Barcode : 4259556-02 A-533-889 REV - Admin Review 12 / 13 / 19 - 5 / 31 / 21
acknowledged , however , that while there is no willfulness requirement , “ deliberate concealment or inaccurate reporting ” would certainly be sufficient to find that a respondent did not act to the best of its ability , although it indicated that inadequate inquiries to respond to agency questions may suffice as well . 41 Hence , compliance with the “ best of its ability ” standard is determined by assessing whether a respondent has put forth its maximum effort to provide Commerce with full and complete answers to all inquiries in a segment of a proceeding . 42
We preliminarily find Antique Group has not acted to the best of its ability to comply with Commerce ’ s requests for information pursuant to section 776 ( b ) of the Act because the respondent failed to submit supplemental questionnaire responses in a timely manner . As noted above , Antique Group submitted its second supplemental questionnaire response after the established deadline without demonstrating extraordinary circumstances existed . Accordingly , Commerce concludes that Antique Group failed to cooperate to the best of its ability to comply with a request for information by Commerce . Based on the above , in accordance with section 776 ( b ) of the Act , we preliminarily determine to use an adverse inference when selecting from among the facts otherwise available . 43
C .
Selection and Corroboration of the Adverse Facts Available Rate
Section 776 ( b )( 2 ) of the Act states that Commerce , when employing an adverse inference , may rely upon information derived from the petition , the final determination from the less-than fairvalue ( LTFV ) investigation , a previous administrative review , or other information placed on the record . 44 In selecting a rate based on AFA , Commerce selects a rate that is sufficiently adverse to ensure that the uncooperative party does not obtain a more favorable result by failing to cooperate than if it had fully cooperated . 45
When using facts otherwise available , section 776 ( c )( 1 ) of the Act provides that , except as provided under section 776 ( c )( 2 ) of the Act , where Commerce relies on secondary information rather than information obtained in the course of a proceeding , it must corroborate , to the extent practicable , information from independent sources that are reasonably at its disposal . Secondary information is defined as information derived from the petition that gave rise to the investigation or review , the final determination from the LTFV investigation concerning the subject merchandise , or any previous review under section 751 of the Act concerning the subject merchandise . 46 The SAA clarifies that “ corroborate ” means that Commerce will satisfy itself
41
Id .
42
Id ., 337 F . 3d at 1382 .
43
See , e . g ., Large Power Transformers from the Republic of Korea : Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review ; 2017-2018 , 84 FR 55559 ( October 17 , 2019 ), and accompanying PDM , unchanged in Large Power Transformers from the Republic of Korea : Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review ; 2017- 2018 , 85 FR 21827 ( April 20 , 2020 ); see also Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from Pakistan : Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional Measures , 81 FR 36867 ( June 8 , 2016 ), unchanged in Circular Welded Carbon- Quality Steel Pipe from Pakistan : Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination , 81 FR 75045 ( October 28 , 2016 ).
44
See 19 CFR 351.308 ( c ).
45
See SAA at 870 .
46
Id .
9 Filed By : Kyle Clahane , Filed Date : 7 / 1 / 22 2:00 PM , Submission Status : Approved