crawler tracks and wheels, fuel tank, hydraulic oil tanks, battery assemblies, and/or other components;

·       boom turntable assemblies, for connection to chassis assemblies, or to boom assemblies. Boom turntable assemblies include turntable frames. Boom turntable assemblies may or may not include engine assembly, slewing rings, fuel tank, hydraulic oil tank, battery assemblies, counterweights, hoods (enclosures), and/or other components.

Importation of any of these subassemblies, whether assembled or unassembled, constitutes unfinished mobile access equipment for purposes of these investigations.

Processing of finished and unfinished mobile access equipment and subassemblies such as trimming, cutting, grinding, notching, punching, slitting, drilling, welding, joining, bolting, bending, beveling, riveting, minor fabrication, galvanizing, painting, coating, finishing, assembly, or any other processing either in the country of manufacture of the in-scope product or in a third country does not remove the product from the scope. Inclusion of other components not identified as comprising the finished or unfinished mobile access equipment does not remove the product from the scope.

The scope excludes forklifts, vertical mast lifts, mobile self-propelled cranes and motor vehicles that incorporate a scissor arm assembly or boom assembly. Forklifts are material handling vehicles with a working attachment, usually a fork, lifted along a vertical guide rail with the operator seated or standing on the chassis behind the vertical mast. Vertical mast lifts are person and material lifting vehicles with a working attachment, usually a platform, lifted along a vertical guide rail with an operator standing on the platform. Mobile self-propelled cranes are material handling vehicles with a boom attachment for lifting loads of tools or materials that are suspended on ropes, cables, and/or chains, and which contain winches mounted on or near the base of the boom with ropes, cables, and/or chains managed along the boom structure. The scope also excludes motor vehicles (defined as a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways, but does not include a vehicle operated only on a rail line pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 30102(a)(7)) that incorporate a scissor arm assembly or boom assembly. The scope further excludes vehicles driven or drawn by mechanical power operated only on a rail line that incorporate a scissor arm assembly or boom assembly. The scope also excludes: (1) rail line vehicles, defined as vehicles with hi-rail gear or track wheels, and a fixed (non-telescopic) main boom, which perform operations on rail lines, such as laying rails, setting ties, or other rail maintenance jobs; and (2) certain rail line vehicle subassemblies, defined as chassis subassemblies and boom turntable subassemblies for rail line vehicles with a fixed (non-telescopic) main boom.

Certain mobile access equipment subject to these investigations is typically classifiable under subheadings 8427.10.8020, 8427.10.8030, 8427.10.8070, 8427.10.8095, 8427.20.8020, 8427.20.8090, 8427.90.0020 and 8427.90.0090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Parts of certain mobile access equipment are typically classifiable under subheading 8431.20.0000 of the HTSUS. While the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes only, the written description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.

Requirements For Submitting Comments On The Scope Of The Investigations:  Please be sure to comply with all three requirements established below.

Deadline for Submitting Comments:

As announced in the Initiation Notices, Commerce is setting aside a period for interested parties to raise issues regarding product coverage (scope).  The period for scope comments is intended to provide Commerce with ample opportunity to consider all comments and to consult with parties prior to the issuance of the preliminary determinations, as appropriate.  If scope comments include factual information (see 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21)), all such factual information should be limited to public information.  Commerce requests that all such comments be filed by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on April 7, 2021, which is 20 calendar days from the signature date of this notice.  Any rebuttal comments, which may include factual information, must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on April 19, 2021, which is the next business day after 10 calendar days from the initial comments deadline.  Commerce requests that any factual information the parties consider relevant to the scope of the investigations be submitted during this time period.  However, if a party subsequently finds that additional factual information pertaining to the scope of the investigations may be relevant, the party may contact Commerce and request permission to submit the additional information.  All such comments must be filed on the records of each of the concurrent AD and CVD investigations identified above.

Required Entry of Appearance:

Parties wishing to participate in this segment and be included on the public service list must file a letter of appearance.  Section 351.103(d)(1) of Commerce’s regulations states that “with the exception of a petitioner filing a petition in an investigation, to be included on the public service list for a particular segment, each interested party must file a letter of appearance.” The letter of appearance must be filed separately from any other document (with the exception of an application for APO access).  Note, the letter of appearance must state how the party qualifies as an interested party (e.g., an exporter, producer, importer of the subject merchandise) and must include a point of contact, including address, telephone/fax number and email address.

All submissions to Commerce must be filed electronically using Enforcement and Compliance’s Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS).  An electronically-filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by the time, typically 5 p.m., and date when it is due.  Note that Commerce has temporarily modified certain of its requirements for serving documents containing business proprietary information until further notice.¹

For your convenience, Commerce has the following resources available online to assist you in complying with these electronic filing procedures:

ACCESS:  Help Link 

https://access.trade.gov/help.aspx

ACCESS:  External User Guide https://access.trade.gov/help/ACCESS_User_Guide.pdf

ACCESS:  Handbook on Electronic Filing Procedures

https://access.trade.gov/help/Handbook_on_Electronic_Filing_Procedures.pdf

Federal Register notice:  Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings:  Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011)

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-07-06/pdf/2011-16352.pdf

Enforcement and Compliance:  Change of Electronic Filing System Name, 79 FR 69046 (November 20, 2014)

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-11-20/pdf/2014-27530.pdf

Enforcement and Compliance:  General Filing Requirements http://enforcement.trade.gov/filing/index.html

Required Certifications

Understanding Critical Circumstances for Antidumping and Countervailing Duties

Critical circumstances is a provision in both the antidumping and countervailing

Duty (AD/CVD) laws that allows for the limited retroactive imposition of duties if certain conditions are met.  Importers should be aware that entries of subject merchandise made after the initiation of an AD/CVD investigation may retroactively be subject to AD/CVD.  

A finding of critical circumstances is an important tool for Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to offset possible import surges during the early period of an AD/CVD investigation.  The petitioner in an AD/CVD investigation may allege critical circumstances during an investigation up to 21 days before the date of Commerce’s final determination.  If Commerce makes a determination that critical circumstances exist, it has the statutory authority to order the retroactive suspension of liquidation and posting of a cash deposit for entries made before the issuance of a Preliminary and/or Final AD/CVD determination. 

Commerce’s authority to suspend entries retroactively for AD/CVD is limited to those entries made on or after the later of: (1) 90 days before the effective date the suspension of liquidation was first ordered, or (2) the date on which the determination to initiate the investigation is published in the Federal Register.  In either case, AD/CVD cash deposits are due on entries subject to critical circumstances determinations.

If, following a preliminary determination by Commerce that critical circumstances exist, both Commerce and the ITC reach a final affirmative determination of dumping or subsidization, but either agency makes a negative final determination of critical circumstances, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to lift suspension from the entries made during the 90-day critical circumstances period and refund cash deposits made with respect to those entries.  Interest is not payable on refunds of cash deposits at this stage in the AD/CVD case. 

AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230: 

Hermes Pinilla at (202) 482-3477 (Antidumping Duty Investigation from China); and Theodore Pearson at (202) 482-2631 (Countervailing Duty Investigation from China).

[1] See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 10, 2020).