[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 239 (Thursday, December 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75545-75547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29690]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-990]
Prestressed Concrete Steel Rail Tie Wire From the People's
Republic of China: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value and Postponement of Final Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, formerly Import Administration,
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``Department'') preliminarily
determines that prestressed concrete steel rail tie wire (``PC tie
wire'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') is being, or is
likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value
(``LTFV''), as provided in section 733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (``the Act''). The period of investigation (``POI'') is October
1, 2012, through March 31, 2013. The weighted-average dumping margins
are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice.
The final determination will be issued 135 days after the publication
date of this preliminary determination in the Federal Register.
DATES: Effective Date: December 12, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Smith or Stephanie Arthur, AD/
CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement
[[Page 75546]]
and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20230; telephone: (202) 482-1766 and (202) 482-2181, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is high carbon steel
wire; stress relieved or low relaxation; indented or otherwise
deformed; meeting at a minimum the physical, mechanical, and chemical
requirements of the American Society of Testing Materials (``ASTM'')
A881/A881M specification; regardless of shape, size or alloy element
levels; suitable for use as prestressed tendons in concrete railroad
ties (``PC tie wire''). High carbon steel is defined as steel that
contains 0.6 percent or more of carbon by weight.
PC tie wire is classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (``HTSUS'') subheading 7217.10.8045, but may also be
classified under subheadings 7217.10.7000, 7217.10.8025, 7217.10.8030,
7217.10.8090, 7217.10.9000, 7229.90.1000, 7229.90.5016, 7229.90.5031,
7229.90.5051, 7229.90.9000, and 7312.10.3012. Although the HTSUS
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the
written description of the scope of the investigation is
dispositive.\1\
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\1\ Since the initiation of this investigation, based on
interested party comments, we modified the scope to add language to,
and clarify the meaning of, the phrase ``meeting at a minimum the
American Society for Testing Materials (``ASTM'') A881/A881M
specification,'' and to include two additional HTSUS numbers. For
further discussion, see the memorandum entitled ``Scope Modification
Requests,'' dated concurrently with this determination.
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Methodology
The Department has conducted this antidumping duty investigation in
accordance with section 731 of the Act. Export prices (``EPs'') have
been calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. Because the
PRC is a non-market economy within the meaning of section 771(18) of
the Act, normal value has been calculated in accordance with section
773(c) of the Act. Specifically, unless specified otherwise, the
factors of production (``FOPs'') for the respondent, Silvery Dragon
Group Technology and Trading Co., Ltd. Tianjin (``Silvery Dragon
Tech'') have been valued using data from the primary surrogate country,
Thailand, a country comparable economically to the PRC and a
significant producer of comparable merchandise.
For a full description of the methodology underlying our
conclusions, see ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Prestressed
Concrete Steel Rail Tie Wire from the People's Republic of China,''
from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Operations, to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary
for Enforcement and Compliance, dated concurrently with this notice
(``Preliminary Decision Memorandum'') and hereby adopted by this
notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is
on file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA
ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Central
Records Unit, room 7046 of the main Department of Commerce building. In
addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can
be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn. The signed
and electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are
identical in content.
Combination Rates
In the Initiation Notice, the Department stated that it would
calculate combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a
separate rate in this investigation.\2\ This practice is described in
Policy Bulletin 05.1.\3\
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\2\ See Prestressed Concrete Steel Rail Tie Wire From Mexico,
The People's Republic of China, and Thailand: Initiation of
Antidumping Duty Investigations, 78 FR 29325, 29330 (May 20, 2013)
(``Initiation Notice'').
\3\ See Policy Bulletin No. 05.1, regarding ``Separate-Rates
Practice and Application of Combination Rates in Antidumping
Investigations involving Non-Market Economy Countries'' (April 5,
2005) (``Policy Bulletin 05.1''), available at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Preliminary Determination \4\
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\4\ As explained in the memorandum from the Assistant Secretary
for Enforcement and Compliance, the Department has exercised its
discretion to toll deadlines for the duration of the closure of the
Federal Government from October 1, through October 16, 2013. See
Memorandum for the Record from Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of
the Federal Government'' (October 18, 2013). Therefore, all
deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been extended by 16
days. If the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance
with the Department's practice, the deadline will become the next
business day. The revised deadline for the preliminary determination
in this investigation is now December 5, 2013.
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The Department preliminarily determines that the following
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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Weighted-
average
Exporter Producer dumping
margin
(percent)
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Silvery Dragon Group Technology Silvery Dragon 14.64
and Trading Co., Ltd. Tianjin. Prestressed Materials
Co., Ltd. Tianjin.
PRC-wide Entity*................. ........................ 18.02
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* The PRC-wide entity includes Wuxi Jinyang Metal Products Co., Ltd. and
Shanxi New-Mile International Trade Co., Ltd.
Disclosure and Public Comment
The Department intends to disclose calculations performed for this
preliminary determination to the parties within five days after the
date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR
351.224(b). Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to
the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance via IA ACCESS no
later than seven days after the date on which the verification report
is issued in this proceeding, and rebuttal briefs, limited to issues
raised in case briefs, must be submitted via IA ACCESS no later than
five days after the deadline for filing case briefs.\5\ Pursuant to 19
CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or
rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are encouraged to submit with each
argument: (1)A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the
argument; and (3) a table of authorities.
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\5\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a
[[Page 75547]]
hearing, or to participate in a hearing if one is requested, must
submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and
Compliance. An electronically filed request must be received
successfully in its entirety by IA ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time, within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\6\
Hearing requests should contain: (1) The party's name, address, and
telephone number; (2) the number of participants in the hearing; and
(3) a list of the issues to be discussed at the hearing. If a request
for a hearing is made, the Department intends to hold the hearing at
the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time and date to be determined.\7\
Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the
hearing, two days before the scheduled date.
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\6\ See also 19 CFR 351.310(c).
\7\ See id.
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
Pursuant to a request from the respondent in this investigation, we
are postponing the final determination and extending the provisional
measures from a four-month period to a period not greater than six
months. Accordingly, we will issue our final determination no later
than 135 days after the date of publication of this preliminary
determination, pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the Act.\8\
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\8\ See also 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2) and (e).
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Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we are directing
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend liquidation of
all entries of PC tie wire from the PRC, as described in the scope of
the investigation section of this notice, which are entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
We will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit \9\ equal to the
weighted-average amount by which the NV exceeds EP, as indicated in the
chart above. These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain
in effect until further notice.
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\9\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042
(October 3, 2011).
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International Trade Commission (``ITC'') Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the
ITC of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. If
our final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before
the later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination
or 45 days after our final determination whether these imports are
materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: December 5, 2013.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
1. Respondent Selection
2. Discussion of the Methodology
a. Non-Market Economy Country
b. Surrogate Country
c. Separate Rates
d. Application of Facts Available and Adverse Inferences
e. Date of Sale
f. Fair Value Comparisons
g. Factor Valuation Methodology
h. Currency Conversion
3. Verification
[FR Doc. 2013-29690 Filed 12-11-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P