[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 193 (Thursday, October 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60673-60675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24549]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-983]


Drawn Stainless Steel Sinks From the People's Republic of China: 
Antidumping Duty Investigation

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


DATES: Effective Date: October 4, 2012.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``Department'') preliminarily 
determines that drawn stainless steel sinks (``drawn sinks'') from the 
People's Republic of China (``PRC'') are being, or are likely to be, 
sold in the United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''), as 
provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the 
Act''). The period of investigation (``POI'') is July 1, 2011, through 
December 31, 2011. The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are shown in 
the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice. The final 
determination will be issued 135 days after publication of this 
preliminary determination in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frances Veith or Eve Wang, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 8, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4295 or (202) 482-6231, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by the scope of this investigation are drawn 
stainless steel sinks with single or multiple drawn bowls, with or 
without drain boards, whether finished or unfinished, regardless of 
type of finish, gauge, or grade of stainless steel. Mounting clips, 
fasteners, seals, and sound-deadening pads are also covered by the 
scope of these investigations if they are included within the sales 
price of the drawn stainless steel sinks.\1\ For purposes of this scope 
definition, the term ``drawn'' refers to a manufacturing process using 
metal forming technology to produce a smooth basin with seamless, 
smooth, and rounded corners. Drawn stainless steel sinks are available 
in various shapes and configurations and may be described in a number 
of ways including flush mount, top mount, or undermount (to indicate 
the attachment relative to the countertop). Stainless steel sinks with 
multiple drawn bowls that are joined through a welding operation to 
form one unit are covered by the scope of the investigations. Drawn 
stainless steel sinks are covered by the scope of the investigations 
whether or not they are sold in conjunction with non-subject 
accessories such as faucets (whether attached or unattached), 
strainers, strainer sets, rinsing baskets, bottom grids, or other 
accessories.
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    \1\ Mounting clips, fasteners, seals, and sound-deadening pads 
are not covered by the scope of these investigations if they are not 
included within the sales price of the drawn stainless steel sinks, 
regardless of whether they are shipped with or entered with drawn 
stainless steel sinks.
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    Excluded from the scope of the investigations are stainless steel 
sinks with fabricated bowls. Fabricated bowls do not have seamless 
corners, but rather are made by notching and bending the stainless 
steel, and then welding and finishing the vertical corners to form the 
bowls. Stainless steel sinks with fabricated bowls may sometimes be 
referred to as ``zero radius'' or ``near zero radius'' sinks.
    The products covered by these investigations are currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(``HTSUS'') under statistical reporting number 7324.10.0000 and 
7324.10.00.10. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope 
is dispositive.

Methodology

    The Department has conducted this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Export prices have been calculated in 
accordance with section 772 of the Act. Because the PRC is a nonmarket 
economy within the meaning of section 771(18) of the Act, normal value 
(``NV'') has been calculated in accordance with section 773(c). 
Specifically, the Department preliminarily selected Thailand as the 
surrogate country, which is economically comparable to the PRC and is a 
significant producer of comparable merchandise. Thus, we calculated NV 
using Thai prices, when available, to value the respondents' factors of 
production (``FOPs'').
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, please see ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary 
Determination for the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Drawn Stainless 
Steel Sinks from the People's Republic of China,'' (``Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum'') from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations to Paul Piquado, 
Assistant

[[Page 60674]]

Secretary for Import Administration, dated concurrently with this 
determination and hereby adopted by this notice. The Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made available to the 
public via Import Administration's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is 
available to registered users at https://iaaccess.trade.gov and 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 on the Internet at http://www.trade.gov/ia/ ia/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the 
electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.

Preliminary Determination

    The preliminary weighted-average antidumping duty (``AD'') margin 
percentages are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Percent
            Exporter                     Producer             margin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zhongshan Superte Kitchenware    Zhongshan Superte                 63.87
 Co., Ltd./Zhongshan Superte      Kitchenware Co., Ltd.
 Kitchenware Co., Ltd. invoiced
 as Foshan Zhaoshun Trade Co.,
 Ltd.
Guangdong Dongyuan Kitchenware   Guangdong Dongyuan                54.25
 Industrial Co., Ltd.             Kitchenware Industrial
                                  Co., Ltd.
B&R Industries Limited.........  Xinhe Stainless Steel             59.06
                                  Products Co., Ltd and
                                  Jiamen XHHL Stainless
                                  Steel Manufacturing
                                  Co., Ltd.
Elkay (China) Kitchen            Elkay (China) Kitchen             59.06
 Solutions, Co., Ltd.             Solutions, Co., Ltd.
Feidong Import and Export Co.,   Jiangmen Liantai                  59.06
 Ltd.                             Kitchen Equipment Co.;
                                  Jiangmen Xinhe
                                  Stainless Steel
                                  Product Co., Ltd.
Foshan Shunde MingHao Kitchen    Foshan Shunde MingHao             59.06
 Utensils Co., Ltd.               Kitchen Utensils Co.,
                                  Ltd.
Franke Asia Sourcing Ltd.......  Guangdong YingAo                  59.06
                                  Kitchen Utensils Co.,
                                  Ltd.; Franke (China)
                                  Kitchen System Co.,
                                  Ltd.
Grand Hill Work Company........  Zhongshan Xintian                 59.06
                                  Hardware Co., Ltd.
Guangdong G-Top Import and       Jiangmen Jin Ke Ying              59.06
 Export Co., Ltd.                 Stainless Steel Wares
                                  Co., Ltd.
Guangdong Yingao Kitchen         Guangdong Yingao                  59.06
 Utensils Co., Ltd.               Kitchen Utensils Co.
                                  Ltd.
Hangzhou Heng's Industries Co.,  Hangzhou Heng's                   59.06
 Ltd.                             Industries Co., Ltd.
J&C Industries Enterprise        Zhongshan Superte                 59.06
 Limited.                         Kitchenware Co., Ltd.
Jiangmen Hongmao Trading Co.,    Xinhe Stainless Steel             59.06
 Ltd.                             Products Co., Ltd.
Jiangmen New Star Hi-Tech        Jiangmen New Star Hi-             59.06
 Enterprise Ltd.                  Tech Enterprise Ltd.
Jiangmen Pioneer Import &        Jiangmen Ouert Kitchen            59.06
 Export Co., Ltd.                 Appliance
                                  Manufacturing Co.,
                                  Ltd.; Jiangmen XHHL
                                  Stainless Steel Man u
                                  facturing Co., Ltd.
Jiangxi Zoje Kitchen & Bath      Jiangxi Offidun                   59.06
 Industry Co., Ltd.               Industry Co. Ltd.
Ningbo Oulin Kitchen Utensils    Ningbo Oulin Kitchen              59.06
 Co., Ltd.                        Utensils Co., Ltd.
Primy Cooperation Limited......  Primy Cooperation                 59.06
                                  Limited.
Shunde Foodstuffs Import &       Bonke Kitchen &                   59.06
 Export Company Limited of        Sanitary Industrial
 Guangdong.                       Co., Ltd.
Zhongshan Newecan Enterprise     Zhongshan Xintian                 59.06
 Development Corporation.         Hardware Co., Ltd.
Zhuhai Kohler Kitchen &          Zhuhai Kohler Kitchen &           59.06
 Bathroom Products Co., Ltd.      Bathroom Products Co.,
                                  Ltd.
PRC-Wide Rate *................  .......................           76.53
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This rate also applies to Jiangmen Liantai Kitchen Equipment Co.,
  Jiangmen Xinhe Stainless Steel Product Co., Ltd., Kele Kitchenware
  Co., Ltd., Capstone International Development Corporation, and Foshan
  Fancome Trading Co., Ltd.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    We will 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 Import 
Administration no later than seven days after the date on which the 
final verification report is issued in this proceeding and rebuttal 
briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no 
later than five days after the deadline date for case briefs.\2\ A 
table of contents, list of authorities used and an executive summary of 
issues should accompany any briefs submitted to the Department. This 
summary should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes.
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    \2\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
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    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 Import Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, filed electronically using Import Administration's 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service 
System (``IA ACCESS''). An electronically filed document must be 
received successfully in its entirety by the Department's electronic 
records system, IA ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, within 
30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\3\ 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 location 
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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    \3\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    For the final determination in this investigation interested 
parties may submit publicly available information to value the FOPs 
within 40 days after the publication of this preliminary 
determination.\4\
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    \4\ See 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3)(i). In accordance with 19 CFR 
351.301(c)(1), for the final determination of this investigation, 
interested parties may submit factual information to rebut, clarify, 
or correct factual information submitted by any other interested 
party less than ten days before, on, or after, the applicable 
deadline for submission of such factual information. However, the 
Department notes that 19 CFR 351.301(c)(1) permits new information 
only insofar as it rebuts, clarifies, or corrects information 
recently placed on the record. The Department generally will not 
accept the submission of additional, previously absent-from-the-
record alternative surrogate value information. See Glycine from the 
People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Final Rescission, in Part, 72 FR 58809 
(October 17, 2007), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum 
at Comment 2. Additionally, for each piece of factual information 
submitted with surrogate value rebuttal comments, the interested 
party must provide a written explanation of what information that is 
already on the record of the ongoing proceeding the factual 
information is rebutting, clarifying, or correcting.

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[[Page 60675]]

    Pursuant to requests from interested parties, we are postponing the 
final determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-
month period to not more than six months. Accordingly, we will make our 
final determination no later than 135 days after the date of 
publication of this preliminary determination, pursuant to section 
735(a)(2) of the Act.

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d) of the Act, the Department will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of drawn sinks from the PRC, 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), the Department will instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by which NV 
exceeds U.S. price, adjusted where appropriate for export subsidies and 
estimated domestic subsidy pass-through,\5\ as follows: (1) The 
separate rate margin for the exporter/producer combinations listed in 
the table above will be the rate the Department has determined in this 
preliminary determination; (2) for all combinations of PRC exporters/
producers of merchandise under consideration which have not received 
their own separate rate AD margin above, the cash-deposit rate will be 
the cash deposit rate established for the PRC-wide entity; and (3) for 
all non-PRC exporters of merchandise under consideration which have not 
received their own separate rate above, the cash-deposit rate will be 
the cash deposit rate applicable to the PRC exporter/producer 
combination that supplied that non-PRC exporter.
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    \5\ See sections 772(c)(1)(C) and 777A(f) of the Act, 
respectively. Unlike in administrative reviews, the Department 
calculates the adjustment for export subsidies in investigations not 
in the margin calculation program, but in the cash deposit 
instructions issued to the CBP. See Notice of Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Negative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances: Certain Lined Paper Products from India, 71 
FR 45012 (August 8, 2006), and accompanying Issues and Decision 
Memorandum at Comment 1.
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    We have adjusted the preliminary determination AD margins for 
export subsidies and estimated domestic subsidy pass-through as 
follows: \6\
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    \6\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    (1) For Superte and Dongyuan, mandatory respondents each receiving 
their own calculated AD margin, we reduced their respective cash 
deposit rates by the respective export subsidies and estimated domestic 
subsidy pass-through determined for each of these respondents in the 
companion countervailing duty (``CVD'') proceeding.\7\
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    \7\ See Id.
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    (2) For exporter/producer combinations receiving a separate AD 
margin based on the rates calculated for the mandatory respondents in 
the AD determination, we reduced the AD cash deposit rate by the lesser 
of a) the export subsidy rate applicable to each exporter or b) the 
average of the export subsidy rates applicable to the mandatory 
respondents on which the separate rate in the AD determination is 
based.\8\ Additionally, pursuant to section 777A(f) of the Act, we 
further reduced the AD cash deposit rate by the estimated domestic 
subsidy pass-through contained in the AD separate rate margin, capped 
by the corresponding domestic subsidy determined for the exporter in 
the companion CVD proceeding.
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    \8\ See Certain Steel Wheels From the People's Republic of 
China: Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value and Partial Affirmative Final Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, 77 FR 17021, 17026 (March 23, 2012); 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). See also Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.
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    (3) For the PRC-wide entity, which received an adverse facts 
available rate based on information contained in the Petition, as an 
extension of the adverse inference found necessary pursuant to section 
776(b) of the Act, the Department has adjusted the PRC-wide entity's AD 
cash deposit rate by the lowest export subsidy rate and the lowest 
estimated domestic subsidy pass-through determined for any party in the 
companion CVD proceeding.
    These cash deposit instructions will remain in effect until further 
notice.

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. 
Section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires the ITC to 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 drawn sinks, or sales (or the likelihood of sales) for 
importation, of the merchandise under consideration within 45 days of 
our final determination.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: September 27, 2012.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Initiation
2. Period of Investigation
3. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
4. Scope of the Investigation
5. Scope Comments
6. Non-Market Economy Country Status
7. Selection of Respondents
8. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
9. Surrogate Country
10. Surrogate Value Comments
11. Separate Rates
    a. Separate Rate Recipients
    b. Companies Not Receiving a Separate Rate
12. Margin for the Separate Rate Companies
13. Combination Rates
14. The PRC-Wide Entity
15. Application of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Facts 
Available
16. Corroboration of Information
17. Date of Sale
18. Fair Value Comparisons
19. Export Price
20. Normal Value
21. Factor Valuations Methodology
22. Determination To Apply an Alternative Methodology
23. Currency Conversion
24. Verification
25. Double Remedies Offset
26. International Trade Commission Notification
27. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2012-24549 Filed 10-3-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P