Countervailing duty order on aluminum lithographic printing plates from the People's Republic of China (C-570-157)

1. On 11/22/2024, Commerce published in the Federal Register its countervailing duty order on aluminum lithographic printing plates (printing plates) from the People's Republic of China (89 FR 92624). 2. The merchandise covered by this order is aluminum lithographic printing plates. Aluminum lithographic printing plates consist of a flat substrate containing at least 90 percent aluminum. The aluminum-containing substrate is generally treated using a mechanical, electrochemical, or chemical graining process, which is followed by one or more anodizing treatments that form a hydrophilic layer on the aluminum-containing substrate. An image-recording, oleophilic layer that is sensitive to light, including but not limited to ultra-violet, visible, or infrared, is dispersed in a polymeric binder material that is applied on top of the hydrophilic layer, generally on one side of the aluminum lithographic printing plate. The oleophilic light-sensitive layer is capable of capturing an image that is transferred onto the plate by either light or heat. The image applied to an aluminum lithographic printing plate facilitates the production of newspapers, magazines, books, yearbooks, coupons, packaging, and other printed materials through an offset printing process, where an aluminum lithographic printing plate facilitates the transfer of an image onto the printed media. Aluminum lithographic printing plates within the scope of this order includes all aluminum lithographic printing plates, irrespective of the dimensions or thickness of the underlying aluminum substrate, whether the plate requires processing after an image is applied to the plate, whether the plate is ready to be mounted to a press and used in printing operations immediately after an image is applied to the plate, or whether the plate has been exposed to light or heat to create an image on the plate or remains unexposed and is free of any image. Subject merchandise also includes aluminum lithographic printing plates produced from an aluminum sheet coil that has been coated with a light-sensitive image-recording layer in a subject country and that is subsequently unwound and cut to the final dimensions to produce a finished plate in a third country (including the United States), or exposed to light or heat to create an image on the plate in a third country (including in a foreign trade zone within the United States). Excluded from the scope of this order is lithographic printing plates manufactured using a substrate produced from a material other than aluminum, such as rubber or plastic. Aluminum lithographic printing plates are currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 3701.30.0000 and 3701.99.6060. Further, merchandise that falls within the scope of this order may also be entered into the United States under HTSUS subheadings 3701.99.3000 and 8442.50.1000. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this order is dispositive. 3. For imports of printing plates from the People's Republic of China, CBP shall suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 11/18/2024 (date of publication of the International Trade Commission final determination in the Federal Register). Effective 11/18/2024, CBP shall require a cash deposit equal to the percentages identified below. Producer and/or Exporter: All-Others Case Number: C-570-157-000 Cash Deposit Rate: 35.66 percent Producer and/or Exporter: Fujifilm Printing Plate (China) Co., Ltd. and its cross-owned company Fujifilm (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Case Number: C-570-157-001 Cash Deposit Rate: 35.66 percent Producer and/or Exporter: Shanghai National Ink Co. Ltd. Case Number: C-570-157-002 Cash Deposit Rate: 229.54 percent 4. If there are any questions by the importing public regarding this message, please contact the Call Center for the Office of AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce at (202) 482-0984. CBP ports should submit their inquiries through authorized CBP channels only. (This message was generated by OIX:MMP) 5. There are no restrictions on the release of this information. Alexander Amdur