(a) Introduction. Sections 777A(c)(2) and 777A(e)(2)(A) of the Act provide that when the Secretary determines in an antidumping or countervailing duty investigation or administrative review that it is not practicable to determine individual dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates for all potential respondents, the Secretary may determine individual dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates for a reasonable number of exporters or producers using certain criteria set out in the Act. This section sets forth those criteria, describes the methodology the Secretary generally applies to select examined producers and exporters, and provides the means by which the Secretary determines the “all-others rate” set forth in sections 705(c)(5) and 735(c)(5) of the Act, separate rates in nonmarket economy antidumping proceedings, and review-specific margins or rates in administrative reviews. This section also addresses the treatment of voluntary respondents in accordance with section 782(a) of the Act.

(b) Examining each known exporter or producer when practicable. In an investigation or administrative review, the Secretary will determine, where practicable, an individual weighted-average dumping margin or individual countervailable subsidy rate for each known exporter or producer of the subject merchandise.

(c) Limiting exporters or producers examined—(1) In general. If the Secretary determines in an investigation or administrative review that it is not practicable to determine individual dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates because of the large number of exporters or producers involved in the investigation or review, the Secretary may determine individual margins or rates for a reasonable number of exporters or producers, In accordance with sections 777A(c)(2) and 777A(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the Secretary will normally limit the examination to either a sample of exporters or producers that the Secretary determines is statistically valid based on record information or exporters and producers accounting for the largest volume of the subject merchandise from the exporting country that the Secretary determines can be reasonably examined.

(2) Limiting examination to the largest exporters or producers. In general, if the Secretary determines to limit the number of exporters or producers for individual examination, otherwise known as respondents, based on the largest volume of the subject merchandise from the exporting country that the Secretary determines can be reasonably examined, the Secretary will apply the following methodology:

(i) Selecting the data source to determine the largest exporters or producers of subject merchandise. The Secretary will normally select respondents based on data for entries of subject merchandise made during the relevant time period derived from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. If the Secretary determines that the use of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection data source is not appropriate based on record information, the Secretary may use another reasonable means of selecting potential respondents in an investigation or review including, but not limited to, the use of quantity and value questionnaire responses derived from a list of possible exporters of subject merchandise.

(ii) Selecting the largest exporters or producers of subject merchandise based on volume or value. The Secretary will normally select the largest exporters or producers based on the volume of imports of subject merchandise. However, the Secretary may determine at times that volume data are unreliable or inconsistent, depending on the product at issue. In those situations, the Secretary may instead select the largest exporters of subject merchandise based on the value of the imported products instead of the volume of the imported products.

(iii) Determining whether the number of exporters or producers is too large to make individual examination of each known exporter or producer of subject merchandise practicable. The Secretary will determine on a case-specific basis whether the number of exporters or producers is too large to make individual examination of each known exporter or producer of subject merchandise practicable based on the potential exporters or producers identified in a petition, the exporters or producers identified in the data source considered in paragraph (c)(1) of this provision, or the exporters or producers for which an administrative review is requested. In determining whether the number of exporters or producers is too large to make individual examination of each known exporter or producer of subject merchandise practicable, the Secretary will normally consider:

(A) The amount of resources and detailed analysis which will be necessary to examine each potential respondent's information;

(B) The current and future workload of the office administering the antidumping or countervailing duty proceeding; and

(C) The Secretary's overall current resource availability.

(iv) Determining the number of exporters or producers that can be reasonably examined. In determining the number of exporters or producers (respondents) that can be reasonably examined on a case-specific basis, the Secretary will normally:

(A) Consider the total and relative volumes (or values) of entries of subject merchandise during the relevant period for each potential respondent derived from the data source considered in paragraph (c)(2) of this section;

(B) Rank the potential respondents by the total volume (or values) of entries into the United States during the relevant period; and

(C) Determine the number of exporters or producers the Secretary can reasonably examine, considering resource availability and statutory requirements, and select the exporters or producers with the largest volume (or values) of entries consistent with that number.

(v) Selecting additional respondents for examination. Once the Secretary has determined the number of exporters or producers that can be reasonably examined and has selected the potential respondents for examination, the Secretary will issue questionnaires to those selected exporters or producers. If a potential respondent does not respond to the questionnaires or elects to withdraw from participation in the segment of the proceeding soon after filing questionnaire responses, or the Secretary otherwise determines early in the segment of the proceeding that a selected exporter or producer is no longer participating in the investigation or administrative review or that the exporter's or producer's sales of subject merchandise are not bona fide, the Secretary may select the exporter or producer with the next largest volume or value of entries to replace the respondents initially selected by the Secretary for examination if the Secretary determines that such a selection will not inhibit or impede the timely completion of that segment of the proceeding.

(d) Waiver for certain selected respondents. The Secretary may waive individual examination of an exporter or producer selected to be an examined respondent if both the selected respondent and the petitioner file waiver requests for that selected respondent no later than five days after the Secretary has selected respondents. If the Secretary provides such a waiver and previously selected the waived respondent in accordance with paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the Secretary may select the respondent with the next largest volume or value of entries for examination to replace the initially selected respondent.

(e) Single country-wide subsidy rate. In accordance with 777A(e)(2)(B) of the Act, in limiting exporters or producers examined in countervailing duty proceedings, including countervailing duty investigations under sections 703(d)(1)(A)(ii) and 705(c)(5)(B) of the Act, the Secretary may determine, in the alternative, a single country-wide subsidy rate to be applied to all exporters and producers.

(f) Calculating the all-others rate. In accordance with sections 705(c)(1)(B), 705(c)(5), 735(c)(1)(B)(i), and 735(c)(5) of the Act, if the Secretary makes an affirmative antidumping or countervailing duty determination, the Secretary will determine an estimated all-others rate as follows:

(1) In general. (i) For an antidumping proceeding involving a market economy country, the all-others rate will normally equal the weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for the individually investigated exporters or producers, excluding any zero and de minimis margins and any margins determined entirely under section 776 of the Act.

(ii) For a countervailing duty proceeding, the all-others rate will normally equal the weighted average of the countervailable subsidy rates established for the individually investigated exporters and producers, excluding any zero and de minimis countervailable subsidy rates and any rates determined entirely under section 776 of the Act.

(2) Exceptions to the general rules for calculating the all-others rate. The Secretary may determine not to apply the general rules provided in paragraph (f)(1) of this section:

(i) If the Secretary determines that only one individually investigated exporter or producer has a calculated weighted-average dumping margin or countervailable subsidy rate that is not zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, the Secretary may apply that weighted-average dumping margin or countervailable subsidy rate as the all-others rate.

(ii) If the Secretary determines that weight-averaging calculated dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates established for individually investigated exporters or producers could result in the inadvertent release of proprietary information among the individually investigated exporters or producers, the Secretary may apply the following analysis:

(A) First, the Secretary will calculate the weighted-average dumping margin or countervailable subsidy rate for the individually investigated exporters or producers using their reported data, including business proprietary data;

(B) Second, the Secretary will calculate both a simple average of the individually investigated exporters' or producers' dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates and a weighted- average dumping margin or countervailable subsidy rate using the individually investigated exporters' or producers' publicly-ranged data; and

(C) Third, the Secretary will compare the two averages calculated in paragraph (f)(2)(ii)(B) of this section with the weighted-average margin or rate determined in paragraph (f)(2)(ii)(A) of this section. The Secretary will apply, as the all-others rate, the average calculated in paragraph (f)(2)(ii)(B) of this section which is numerically the closest to the margin or rate calculated in paragraph (f)(2)(ii)(A) of this section.

(iii) If the estimated weighted average dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates established for all individually investigated exporters and producers are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, the Secretary may use any reasonable method to establish an all-others rate for exporters and producers not individually examined, including averaging the estimated weighted average dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates determined for the individually investigated exporters and producers.

(3) A nonmarket economy country entity rate is not an all-others rate. The all-others rate determined in a market economy antidumping investigation or countervailing duty investigation may not be increased in subsequent segments of a proceeding. The rate determined for a nonmarket economy country entity determined in an investigation is not an all-others rate and may be modified in subsequent segments of a proceeding if selected for examination.

(g) Calculating a rate for unexamined exporters and producers. In determining a separate rate in an investigation or administrative review covering a nonmarket economy country pursuant to § 351.108(b), a margin for unexamined exporters and producers in an administrative review covering a market economy country, or a countervailable subsidy rate for unexamined exporters and producers in a countervailing duty administrative review, the Secretary will normally apply the methodology set forth in paragraphs (f)(1) and (2) of this section. If the Secretary determines that weight-averaging calculated dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates established for individually investigated exporters or producers could result in the inadvertent release of proprietary information among the individually examined exporters or producers, then the Secretary may establish a separate rate, review-specific margin, or countervailable subsidy rate using a reasonable method other than the weight-averaging of dumping margins or countervailable rates, such as the use of a simple average of the calculated dumping margins or countervailable subsidy rates.

(h) Voluntary respondents—(1) In general. If the Secretary limits the number of exporters or producers to be individually examined under sections 777A(c)(2) or 777A(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the Secretary may choose to examine voluntary respondents (exporters or producers, other than those initially selected for individual examination) in accordance with section 782(a) of the Act.

(2) Acceptance of voluntary respondents. The Secretary will determine, as soon as practicable, whether to examine a voluntary respondent individually. A voluntary respondent accepted for individual examination under paragraph (h)(1) of this section will be subject to the same filing and timing requirements as an exporter or producer initially selected by the Secretary for individual examination under sections 777A(c)(2) or 777A(e)(2)(A) of the Act, and, where applicable, the use of the facts available under section 776 of the Act and § 351.308.

(3) Requests for voluntary treatment. (i) An interested party seeking treatment as a voluntary respondent must so indicate by including as a title on the first page of the first submission, “Request for Voluntary Respondent Treatment.”

(ii) If multiple exporters or producers seek voluntary respondent treatment and the Secretary determines to examine a voluntary respondent individually, the Secretary will select voluntary respondents in the chronological order in which complete requests were filed correctly on the record.

(4) Timing of voluntary respondent submissions. The deadlines for voluntary respondent submissions will generally be the same as the deadlines for submissions by individually investigated respondents. If there are two or more individually investigated respondents with different deadlines for a submission, such as when one respondent has received an extension and the other has not, voluntary respondents will normally be required to file their submissions with the Secretary by the earliest deadline of the individually investigated respondents.