[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 248 (Monday, December 29, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78034-78036]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30433]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-523-808]


Certain Steel Nails From the Sultanate of Oman: Affirmative 
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 (``Department'') preliminarily 
determines that certain steel nails

[[Page 78035]]

(``nails'') from the Sultanate of Oman (``Oman'') are being, or are 
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 is April 1, 2013 
through March 31, 2014. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Effective Date: December 29, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lilit Astvatsatrian, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
6412.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on June 25, 2014.\1\ Pursuant to section 773(c)(1)(A) of 
the Act, the Department postponed this preliminary LTFV determination 
by a period of 42 days.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Steel Nails From India, the Republic of Korea, 
Malaysia, the Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigations, 79 FR 36019 (June 25, 2014) (``Initiation 
Notice'').
    \2\ See Certain Steel Nails from Republic of Korea, Malaysia, 
Taiwan, the Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, and the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary Determination of Antidumping 
Duty Investigations, 79 FR 63082 (October 22, 2014).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is certain steel nails 
from Oman. For a full description of the scope of the investigation, 
see Appendix I to this notice.

Scope Comments

    Several interested parties (i.e., IKEA Supply AG and IKEA 
Distributions Services Inc. (collectively IKEA), Target Corporation, 
and The Home Depot) submitted comments to the Department on the scope 
of the investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice, and Mid 
Continent Steel & Wire, Inc. (Petitioner) submitted rebuttal comments. 
For discussion of those comments and rebuttal comments, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\
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    \3\ See December 17, 2014 memorandum to Ronal K. Lorentzen, 
``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Steel Nails from the 
Sultanate of Oman,'' adopted concurrently with this notice. A list 
of the topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
appears in Appendix II, below.
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Methodology

    The Department has conducted this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Export price (``EP'') has been calculated in 
accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal value (``NV'') has been 
calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
a public document and is made available to the public via Enforcement 
and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized 
Electronic Service System (``ACCESS'').\4\ ACCESS is available to 
registered users at https://access.trade.gov, and is available to all 
parties in the Department's Central Records Unit, located at room 7046 
of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the electronic versions of 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \4\ On November 24, 2014, Enforcement and Compliance changed the 
name of the Import Administration AD and CVD Centralized Electronic 
Service System (``IA ACCESS'') to AD and CVD Centralized Electronic 
Service System (``ACCESS''). The Web site location was changed from 
http://iaaccess.trade.gov to http://access.trade.gov. The Final Rule 
changing the references to the Regulations can be found at: 79 FR 
69046 (November 20, 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. We based our calculation of the ``all others'' rate on the 
margin calculated for Oman Fasteners, LLC (``Oman Fasteners''), the 
only mandatory respondent in this investigation.

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
                                                              average
                  Producer or exporter                    dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Oman Fasteners, LLC.....................................            9.07
All Others..............................................            9.07
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties in this 
proceeding within five days of 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 no later than seven 
days after the date on which the final verification report is issued in 
this proceeding. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case 
briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline 
date for 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 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. All documents must be filed 
electronically using ACCESS. An electronically filed request must be 
received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern 
Standard Time, within 30 days after the date of publication of this 
notice.\6\ Requests should contain the party's name, address, and 
telephone number, the number of participants, and a list of the issues 
to be discussed. 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. 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 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the Act, Oman Fasteners requested 
that the Department postpone the final determination and extend 
provisional measures from four months to six

[[Page 78036]]

months. Additionally, Oman Fasteners requested 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 six-
month period. Pursuant to a request from Oman Fasteners and in 
accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii) and (e)(2), we will make our final determination no 
later than 135 days after the date of publication of this preliminary 
determination.\7\ The suspension of liquidation described above will be 
extended accordingly.\8\
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    \7\ See also 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2) and (e); see also Letter from 
Oman Fasteners to the Department, regarding ``Request to Postpone 
Final Determination'' (December 11, 2014); see also Letter from 
Petitioner to the Department, regarding ``Extension Request of Final 
Determination'' (December 10, 2014).
    \8\ Id.
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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 nails from Oman as described in the scope of the 
investigation section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register.
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), we will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by which the NV 
exceeds EP, as indicated in the chart above.\9\ 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. 
Because the preliminary determination in this proceeding 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 certain steel nails from Oman 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 
publication of this preliminary determination, as discussed above, the 
ITC will make its final determination no later than 45 days after our 
final determination.
    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 17, 2014.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
V. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
VI. Scope of the Investigation
VII. Scope Comments
VIII. Respondent Selection
IX. Discussion of Methodology
    A. Fair Value Comparisons
    1. Determination of Comparison Method
    2. Results of the Differential Pricing Analysis
X. Product Comparisons
XI. Date of Sale
XII. Affiliation
XIII. Export Price
XIV. Normal Value
    A. Comparison-Market Viability
    B. Calculation of Normal Value Based on CV
XV. Currency Conversion
XVI. U.S, International Trade Commission Notification
XVII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XVIII. Verification
XIX. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2014-30433 Filed 12-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P