(a) Introduction. As noted in §351.212(a), the United States has a “retrospective” assessment system under which final liability for antidumping and countervailing duties is determined after merchandise is imported. Although duty liability may be determined in the context of other types of reviews, the most frequently used procedure for determining final duty liability is the administrative review procedure under section 751(a)(1) of the Act. This section contains rules regarding requests for administrative reviews and the conduct of such reviews.

(b) Request for administrative review.

(1) Each year during the anniversary month of the publication of an antidumping or countervailing duty order, a domestic interested party or an interested party described in section 771(9)(B) of the Act (foreign government) may request in writing that the Secretary conduct an administrative review under section 751(a)(1) of the Act of specified individual exporters or producers covered by an order (except for a countervailing duty order in which the investigation or prior administrative review was conducted on an aggregate basis), if the requesting person states why the person desires the Secretary to review those particular exporters or producers.

(2) During the same month, an exporter or producer covered by an order (except for a countervailing duty order in which the investigation or prior administrative review was conducted on an aggregate basis) may request in writing that the Secretary conduct an administrative review of only that person.

(3) During the same month, an importer of the merchandise may request in writing that the Secretary conduct an administrative review of only an exporter or producer (except for a countervailing duty order in which the investigation or prior administrative review was conducted on an aggregate basis) of the subject merchandise imported by that importer.

(4) Each year during the anniversary month of the publication of a suspension of investigation, an interested party may request in writing that the Secretary conduct an administrative review of all producers or exporters covered by an agreement on which the suspension of investigation was based.

(c) Deferral of administrative review—(1) In general. The Secretary may defer the initiation of an administrative review, in whole or in part, for one year if:

(i) The request for administrative review is accompanied by a request that the Secretary defer the review, in whole or in part; and

(ii) None of the following persons objects to the deferral: the exporter or producer for which deferral is requested, an importer of subject merchandise of that exporter or producer, a domestic interested party and, in a countervailing duty proceeding, the foreign government.

(2) Timeliness of objection to deferral. An objection to a deferral of the initiation of administrative review under paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section must be submitted within 15 days after the end of the anniversary month in which the administrative review is requested.

(3) Procedures and deadlines. If the Secretary defers the initiation of an administrative review, the Secretary will publish notice of the deferral in the Federal Register. The Secretary will initiate the administrative review in the month immediately following the next anniversary month, and the deadline for issuing preliminary results of review (see paragraph (h)(1) of this section) and submitting factual information (see §351.302(b)(2)) will run from the last day of the next anniversary month.

(d) Rescission of administrative review—(1) Withdrawal of request for review. The Secretary will rescind an administrative review under this section, in whole or in part, if a party that requested a review withdraws the request within 90 days of the date of publication of notice of initiation of the requested review. The Secretary may extend this time limit if the Secretary decides that it is reasonable to do so.

(2) Self-initiated review. The Secretary may rescind an administrative review that was self-initiated by the Secretary.

(3) No shipments. The Secretary may rescind an administrative review, in whole or only with respect to a particular exporter or producer, if the Secretary concludes that, during the period covered by the review, there were no entries, exports, or sales of the subject merchandise, as the case may be.

(4) Notice of rescission. If the Secretary rescinds an administrative review (in whole or in part), the Secretary will publish in the Federal Register notice of “Rescission of Antidumping (Countervailing Duty) Administrative Review” or, if appropriate, “Partial Rescission of Antidumping (Countervailing Duty) Administrative Review.”

(e) Period of review—(1) Antidumping proceedings.

(i) Except as provided in paragraph (e)(1)(ii) of this section, an administrative review under this section normally will cover, as appropriate, entries, exports, or sales of the subject merchandise during the 12 months immediately preceding the most recent anniversary month.

(ii) For requests received during the first anniversary month after publication of an order or suspension of investigation, an administrative review under this section will cover, as appropriate, entries, exports, or sales during the period from the date of suspension of liquidation under this part or suspension of investigation to the end of the month immediately preceding the first anniversary month.

(2) Countervailing duty proceedings.

(i) Except as provided in paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section, an administrative review under this section normally will cover entries or exports of the subject merchandise during the most recently completed calendar year. If the review is conducted on an aggregate basis, the Secretary normally will cover entries or exports of the subject merchandise during the most recently completed fiscal year for the government in question.

(ii) For requests received during the first anniversary month after publication of an order or suspension of investigation, an administrative review under this section will cover entries or exports, as appropriate, during the period from the date of suspension of liquidation under this part or suspension of investigation to the end of the most recently completed calendar or fiscal year as described in paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section.

(f) Voluntary respondents. In an administrative review, the Secretary will examine voluntary respondents in accordance with section 782(a) of the Act and §351.204(d).

(g) Procedures. The Secretary will conduct an administrative review under this section in accordance with §351.221.

(h) Time limits—(1) In general. The Secretary will issue preliminary results of review (see §351.221(b)(4)) within 245 days after the last day of the anniversary month of the order or suspension agreement for which the administrative review was requested, and final results of review (see §351.221(b)(5)) within 120 days after the date on which notice of the preliminary results was published in the Federal Register.

(2) Exception. If the Secretary determines that it is not practicable to complete the review within the time specified in paragraph (h)(1) of this section, the Secretary may extend the 245-day period to 365 days and may extend the 120-day period to 180 days. If the Secretary does not extend the time for issuing preliminary results, the Secretary may extend the time for issuing final results from 120 days to 300 days.

(i) Possible cancellation or revision of suspension agreement. If during an administrative review the Secretary determines or has reason to believe that a signatory has violated a suspension agreement or that the agreement no longer meets the requirements of section 704 or section 734 of the Act (whichever is applicable), the Secretary will take appropriate action under section 704(i) or section 734(i) of the Act and §351.209. The Secretary may suspend the time limit in paragraph (h) of this section while taking action under §351.209.

(j) Absorption of antidumping duties.

(1) During any administrative review covering all or part of a period falling between the first and second or third and fourth anniversary of the publication of an antidumping order under §351.211, or a determination under §351.218(d) (sunset review), the Secretary, if requested by a domestic interested party within 30 days of the date of publication of the notice of initiation of the review, will determine whether antidumping duties have been absorbed by an exporter or producer subject to the review if the subject merchandise is sold in the United States through an importer that is affiliated with such exporter or producer. The request must include the name(s) of the exporter or producer for which the inquiry is requested.

(2) For transition orders defined in section 751(c)(6) of the Act, the Secretary will apply paragraph (j)(1) of this section to any administrative review initiated in 1996 or 1998.

(3) In determining under paragraph (j)(1) of this section whether antidumping duties have been absorbed, the Secretary will examine the antidumping duties calculated in the administrative review in which the absorption inquiry is requested.

(4) The Secretary will notify the Commission of the Secretary's determination if:

(i) In the case of an administrative review other than one to which paragraph (j)(2) of this section applies, the administrative review covers all or part of a time period falling between the third and fourth anniversary month of an order; or

(ii) In the case of an administrative review to which paragraph (j)(2) of this section applies, the Secretary initiated the administrative review in 1998.

(k) Administrative reviews of countervailing duty orders conducted on an aggregate basis—(1) Request for zero rate. Where the Secretary conducts an administrative review of a countervailing duty on an aggregate basis under section 777A(e)(2)(B) of the Act, the Secretary will consider and review requests for individual assessment and cash deposit rates of zero to the extent practicable. An exporter or producer that desires a zero rate must submit:

(i) A certification by the exporter or producer that it received zero or de minimis net countervailable subsidies during the period of review;

(ii) If the exporter or producer received a countervailable subsidy, calculations demonstrating that the amount of net countervailable subsidies received was de minimis during the period of review;

(iii) If the exporter is not the producer of the subject merchandise, certifications from the suppliers and producers of the subject merchandise that those persons received zero or de minimis net countervailable subsidies during the period of the review; and

(iv) A certification from the government of the affected country that the government did not provide the exporter (or the exporter's supplier) or producer with more than de minimis net countervailable subsidies during the period of review.

(2) Application of country-wide subsidy rate. With the exception of assessment and cash deposit rates of zero determined under paragraph (k)(1) of this section, if, in the final results of an administrative review under this section of a countervailing duty order, the Secretary calculates a single country-wide subsidy rate under section 777A(e)(2)(B) of the Act, that rate will supersede, for cash deposit purposes, all rates previously determined in the countervailing duty proceeding in question.

(l) Exception from assessment in regional industry cases. For procedures relating to a request for the exception from the assessment of antidumping or countervailing duties in a regional industry case, see §351.212(f).