19 U.S.C. § 1673h — Establishment of product categories for short life cycle merchandise

(a) Establishment of product categories
(1) Petitions. (A) An eligible domestic entity may file a petition with the Commission at any time after short life cycle merchandise becomes the subject of two or more affirmative dumping determinations. The petition asks the Commission to establish a product category.
(B) The petition must: (i) identify the merchandise covered by those determinations; (ii) identify merchandise the petitioner wants placed in the same category; (iii) identify merchandise the petitioner especially wants left out; (iv) explain the requested inclusions and exclusions; and (v) identify the merchandise using the designations in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
(2) Petition sufficiency. After receiving the petition, the Commission must promptly ask the administering authority to confirm the affirmative determinations. After receiving that confirmation, the Commission must decide whether the merchandise is short life cycle merchandise and whether the petitioner is an eligible domestic entity.
(3) Notice and hearings. If both answers are yes, the Commission must publish notice in the Federal Register that it received the petition and must allow views on the requested category, including a public hearing if an interested person requests one.
(4) Determinations. (A) Within 90 days after the petition is filed, the Commission must decide the scope of the product category in which the merchandise covered by the identified affirmative determinations will be classified for this section.
(B) (i) The Commission may on its own modify the scope of any category established under subparagraph (A) at any time. (ii) Before doing so, it must publish notice of the proposed modification in the Federal Register and give interested parties a chance for a hearing and a period to submit written comments about classifying merchandise into the affected categories.
(C) For either kind of determination, the Commission must ensure that each category contains similar short life cycle merchandise made by similar processes, in similar circumstances, and for similar uses.
(b) Definitions. (1) “Eligible domestic entity” means a United States manufacturer or producer, or a certified union, recognized union, or group of workers representing a United States industry, that makes short life cycle merchandise that (A) is like or directly competitive with merchandise covered by two or more affirmative dumping determinations, or (B) is similar enough to that merchandise to be considered for inclusion in a product monitoring category under this section.
(2) “Affirmative dumping determination” means (A) an affirmative final determination by the administering authority under section 1673d(a) of this title during the eight years before the petition, if it led to an antidumping duty order under section 1673e requiring estimated-duty deposits of at least 15 percent ad valorem; or (B) an affirmative preliminary determination by the administering authority under section 1673b(b) during the eight years before the petition, made in an investigation with no final determination because the investigation was suspended under section 1673c, that the estimated average amount by which normal value exceeds export price or constructed export price is at least 15 percent ad valorem.
(3) Merchandise is the subject of an affirmative dumping determination only if the administering authority separately determines, for the manufacturer, the amount by which normal value exceeds export price or constructed export price and names the manufacturer with that amount in the determination or resulting order. It is not treated as the subject if it is in a group for which the authority assigns a group amount instead of making separate determinations, and neither the merchandise nor manufacturer is named in the determination or resulting order.
(4) “Short life cycle merchandise” means a product that the Commission determines is likely to become outmoded within four years because of technological advances after it becomes commercially available. “Outmoded” means a kind of style that is no longer state-of-the-art.
(c) Transitional rules. (1) For this section and section 1673b(b)(1)(B) and (C), qualifying affirmative determinations made after December 31, 1980, and before August 23, 1988, and qualifying preliminary determinations made after December 31, 1984, and before August 23, 1988, are treated, for each category of one manufacturer’s short life cycle merchandise, as one determination made on the date of the latest determination. (2) A qualifying final determination made before January 1, 1981, or a qualifying preliminary determination made before January 1, 1985, may not be counted under this section or section 1673b(b)(1)(B) and (C).