(a) Introduction. The Secretary normally initiates antidumping and countervailing duty investigations based on petitions filed by a domestic interested party. This section contains rules concerning the contents of a petition, filing requirements, notification of foreign governments, pre-initiation communications with the Secretary, and assistance to small businesses in preparing petitions. Petitioners are also advised to refer to the Commission's regulations concerning the contents of petitions, currently 19 CFR 207.11.

(b) Contents of petition. A petition requesting the imposition of antidumping or countervailing duties must contain the following, to the extent reasonably available to the petitioner:

(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner and any person the petitioner represents;

(2) The identity of the industry on behalf of which the petitioner is filing, including the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all other known persons in the industry;

(3) Information relating to the degree of industry support for the petition, including:

(i) The total volume and value of U.S. production of the domestic like product; and

(ii) The volume and value of the domestic like product produced by the petitioner and each domestic producer identified;

(4) A statement indicating whether the petitioner has filed for relief from imports of the subject merchandise under section 337 of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1337, 1671a), sections 201 or 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 or 2411), or section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862);

(5) A detailed description of the subject merchandise that defines the requested scope of the investigation, including the technical characteristics and uses of the merchandise and its current U.S. tariff classification number;

(6) The name of the country in which the subject merchandise is manufactured or produced and, if the merchandise is imported from a country other than the country of manufacture or production, the name of any intermediate country from which the merchandise is imported;

(7)(i) In the case of an antidumping proceeding:

(A) The names and addresses of each person the petitioner believes sells the subject merchandise at less than fair value and the proportion of total exports to the United States that each person accounted for during the most recent 12-month period (if numerous, provide information at least for persons that, based on publicly available information, individually accounted for two percent or more of the exports);

(B) All factual information (particularly documentary evidence) relevant to the calculation of the export price and the constructed export price of the subject merchandise and the normal value of the foreign like product (if unable to furnish information on foreign sales or costs, provide information on production costs in the United States, adjusted to reflect production costs in the country of production of the subject merchandise);

(C) If the merchandise is from a country that the Secretary has found to be a nonmarket economy country, factual information relevant to the calculation of normal value, using a method described in § 351.408; or

(ii) In the case of a countervailing duty proceeding:

(A) The names and addresses of each person the petitioner believes benefits from a countervailable subsidy and exports the subject merchandise to the United States and the proportion of total exports to the United States that each person accounted for during the most recent 12-month period (if numerous, provide information at least for persons that, based on publicly available information, individually accounted for two percent or more of the exports);

(B) The alleged countervailable subsidy and factual information (particularly documentary evidence) relevant to the alleged countervailable subsidy, including any law, regulation, or decree under which it is provided, the manner in which it is paid, and the value of the subsidy to exporters or producers of the subject merchandise;

(C) If the petitioner alleges an upstream subsidy under section 771A of the Act, factual information regarding:

(1) Countervailable subsidies, other than an export subsidy, that an authority of the affected country provides to the upstream supplier;

(2) The competitive benefit the countervailable subsidies bestow on the subject merchandise; and

(3) The significant effect the countervailable subsidies have on the cost of producing the subject merchandise;

(8) The volume and value of the subject merchandise imported during the most recent two-year period and any other recent period that the petitioner believes to be more representative or, if the subject merchandise was not imported during the two-year period, information as to the likelihood of its sale for importation;

(9) The name, address, and telephone number of each person the petitioner believes imports or, if there were no importations, is likely to import the subject merchandise;

(10) Factual information regarding material injury, threat of material injury, or material retardation, and causation;

(11) If the petitioner alleges “critical circumstances” under section 703(e)(1) or section 733(e)(1) of the Act and § 351.206, factual information regarding:

(i) Whether imports of the subject merchandise are likely to undermine seriously the remedial effect of any order issued under section 706(a) or section 736(a) of the Act;

(ii) Massive imports of the subject merchandise in a relatively short period; and

(iii) (A) In an antidumping proceeding, either:

(1) A history of dumping; or

(2) The importer's knowledge that the exporter was selling the subject merchandise at less than its fair value, and that there would be material injury by reason of such sales; or

(B) In a countervailing duty proceeding, whether the countervailable subsidy is inconsistent with the Subsidies Agreement; and

(12) Any other factual information on which the petitioner relies.

(c) Simultaneous filing and certification. The petitioner must file a copy of the petition with the Commission and the Secretary on the same day and so certify in submitting the petition to the Secretary. Factual information in the petition must be certified, as provided in § 351.303(g). Other filing requirements are set forth in § 351.303.

(d) Business proprietary status of information. The Secretary will treat as business proprietary any factual information for which the petitioner requests business proprietary treatment and which meets the requirements of § 351.304.

(e) Amendment of petition. The Secretary may allow timely amendment of the petition. The petitioner must file an amendment with the Commission and the Secretary on the same day and so certify in submitting the amendment to the Secretary. If the amendment consists of new allegations, the timeliness of the new allegations will be governed by § 351.301.

(f) Notification of representative of the exporting country. Upon receipt of a petition, the Secretary will deliver a public version of the petition (see § 351.304(c)) to a representative in Washington, DC, of the government of any exporting country named in the petition.

(g) Petition based upon derogation of an international undertaking on official export credits. In the case of a petition described in section 702(b)(3) of the Act, the petitioner must file a copy of the petition with the Secretary of the Treasury, as well as with the Secretary and the Commission, and must so certify in submitting the petition to the Secretary.

(h) Assistance to small businesses; additional information. (1) The Secretary will provide technical assistance to eligible small businesses, as defined in section 339 of the Act, to enable them to prepare and file petitions. The Secretary may deny assistance if the Secretary concludes that the petition, if filed, could not satisfy the requirements of section 702(c)(1)(A) or section 732(c)(1)(A) of the Act (whichever is applicable) (see § 351.203).

(2) For additional information concerning petitions, contact the Director for Policy and Analysis, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Room 3093, U.S. Department of Commerce, Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20230; (202) 482-1768.

(i) Pre-initiation communications—(1) In general. During the period before the Secretary's decision whether to initiate an investigation, the Secretary will not consider the filing of a notice of appearance to constitute a communication for purposes of section 702(b)(4)(B) or section 732(b)(3)(B) of the Act.

(2) Consultations with foreign governments in countervailing duty proceedings. In a countervailing duty proceeding, the Secretary will invite the government of any exporting country named in the petition for consultations with respect to the petition.

(The information collection requirements in paragraph (a) of this section have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0625-0105.)