[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 1 (Thursday, January 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 145-148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30798]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation No. 731-TA-1143 (Review)]


Small Diameter Graphite Electrodes From China; Institution of a 
Five-Year Review

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives notice that it has instituted a 
review pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1675(c)) (the Act) to determine whether revocation of the antidumping 
duty order on small diameter graphite electrodes from China would be 
likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury. 
Pursuant to section 751(c)(2) of the Act, interested parties are 
requested to respond to this notice by submitting the information 
specified below to the Commission; \1\ to be assured of consideration, 
the deadline for responses is February 3, 2014. Comments on the 
adequacy of responses may be filed with the Commission by March 17, 
2014. For further information concerning the conduct of this review and 
rules of general application, consult the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedure, part 201, subparts A through E (19 CFR part 
201), and part 207, subparts A, D, E, and F (19 CFR part 207).
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    \1\ No response to this request for information is required if a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) number is not 
displayed; the OMB number is 3117-0016/USITC No. 14-5-303, 
expiration date June 30, 2014. Public reporting burden for the 
request is estimated to average 15 hours per response. Please send 
comments regarding the accuracy of this burden estimate to the 
Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20436.

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DATES: Effective Date: January 2, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Messer (202-205-3193), Office of 
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information 
on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-
1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need special

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assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact the 
Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information concerning 
the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its internet server 
(http://www.usitc.gov). The public record for this review may be viewed 
on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at http://edis.usitc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background. On February 26, 2009, the Department of Commerce issued 
an antidumping duty order on imports of small diameter graphite 
electrodes from China (74 FR 8775). The Commission is conducting a 
review to determine whether revocation of the order would be likely to 
lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to the domestic 
industry within a reasonably foreseeable time. It will assess the 
adequacy of interested party responses to this notice of institution to 
determine whether to conduct a full review or an expedited review. The 
Commission's determination in any expedited review will be based on the 
facts available, which may include information provided in response to 
this notice.
    Definitions. The following definitions apply to this review:
    (1) Subject Merchandise is the class or kind of merchandise that is 
within the scope of the five-year review, as defined by the Department 
of Commerce.
    (2) The Subject Country in this review is China.
    (3) The Domestic Like Product is the domestically produced product 
or products which are like, or in the absence of like, most similar in 
characteristics and uses with, the Subject Merchandise. In its original 
determination, the Commission defined the Domestic Like Product as all 
small diameter graphite electrodes coextensive with the scope.
    (4) The Domestic Industry is the U.S. producers as a whole of the 
Domestic Like Product, or those producers whose collective output of 
the Domestic Like Product constitutes a major proportion of the total 
domestic production of the product. In its original determination, the 
Commission defined the Domestic Industry as all U.S. producers of small 
diameter graphite electrodes.
    (5) The Order Date is the date that the antidumping duty order 
under review became effective. In this review, the Order Date is 
February 26, 2009.
    (6) An Importer is any person or firm engaged, either directly or 
through a parent company or subsidiary, in importing the Subject 
Merchandise into the United States from a foreign manufacturer or 
through its selling agent.
    Participation in the review and public service list.--Persons, 
including industrial users of the Subject Merchandise and, if the 
merchandise is sold at the retail level, representative consumer 
organizations, wishing to participate in the review as parties must 
file an entry of appearance with the Secretary to the Commission, as 
provided in section 201.11(b)(4) of the Commission's rules, no later 
than 21 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
The Secretary will maintain a public service list containing the names 
and addresses of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties 
to the review.
    Former Commission employees who are seeking to appear in Commission 
five-year reviews are advised that they may appear in a review even if 
they participated personally and substantially in the corresponding 
underlying original investigation. The Commission's designated agency 
ethics official has advised that a five-year review is not considered 
the ``same particular matter'' as the corresponding underlying original 
investigation for purposes of 18 U.S.C. 207, the post employment 
statute for Federal employees, and Commission rule 201.15(b) (19 CFR 
201.15(b)), 73 FR 24609 (May 5, 2008). This advice was developed in 
consultation with the Office of Government Ethics. Consequently, former 
employees are not required to seek Commission approval to appear in a 
review under Commission rule 19 CFR 201.15, even if the corresponding 
underlying original investigation was pending when they were Commission 
employees. For further ethics advice on this matter, contact Carol 
McCue Verratti, Deputy Agency Ethics Official, at 202-205-3088.
    Limited disclosure of business proprietary information (BPI) under 
an administrative protective order (APO) and APO service list. Pursuant 
to section 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the Secretary will make 
BPI submitted in this review available to authorized applicants under 
the APO issued in the review, provided that the application is made no 
later than 21 days after publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. Authorized applicants must represent interested parties, as 
defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to the review. A separate 
service list will be maintained by the Secretary for those parties 
authorized to receive BPI under the APO.
    Certification. Pursuant to section 207.3 of the Commission's rules, 
any person submitting information to the Commission in connection with 
this review must certify that the information is accurate and complete 
to the best of the submitter's knowledge. In making the certification, 
the submitter will be deemed to consent, unless otherwise specified, 
for the Commission, its employees, and contract personnel to use the 
information provided in any other reviews or investigations of the same 
or comparable products which the Commission conducts under Title VII of 
the Act, or in internal audits and investigations relating to the 
programs and operations of the Commission pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Appendix 
3.
    Written submissions. Pursuant to section 207.61 of the Commission's 
rules, each interested party response to this notice must provide the 
information specified below. The deadline for filing such responses is 
February 3, 2014. Pursuant to section 207.62(b) of the Commission's 
rules, eligible parties (as specified in Commission rule 207.62(b)(1)) 
may also file comments concerning the adequacy of responses to the 
notice of institution and whether the Commission should conduct an 
expedited or full review. The deadline for filing such comments is 
March 17, 2014. All written submissions must conform with the 
provisions of sections 201.8 and 207.3 of the Commission's rules and 
any submissions that contain BPI must also conform with the 
requirements of sections 201.6 and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. 
Regarding electronic filing requirements under the Commission's rules, 
see also the Commission's Handbook on E-Filing, available on the 
Commission's Web site at http://edis.usitc.gov. Also, in accordance 
with sections 201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's rules, each 
document filed by a party to the review must be served on all other 
parties to the review (as identified by either the public or APO 
service list as appropriate), and a certificate of service must 
accompany the document (if you are not a party to the review you do not 
need to serve your response).
    Inability to provide requested information. Pursuant to section 
207.61(c) of the Commission's rules, any interested party that cannot 
furnish the information requested by this notice in the requested form 
and manner shall notify the Commission at the earliest possible time, 
provide a full explanation of why it cannot provide the requested 
information, and indicate alternative forms in which it can provide 
equivalent information. If an interested party does not provide this 
notification (or the Commission finds the explanation provided in the 
notification inadequate) and fails to provide a

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complete response to this notice, the Commission may take an adverse 
inference against the party pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act (19 
U.S.C. 1677e(b)) in making its determination in the review.
    Information To Be Provided in Response to this Notice of 
Institution: As used below, the term ``firm'' includes any related 
firms.
    (1) The name and address of your firm or entity (including World 
Wide Web address) and name, telephone number, fax number, and Email 
address of the certifying official.
    (2) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is a U.S. 
producer of the Domestic Like Product, a U.S. union or worker group, a 
U.S. importer of the Subject Merchandise, a foreign producer or 
exporter of the Subject Merchandise, a U.S. or foreign trade or 
business association, or another interested party (including an 
explanation). If you are a union/worker group or trade/business 
association, identify the firms in which your workers are employed or 
which are members of your association.
    (3) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is willing to 
participate in this review by providing information requested by the 
Commission.
    (4) A statement of the likely effects of the revocation of the 
antidumping duty order on the Domestic Industry in general and/or your 
firm/entity specifically. In your response, please discuss the various 
factors specified in section 752(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675a(a)) 
including the likely volume of subject imports, likely price effects of 
subject imports, and likely impact of imports of Subject Merchandise on 
the Domestic Industry.
    (5) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. producers of 
the Domestic Like Product. Identify any known related parties and the 
nature of the relationship as defined in section 771(4)(B) of the Act 
(19 U.S.C. 1677(4)(B)).
    (6) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. importers of 
the Subject Merchandise and producers of the Subject Merchandise in the 
Subject Country that currently export or have exported Subject 
Merchandise to the United States or other countries since the Order 
Date.
    (7) A list of 3-5 leading purchasers in the U.S. market for the 
Domestic Like Product and the Subject Merchandise (including street 
address, World Wide Web address, and the name, telephone number, fax 
number, and Email address of a responsible official at each firm).
    (8) A list of known sources of information on national or regional 
prices for the Domestic Like Product or the Subject Merchandise in the 
U.S. or other markets.
    (9) If you are a U.S. producer of the Domestic Like Product, 
provide the following information on your firm's operations on that 
product during calendar year 2013, except as noted (report quantity 
data in metric tons and value data in U.S. dollars, f.o.b. plant). If 
you are a union/worker group or trade/business association, provide the 
information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms in which your workers 
are employed/which are members of your association.
    (a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total U.S. production of the Domestic Like Product 
accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
    (b) Capacity (quantity) of your firm to produce the Domestic Like 
Product (i.e., the level of production that your establishment(s) could 
reasonably have expected to attain during the year, assuming normal 
operating conditions (using equipment and machinery in place and ready 
to operate), normal operating levels (hours per week/weeks per year), 
time for downtime, maintenance, repair, and cleanup, and a typical or 
representative product mix);
    (c) the quantity and value of U.S. commercial shipments of the 
Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s);
    (d) the quantity and value of U.S. internal consumption/company 
transfers of the Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s); 
and
    (e) the value of (i) net sales, (ii) cost of goods sold (COGS), 
(iii) gross profit, (iv) selling, general and administrative (SG&A) 
expenses, and (v) operating income of the Domestic Like Product 
produced in your U.S. plant(s) (include both U.S. and export commercial 
sales, internal consumption, and company transfers) for your most 
recently completed fiscal year (identify the date on which your fiscal 
year ends).
    (10) If you are a U.S. importer or a trade/business association of 
U.S. importers of the Subject Merchandise from the Subject Country, 
provide the following information on your firm's(s') operations on that 
product during calendar year 2013 (report quantity data in metric tons 
and value data in U.S. dollars). If you are a trade/business 
association, provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the 
firms which are members of your association.
    (a) The quantity and value (landed, duty-paid but not including 
antidumping duties) of U.S. imports and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total U.S. imports of Subject Merchandise from the 
Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') imports;
    (b) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping 
duties) of U.S. commercial shipments of Subject Merchandise imported 
from the Subject Country; and
    (c) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping 
duties) of U.S. internal consumption/company transfers of Subject 
Merchandise imported from the Subject Country.
    (11) If you are a producer, an exporter, or a trade/business 
association of producers or exporters of the Subject Merchandise in the 
Subject Country, provide the following information on your firm's(s') 
operations on that product during calendar year 2013 (report quantity 
data in metric tons and value data in U.S. dollars, landed and duty-
paid at the U.S. port but not including antidumping duties). If you are 
a trade/business association, provide the information, on an aggregate 
basis, for the firms which are members of your association.
    (a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total production of Subject Merchandise in the Subject 
Country accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
    (b) Capacity (quantity) of your firm(s) to produce the Subject 
Merchandise in the Subject Country (i.e., the level of production that 
your establishment(s) could reasonably have expected to attain during 
the year, assuming normal operating conditions (using equipment and 
machinery in place and ready to operate), normal operating levels 
(hours per week/weeks per year), time for downtime, maintenance, 
repair, and cleanup, and a typical or representative product mix); and
    (c) the quantity and value of your firm's(s') exports to the United 
States of Subject Merchandise and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total exports to the United States of Subject Merchandise 
from the Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') exports.
    (12) Identify significant changes, if any, in the supply and demand 
conditions or business cycle for the Domestic Like Product that have 
occurred in the United States or in the market for the Subject 
Merchandise in the Subject Country since the Order Date, and 
significant changes, if any, that are likely to occur within a 
reasonably foreseeable time. Supply conditions to consider include 
technology; production methods; development efforts; ability to 
increase production (including the shift of production facilities used 
for other products and the use, cost, or availability of major inputs 
into

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production); and factors related to the ability to shift supply among 
different national markets (including barriers to importation in 
foreign markets or changes in market demand abroad). Demand conditions 
to consider include end uses and applications; the existence and 
availability of substitute products; and the level of competition among 
the Domestic Like Product produced in the United States, Subject 
Merchandise produced in the Subject Country, and such merchandise from 
other countries.
    (13) (Optional) A statement of whether you agree with the above 
definitions of the Domestic Like Product and Domestic Industry; if you 
disagree with either or both of these definitions, please explain why 
and provide alternative definitions.

    Authority: This review is being conducted under authority of 
Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published 
pursuant to section 207.61 of the Commission's rules.

    Issued: December 20, 2013.

    By order of the Commission.
Lisa R. Barton,
Acting Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-30798 Filed 12-31-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P