[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 12, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40565-40566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19339]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-849]


Affirmative Final Determination of Circumvention of the 
Antidumping Duty Order on Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From 
the People's Republic of China

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On October 20, 2008, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published in the Federal Register the initiation of an 
antidumping circumvention inquiry to determine if certain products 
produced by Tianjin Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (Tianjin) and/or imported 
by Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. (Toyota Tsusho) constitute circumvention 
of the antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon steel 
plate from the People's Republic of China. See Certain Cut-to-Length 
Carbon Steel Plate from the People's Republic of China: Initiation of 
Antidumping Circumvention Inquiry, 73 FR 62250 (October 20, 2008). On 
July 14, 2009, the Department published its notice of affirmative 
preliminary determination of circumvention. See Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty Order on Certain 
Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from the People's Republic of China, 
74 FR 33991 (July 14, 2009) (Preliminary Determination). We gave 
interested parties an opportunity to comment on the Preliminary 
Determination, and received no comments. Therefore, we continue to 
determine that imports of inquiry merchandise (as defined below) are 
circumventing the order on cut-to-length carbon steel plate from the 
People's Republic of China.

DATES: Effective Date: August 12, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Bezirganian or Robert James, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 7, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
1131 or (202) 482-0649, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On July 14, 2009, the Department published its notice of 
affirmative preliminary determination of circumvention. See Preliminary 
Determination. The Department preliminarily determined that inquiry 
merchandise (defined below) produced by Tianjin and/or imported by 
Toyota Tsusho was circumventing the antidumping duty order on certain 
cut-to-length carbon steel plate from the People's Republic of China. 
The Department also directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
to suspend liquidation of entries of such merchandise and require case 
deposits on said entries. Id. In accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(f)(3), 
interested parties were invited to comment on the preliminary 
determination within 20 days of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination. Id. No parties submitted comments.

Scope of the Order

    The product covered by the order is certain cut-to-length carbon 
steel plate from the People's Republic of China. Included in this 
description is hot-rolled iron and non-alloy steel universal mill 
plates (i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces or in a closed 
box pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm but not exceeding 1250 mm and of 
a thickness of not less than 4 mm, not in coils and without patterns in 
relief), of rectangular shape, neither clad, plated nor coated with 
metal, whether or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or 
other nonmetallic substances; and certain iron and non-alloy steel 
flat-rolled products not in coils, of rectangular shape, hot-rolled, 
neither clad, plated, nor coated with metal, whether or not painted, 
varnished, or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic substances, 
4.75 mm or more in thickness and of a width which exceeds 150 mm and 
measures at least twice the thickness. Included as subject merchandise 
in the order are flat-rolled products of nonrectangular cross-section 
where such cross-section is achieved subsequent to the rolling process 
(i.e., products which have been ``worked after rolling'')--for example, 
products which have been bevelled or rounded at the edges. This 
merchandise is currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (HTSUS) under item numbers 7208.40.3030, 
7208.40.3060, 7208.51.0030, 7208.51.0045, 7208.51.0060, 7208.52.0000, 
7208.53.0000, 7208.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 7211.13.0000, 
7211.14.0030, 7211.14.0045,

[[Page 40566]]

7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000. Although the 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
the written description of the scope of the order is dispositive. 
Specifically excluded from subject merchandise within the scope of the 
order is grade X-70 steel plate.

Merchandise Subject to the Minor Alterations Antidumping Circumvention 
Proceeding

    The merchandise subject to this antidumping circumvention inquiry 
(inquiry merchandise) consists of all merchandise produced by Tianjin 
and/or imported by Toyota Tsusho containing 0.0008 percent or more 
boron, by weight, and otherwise meeting the requirements of the scope 
of the antidumping duty order as listed under the ``Scope of the 
Order'' section above, with the exception of merchandise meeting all of 
the following requirements: aluminum level of 0.02 percent or greater, 
by weight; a ratio of 3.4 to 1 or greater, by weight, of titanium to 
nitrogen; and a hardenability test (i.e., Jominy test) result 
indicating a boron factor of 1.8 or greater. This merchandise is 
currently classified in the HTSUS under item numbers 7225.40.3050, 
7225.99.0090, 7226.91.5000, and 7226.99.0180. Although the HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written description of inquiry merchandise is dispositive.

Affirmative Final Determination of Circumvention

    The Department conducted this circumvention inquiry in accordance 
with section 781(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), 
which deals with minor alterations of merchandise. The Department noted 
in the Preliminary Determination the criteria typically used by the 
Department to make determinations in such inquiries (i.e., the overall 
physical characteristics of the merchandise, the expectations of the 
ultimate users, the use of the merchandise, the channels of marketing 
and the cost of any modification relative to the total value of the 
imported products). See Preliminary Determination at 33992.
    As noted in the Preliminary Determination, Toyota Tsusho failed to 
respond to the Department's questionnaire, thus warranting a 
preliminary determination, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the 
Act, that imports from the People's Republic of China of inquiry 
merchandise imported by Toyota Tsusho, regardless of the producer or 
exporter of the merchandise, and otherwise meeting the description of 
in-scope merchandise, are within the class or kind of merchandise 
subject to the antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon 
steel plate from the People's Republic of China. See Preliminary 
Determination at 33993.
    With respect to Tianjin, the Department analyzed the information 
provided by Tianjin in its questionnaire responses following the 
aforementioned criteria normally used in minor alteration circumvention 
inquiries, as well as an additional case-specific criterion (i.e., 
alteration of export tariff and VAT refund rates by the government of 
the People's Republic of China), and preliminarily determined that 
imports from the People's Republic of China of inquiry merchandise 
produced by Tianjin and otherwise meeting the description of in-scope 
merchandise are within the class or kind of merchandise subject to the 
antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate from 
the People's Republic of China. See Preliminary Determination at 33993.
    Because no parties commented on the Department's preliminary 
determination, and no reasons exist to reverse that determination, the 
Department determines that inquiry merchandise produced by Tianjin and/
or imported by Toyota Tsusho is within the class or kind of merchandise 
subject to the antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon 
steel plate from the People's Republic of China.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(l)(3), we are directing CBP to 
continue to suspend liquidation of inquiry merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after October 20, 2008, 
the date of the publication of the Initiation Notice. We will also 
instruct CBP to continue to require a cash deposit of estimated duties 
at the applicable rates for each unliquidated entry of the product 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
October 20, 2008, the date of the publication of the Initiation Notice, 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(l)(3).\1\
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    \1\ In the Preliminary Determination the Department 
inadvertently stated that the requirement of cash deposits applied 
for entries of the product entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after October 10, 2008. However, the publication 
of the Preliminary Determination was on October 20, 2008, and that 
is the effective date for both suspension of liquidation and 
requirement of cash deposits for the merchandise in question.
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Notice to Parties

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305, which continues 
to govern business proprietary information in this segment of the 
proceeding. Timely written notification of the return/destruction of 
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO 
is a violation which is subject to sanction.
    This affirmative final circumvention determination is published in 
accordance with section 781(b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.225.

     Dated: August 6, 2009.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-19339 Filed 8-11-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P