[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9164-9167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03483]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-855]


Steel Threaded Rod from India: Preliminary Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value, Affirmative Preliminary Determination of 
Critical Circumstances, in Part, and Postponement of Final 
Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, formerly Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') preliminarily 
determines that steel threaded rod from India is being, or is likely to 
be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''), as 
provided in section 733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
``Act''). The period of investigation (``POI'') is April 1, 2012, 
through March 31, 2013. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
of sales at LTFV are listed in the ``Preliminary Determination'' 
section of this notice. Interested parties are invited to comment on 
this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective Date: February 18, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Paul Stolz or Raquel Silva, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4474 
or (202) 482-6475.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel threaded 
rod. Steel threaded rod is certain threaded rod, bar, or studs, of 
carbon quality steel, having a solid, circular cross section, of any 
diameter, in any straight length, that have been forged, turned, cold-
drawn, cold-rolled, machine straightened, or otherwise cold-finished, 
and into which threaded grooves have been applied. In addition, the 
steel threaded rod, bar, or studs subject to this investigation are 
non-headed and threaded along greater than 25 percent of their total 
length. A variety of finishes or coatings, such as plain oil finish as 
a temporary rust protectant, zinc coating (i.e., galvanized, whether by 
electroplating or hot-dipping), paint, and other similar finishes and 
coatings, may be applied to the merchandise. For a complete description 
of the scope of the investigation, see Appendix I to this notice.

Postponement of Final Determination

    Pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the Act, on December 13, 2013, and 
December 18, 2013, Petitioners \1\ and Mangal Steel Enterprises Limited 
(``Mangal''), one of the mandatory respondents in this proceeding, 
respectively, requested that the Department postpone the final 
determination.\2\ In accordance with section 733(d) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.210(b), because (1) our preliminary determination is 
affirmative, (2) the requesting exporter accounts for a significant 
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise, and (3) no compelling 
reasons for denial exist, we are granting the requests and are 
postponing the final determination until no later than 135 days after 
the publication of the preliminary determination notice in the Federal 
Register. Suspension of liquidation will be extended accordingly. The 
Department is further extending the application of the provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a six-month period.
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    \1\ The petition was filed by All America Threaded Products 
Inc., Bay Standard Manufacturing Inc., and Vulcan Threaded Products 
Inc. (``Petitioners'').
    \2\ See Letter from Petitioners, ``Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Steel Threaded Rod from India -- Petitioners' 
Request for Extension of Time for Final Determination,'' dated 
December 13, 2013; and Letter from Mangal, ``Steel Threaded Rod from 
India: Request for Extension of the Final Determination and 
Provisional Measures,'' dated December 18, 2013.
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Preliminary Determination of Affiliation and Collapsing

    Based on the evidence presented in Mangal's questionnaire 
responses, we preliminarily find that Mangal and Corona Steel 
Industries Private Limited (``Corona'') are affiliated pursuant to 
sections 771(33)(A) and (F) of the Act.\3\ Additionally, based on an 
analysis of the principle/agent relationship between Mangal and 
NASCO,\4\ a U.S. trader/reseller of Mangal-produced subject 
merchandise, we preliminarily find Mangal and NASCO to be partners and, 
thus, affiliated pursuant to section 771(33)(G) of the Act.\5\
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    \3\ See the Memorandum to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations 
entitled ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination of 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel Threaded Rod from 
India'' (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum''), and Memorandum to the 
File, entitled, ``Affiliation and Collapsing, Mangal Steel 
Enterprises Limited and Corona Steel Industries Private Limited,'' 
(``Affiliation and Collapsing Memorandum''), each dated concurrently 
with this notice.
    \4\ The fact that NASCO is Mangal's trader/reseller was 
initially bracketed by Mangal and identified as proprietary 
information. However, Mangal and Petitioners subsequently disclosed 
this information publicly on the record. See, e.g., Letter from 
Mangal, ``Steel Threaded Rod from India: Supplemental Section A 
Response,'' dated January 3, 2014, at 8 (stating: ``or requiring 
Mangal to only sell threaded rod in the United States through 
NASCO.''); see also Letter from Petitioners, ``Antidumping 
Investigation of Steel Threaded Rod from India -- Petitioners' 
Deficiency Comments on Response of Mangal Steel to Section A of 
Antidumping Duty Questionnaire,'' dated October 30, 2013, at 4 
(stating: ``In researching shipments of subject merchandise from 
Mangal Steel, Petitioners found that Mangal Steel had a significant 
number of shipments to a consignee called North American Steel 
Connection (NASCO). . .'' and ``Based on a general internet search 
regarding North American Steel Connection, Petitioners found that 
NASCO was a joint venture partner in another company. . .''). Once a 
party discloses its information that was formerly given proprietary 
treatment publicly, the Department no longer will treat that 
information as proprietary on the administrative record.
    \5\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    In addition, based on the evidence presented in the questionnaire 
responses, we preliminarily find that Mangal and Corona should not be 
treated as a single entity for the purposes of this investigation. This

[[Page 9165]]

finding is based on the determination that the record does not 
demonstrate significant potential for manipulation of price or 
production between Mangal and Corona pursuant to the criteria laid out 
in 19 CFR 351.401(f). For further discussion of the Department's 
affiliation and collapsing decision, see the Affiliation and Collapsing 
Memorandum. We note that we will continue to actively consider the 
issue of whether to treat Mangal and Corona as a single entity for the 
purposes of the final determination.

Methodology

    The Department has conducted this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Export prices (``EPs'') have been calculated in 
accordance with section 772 of the Act. Constructed export prices 
(``CEPs'') have been calculated in accordance with section 772(b) of 
the Act. Normal value (``NV'') has been calculated in accordance with 
section 773 of the Act. Because the mandatory respondent, Babu Exports 
(``Babu''), failed to respond to the Department's questionnaire, we 
have preliminarily determined to apply adverse facts available to this 
respondent, in accordance with sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.308. The critical circumstances allegation has been analyzed 
in accordance with section 733(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum dated concurrently 
with and hereby adopted by this notice. The Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is 
available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is 
available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, room 7046 of the 
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version 
of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the 
internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in 
Part

    On January 10, 2014, Petitioners filed a timely critical 
circumstances allegation, pursuant to section 773(e)(1) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.206(c)(1), alleging that critical circumstances exist with 
respect to imports of the merchandise under consideration.\6\ In 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(i), when a critical circumstances 
allegation is submitted more than 20 days before the scheduled date of 
the preliminary determination, the Department must issue a preliminary 
finding whether there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that 
critical circumstances exist no later than the date of the preliminary 
determination. We have conducted an analysis of critical circumstances 
in accordance with section 733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, and 
have preliminarily determined that for Mangal and All Others: (1) 
Importers likely did not know that the exporter was selling the 
merchandise under consideration at LTFV and that there was likely to be 
material injury in accordance with section 733(e)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act; 
and (2) imports of the subject merchandise did not increase in massive 
quantities over a relatively short period in accordance with section 
733(e)(1)(B) of the Act. For Babu, we have applied facts available with 
an adverse inference, and preliminarily find that: (1) Importers knew 
or should have known that the exporter was selling the merchandise 
under consideration at LTFV and that there was likely to be material 
injury in accordance with section 733(e)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act; and (2) 
imports of the subject merchandise have been massive over a relatively 
short period in accordance with section 733(e)(1)(B) of the Act. For a 
full description of the methodology and results of our analysis, please 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum and Critical Circumstances 
Memorandum.\7\
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    \6\ See letter from Petitioners, ``Antidumping Investigation of 
Steel Threaded Rod from India: Petitioners' Allegation of Critical 
Circumstances,'' dated January 10, 2014.
    \7\ See Memorandum to Melissa G. Skinner, ``Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Steel Threaded Rod from India: Critical 
Circumstances Data and Calculations for the Preliminary 
Determination,'' dated concurrently with this notice (``Critical 
Circumstances Memorandum'').
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Preliminary Determination

    We preliminary determine the weighted-average dumping margins are 
as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
                                                              Average
                  Producer or exporter                    dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Mangal Steel Enterprises Limited........................            8.63
Babu Exports............................................          119.87
All Others..............................................            8.63
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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 any margins determined entirely under section 776 
of the Act. Mangal is the only respondent in this investigation for 
which the Department calculated a company-specific rate. Therefore, for 
purposes of determining the ``all others'' rate and pursuant to section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, we are using the weighted-average dumping 
margin calculated for Mangal, as referenced above.\8\
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    \8\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils From 
Italy, 64 FR 30750, 30755 (June 8, 1999); and Notice of Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination: Coated Free Sheet Paper from Indonesia, 72 FR 
30753, 30757 (June 4, 2007), unchanged in Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Coated Free Sheet 
Paper from Indonesia, 72 FR 60636 (October 25, 2007).
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose to parties the calculations 
performed in connection with this preliminary determination within five 
days of the date of publication of this notice.\9\
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
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    Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary 
determination. Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted 
to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance via IA ACCESS 
no later than seven days after the date on which the final verification 
report is issued in this proceeding. Rebuttal briefs, the content of 
which is limited to the issues raised in the case briefs, must be filed 
within five days from the deadline date for the submission of case 
briefs.\10\ A list of authorities used, a table of contents, and an 
executive summary of issues should accompany any briefs submitted to 
the Department.\11\ Executive summaries should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. As noted above, interested parties who wish 
to comment on the preliminary determination must file briefs

[[Page 9166]]

electronically using IA ACCESS.\12\ An electronically filed document 
must be received successfully in its entirety by the Department's 
electronic records system, IA ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the 
date the document is due.
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c), 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1), and 19 CFR 
351.309(d)(2).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.303 (for general filing requirements).
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    In accordance with section 774 of the Act, the Department will hold 
a hearing, if timely requested, to afford interested parties an 
opportunity to comment on arguments raised in case or rebuttal briefs, 
provided that such a hearing is requested by an interested party.\13\ 
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 Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
filed electronically using IA ACCESS, as noted above. An electronically 
filed request must be received successfully in its entirety by the 
Department's electronic records system, IA ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern 
Time within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\14\ 
Requests should contain the following information: (1) The party's 
name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; 
and (3) a list of the issues to be discussed.\15\ If a request for a 
hearing is made, we will inform parties of the scheduled date for the 
hearing which will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.\16\ Parties 
should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the 
hearing.
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    \13\ See also 19 CFR 351.310.
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \15\ See id.
    \16\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we will direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend liquidation of 
all entries of steel threaded rod from India, 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. In addition, because we have 
preliminarily found critical circumstances exist with regard to exports 
by Babu, we will instruct CBP to suspend liquidation of Babu's covered 
entries entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption up to 90 
days prior to the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.\17\
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    \17\ See section 733(e)(2) of the Act.
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    Furthermore, consistent with our practice, where the product under 
investigation is also subject to a concurrent countervailing duty 
investigation, we instruct CBP to require a cash deposit \18\ equal to 
the amount by which the NV exceeds the EP or CEP, less the amount of 
the countervailing duty determined to constitute an export subsidy.\19\ 
In this case, with regard to Mangal and all other non-individually 
reviewed companies, the preliminarily calculated countervailing duty is 
comprised entirely of export subsidies, and, thus, we have offset the 
margin for Mangal and ``all others'' by their countervailing duty rate 
(i.e., 8.13 percent). For Babu, we offset the AFA antidumping margin 
(i.e., 119.87 percent) by the countervailing duty rate attributable to 
export subsidies (i.e., 14.69 percent).20 21
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    \18\ See 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).
    \19\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Carbazole Violet Pigment 23 From India, 69 FR 
67306, 67307 (November 17, 2004).
    \20\ See Steel Threaded Rod From India: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final 
Determination With Final Antidumping Determination, 78 FR 76815 
(December 19, 2013); Memorandum entitled, ``Decision Memorandum for 
the Preliminary Determination in the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation on Steel Threaded Rod from India,'' dated December 11, 
2013, at 20.
    \21\ See Memorandum entitled ``Preliminary Determination 
Analysis Memorandum for Mangal Steel Enterprises Limited,'' dated 
concurrently with this notice.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit \22\ equal to the preliminary weighted-average 
amount by which NV exceeds U.S. price, less the amount of the 
countervailing duty determined to constitute an export subsidy, as 
indicated above, as follows: (1) The rates will be 0.50 percent for 
Mangal and 105.18 percent for Babu; (2) if the exporter is not a firm 
identified in this investigation, but the producer is, the rate will be 
the rate established for the producer of the subject merchandise; (3) 
the rate for all other producers or exporters will be 0.50 percent. 
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.
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    \22\ See 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).
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U.S. International Trade Commission (``ITC'') Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. If 
our final determination in this proceeding is affirmative, section 
735(b)(2) of the Act requires that the ITC 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 
steel threaded rod from India before the later of 120 days after the 
date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after our final 
determination.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: February 10, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: February 10, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel threaded 
rod. Steel threaded rod is certain threaded rod, bar, or studs, of 
carbon quality steel, having a solid, circular cross section, of any 
diameter, in any straight length, that have been forged, turned, 
cold-drawn, cold-rolled, machine straightened, or otherwise cold-
finished, and into which threaded grooves have been applied. In 
addition, the steel threaded rod, bar, or studs subject to this 
investigation are nonheaded and threaded along greater than 25 
percent of their total length. A variety of finishes or coatings, 
such as plain oil finish as a temporary rust protectant, zinc 
coating (i.e., galvanized, whether by electroplating or hot-
dipping), paint, and other similar finishes and coatings, may be 
applied to the merchandise.
    Included in the scope of this investigation are steel threaded 
rod, bar, or studs, in which: (1) iron predominates, by weight, over 
each of the other contained elements; (2) the carbon content is 2 
percent or less, by weight; and (3) none of the elements listed 
below exceeds the quantity, by weight, respectively indicated:
     1.80 percent of manganese, or
     1.50 percent of silicon, or
     1.00 percent of copper, or
     0.50 percent of aluminum, or
     1.25 percent of chromium, or
     0.30 percent of cobalt, or
     0.40 percent of lead, or
     1.25 percent of nickel, or
     0.30 percent of tungsten, or
     0.012 percent of boron, or
     0.10 percent of molybdenum, or
     0.10 percent of niobium, or
     0.41 percent of titanium, or
     0.15 percent of vanadium, or

[[Page 9167]]

     0.15 percent of zirconium.
    Steel threaded rod is currently classifiable under subheadings 
7318.15.5051, 7318.15.5056, 7318.15.5090 and 7318.15.2095 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS''). 
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is 
dispositive.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are: (a) threaded 
rod, bar, or studs which are threaded only on one or both ends and 
the threading covers 25 percent or less of the total length; and (b) 
threaded rod, bar, or studs made to American Society for Testing and 
Materials (``ASTM'') A193 Grade B7, ASTM A193 Grade B7M, ASTM A193 
Grade B16, and ASTM A320 Grade L7.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
    a. Initiation
    b. Period of Investigation
    c. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
    d. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of 
Provisional Measures
    e. Scope of the Investigation
    f. Scope Comments
    g. Respondent Selection
    h. Application of Facts Available
    i. Babu
    j. Adverse Facts Available
    k. Corroboration of Information
    l. All Others Rate
    m. Critical Circumstances
3. Discussion of the Methodology
    a. Affiliation and Collapsing
    b. Date of Sale
    c. Fair Value Comparisons
    d. Determination of Comparison Method
    e. Results of the DP Analysis
    f. Product Comparisons
    g. Export Price
    h. Constructed Export Price
    i. Normal Value
    j. Currency Conversion
    k. Verification
    l. International Trade Commission Notification
4. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2014-03483 Filed 2-14-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P