[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 198 (Tuesday, October 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61612-61614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24374]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-872]


Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From the Republic of Korea: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Negative Final 
Determination of Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
imports of non-oriented electrical steel from the Republic of Korea are 
being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair 
value (LTFV), as provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act). The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
are listed below in the ``Final Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective Date: October 14, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dmitry Vladimirov, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0665.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 22, 2014, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register.\1\

[[Page 61613]]

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 invited parties to comment on our 
Preliminary Determination. We received case and rebuttal briefs from 
the petitioner, AK Steel Corporation, and POSCO/Daewoo International 
Corporation (collectively, POSCO) in August 2014. On June 19, 2014, 
POSCO requested a hearing, but withdrew its request on August 19, 
2014.\2\
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    \1\ See Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the Republic of 
Korea: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value, Negative Preliminary Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, and Postponement of Final Determination, 79 FR 29426 
(May 22, 2014) (Preliminary Determination).
    \2\ See POSCO letter entitled ``Non-Oriented Electrical Steel 
from the Republic of Korea: Withdrawal of Request for Hearing'' 
dated August 19, 2014.
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Period of Investigation

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

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., 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.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to 
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.\3\ A list of the issues which parties raised and to which 
we responded is in the Issues and Decision Memorandum and 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 and the electronic 
versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.
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    \3\ See the memorandum from Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary 
Gary Taverman to Assistant Secretary Paul Piquado entitled ``Issues 
and Decision Memorandum for the Final Affirmative Determination in 
the Less than Fair Value Investigation of Non-Oriented Electrical 
Steel from the Republic of Korea'' 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 verifications, we made certain changes 
to the margin calculations for POSCO. For a discussion of these 
changes, see the ``Margin Calculations'' section of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.\4\
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    \4\ See also Memorandum to Neal Halper entitled ``Cost of 
Production, Constructed Value, and Further Manufacturing Calculation 
Adjustments for the Final Determination--POSCO'' dated concurrently 
with this notice and Memorandum to the File entitled ``Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value in the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation of Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the 
Republic of Korea--Analysis Memorandum for POSCO'' dated 
concurrently with this notice.
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in June and July 2014, we 
conducted sales and cost verifications of the questionnaire responses 
submitted by POSCO. We used standard verification procedures, including 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, as well as 
original source documents provided by POSCO.\5\
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    \5\ See Memorandum to the File entitled ``Verification of the 
Cost Response of POSCO Corporation in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the Republic of 
Korea'' dated July 28, 2014; Memorandum to the File entitled 
``Verification of the Sales Response of POSCO in the Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigation of Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the 
Republic of Korea'' dated August 6, 2014; and Memorandum to the File 
entitled ``Verification of the Sales Response of POSCO's U.S. 
affiliate, Daewoo International America, in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the Republic of 
Korea'' dated August 6, 2014.
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Final Determination

    The estimated weighted-average dumping margins for this final 
determination are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                  Producer or exporter                        average
                                                          dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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POSCO/Daewoo International Corporation..................            6.88
All Others..............................................            6.88
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Disclosure

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed for this final 
determination within five days after the date of

[[Page 61614]]

publication of this notice to parties in this proceeding in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, the Department will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all entries of non-oriented electrical steel 
from the Republic of Korea which were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after May 22, 2014, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination. We also will instruct CBP 
to require a cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by which 
normal value exceeds U.S. price, as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate 
for the mandatory respondent listed above will be equal to the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin determined in this final 
determination; (2) if the exporter is not a firm identified in this 
investigation but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be 
equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for 
the producer of the subject merchandise; (3) the cash deposit rate for 
all other producers or exporters will be 6.88 percent, as discussed in 
the ``All Others Rate'' section, below. These suspension of liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

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 any rates that are zero, 
de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. 
Accordingly, the ``All Others'' rate is equal to the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin calculated for POSCO, the only company 
for which the Department calculated a rate.\6\
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    \6\ See section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.
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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we notified the U.S. 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our final determination. As our 
final determination is affirmative, in accordance with section 
735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will determine within 45 days whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the 
likelihood of sales) for importation of the subject merchandise. If the 
ITC determines that such injury exists, the Department will issue an 
antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by the Department, antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of the destruction or return 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.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(l) of the Act.

    Dated: October 6, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Critical Circumstances
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Margin Calculations
VI. Discussion of the Issues
    1. Home Market Level of Trade
    2. Home Market Sales Outside of the Ordinary Course of Trade
    3. Denial of Offsets for Non-Dumped Sales When Using the 
Average-to-Transaction Method as an Alternative Comparison Method
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2014-24374 Filed 10-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P