[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 151 (Monday, August 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46712-46713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19165]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-821-807]


Ferrovanadium and Nitrided Vanadium From the Russian Federation: 
Negative Final Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty 
Order

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

Final Determination

    We determine that the importation of vanadium pentoxide from the 
Russian Federation (Russia) by the Evraz Group,\1\ which is toll-
converted into ferrovanadium in the United States by Bear Metallurgical 
Corporation (Bear), prior to sale to unaffiliated customers in the 
United States, does not constitute circumvention of the antidumping 
duty order on ferrovanadium and nitrided vanadium (ferrovanadium) from 
Russia, within the meaning of section 781(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 
as amended (the Act).
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    \1\ The Evraz Group (otherwise referred to as Evraz in this 
notice) includes OAO Vanady-Tula, East Metals S.A., and East Metals 
N.A.

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DATES: Effective Date: August 6, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Goldberger or Rebecca Trainor, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office 2, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4136 or (202) 482-4007, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 8, 2012, the Department of Commerce (the Department) 
published in the Federal Register its negative preliminary 
determination that Evraz's imports of vanadium pentoxide from Russia 
that are toll-converted into ferrovanadium in the United States by Bear 
are not circumventing the antidumping duty order on ferrovanadium and 
nitrided vanadium from Russia,\2\ pursuant to section 781(a) of the 
Act.\3\
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    \2\ See Notice of Antidumping Order: Ferrovanadium and Nitrided 
Vanadium From the Russian Federation, 60 FR 35550 (July 10, 1995).
    \3\ See Preliminary Negative Determination and Extension of Time 
Limit for Final Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping 
Duty Order on Ferrovanadium and Nitrided Vanadium From the Russian 
Federation, 77 FR 6537, (February 8, 2012) (Preliminary 
Determination).
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    AMG Vanadium Inc. (AMG Vanadium) and Bear submitted case briefs on 
March 23, 2012. Both of these parties and Evraz submitted rebuttal 
briefs on March 28, 2012. We held both a public and a closed hearing on 
May 3, 2012.

Scope of the Antidumping Duty Order

    The products subject to this order are ferrovanadium and nitrided 
vanadium, regardless of grade, chemistry, form or size, unless 
expressly excluded from the scope of this order. Ferrovanadium includes 
alloys containing ferrovanadium as the predominant element by weight 
(i.e., more weight than any other element, except iron in some 
instances) and at least 4 percent by weight of iron. Nitrided vanadium 
includes compounds containing vanadium as the predominant element, by 
weight, and at least 5 percent, by weight, of nitrogen. Excluded from 
the scope of the order are vanadium additives other than ferrovanadium 
and nitrided vanadium, such as vanadium-aluminum master alloys, 
vanadium chemicals, vanadium waste and scrap, vanadium-bearing raw 
materials, such as slag, boiler residues, fly ash, and vanadium oxides.
    The products subject to this order are currently classifiable under 
subheadings 2850.00.20, 7202.92.00, 7202.99.50.40, 8112.40.30.00, and 
8112.40.60.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience 
and customs purposes, our written description of the scope is 
dispositive.

Scope of the Circumvention Inquiry

    The product subject to this anticircumvention inquiry is vanadium 
pentoxide (V2O5) from Russia, which is usually in 
a granular form and may contain other substances, including silica 
(SiO2), manganese, and sulfur, and which is converted into 
ferrovanadium in the United States. Such merchandise is classifiable 
under subheading 2825.30.0010 of the HTSUS. This inquiry only covers 
such products that are imported by the Evraz Group and converted into 
ferrovanadium in the United States by Bear.

Statutory Provisions Regarding Circumvention

    Section 781(a) of the Act provides that the Department may find 
circumvention of an antidumping duty order when merchandise of the same 
class or kind subject to the order is completed or assembled in the 
United States. In conducting anticircumvention inquiries under section 
781(a)(1) of the Act, the Department determines whether (A) merchandise 
sold in the United States is of the same class or kind as any other 
merchandise produced in a foreign country that is the subject of an 
antidumping duty order; (B) such merchandise sold in the United States 
is completed or assembled in the United States from parts or components 
produced in the foreign country with respect to which the antidumping 
duty order applies; (C) the process of assembly or completion in the 
United States is minor or insignificant; and (D) the value of the parts 
or components referred to in (B) is a significant portion of the total 
value of the merchandise.
    With regard to sub-part (C), section 781(a)(2) of the Act specifies 
that the Department ``shall take into account: (A) The level of 
investment in the United States; (B) the level of research and 
development in the United States; (C) the nature of the production 
process in the United States, (D) the extent of production facilities 
in the United States; and (E) whether the value of the processing 
performed in the United States represents a small proportion of the 
value of the merchandise sold in the United States.''
    In addition, the Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) 
accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, H. R. Doc. No. 103-316, 
at 893 (1994), states that no single factor listed in section 781(a)(2) 
of the Act will be controlling. The SAA also states that the Department 
will evaluate each of the factors as they exist in the United States 
depending on the particular circumvention scenario. See id. Therefore, 
the importance of any one of the factors listed under 781(a)(2) of the 
Act can vary from case to case depending on the particular

[[Page 46713]]

circumstances unique to each specific circumvention inquiry.
    Further, section 781(a)(3) of the Act directs the Department to 
consider, in determining whether to include parts or components 
produced in a foreign country within the scope of an antidumping duty 
order, such factors as: (A) The pattern of trade, including sourcing 
patterns; (B) whether the manufacturer or exporter of the parts or 
components is affiliated with the person who assembles or completes the 
merchandise sold in the United States from the parts or components 
produced in the foreign country with respect to which the order 
applies; and (C) whether imports into the United States of the parts or 
components produced in such foreign country have increased after the 
initiation of the investigation which resulted in the issuance of such 
order or finding.

Summary of Analysis of Statutory Provisions

    We considered all of the comments submitted by the interested 
parties and find, pursuant to section 781(a) of the Act, that 
circumvention of the antidumping duty order on ferrovanadium and 
nitrided vanadium from Russia is not occurring by reason of imports of 
vanadium pentoxide from Russia by the Evraz Group that are toll-
converted into ferrovanadium by Bear.
    As we explained in the Preliminary Determination, in order to make 
an affirmative determination of circumvention, all the criteria under 
section 781(a)(1) of the Act must be satisfied. In addition, section 
781(a)(3) of the Act instructs the Department to consider, in 
determining whether to include parts or components within the scope of 
an order, such factors as pattern of trade, affiliation, and import 
volume.
    With respect to the four criteria under section 781(a)(1) of the 
Act, we find that three of the four criteria have been satisfied. 
Specifically, (A) the merchandise sold in the United States, 
ferrovanadium, is of the same class or kind as any other merchandise 
that is the subject of the antidumping duty order on ferrovanadium from 
Russia; (B) the ferrovanadium sold in the United States is completed in 
the United States from parts or components (i.e., vanadium pentoxide), 
produced in Russia; and (D) the value of the Russian-produced vanadium 
pentoxide used in the production of ferrovanadium in the United States 
is a significant portion of the total value of the ferrovanadium sold 
in the United States. However, as discussed in detail in the 
Preliminary Determination and in the Issues and Decision Memorandum for 
the Final Negative Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping 
Duty Order on Ferrovanadium and Nitrided Vanadium from the Russian 
Federation (dated concurrently with this notice) (Decision Memo), based 
on our analysis of all the relevant factors under section 781(a)(2) of 
the Act and the record information, we do not find that the remaining 
criterion at section 781(a)(1)(C) of the Act, the process of assembly 
or completion in the United States is minor or insignificant, has been 
satisfied.
    Pursuant to section 781(a)(3) of the Act, we also considered the 
additional factors concerning the pattern of trade, affiliation, and 
import trends after the initiation of the investigation which resulted 
in the antidumping duty order on ferrovanadium from Russia. Our 
analysis of these factors, as discussed in the Preliminary 
Determination and the Decision Memo, when viewed in conjunction with 
our analysis of the other statutory criteria under sections 781(a)(1) 
and (a)(2) of the Act, do not support including vanadium pentoxide in 
the antidumping duty order.
    All issues raised by the interested parties to which we have 
responded are listed in the Appendix to this notice and are addressed 
in the Decision Memo, which is hereby adopted by this notice. The 
Decision Memo is a public document and is on file electronically via 
Import Administration's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized 
Electronic system (IA ACCESS). Access to IA ACCESS is available in the 
Central Records Unit (CRU), room 7046 of the main Department of 
Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Decision Memo 
can be accessed directly on the Internet at http://www.trade.gov/ia/. 
The signed Decision Memo and the electronic version of the Decision 
Memo are identical in content.

Conclusion

    Based on the analysis under section 781(a) of the Act, summarized 
above and detailed in the Decision Memo, we determine that 
circumvention of the antidumping duty order on ferrovanadium and 
nitrided vanadium from Russia is not occurring by reason of Evraz's 
imports of vanadium pentoxide from Russia that are toll-converted into 
ferrovanadium by Bear in the United States.

Notice to Parties

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to the 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with section 351.305 of the 
Department's regulations. Timely written notification of the return or 
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 final negative circumvention determination is published in 
accordance with section 781(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.225.

    Dated: July 30, 2012.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix

Comment 1: The Ferrovanadium Completion Process in the United States
Comment 2: The Additional Statutory Factors
Comment 3: Exclusion of Vanadium Pentoxide from the Scope of the 
Order
Comment 4: Economic Impact of the Anticircumvention Inquiry

[FR Doc. 2012-19165 Filed 8-3-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P