[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 91 (Monday, May 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26936-26939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10745]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-994]
Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel 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, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily
determines that grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) from the
People's Republic of China (the PRC) is being, or is likely to be, sold
in the United States at less than fair value, as provided in section
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The period of
investigation is January 1, 2013, through June 30, 2013. The estimated
weighted-average dumping margin is listed in the ``Preliminary
Determination'' section of this notice. Interested parties are invited
to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES: Effective Date: May 12, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edythe Artman or Ericka Ukrow, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3931 or (202) 482-0405, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 26937]]
Background
The Department initiated this investigation on October 24, 2013.\1\
For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation
of this investigation, see the memorandum dated concurrently with and
hereby adopted by this notice.\2\ 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 Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic
versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in
content.
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\1\ See Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel From the People's
Republic of China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, the Republic
of Korea, Poland, and the Russian Federation: Initiation of
Antidumping Duty Investigations, 78 FR 65283 (October 31, 2013)
(Initiation Notice). AK Steel Corporation, Allegheny Ludlum, LLC,
and the United Steelworkers (collectively, the petitioners) filed
the underlying petitions. Id. at 65283.
\2\ See memorandum to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations
entitled: ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination of
the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Grain-Oriented Electrical
Steel from the People's Republic of China'' (Preliminary Decision
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The scope of this investigation covers GOES, which is a flat-rolled
alloy steel product containing, by weight, specific levels of silicon,
carbon, and aluminum. For a complete description of the scope of the
investigation, see Appendix I to this notice.
Various parties submitted comments on the scope. For a discussion
of these comments, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Tolling and Postponement of the Deadline for the Preliminary
Determination
As explained in the memorandum from the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, the Department exercised its discretion to
toll deadlines for the duration of the partial closure of the Federal
Government from October 1, through October 16, 2013. Therefore, all
deadlines in this segment of this proceeding have been extended by 16
days.\3\ In accordance with the Department's practice, if a new
deadline falls on a non-business day, the deadline will become the next
business day.\4\
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\3\ See Memorandum for the Record from Paul Piquado, Assistant
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by
the Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated October 18, 2013.
\4\ See Notice of Clarification: Application of ``Next Business
Day'' Rule for Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to
the Tariff Act of 1930, As Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
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On February 10, 2014, the petitioners made a timely request for a
50-day postponement of the preliminary determinations for this
investigation and the other concurrent investigations of GOES, pursuant
to section 733(c)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(e).\5\ On
February 20, 2014, we postponed the preliminary determination by 50
days.\6\ As a result of the postponement and aforementioned tolling,
the revised deadline for the preliminary determination of this
investigation is now May 2, 2014.
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\5\ See letter from the petitioners entitled, ``Antidumping
Investigations of Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel (``GOES'') from
China, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Poland, and
Russia: Petitioners' Request for Extension of the Preliminary
Determination,'' dated February 10, 2014.
\6\ See Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel From the People's
Republic of China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, the Republic
of Korea, Poland, and the Russian Federation: Postponement of
Preliminary Determinations in the Antidumping Duty Investigations,
79 FR 11082 (February 27, 2014).
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Methodology
The Department conducted this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. We preliminarily determine that the only
respondent being individually investigated, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co.,
Ltd. (Baoshan), failed to cooperate to the best of its ability in
participating in the investigation, warranting the application of facts
otherwise available with adverse inferences, pursuant to section
776(a)-(b) of the Act. As a part of the application of adverse facts
available, we are treating Baoshan as part of the PRC-wide entity.
Because the PRC-wide entity also failed to cooperate to the best of its
ability in complying with our requests for information, we determined
an estimated weighted-average dumping margin based on adverse facts
available for the PRC-wide entity, which includes Baoshan.\7\ For a
full description of the methodology and rationale underlying our
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of the
topics included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum appears in
Appendix II of this notice.
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\7\ Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corporation (Anshan) failed to
provide quantity and value data upon initiation of this
investigation.
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Preliminary Determination
The Department preliminarily determined that the following
estimated weighted-average dumping margin exists for the period January
1, 2013, through June 30, 2013:
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Estimated weighted-
Producer and exporter average dumping
margin (percent)
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PRC-wide entity \8\................................ 159.21
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\8\ The PRC-wide entity includes all producers and exporters of
GOES from the PRC, including each of the companies identified in the
petition that did not establish that they are separate from the PRC-
wide entity in this investigation: Baoshan, Anshan, Hebei Shougang
Qian' an Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., and Wuhan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.
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Disclosure
Normally, the Department discloses to interested parties the
calculations performed in connection with a preliminary determination
within five days of the date of publication of the notice of
preliminary determination in the Federal Register, in accordance with
19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because the Department, in accordance with
section 776 of the Act, preliminarily applied adverse facts available
to determine the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for the
mandatory respondent in this investigation, there are no calculations
to disclose.
Verification
Because Baoshan is the only mandatory respondent in this
investigation and because the Department preliminarily determines it to
be uncooperative and its information to be unreliable, the Department
does not intend to conduct verification of the information placed in
the record by Baoshan at this time.
Public Comment
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination. Interested parties may submit case briefs to the
Department no later than 50 days after the date of publication of this
preliminary determination.\9\ Rebuttal briefs, the content of which is
limited to the issues raised in the case briefs, must be filed
[[Page 26938]]
within five days from the deadline date for the submission of case
briefs.\10\ A list of authorities used, a table of contents, and an
executive summary of issues should accompany any briefs submitted to
the Department.\11\ Executive summaries should be limited to five pages
total, including footnotes. Interested parties who wish to comment on
this preliminary determination must file briefs electronically using IA
ACCESS. An electronically-filed document must be received successfully
in its entirety by IA ACCESS by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the
date the document is due.
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\9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i).
\10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1)-(2).
\11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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In accordance with section 774 of the Act, the Department will hold
a hearing, to afford interested parties an opportunity to comment on
arguments raised in case or rebuttal briefs, provided that such a
hearing is timely requested by an interested party.\12\ Interested
parties who wish to request a hearing, or to participate if one is
requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, via IA ACCESS
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\13\
Requests should contain the following information: (1) The party's
name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants;
and (3) a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a
hearing is made, we will inform parties of the scheduled date and time
of the hearing which will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.\14\
Parties may confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the
hearing.
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\12\ See also 19 CFR 351.310.
\13\ Id.
\14\ Id.
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of
exports of the merchandise subject to the investigation or, in the
event of a negative preliminary determination, a request for such
postponement is made by the petitioners. Section 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2)
requires that requests by respondents for postponement of a final
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months
in duration.
On April 2, 2014, Baoshan requested that, in the event of an
affirmative preliminary determination in this investigation, the
Department postpone its final determination by 60 days (i.e., to 135
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination)
and agreed to extend the application of the provisional measures, as
prescribed under section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2),
from a four-month period to a period not to exceed six months.\15\
Because (1) our preliminary determination is affirmative; (2) the
requesting producer or exporter accounts for a significant proportion
of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling reasons
for denial exist, we are postponing the final determination, in
accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(b)(2)(ii), until no later than 135 days after the publication
of this notice in the Federal Register and we are 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.\16\
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\15\ See letter from Baoshan entitled, ``Antidumping Duty
Investigation of Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel from People's
Republic of China: Postponement Request of Final Determination,''
dated April 2, 2014.
\16\ See 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 will instruct
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all
entries of GOES from the PRC, as described in the scope of the
investigation of Appendix I 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.\17\
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\17\ See section 733(d)(2) of the Act.
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Pursuant to section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), we
will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit \18\ equal to the estimated
weighted-average dumping margin, as indicated in the chart above. This
suspension of liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.
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\18\ 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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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we will notify the
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of our affirmative
preliminary determination of sales at less than fair value. Because our
preliminary determination in this investigation is affirmative, section
735(b)(2) of the Act requires that the ITC make its final determination
as to whether the domestic industry in the United States is materially
injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of
GOES from the PRC before the later of 120 days after the date of this
preliminary determination or 45 days after our final determination.
Because we are postponing the deadline for our final determination to
135 days from the date of the publication of this preliminary
determination, as discussed above, the ITC will make its final
determination no later than 45 days after our final determination.
Notice to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: May 2, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The scope of this investigation covers GOES. GOES is a flat-
rolled alloy steel product containing by weight at least 0.6 percent
but not more than 6 percent of silicon, not more than 0.08 percent
of carbon, not more than 1.0 percent of aluminum, and no other
element in an amount that would give the steel the characteristics
of another alloy steel, in coils or in straight lengths. The GOES
that is subject to this investigation is currently classifiable
under subheadings 7225.11.0000, 7226.11.1000, 7226.11.9030, and
7226.11.9060 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience
and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of these
investigations is dispositive. Excluded are flat-rolled products not
in coils that, prior to importation into the United States, have
been cut to a shape and undergone all punching, coating, or other
operations necessary for classification in Chapter 85 of the HTSUS
as a transformer part (i.e., laminations).
Appendix II
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Scope of the Investigation
4. Scope Comments
5. Product Comparisons
6. Respondent Selection
[[Page 26939]]
7. Discussion of the Methodology
8. Non-Market Economy Country Status
9. Separate Rates Determination
10. The PRC-Wide Entity
A. Use of Facts Available and Adverse Facts Available
B. Application of Total Adverse Facts Available to the PRC-Wide
Entity
C. Selection of an Adverse-Facts-Available Rate
D. Corroboration of Secondary Information
11. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2014-10745 Filed 5-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P