[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 99 (Thursday, May 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29428-29430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11905]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-583-851]


Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From Taiwan: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``Department'') preliminarily 
determines that non-oriented electrical steel (``NOES'') from Taiwan 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 July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013. The estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins are listed in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section 
of this notice. Interested parties are invited to comment on this 
preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective May 22, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Krisha Hill or Karine Gziryan, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4037 or (202) 482-4081, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on November 18, 2013.\1\ Pursuant to a timely request 
from AK Steel Corporation, \2\ and section 773(c)(1)(A) of the Act, the 
Department postponed this preliminary LTFV determination by a period of 
50 days.\3\
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    \1\ See Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From the People's Republic 
of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan: 
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations, 78 FR 69041 (November 
18, 2013).
    \2\ AK Steel Corporation is Petitioner in this investigation.
    \3\ See Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From the People's Republic 
of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden and Taiwan: 
Postponement of Preliminary Determinations of Antidumping Duty 
Investigations, 79 FR 13987 (March 12, 2014).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise subject to this investigation consists of non-
oriented electrical steel (NOES), which includes cold-rolled, flat-
rolled, alloy steel products, whether or not in coils, regardless of 
width, having an actual thickness of 0.20 mm or more, in which the core 
loss is substantially equal in any direction of magnetization in the 
plane of the material. The term ``substantially equal'' means that the 
cross grain direction of core loss is no more than 1.5 times the 
straight grain direction (i.e., the rolling direction) of core loss. 
NOES has a magnetic permeability that does not exceed 1.65 Tesla when 
tested at a field of 800 A/m (equivalent to 10 Oersteds) along (i.e., 
parallel to) the rolling direction of the sheet (i.e., B800 
value). NOES contains by weight more than 1.00 percent of silicon but 
less than 3.5 percent of silicon, not more than 0.08 percent of carbon, 
and not more than 1.5 percent of aluminum. NOES has a surface oxide 
coating, to which an insulation coating may be applied.
    NOES is subject to this investigation whether it is fully processed 
(i.e., fully annealed to develop final magnetic properties) or semi-
processed (i.e.,

[[Page 29429]]

finished to final thickness and physical form but not fully annealed to 
develop final magnetic properties). Fully processed NOES is typically 
made to the requirements of ASTM specification A 677, Japanese 
Industrial Standards (JIS) specification C 2552, and/or International 
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) specification 60404-8-4. Semi-
processed NOES is typically made to the requirements of ASTM 
specification A 683. However, the scope of this investigation is not 
limited to merchandise meeting the ASTM, JIS and IEC specifications 
noted immediately above.
    NOES is sometimes referred to as cold-rolled non-oriented (CRNO), 
non-grain oriented (NGO), non-oriented (NO), or cold-rolled non-grain 
oriented (CRNGO) electrical steel. These terms are interchangeable.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are flat-rolled 
products not in coils that, prior to importation into the United 
States, have been cut to a shape and undergone all punching, coating, 
or other operations necessary for classification in Chapter 85 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) as a part 
(i.e., lamination) for use in a device such as a motor, generator, or 
transformer.
    The subject merchandise is provided for in subheadings 
7225.19.0000, 7226.19.1000, and 7226.19.9000 of the HTSUS. Subject 
merchandise may also be entered under subheadings 7225.50.8085, 
7225.99.0090, 7226.92.5000, 7226.92.7050, 7226.92.8050, 7226.99.0180 of 
the HTSUS. Although HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the scope is dispositive.

Methodology

    The Department conducted this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Because the mandatory respondent Leicong 
Industrial Company, Ltd. (``Leicong'') failed to respond to the 
Department's questionnaire, we preliminarily determined to apply facts 
otherwise available with an adverse inference to this respondent 
pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. In applying adverse 
facts available, we are assigning Leicong a rate of 52.23 percent. For 
CSC, export prices have been calculated in accordance with section 772 
of the Act. Normal value (``NV'') has been calculated in accordance 
with section 773 of the Act.
    For a full description of the analysis underlying our preliminary 
determination, see ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from 
Taiwan,'' (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum'') from Christian Marsh, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, 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 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is 
available to registered users at https://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is 
available to all parties 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://enforcement.trade.gov/frn. The 
signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic versions of 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

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 examined, excluding all zero or de minimis 
rates, and all rates determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. 
CSC is the only respondent in this investigation for which the 
Department calculated a company-specific rate which is not zero, de 
minimis or based entirely on facts available. 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 CSC, as the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin assigned to all other producers and exporters of the merchandise 
under consideration.

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determined that the following 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist for the producers or 
exporters during the period July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 at the 
following rates:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                    Producer or exporter                        dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
China Steel Corporation.....................................       28.14
Leicong Industrial Company, Ltd.............................       52.23
All Others..................................................       28.14
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to 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 Enforcement and Compliance 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.\4\ 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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    \4\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), 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. 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.\5\ 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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    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we are directing 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend liquidation of 
all entries of NOES from Taiwan as described in the

[[Page 29430]]

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), we will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit \6\ equal to the weighted-average amount by which the NV 
exceeds Export Price, as indicated in the chart above. These suspension 
of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \6\ 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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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Pursuant to a request from CSC, 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.\7\
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    \7\ See also 19 CFR 351.210(e); see also Letter from CSC to the 
Department, regarding ``Non-Oriented Electrical Steel (NOES) from 
Taiwan,'' dated May 2, 2014.
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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. 
Because the preliminary 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 NOES from Taiwan before the later of 
120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days 
after our final determination. Because we are postponing the deadline 
for our final determination to 135 days from the date of the 
publication of this preliminary determination, as discussed above, the 
ITC will make its final determination no later than 45 days after our 
final determination.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: May 15, 2014.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Period of Investigation
4. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
5. Scope Comments
6. Scope of the Investigation
7. Selection of Respondents
8. Discussion of Methodology
    a. Fair Value Comparisons
    b. Product Comparisons
    c. Date of Sale
    d. U.S. Price
    e. Normal Value
    i. Home Market Viability
    ii. Overruns
    iii. Level of Trade
    iv. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Home Market Prices
    f. Cost of Production
    i. Calculation of COP
    ii. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
    iii. Results of COP Test
9. Currency Conversion
10. Verification

[FR Doc. 2014-11905 Filed 5-21-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P