[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 225 (Friday, November 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69424-69425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27683]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-601]


Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and 
Unfinished, From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Preliminary 
Results of Changed Circumstances Review and Extension of the Final 
Results

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

SUMMARY: On June 28, 2013, the Department of Commerce (the Department) 
initiated a changed circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty 
(AD) order on tapered roller bearings (TRBs) and parts thereof, 
finished and unfinished, from the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 
order to determine whether Shanghai General Bearing Co., Ltd. (SGBC/
SKF), a producer/exporter of TRBs in the PRC, is the successor-in-
interest to a company revoked from the AD order on TRBs in 1997 (also 
known as ``SGBC''). We preliminarily determine that SGBC/SKF is the 
successor-in-interest to SGBC. Interested parties are invited to 
comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Effective Date: November 21, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Banea, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0656.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On June 15, 1987, the Department published in the Federal Register 
the AD order on TRBs from the PRC.\1\ On February 11, 1997, the 
Department revoked the order on TRBs from the PRC with respect to 
merchandise produced and exported by SGBC, effective as of June 1, 
1994.\2\
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    \1\ See Antidumping Duty Order: Tapered Roller Bearings and 
Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, From the People's Republic 
of China, 52 FR 22667 (June 15, 1987).
    \2\ See Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and 
Unfinished, From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Revocation in Part of 
Antidumping Duty Order, 62 FR 6189, 6214 (February 11, 1997).
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    Effective August 1, 2012, the majority shareholder of SGBC, the 
General Bearing Corporation (GBC), merged with AB SKF (SKF) and, as a 
result of the merger, both GBC and SGBC became part of the SKF Group. 
On February 13, 2013, SGBC/SKF \3\ requested that the Department 
conduct a CCR pursuant to 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii) to determine whether 
it is the successor-in-interest to SGBC as it existed prior to its 
affiliation with SKF.
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    \3\ Hereinafter, we refer to the post-merger company as SGBC/SKF 
and the pre-merger entity as SGBC.
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    On June 28, 2013, the Department published in the Federal Register 
a notice initiating a CCR to address this question.\4\ Between July 
2013 and February 2014, the Department requested additional information 
from SGBC/SKF, and SGBC/SKF submitted its responses to these requests 
from August 2013 through March 2014. Between September 2013 and July 
2014, we received comments on SGBC/SKF's submissions from the Timken 
Company, the petitioner in this proceeding. In December 2013, we also 
received comments from Stemco LP (Stemco), a U.S. manufacturer and 
importer of TRBs.
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    \4\ See Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and 
Unfinished, From the People's Republic of China: Initiation of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 78 FR 38943 (June 28, 
2013).
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Scope of the Order

    Imports covered by the order are shipments of tapered roller 
bearings and parts thereof, finished and unfinished, from the People's 
Republic of China; flange, take up cartridge, and hanger units 
incorporating tapered roller bearings; and tapered roller housings 
(except pillow blocks) incorporating tapered rollers, with or without 
spindles, whether or not for automotive use. These products are 
currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS) item numbers 8482.20.00, 8482.91.0050, 8482.99.15, 
8482.99.45, 8483.20.40, 8483.20.80, 8483.30.80, 8483.90.20, 8483.90.30, 
8483.90.80, 8708.70.6060, 8708.99.2300, 8708.99.4850, 8708.99.6890, 
8708.99.8115 and, 8708.99.8180. Although the HTSUS item numbers are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the

[[Page 69425]]

written description of the scope of the order is dispositive.

Successor-in-Interest Determination

    In accordance with section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), we are conducting this CCR based upon the 
information contained in SGBC/SKF's and other interested parties' 
submissions. In making a successor-in-interest determination, the 
Department examines several factors, including, but not limited to, 
changes in the following: (1) Management; (2) production facilities; 
(3) supplier relationships; and (4) customer base.\5\ While no single 
factor or combination of factors will necessarily provide a dispositive 
indication of a successor-in-interest relationship, generally, the 
Department will consider the new company to be the successor to the 
previous company if the new company's resulting operation is not 
materially dissimilar to that of its predecessor.\6\ Thus, if the 
record evidence demonstrates that, with respect to the production and 
sale of the subject merchandise, the new company operates as the same 
business entity as the predecessor company, the Department will 
generally accord the new company the same AD treatment as its 
predecessor.\7\
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    \5\ See, e.g., Pressure Sensitive Plastic Tape from Italy: 
Preliminary of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 75 FR 
8925 (February 26, 2010), unchanged in Pressure Sensitive Plastic 
Tape from Italy: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review, 75 FR 27706 (May 18, 2010); and Brake Rotors 
from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Changed 
Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 70 FR 69941 
(November 18, 2005) (Brake Rotors), citing Brass Sheet and Strip 
from Canada: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 57 FR 20460 (May 13, 1992).
    \6\ See, e.g., Brake Rotors.
    \7\ Id.; see also, e.g., Notice of Initiation and Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review: Certain 
Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India, 77 FR 64953 (October 24, 2012), 
unchanged in Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances 
Review: Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India, 77 FR 73619 
(December 11, 2012).
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    SGBC was revoked from the order in 1997 and became part of the SKF 
Group in 2012. In conducting a successor-in-interest analysis, while we 
generally consider information from immediately before and after the 
formation of a new entity, the Department considers all information on 
the record relevant to the determination.\8\ In the instant case, we 
compared SGBC/SKF to the entity that was revoked from the order, and we 
considered the changes to that entity since revocation.
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    \8\ See Certain Pasta from Italy: Notice of Preliminary Results 
of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 79 FR 28481, 28482 
(May 16, 2014), unchanged in Certain Pasta from Italy: Notice of 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 79 
FR 56339 (September 19, 2014).
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Preliminary Results

    We preliminarily find SGBC/SKF to be the successor-in-interest to 
SGBC because the information on the record indicates that SGBC/SKF 
continues to operate as essentially the same entity that was revoked 
from the order. Although there were changes in SGBC's production 
process and board membership after revocation, these changes were made 
over a number of years and do not appear to be linked to changes in 
ownership structure. Rather, they are changes generally in the normal 
course of business that would occur over such a long period (i.e., 
approximately two decades). Thus, after considering the facts on the 
record as a whole, we do not find that SGBC/SKF's operations (based on 
an examination of its management, production facilities, supplier 
relationships, and customer base), changed so significantly such that 
we would find that that it is a different entity from SGBC. For the 
Department's detailed analysis, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\9\
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    \9\ See the memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance 
entitled, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review Requested by Shanghai 
General Bearing Company: Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, 
Finished and Unfinished, from the People's Republic of China,'' 
dated concurrently with these results and hereby adopted by this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Public Comment

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), any interested party may request a 
hearing within 10 business days of publication of this notice.\10\ 
Parties will be notified of the time and date of any hearing, if 
requested. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii), interested parties may 
submit case briefs and/or written comments not later than 10 business 
days after the publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, and 
rebuttals to written comments, which must be limited to issues raised 
in such briefs or comments, may be filed not later than 15 business 
days after the date of publication of this notice.\11\ Parties who 
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this CCR are requested to 
submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue; and (2) a 
brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities. 
Interested parties who wish to comment on the preliminary results must 
file briefs electronically using 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. 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\ This regulation authorizes the Department to alter the time 
limit for requesting a hearing; see also 19 CFR 351.303 for general 
filing requirements.
    \11\ This regulation authorizes the Department to alter the time 
limit for submitting case briefs.
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Final Results of the Review

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(e), the final results of this CCR 
are due on November 29, 2014. However, 19 CFR 351.302(b) provides that 
the Department may, for good cause, extend any time limit unless 
expressly precluded by statute. Therefore, to provide time for an 
adequate briefing schedule and to analyze the comments received, if 
any, we are extending the time period for issuing the final results of 
this CCR until January 31, 2015.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice is issued and published in accordance with sections 
751(b) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221.

    Dated: November 17, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014-27683 Filed 11-20-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P