[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 34 (Monday, February 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8682-8684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03627]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-602-808]
Silicomanganese From Australia: Final Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
[[Page 8683]]
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') determines
that imports of silicomanganese from Australia are being sold in the
United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''), as provided in
section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the ``Act''). The
final weighted-average dumping margins of sales at LTFV are listed
below in the section entitled ``Final Determination Margins.''
DATES: Effective: February 22, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Magd Zalok or Robert Bolling, 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-
4162 or (202) 482-3434, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On September 25, 2015, the Department published in the Federal
Register the preliminary determination in the LTFV investigation of
silicomanganese from Australia.\1\ In the Preliminary Determination, we
postponed the final determination until no later than 135 days after
the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in accordance
with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii) and
invited parties to comment on our Preliminary Determination. Moreover,
as explained in the memorandum from the Acting Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement & Compliance, the Department has exercised its discretion
to toll all administrative deadlines due to the recent closure of the
Federal Government. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding
have been extended by four business days. The revised deadline for the
final determination of this investigation is now February 12, 2016.\2\
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\1\ See Silicomanganese From Australia: Preliminary Affirmative
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of
Final Determination, 80 FR 57787, (September 25, 2015) (Preliminary
Determination).
\2\ See Memorandum to the Record from Ron Lorentzen, Acting A/S
for Enforcement & Compliance, regarding ``Tolling of Administrative
Deadlines As a Result of the Government Closure During Snowstorm
Jonas,'' dated January 27, 2016.
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The following events have occurred since the Preliminary
Determination. Between September 28, 2015, and November 11, 2015, the
Department conducted sales and cost verifications of the respondent in
this investigation, Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company Pty Ltd.
(``TEMCO'') and its U.S. affiliate BHP Billiton Marketing Inc. On
October 26, 2015, Felman Production, LLC (``Petitioners'') requested a
hearing. On December 16, 2015, TEMCO and the Petitioners submitted case
briefs. On December 21, 2015, TEMCO and the Petitioners submitted
rebuttal case briefs. On January 11, 2016, the Department held a
hearing in this investigation.
Period of Investigation
The period of investigation (``POI'') is January 1, 2014, through
December 31, 2014.
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is silicomanganese from
Australia. For a full description of the scope of the investigation,
see Appendix I to this notice.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.307(b)(1)(i), from September 28, 2015 through November 11, 2015, we
verified the sales and cost information submitted by TEMCO for use in
our final determination. We used standard verification procedures
including an examination of relevant accounting and production records,
and original source documents provided by TEMCO.\3\
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\3\ See Memorandum to the File from Robert B. Greger, Senior
Accountant, through Taija A. Slaughter, Lead Accountant, and Neal
Halper, Office Director, regarding ``Verification of Tasmanian
Electro Metallurgical Company Pty Ltd. in the Antidumping Duty
Investigation of Silicomanganese from Australia'' (October 28,
2015); see also Memorandum to the File from Magd Zalok and Lilit
Astvatsatrian, Enforcement & Compliance, Office IV, and David
Richardson, Office of the Chief Counsel for Enforcement &
Compliance, through Robert Bolling, Program Manager, Enforcement &
Compliance, Office IV, regarding ``Verification of the Sales
Questionnaire Responses of Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company
Pty Ltd: Antidumping Duty Investigation of Silicomanganese from
Australia'' (December 3, 2015); see also Memorandum to the File from
Magd Zalok and Lilit Astvatsatrian, Enforcement & Compliance, Office
IV, through Robert Bolling, Program Manager, Enforcement &
Compliance, Office IV, regarding ``Verification of the Sales
Questionnaire Responses of BHP Billiton Marketing Inc.: Antidumping
Duty Investigation of Silicomanganese from Australia,'' (December
10, 2015).
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Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum
accompanying this notice, and which is hereby adopted by this
notice.\4\ A list of the issues raised to which the Department
responded is attached to this notice as Appendix II. The Issues and
Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically
via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Centralized Electronic Service System (``ACCESS''). ACCESS is available
to registered users at http://access.trade.gov. The memorandum is
available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, located at Room
B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a
complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed
directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and
electronic versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical
in content.
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\4\ See Silicomanganese from Australia: Issues and Decision
Memorandum for the Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value (``Issues and Decision Memorandum'').
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Changes to the Margin Calculation Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on a review of the record and comments received from
interested parties regarding our Preliminary Determination, we made the
following changes to TEMCO's margin calculation:
We recalculated TEMCO's indirect selling expenses
(``ISE'') incurred in the United States based on verification findings;
We recalculated indirect selling expenses incurred in the
country of manufacture to reflect minor corrections and verification
findings in the calculation of the indirect selling expense ratio;
We eliminated from the U.S. and home market sales
databases the loading charges reported under the fields DLOADU and
LOADH, because these charges were double counted in that they were also
reported under the fields PACK2H and PACKU;
We corrected the CEP profit ratio due to a programing
error in the Department's margin calculation program from the
Preliminary Determination.
We adjusted the by-product offset for silicomanganese
fines generated during production to reflect the POI per-unit sales
value.
We adjusted the reported financial expense ratio to
exclude interest income from long-term sources.
Final Determination Margins
The Department determines that the following weighted-average
dumping margins exist for the period January 1, 2014, through December
31, 2014:
[[Page 8684]]
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Weighted-
average
Exporter or producer dumping
margin
(percent)
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Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company Pty Ltd............. 12.03
All-Others.................................................. 12.03
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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 margins determined entirely under section 776 of
the Act. In this investigation, we calculated a weighted-average
dumping margin for TEMCO, the only respondent in this investigation,
that is above de minimis and which is not based on section 776 of the
Act. Therefore, the Department assigned a margin to the all-others rate
companies based on TEMCO's weighted-average dumping margin.
Disclosure
We will disclose the calculations performed within five days of the
date of any public announcement of this notice to parties in this
proceeding in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Suspension of Liquidation
Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, the Department will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to continue to
suspend liquidation of all of entries of silicomanganese from
Australia, which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after September 25, 2015, the date of publication of
the Preliminary Determination. Further, pursuant to CFR 351.210(d), the
Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the
amount by which normal value exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) For
TEMCO, the mandatory respondent listed above, the cash deposit rate
will be equal to the dumping margin which the Department determined in
this final determination; (2) if the exporter is not a mandatory
respondent identified in this investigation, but the producer is, the
cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the producer of the
subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rates for all other
producers or exporters will be 12.03 percent. The suspension of
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we notified the U.S.
International Trade Commission (``ITC'') of our final determination. As
our final determination is affirmative, in accordance with section
735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will determine within 45 days whether the
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the
likelihood of sales) for importation of the subject merchandise. If the
ITC determines that such injury exists, the Department will issue an
antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further
instruction by the Department, antidumping duties on appropriate
imports of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective date of the
suspension of liquidation.
Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information
This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to
administrative protective order (``APO'') of their responsibility
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written
notification of the destruction of APO materials or conversion to
judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with
the regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
Notification to Interested Parties
We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice in
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: February 12, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The scope of this investigation covers all forms, sizes and
compositions of silicomanganese, except low-carbon silicomanganese,
including silicomanganese briquettes, fines, and slag.
Silicomanganese is properly classifiable under subheading
7202.30.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(``HTSUS''). Low-carbon silicomanganese is excluded from the scope
of this investigation. Low-carbon silicomanganese is classifiable
under HTSUS subheading 7202.30.0000. The HTSUS subheadings are
provided for convenience and customs purposes. The written
description of the scope is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Discussion of the Issues
Issues:
Comment 1: Indirect Selling Expenses Incurred in the United
States
Comment 2: Constructed Export Price Offset (``CEP Offset'')
Comment 3: CEP Profit Ratio
Comment 4: Double Counting of Packing/Loading Expenses
Comment 5: Valuation of Ferromanganese Slag
Comment 6: Inputs Purchased From Interested Parties
Comment 7: Interest Income
V. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2016-03627 Filed 2-19-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P