[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 91 (Monday, May 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26941-26943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10747]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-428-842, A-588-871, A-455-804, A-821-821]
Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel From Germany, Japan, Poland, and
the Russian Federation: Preliminary Determinations of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value, Certain Affirmative Preliminary Determinations of
Critical Circumstances, and Postponement of Russian 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 Germany,
Japan, Poland, and the Russian Federation (Russia) 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 July 1, 2012, through
June 30, 2013. The estimated dumping margins of sales at LTFV are
listed in the ``Preliminary Determinations'' section of this notice.
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary
determinations.
DATES: Effective Date: May 12, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Banea at (202) 482-0656
(Germany); Steve Bezirganian at (202) 482-1131 (Japan); Alan Ray at
(202) 482-5403 (Poland); or Elizabeth Eastwood at (202) 482-3874
(Russia); AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Department initiated these investigations on October 24,
2013.\1\ For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of these investigations, see the country-specific memoranda
that are dated concurrently with and hereby adopted by this notice
(collectively, Preliminary Decision Memoranda).\2\ The Preliminary
Decision Memoranda are public documents and are 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, complete versions of
the Preliminary Decision Memoranda can be accessed directly on the
Internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary
Decision Memoranda and the electronic versions of the Preliminary
Decision Memoranda 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 (Oct. 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 memoranda 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 Antidumping Duty Investigation of Grain-Oriented Electrical
Steel from Germany''; ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Grain-
Oriented Electrical Steel from Japan''; ``Decision Memorandum for
the Preliminary Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation
of Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel from Poland'' (Poland Preliminary
Decision Memorandum); and ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Grain-
Oriented Electrical Steel from the Russian Federation'' (Russia
Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigations
The scope of the investigations 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
investigations, see Appendix I to this notice.
Various parties submitted comments on the scope. For discussion of
these comments, see the Preliminary Decision Memoranda.
Tolling and Postponement of Deadline for Preliminary Determinations
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 these proceedings have been extended by 16
days.\3\ 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.\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 these and the
other concurrent GOES antidumping duty investigations, 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 determinations by 50 days.\6\ As
a result of the postponement and aforementioned tolling, the revised
deadline for the preliminary determinations of these investigations 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 these investigations in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. The selected mandatory respondents in the
Germany, Japan, and Poland investigations failed to respond to the
Department's questionnaire or otherwise participate in those
proceedings. Further, in the
[[Page 26942]]
Russia investigation, the sole mandatory respondent failed to provide
useable cost of production information, as requested in section D of
the Department's initial questionnaire and in two supplemental
questionnaires. As a result, we preliminarily determined to apply
adverse facts available (AFA) to the mandatory respondents in the
Germany, Japan, Poland, and Russia investigations, in accordance with
section 776 of the Act and 19 CFR 351.308. For a full discussion of the
rationale underlying our preliminary determinations, as well as a
description of the methodology used, see the Preliminary Decision
Memoranda.
Certain Affirmative Preliminary Determinations of Critical
Circumstances
On February 24, 2014, the petitioners filed timely critical
circumstances allegations, pursuant to section 733(e)(1) of the Act and
19 CFR 351.206(c)(1), alleging that critical circumstances exist with
respect to imports of the merchandise under consideration from Poland
and Russia.\7\ In accordance with 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(i), when a
critical circumstances allegation is submitted more than 20 days before
the scheduled date of the preliminary determination, the Department
must issue a preliminary finding whether there is a reasonable basis to
believe or suspect that critical circumstances exist no later than the
date of the preliminary determination. We conducted analyses of
critical circumstances for Poland and Russia in accordance with section
733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, and preliminarily determined
that: (1) Importers of GOES from Poland and Russia knew or should have
known that the exporter was selling the merchandise under consideration
at LTFV and that there was likely to be material injury in accordance
with section 733(e)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act; and (2) imports of the
subject merchandise from Poland and Russia have been massive over a
relatively short period in accordance with section 733(e)(1)(B) of the
Act. For a full description of the methodology and results of our
analysis, see the Poland Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the Russia
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\7\ See the letter from the petitioners entitled, ``Grain-
Oriented Electricl {sic{time} Steel from the Czech Republic, Poland
and the Russian Federation--Critical Circumstances Allegation,''
dated February 24, 2014.
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All Others Rate
Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated ``all
others'' rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the
estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters
and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero or de
minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under section 776
of the Act. Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the
estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for all
exporters and producers individually examined are zero, de minimis or
determined based entirely under section 776 of the Act, the Department
may use any reasonable method to establish the estimated dumping margin
for all other producers or exporters.
We determined the dumping margin for each of the mandatory
respondents in the Germany, Japan, Poland, and Russia investigations
entirely under section 776 of the Act. Consequently, the only available
dumping margins for these preliminary determinations are found in the
petition. Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, the Department's
practice under these circumstances has been to calculate the all others
rate as a simple average of these margins from the petition.\8\ For a
full description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the
Preliminary Decision Memoranda.
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\8\ See, e.g., Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of
Germany, 73 FR 21909, 21912 (April 23, 2008), unchanged in Notice of
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite
from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 38986, 38987 (July 8,
2008), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2;
see also Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Raw Flexible Magnets From Taiwan, 73 FR 39673, 39674 (July
10, 2008); Steel Threaded Rod From Thailand: Preliminary
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670,
79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from
Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR
14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014).
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Preliminary Determinations
The preliminary dumping margins are as follows:
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Dumping
Manufacturer/exporter margin
(percent)
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Germany:
ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel GmbH....................... 241.91
All Others............................................... 133.70
Japan:
JFE Steel Corporation.................................... 172.30
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation................ 172.30
All Others............................................... 93.36
Poland:
Stalprodukt S.A.......................................... 99.51
All Others............................................... 78.10
Russia:
OJSC Novoliptesk Steel/VIZ-Steel LLC..................... 119.88
All Others............................................... 68.98
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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 preliminarily
applied AFA to each of the mandatory respondents in these
investigations in accordance with section 776 of the Act, there are no
calculations to disclose.
Public Comment
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary
determinations. Interested parties may submit case briefs to the
Department no later than 30 days after the date of publication of the
preliminary determinations.\9\ Rebuttal briefs, the content of which is
limited to the issues raised in the case briefs, must be filed 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
the preliminary determinations 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) and 19 CFR 351.309(d)(2).
\11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2).
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In accordance with section 774 of the Act, the Department will hold
a hearing, if timely requested, to afford interested parties an
opportunity to comment on arguments raised in case or rebuttal briefs,
provided that such a hearing is 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,
filed
[[Page 26943]]
electronically using IA ACCESS, as noted above. An electronically-filed
request must be received successfully in its entirety by IA ACCESS, by
5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time 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.\14\ If a request for a hearing is made, we will inform
parties of the scheduled date and time for the hearing which will be
held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.\15\ Parties should 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.
\15\ Id.
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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 subject merchandise from Germany and Japan entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Further, because we
preliminarily found that critical circumstances exist in the Poland and
Russia investigations with regard to the mandatory respondents and
companies receiving the ``all others'' rate, we will instruct CBP to
suspend liquidation of covered entries from Poland and Russia entered,
or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption up to 90 days prior to the
date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.\16\
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\16\ See section 733(e)(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 cash deposits \17\ equal to the dumping
margins, as indicated in the chart above, as follows: (1) The rate for
the mandatory respondents listed above will be the respondent-specific
rate we determined in these preliminary determinations; (2) if the
exporter is not a mandatory respondent identified above in one of these
investigations, but the producer is, the rate will be the specific rate
established for the producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the
rate for all other producers or exporters will be the country-specific
all others rate. These suspension of liquidation instructions will
remain in effect until further notice.
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\17\ 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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Postponement of Russian Final Determination
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 subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by
the petitioner. 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.
Respondent OJSC Novolipetsk Steel/VIZ-Steel LLC (NLMK) requested
that, in the event of an affirmative preliminary determination in the
Russia investigation, the Department postpone its final determination
by 60 days (i.e., to 135 days after publication of the preliminary
determination), and agreed to extend the application of the provisional
measures 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.\18\ In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19
CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because (1) our preliminary determination for
Russia is affirmative; (2) the requesting producer or exporter accounts
for a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise from
Russia; and (3) no compelling reasons for denial exist, we are
postponing the final determination in the Russia investigation until no
later than 135 days after the publication of this notice in the Federal
Register 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 in the Russia investigation no later than
135 days after the date of publication of this preliminary
determination, pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the Act.\19\
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\18\ See letter from NLMK entitled, ``Grain-Oriented Electrical
Steel from Russia: Request for Postponement of Final Determination
and to Extend Provisional Measures,'' dated April 30, 2014.
\19\ See 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2) and (e).
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we will notify the
ITC of our affirmative preliminary determinations of sales at LTFV. If
our final determinations in these investigations are 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 Germany, Japan, Poland, and Russia before the
later of 120 days after the date of these preliminary determinations or
45 days after our final determinations.
These determinations are 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 Investigations
The scope of these investigations covers grain-oriented silicon
electrical steel (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 these
investigations 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--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memoranda
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Period of Investigation
4. Scope of the Investigation
5. Scope Comments
6. Product Comparisons
7. Respondent Selection
8. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
9. Corroboration of Secondary Information
10. All Others Rate
11. Critical Circumstances (Poland and Russia only)
12. Conclusion
[FR Doc. 2014-10747 Filed 5-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P