[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 178 (Monday, September 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54967-54969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21982]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-844]


Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar From Mexico: Final Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) from Mexico 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 of sales 
at LTFV are listed in the ``Final Determination'' section of this 
notice. The Department also determines that critical circumstances 
exist with respect to imports of rebar from Mexico from mandatory 
respondents Deacero S.A.P.I. de C.V. and Deacero USA, Inc. 
(collectively, Deacero) and Grupo Acerero S.A. de C.V. (Acerero), the 
voluntary respondent, Grupo Simec (Simec)/Orge S.A. de C.V. (Orge) 
(collectively Simec), and Mexican firms that are subject to the all 
others rate.

DATES: Effective Date: September 15, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Moore (Deacero), or Joy 
Zhang (Simec), 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) 482-3692 or (202) 482-1168.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On April 24, 2014, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register.\1\ In the Preliminary 
Determination, we postponed the final determination until no later than 
135 days after the publication of the Preliminary Determination in 
accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii) and (e) and invited parties to comment on our 
Preliminary Determination. On August 4, 2014, we received case briefs 
from Petitioner,\2\ Deacero, Simec, and Acerero. On August 11, 2014, we 
received rebuttal briefs from Petitioner, Deacero, and Simec.
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    \1\ See Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Turkey: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, and 
Postponement of Final Determination, 79 FR 22804 (April 24, 2014) 
(Preliminary Determination).
    \2\ Petitioner is the Rebar Trade Action Coalition and its 
members: Nucor Corporation, Gerdau Ameristeel U.S. Inc., Commercial 
Metals Company, Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, Inc., and Byer Steel 
Corporation.
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013.

Scope Comments

    On June 19, 2014, Petitioner submitted a request that the 
Department amend the scope of this investigation to exclude certain 
types of deformed steel wire by inserting the sentence below 
immediately before the last sentence of the current scope language:

    Also excluded from the scope is deformed steel wire meeting ASTM 
A1064/A1064M with no bar markings (e.g., mill mark, size, or grade) 
and without being subject to an elongation test.

We solicited comments on the scope of the investigation from interested 
parties in the Initiation Notice \3\ and case briefs.\4\ Because no 
other interested party has submitted comments regarding the 
Petitioner's request to amend the scope language, and we see no reason 
to deny Petitioner's request, we incorporated this amendment into the 
``Scope of the Investigation'' section below.
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    \3\ See Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Mexico and Turkey: 
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations, 78 FR 60827 (October 
2, 2013) (Initiation Notice).
    \4\ See Preliminary Determination, 79 FR at 22803.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise subject to this investigation is steel concrete 
reinforcing bar imported in either straight length or coil form (rebar) 
regardless of metallurgy, length, diameter, or grade. The subject 
merchandise is classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) primarily under item numbers 7213.10.0000, 
7214.20.0000, and 7228.30.8010.
    The subject merchandise may also enter under other HTSUS numbers 
including 7215.90.1000, 7215.90.5000, 7221.00.0015, 7221.00.0030, 
7221.00.0045, 7222.11.0001, 7222.11.0057, 7222.11.0059, 7222.30.0001, 
7227.20.0080, 7227.90.6085, 7228.20.1000, and 7228.60.6000. 
Specifically excluded are plain rounds (i.e., non-deformed or smooth 
rebar). Also excluded from the scope is deformed steel wire meeting 
ASTM A1064/A1064M with no bar markings (e.g., mill mark, size or grade) 
and without being subject to an elongation test. HTSUS numbers are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes; however, the written 
description of the scope remains dispositive.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we conducted sales and 
cost verifications of the questionnaire responses submitted by Deacero 
and Simec. We used standard verification procedures, including 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, as well as 
original source

[[Page 54968]]

documents provided by both companies.\5\
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    \5\ See Memorandum to Melissa G. Skinner, Director, Office III, 
Operations, ``Verification of the Sales response of Grupo Simec and 
Constructed Export Sales of Simec USA in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Mexico,'' (July 
1, 2014), see also Memorandum to Neal M. Halper, ``Verification of 
the Cost Response of Grupo Simec in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Mexico,'' (July 
11, 2014), see also Memorandum to Melissa G. Skinner, Director, 
Office III, Operations, ``Verification of the Sales Response of 
Deacero in the 2012-2013 Antidumping Duty Investigation of Concrete 
Steel Reinforcing Bar (Rebar) from Mexico,'' (July 7, 2014), see 
also Memorandum to Neal M. Halper, ``Verification of the Cost 
Response of Deacero S.A.P.I. de C.V. in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Mexico,'' (July 
25, 2014).
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Analysis of the Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs for this 
investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\6\ A 
list of the issues which parties raised and to which we responded in 
the Issues and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice as an 
Appendix. The Issues and 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 it is available to all parties in the Central 
Records Unit (CRU), room 7046 of the main Department of Commerce 
building. 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 versions of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \6\ See the memorandum from Deputy Assistant Secretary Christian 
Marsh to Assistant Secretary Paul Piquado entitled ``Issues and 
Decision Memorandum for the Final Affirmative Determination in the 
Less than Fair Value Investigation of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar 
from Mexico,'' dated concurrently with this notice and hereby 
adopted by this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received, pre-verification 
corrections, and our findings at verification, we made certain changes 
to the margin calculations for Deacero. For Simec, we determined to 
apply a margin based on total adverse facts available. Our 
determination for Acerero, to apply a margin based on total adverse 
facts available, remains unchanged from the Preliminary Determination.

Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    On December 17, 2013, Petitioner filed a timely critical 
circumstances allegation pursuant to section 733(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.\7\ Based on 
our analysis, pursuant to 735(a)(3), we continue to find that critical 
circumstances exist with regard to imports of rebar from Deacero, 
Acerero, and the Mexican firms subject to the all others rate.
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    \7\ See Petitioners' submission, ``Steel Concrete Reinforcing 
Bar from Mexico: Critical Circumstances Allegation,'' dated December 
17, 2013.
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    For further information concerning our analysis, see the ``Critical 
Circumstances'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Final Determination

    For the final determination, the following margins exist for the 
following entities for the POI:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                  Producer or exporter                        average
                                                          dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Deacero S.A.P.I. de C.V.................................           20.58
Grupo Acerero S.A. de C.V...............................           66.70
Grupo Simec.............................................           66.70
All Others..............................................           20.58
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    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 all rates that are 
zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. 
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 Deacero as the weighted-average 
dumping margin for all other producers and exporters of subject 
merchandise.

Disclosure

    We will disclose the calculations performed within five days of the 
date of publication of this notice to parties in this proceeding in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    As noted above, the Department reached an affirmative critical 
circumstances determination at both the Preliminary Determination and 
final determination with respect to imports of the merchandise under 
consideration from Deacero, Acerero, and the Mexican firms subject to 
the all others rate. Therefore, in accordance with section 735(c)(4)(A) 
of the Act, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
to continue to suspend liquidation of entries of rebar from Mexico from 
Deacero, Acerero, and the Mexican firms subject to the all others rate 
that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after January 24, 2014, which is 90 days prior to publication of the 
Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register, and require a cash 
deposit for such entries as noted above. Because the Department reached 
a negative critical circumstances determination at the Preliminary 
Determination, and an affirmative critical circumstances determination 
at the final determination with respect to Simec, pursuant to section 
735(c)(4)(B) of the Act, the Department will instruct CBP to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of rebar from Mexico from Simec which were 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
January 24, 2014,which is 90-days prior to the date of publication of 
the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register, and require a 
cash deposit for such entries as noted above.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(l) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(d), the 
Department will instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the 
weighted-average dumping margins indicated in the table above.\8\ 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. The rate for all other producers or exporters 
will be 20.58 percent ad valorem. These suspension of liquidation and 
cash deposit instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \8\ 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 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because 
the final

[[Page 54969]]

determination in this proceeding is affirmative, in accordance with 
section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will 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 
rebar from Mexico no later than 45 days after our final determination. 
If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material injury 
does not exist, the proceeding will be terminated and all securities 
posted will be refunded or canceled. If the ITC determines that such 
injury does exist, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order 
directing CBP to assess antidumping duties on all imports of the 
merchandise under investigation entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders (APO)

    This notice also serves as a reminder to the parties subject to the 
APO of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary 
information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. 
Timely written notification of the return or destruction of APO 
materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an 
APO is a sanctionable violation.
    This determination and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i)(l) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: September 8, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix--List of Issues Discussed in the Final Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. List of Comments
III. Background
IV. Application of Adverse Facts Available With Regard to Acerero 
and Simec
V. Critical Circumstances
VI. Scope Comments
VII. Scope of the Investigation
VIII. All Others Rate
IX. Discussion of the Issues
General Issues
    Comment 1: Scope of the Subject Merchandise
    Comment 2: Whether Cooling Method Should Be Incorporated Into 
CONNUMs
Issues Regarding Deacero
    Comment 3: Whether Certain Home Market Sales Are Outside the 
Ordinary Course of Trade
    Comment 4: Application of Adverse Facts Available for Deacero's 
Unreported U.S. Sales
    Comment 5: Critical Circumstances Finding
Issues Regarding Simec
    Comment 6: Application of Total Adverse Facts Available to Simec
    Comment 7: Whether Constructed Value Can Be Used as the Basis 
for Normal Value
    Comment 8: Whether the Department Can Calculate Indirect Selling 
Expenses From the Information on the Record
    Comment 9: Whether Simec's Sales to Affiliated Distributors Were 
Made at Arm's Length
Issues Regarding Acerero
    Comment 10: Whether the Application of Total AFA With Regard to 
Acerero is Warranted
    Comment 11: Whether the AFA Rate Applied to Acerero is Punitive 
and Excessive
X. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2014-21982 Filed 9-12-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P