[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 134 (Monday, July 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40712-40714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16421]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-856]


Steel Threaded Rod From India: Final Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination and Partial Final Affirmative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``Department'') determines that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters 
of steel threaded rod from India. For information on the estimated 
subsidy rates, see the ``Suspension of Liquidation'' section of this 
notice.

DATES: Effective Date: July 14, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Begnal or Andrew Medley, 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: 202-482-1442 
and 202-482-4987, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This investigation, which covers 13 programs, was initiated on July 
24, 2013.\1\ The petitioners in this investigation are All America 
Threaded Products Inc., Bay Standard Manufacturing, Inc., and Vulcan 
Threaded Products Inc. In addition to the Government of India 
(``GOI''), the respondents in this investigation are Mangal Steel 
Enterprises Ltd. (``Mangal Steel'') and Babu Exports (``Babu'').
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    \1\ See Steel Threaded Rod From India: Initiation of 
Countervailing Duty Investigation, 78 FR 44532 (July 24, 2013) and 
accompanying Initiation Checklist.
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Period of Investigation

    The period for which we are measuring subsidies, or period of 
investigation (``POI''), is January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012.

Case History

    The events that occurred since the Department published the 
Preliminary Determination on December 19, 2013,\2\ are discussed in the 
Memorandum to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Steel 
Threaded Rod from India'' (``Issues and Decision Memorandum'').\3\
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    \2\ 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) (``Preliminary Determination'').
    \3\ Public versions of all business proprietary documents and 
all public documents are on file electronically via Enforcement and 
Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized 
Electronic Service System (``IA ACCESS''). Access to IA ACCESS is 
available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov and in 
the Department's Central Records Unit, room 7046 of the main 
Department of Commerce building.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel threaded 
rod. For a complete description of the scope of the investigation, see 
Appendix 1 to this notice.

Critical Circumstances

    In our Preliminary Critical Circumstances Determination, we 
determined that critical circumstances do not exist for Mangal Steel, 
but do exist with respect to imports from Babu and ``all other'' 
exporters of steel threaded rod from India.\4\ No party submitted 
comments with respect to, and we made no changes to, our preliminary 
affirmative critical circumstances determination. Therefore, in 
accordance with section 705(a)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(``the Act''), we continue to find that critical circumstances exist 
with respect to imports from Babu and ``all other'' exporters of steel 
threaded rod from India.
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    \4\ See Steel Threaded Rod from India: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances for the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation, 79 FR 9162 (February 18, 2014) (``Preliminary 
Critical Circumstances Determination'').
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Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received

    The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in 
the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation are 
discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, which is hereby 
adopted by this notice.

[[Page 40713]]

A list of subsidy programs and the issues that parties raised, and to 
which we responded in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, is attached 
to this notice as Appendix 2. In addition, a complete version of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the Internet 
at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed Issues and 
Decision Memorandum and the electronic version of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Use of Adverse Facts Available for Babu

    For purposes of this Final Determination, we continue to apply 
adverse facts available (``AFA'') to Babu in accordance with sections 
776(a) and (b) of the Act. A full discussion of our decision to rely on 
AFA is presented in the Issues and Decision Memorandum under the 
section ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences.''

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 705(c)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated an individual rate for each respondent. We determine the 
total net countervailable subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
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Mangal Steel Enterprises Ltd. (``Mangal'')..............            8.61
Babu Exports (``Babu'').................................           39.46
All Others..............................................            8.61
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act states that for companies not 
individually investigated, we will determine an ``all others'' rate 
equal to the weighted average of the countervailable subsidy rates 
established for exporters and producers individually investigated, 
excluding any zero and de minimis countervailable subsidy rates, and 
any rates based entirely on acts available under section 776 of the 
Act.
    For this final determination, because we are applying total AFA to 
Babu, the only calculated total net countervailable subsidy rate is the 
rate we determined for Mangal Steel. Therefore, for the all others 
rate, we are using Mangal Steel's rate.
    As a result of our Preliminary Determination and pursuant to 
section 703(d) of the Act, we instructed U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (``CBP'') to suspend liquidation of all entries of subject 
merchandise from India which were entered or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after December 19, 2013, the date of the 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. 
Subsequently, as a result of our Preliminary Critical Circumstances 
Determination, we instructed CBP to suspend liquidation of all entries 
of subject merchandise from Babu and ``all other'' exporters of steel 
threaded rod from India which were entered or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after September 20, 2013, which is 90 days prior 
to the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the 
Federal Register.
    In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, we issued 
instructions to CBP to discontinue the suspension of liquidation for 
countervailing duty (``CVD'') purposes for subject merchandise entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, on or after April 19, 2014, but to 
continue the suspension of liquidation of all entries from September 
20, 2013 or December 19, 2013, as applicable, through April 18, 2014.
    If the International Trade Commission (``ITC'') issues a final 
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a CVD order and 
reinstate the suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of the Act 
and will require a cash deposit of estimated CVDs for such entries of 
merchandise in the amounts indicated above. If the ITC determines that 
material injury, or threat of material injury, does not exist, this 
proceeding will be terminated and all estimated duties deposited or 
securities posted as a result of the suspension of liquidation will be 
refunded or canceled.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our determination. In addition, we are making available to the 
ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information related to this 
investigation. We will allow the ITC access to all privileged and 
business proprietary information in our files, provided the ITC 
confirms that it will not disclose such information, either publicly or 
under an administrative protective order (``APO''), without the written 
consent of the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury 
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties 
subject to an APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction of 
proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of the return/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 that is subject to sanction.
    This determination is published pursuant to sections 705(d) and 
777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: July 3, 2014.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix 1--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
     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

[[Page 40714]]

B7, ASTM A193 Grade B7M, ASTM A193 Grade B16, and ASTM A320 Grade 
L7.

Appendix 2--Subsidy Programs and Issues in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. SUMMARY
II. BACKGROUND
III. SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION
IV. SUBSIDY VALUATION INFORMATION
    A. Allocation Period
    B. Attribution of Subsidies
    C. Benchmarks and Discount Rates
    1. Short-Term and Long-Term Rupee Denominated Loans
    2. Short-Term and Long-Term U.S. Dollar Denominated Loans
    3. EPCGS Discount Rate
    D. Denominators
V. USE OF FACTS OTHERWISE AVAILABLE AND ADVERSE INFERENCES
    Babu
    Selection of the Adverse Facts Available Rate
    Corroboration of Secondary Information
VI. ANALYSIS OF PROGRAMS
    A. Programs Determined To Be Countervailable
    1. Pre- and Post-Shipment Export Financing
    2. Duty Drawback (``DDB'')
    3. Export Promotion of Capital Goods Scheme (``EPCGS'')
    4. Focus Product Scheme (``FPS'')
    5. Status Holder Incentive Scrip (``SHIS'')
    B. Program Determined To Be Terminated
    1. Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme (``DEPS'')
    C. Programs Determined To Be Not Used by Mangal Steel During the 
POI
    1. Government of India Programs
    a. Advance Licenses Program
    b. GOI Loan Guarantees
    2. State Government of Maharashtra Programs
    a. Industrial Promotion Subsidy
    b. Octroi Refund Scheme
    c. Electricity Duty Exemption
    d. Waiver of Stamp Duty
    e. Incentives to Strengthen Micro-, Small-, and Medium-Sized 
Manufacturing Enterprises
    D. Final AFA Rates Determined for Programs Used by Babu
VII. CALCULATION OF THE ALL OTHERS RATE
VIII. DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES
    Comment 1: Manner in Which the Department Should Calculate the 
Benefit Under the Status Holder Incentive Scrip
    Comment 2: Manner in Which the Department Should Calculate the 
Benefit Under the Pre- and Post-Shipment Export Financing Program
    Comment 3: Manner in Which the Department Should Calculate the 
Benefits Under the Focus Product Scheme
    Comment 4: Whether the Indian Duty Drawback Program is 
Countervailable
    Comment 5: Whether the Countervailing Duty Subsidy Rate Applied 
to Babu Exports is Appropriate
    Comment 6: Minor Corrections to Calculations for Export 
Promotion of Capital Goods Scheme
IX. RECOMMENDATION

[FR Doc. 2014-16421 Filed 7-11-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P