[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 99 (Friday, May 22, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29622-29625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12254]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-552-818]


Certain Steel Nails From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
imports of certain steel nails from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 
(Vietnam) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at 
less-than-fair value, as provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act). The final weighted-average dumping margins 
of sales at less than fair value are listed below in the ``Final 
Determination Margins'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective date: May 22, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edythe Artman or Dena Crossland, AD/
CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3931 or (202) 482-3362, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Department published its preliminary determination on December 
29, 2014.\1\ On January 2, 2015, United Nail Products Co., Ltd. (United 
Nail), a mandatory respondent in this investigation, filed a letter 
stating that it had decided to withdraw from the proceeding and would 
not be participating in a verification of its questionnaire responses. 
On January 7, 2015, the other mandatory respondent, Region Industries 
Co., Ltd. (Region Industries), filed a letter to the same effect. On 
February 18, 2015, we received a case brief from Petitioner, Mid-
Continent Steel & Wire, Inc. We did not receive any rebuttal comments 
or requests for a hearing from interested parties. Based on the events 
that transpired after the preliminary determination and an analysis of 
the comments received, the Department has made changes to the 
Preliminary Determination.
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    \1\ See Certain Steel Nails From the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value 
and Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 79 FR 78058 (December 29, 2014) (Preliminary 
Determination) and the accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is October 1, 2013, through March 31, 
2014.

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is certain steel nails 
from Vietnam. For a full description of the scope of the investigation, 
see Appendix I to this notice.
    Since the Preliminary Determination, several interested parties 
(i.e., IKEA Supply AG, The Home Depot, Target Corporation, and 
Petitioner) commented on the scope of these investigations. The 
Department reviewed these comments and made certain changes. For 
further discussion, see the Issue and Decision Memorandum.\2\ The scope 
in Appendix I reflects all modifications to the scope made by the 
Department for this final determination.
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    \2\ See Memorandum to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, from 
Abdelali Elouaradia, Acting Office Director, Office VI, Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Operations, regarding ``Issue and Decision 
Memorandum for the Final Determination of the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Certain Steel Nails from the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam'' (Issue and Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with 
this determination and hereby adopted by this notice.
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Verification

    In light of each mandatory respondent's decision to withdraw from 
the investigation and not to participate in a verification, we 
conducted no verifications.

Analysis of Comments Received

    Petitioner raised one issue in its case brief, which is addressed 
in the Issue and Decision Memorandum. A list of the contents of this 
memorandum is attached to this notice in Appendix II. The Issue 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 (ACCESS). Access to this system 
is available to registered and guest users at http://access.trade.gov 
and is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, room 7046 
of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Issue and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
on the Internet at http://www.trade.gov/enforcement/frn/index.html. The 
signed and electronic versions of the Issue and Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on consideration of the events that transpired after the 
preliminary determination and our analysis of the comments received, we 
find that Region Industries and United Nail are not separate from the 
Vietnam-wide entity and that the estimated dumping margin for the 
entity should be based on the adverse facts available on the record, 
pursuant to sections 776(a)(2)(A), (C) and (D) and section 776(b) of 
the Act. This rate, derived from the Petition,\3\ was corroborated upon 
examination of the documentation supporting the Petition. For more 
details, see the accompanying Issue and Decision Memorandum and 
company-specific analysis memoranda for the final determination.
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    \3\ See Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duties: Certain Steel Nails from India, the Republic 
of Korea, Malaysia, the Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, the Republic of 
Turkey, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, dated May 29, 2014 
(Petition).
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Separate Rate

    Kosteel Vina Limited Company (Kosteel Vina) established its 
eligibility for a separate rate.\4\ The Act and

[[Page 29623]]

regulations do not address how we are to determine the dumping margin 
for separate rate companies not selected for individual examination. 
Normally, the Department's practice is to assign to separate-rate 
companies that were not individually examined a dumping margin equal to 
the average of the margins calculated for the individually examined 
respondents, excluding any margins that are zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts available. If all dumping margins for the 
individually examined respondents are zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts available, then we will use any reasonable method, 
including averaging the dumping margins for the individually examined 
respondents. In this investigation, the individually examined 
respondents are part of the Vietnam-wide entity, the rate for which is 
based entirely on facts available. We have no other reliable margin or 
data on the record to determine the separate rate for Kosteel Vina. 
Therefore, we have assigned the sole petition rate of 323.99 percent, 
which was corroborated by documentation supporting the petition, and is 
the only available rate on the record, to Kosteel Vina. For more 
details, see the Separate Rate memorandum for the final 
determination.\5\
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    \4\ See the Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 7 and 8.
    \5\ See Memorandum to Brian Davis, Acting Program Manager, 
Office VI, from Edythe Artman, International Trade Compliance 
Analyst, Office VI, regarding ``Change in Rate for the Separate-Rate 
Company,'' dated May 13, 2015.
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Combination Rates

    In the Initiation Notice, the Department stated that it would 
calculate combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a 
separate rate in this investigation.\6\ Policy Bulletin 05.1 sets forth 
this practice.\7\
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    \6\ See Certain Steel Nails From India, the Republic of Korea, 
Malaysia, the Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigations, 79 FR 36019 (June 25, 2014) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \7\ See Enforcement and Compliance Policy Bulletin No. 05.1 
``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination Rates in 
Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy Countries,'' 
(April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on the 
Department's Web site at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Final Determination Margins

    The Department determines that the following estimated weighted-
average dumping margins exist for the period October 1, 2013, through 
March 31, 2014:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-average
           Exporter                   Producer          dumping margin
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Kosteel Vina Limited Company.  Kosteel Vina Limited              323.99%
                                Company.
Vietnam-Wide Entity*           .....................             323.99%
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Vietnam-wide entity includes the following exporters/producers:
  Region Industries Co., Ltd., United Nail Products Co., Ltd., Cong Ty
  Tnhh Cong Nghe Nhua A Chau, Kim Tin Group, Megastar Co., Ltd. and
  Simone Accessories Collection.

Disclosure

    Normally, the Department discloses to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with a final determination within 
five days of the date of public announcement of the final determination 
in the Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, 
because the Department, in accordance with section 776 of the Act, 
applied adverse facts available to determine the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin for the mandatory respondents in this 
investigation, there are no calculations to disclose to parties.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with 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 appropriate entries of subject merchandise, 
as described in the ``Scope of the Investigation'' section of this 
notice, from Vietnam that were entered or withdrawn from warehouse for 
consumption on or after December 29, 2014, the publication date of the 
Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register.
    Consistent with our practice, where the product under investigation 
is also subject to a concurrent countervailing duty investigation, we 
will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the amount by 
which the normal value exceeds the export price or constructed export 
price, adjusted where appropriate for export subsidies and estimated 
domestic subsidy pass-through.\8\ In the final determination of the 
companion countervailing duty investigation of certain steel nails from 
Vietnam, the Department determined that the mandatory respondents and 
all other companies benefited from export subsidies.\9\ Thus, we will 
offset the estimated weighted-average dumping margin of 323.99 percent 
for the Vietnam-wide entity and the separate-rate company by the 
countervailing duty rate of 33.59 percent attributable to export 
subsidies,\10\ resulting in a cash-deposit rate of 290.40 percent for 
the Vietnam-wide entity and the separate-rate company.
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    \8\ See sections 772(c)(1)(C) and 777A(f) of the Act, 
respectively. Unlike in administrative reviews, the Department 
calculates the adjustment for export subsidies in less-than-fair-
value investigations not in the margin-calculation program, but in 
the cash-deposit instructions issued to CBP. See Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Negative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances: Certain Lined Paper 
Products from India, 71 FR 45012 (August 8, 2006), and accompanying 
Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
    \9\ See Certain Steel Nails From the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at 12-22, signed 
concurrently with this notice.
    \10\ See id. The following subsidy programs, countervailed for 
all companies in the final determination of the concurrent 
countervailing duty investigation, are export subsidies: 
Preferential Lending to Exporters (1.17 percent), Import Duty 
Exemptions and Reimbursements for Imported Raw Materials for 
Exported Goods (4.46 percent), Export Factoring (1.17 percent), 
Financial Guarantees (1.17 percent), Export Credits from the Vietnam 
Development Bank (0.21 percent) and Export Promotion Program (25.41 
percent).
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    With respect to the separate-rate company, Kosteel Vina, we find 
that an export subsidy adjustment of 33.59 percent to the cash deposit 
rate is warranted because this is the export subsidy rate included in 
the countervailing duty rate (i.e., the ``All Others'' rate) to which 
the separate-rate company is subject in the companion countervailing 
duty proceeding. With respect to the Vietnam-wide entity, we find that 
an export-subsidy adjustment of 33.59 percent to the cash deposit rate 
is warranted because this is the export subsidy rate included in the 
countervailing duty rate to which Vietnam-wide entries are currently 
subject.
    We are not adjusting the final determination rate for estimated 
domestic subsidy pass-through because we have no basis upon which to 
make such an adjustment.
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), we will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit for all suspended entries at an

[[Page 29624]]

ad valorem rate equal to the weighted-average amount by which normal 
value exceeds U.S. price, with the above-noted adjustments, as follows: 
(1) The rate for the exporter/producer combinations listed in the chart 
above will be the rate we have determined in this final determination; 
(2) for all Vietnamese exporters of merchandise under consideration 
which have not received their own rate, the cash-deposit rate will be 
the rate established for the Vietnam-wide entity; and (3) for all non-
Vietnamese exporters of merchandise under consideration and for all 
non-Vietnamese exporters of merchandise under consideration which have 
not received their own rate, the cash-deposit rate will be the rate 
applicable to the Vietnamese exporter/producer combination that 
supplied the non-Vietnamese exporter. These suspension-of-liquidation 
and cash-deposit instructions will remain in effect until further 
notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative 
determination of sales at less than fair value. Because the final 
determination in this proceeding is affirmative, the ITC will make its 
final determination, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, 
as to whether the domestic industry in the United States is materially 
injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of 
certain steel nails from Vietnam no later than 45 days after our final 
determination. If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of 
material injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated and 
all securities posted will be refunded or canceled. If the ITC 
determines that such injury does exist, then 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 also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (APOs) 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 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.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: May 13, 2015.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain steel 
nails having a nominal shaft length not exceeding 12 inches.\11\ 
Certain steel nails include, but are not limited to, nails made from 
round wire and nails that are cut from flat-rolled steel. Certain 
steel nails may be of one piece construction or constructed of two 
or more pieces. Certain steel nails may be produced from any type of 
steel, and may have any type of surface finish, head type, shank, 
point type and shaft diameter. Finishes include, but are not limited 
to, coating in vinyl, zinc (galvanized, including but not limited to 
electroplating or hot dipping one or more times), phosphate, cement, 
and paint. Certain steel nails may have one or more surface 
finishes. Head styles include, but are not limited to, flat, 
projection, cupped, oval, brad, headless, double, countersunk, and 
sinker. Shank styles include, but are not limited to, smooth, 
barbed, screw threaded, ring shank and fluted. Screw-threaded nails 
subject to this proceeding are driven using direct force and not by 
turning the nail using a tool that engages with the head. Point 
styles include, but are not limited to, diamond, needle, chisel and 
blunt or no point. Certain steel nails may be sold in bulk, or they 
may be collated in any manner using any material.
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    \11\ The shaft length of certain steel nails with flat heads or 
parallel shoulders under the head shall be measured from under the 
head or shoulder to the tip of the point. The shaft length of all 
other certain steel nails shall be measured overall.
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    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are certain steel 
nails packaged in combination with one or more non-subject articles, 
if the total number of nails of all types, in aggregate regardless 
of size, is less than 25. If packaged in combination with one or 
more non-subject articles, certain steel nails remain subject 
merchandise if the total number of nails of all types, in aggregate 
regardless of size, is equal to or greater than 25, unless otherwise 
excluded based on the other exclusions below.
    Also excluded from the scope are certain steel nails with a 
nominal shaft length of one inch or less that are (a) a component of 
an unassembled article, (b) the total number of nails is sixty (60) 
or less, and (c) the imported unassembled article falls into one of 
the following eight groupings: (1) Builders' joinery and carpentry 
of wood that are classifiable as windows, French-windows and their 
frames; (2) builders' joinery and carpentry of wood that are 
classifiable as doors and their frames and thresholds; (3) swivel 
seats with variable height adjustment; (4) seats that are 
convertible into beds (with the exception of those classifiable as 
garden seats or camping equipment); (5) seats of cane, osier, bamboo 
or similar materials; (6) other seats with wooden frames (with the 
exception of seats of a kind used for aircraft or motor vehicles); 
(7) furniture (other than seats) of wood (with the exception of (i) 
medical, surgical, dental or veterinary furniture; and (ii) barbers' 
chairs and similar chairs, having rotating as well as both reclining 
and elevating movements); or (8) furniture (other than seats) of 
materials other than wood, metal, or plastics (e.g., furniture of 
cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials). The aforementioned 
imported unassembled articles are currently classified under the 
following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
subheadings: 4418.10, 4418.20, 9401.30, 9401.40, 9401.51, 9401.59, 
9401.61, 9401.69, 9403.30, 9403.40, 9403.50, 9403.60, 9403.81 or 
9403.89.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are steel 
nails that meet the specifications of Type I, Style 20 nails as 
identified in Tables 29 through 33 of ASTM Standard F1667 (2013 
revision).
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are nails 
suitable for use in powder-actuated hand tools, whether or not 
threaded, which are currently classified under HTSUS subheadings 
7317.00.20.00 and 7317.00.30.00.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are nails 
having a case hardness greater than or equal to 50 on the Rockwell 
Hardness C scale (HRC), a carbon content greater than or equal to 
0.5 percent, a round head, a secondary reduced-diameter raised head 
section, a centered shank, and a smooth symmetrical point, suitable 
for use in gas-actuated hand tools.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are 
corrugated nails. A corrugated nail is made up of a small strip of 
corrugated steel with sharp points on one side.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are thumb 
tacks, which are currently classified under HTSUS subheading 
7317.00.10.00.
    Certain steel nails subject to this investigation are currently 
classified under HTSUS subheadings 7317.00.55.02, 7317.00.55.03, 
7317.00.55.05, 7317.00.55.07, 7317.00.55.08, 7317.00.55.11, 
7317.00.55.18, 7317.00.55.19, 7317.00.55.20, 7317.00.55.30, 
7317.00.55.40, 7317.00.55.50, 7317.00.55.60, 7317.00.55.70, 
7317.00.55.80, 7317.00.55.90, 7317.00.65.30, 7317.00.65.60 and 
7317.00.75.00. Certain steel nails subject to this investigation 
also may be classified under HTSUS subheading 8206.00.00.00 or other 
HTSUS subheadings.
    While the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this 
investigation is dispositive.

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Appendix II

Contents of the Accompanying Final Issue and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Scope Comments
VI. Discussion of Comments
    Comment 1: Application of Adverse Facts Available to Mandatory 
Respondents
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2015-12254 Filed 5-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P