[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 174 (Wednesday, September 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54261-54267]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22557]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-602-809, A-351-845, A-588-874, A-580-883, A-421-813, A-489-826, A-
412-825]


Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia, Brazil, 
Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, the Republic of Turkey, 
and the United Kingdom: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations

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

DATES: Effective: September 9, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexis Polovina at (202) 482-3927 
(Australia); Yang Jin Chun at (202) 482-5760 (Brazil); Jack Zhao at 
(202) 482-1396 (Japan); Matthew Renkey or Javier Barrientos at (202) 
482-2312 and (202) 482-2243, respectively (the Republic of Korea 
(Korea)); Dmitry Vladimirov at (202) 482-0665, (the Netherlands); Jack 
Zhao at (202) 482-1396 (the Republic of Turkey (Turkey)); and Yang Jin 
Chun at (202) 482-5760 (the United Kingdom), AD/CVD Operations, 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Petitions

    On August 11, 2015, the Department of Commerce (the Department) 
received antidumping duty (AD) Petitions concerning imports of certain 
hot-rolled steel flat products (hot-rolled steel) from Australia, 
Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, 
filed in proper form on behalf of AK Steel Corporation, ArcelorMittal 
USA LLC, Nucor Corporation, SSAB Enterprises, LLC, Steel Dynamics, 
Inc., and United States Steel Corporation (Petitioners).\1\ The AD 
Petitions were accompanied by three countervailing duty (CVD) 
Petitions.\2\ Petitioners are domestic producers of hot-rolled 
steel.\3\
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    \1\ See Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties on 
Imports of Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia, 
Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United 
Kingdom, dated August 11, 2015 (the Petitions).
    \2\ See the Petitions for the Imposition of Countervailing 
Duties on Imports of Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from 
Brazil, Korea, and Turkey, dated August 11, 2015.
    \3\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at 2, and Exhibit I-1.
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    On August 14, 2015, the Department requested additional information 
and clarification of certain areas of the Petitions.\4\ Petitioners 
filed responses to these requests on August 18, 2015, August 20, 2015, 
and August 26, 2015.\5\
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    \4\ See Letter from the Department to Petitioners entitled ``Re: 
Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties and 
Countervailing Duties on Imports of Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from Brazil, Korea, and Turkey and Antidumping Duties on 
Imports of Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia, 
Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United 
Kingdom: Supplemental Questions'' dated August 14, 2015; (General 
Issues Supplemental Questionnaire), and Letters from the Department 
to Petitioners entitled ``Re: Petition for the Imposition of 
Antidumping Duties on Imports of Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from {country{time} : Supplemental Questions'' on each of 
the country-specific records, dated August 14, 2015.
    \5\ See Responses to the Department's August 14, 2015 
Questionnaires Regarding Volumes II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII, 
of the Petitions for the Antidumping and Countervailing Duties, each 
dated August 18, 2015; see also Response to the Department's August 
14, 2015 Questionnaire Regarding Volume I of the Petitions for 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties, dated August 20, 2015 
(General Issues Supplement); see also Scope Supplement to the 
Petitions, dated August 26, 2015 (Scope Supplement).
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    In accordance with section 732(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), Petitioners allege that imports of hot-rolled steel 
from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the 
United Kingdom, are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United 
States at less-than-fair value within the meaning of section 731 of the 
Act, and that such imports are materially injuring, or threatening 
material injury to, an industry in the United States. Also, consistent 
with section 732(b)(1) of the Act, the Petitions are accompanied by 
information reasonably available to Petitioners supporting their 
allegations.

[[Page 54262]]

    The Department finds that Petitioners filed these Petitions on 
behalf of the domestic industry because Petitioners are interested 
parties as defined in section 771(9)(C) of the Act. The Department also 
finds that Petitioners demonstrated sufficient industry support with 
respect to the initiation of the AD investigations that Petitioners are 
requesting.\6\
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    \6\ See the ``Determination of Industry Support for the 
Petitions'' section below.
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Period of Investigations

    Because the Petitions were filed on August 11, 2015, the period of 
investigations (POI) is, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.204(b)(1), July 1, 
2014, through June 30, 2015.

Scope of the Investigations

    The product covered by these investigations is hot-rolled steel 
from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the 
United Kingdom. For a full description of the scope of these 
investigations, see the ``Scope of the Investigations,'' in Appendix I 
of this notice.

Comments on Scope of the Investigations

    During our review of the Petitions, the Department issued questions 
to, and received responses from, Petitioners pertaining to the proposed 
scope to ensure that the scope language in the Petitions would be an 
accurate reflection of the products for which the domestic industry is 
seeking relief.\7\
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    \7\ See General Issues Supplemental Questionnaire; see also 
General Issues Supplement; see also Scope Supplement.
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    As discussed in the preamble to the Department's regulations, we 
are setting aside a period for interested parties to raise issues 
regarding product coverage (scope). The Department will consider all 
comments received from parties and, if necessary, will consult with 
parties prior to the issuance of the preliminary determination. If 
scope comments include factual information (see 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21)), 
all such factual information should be limited to public information. 
In order to facilitate preparation of its questionnaires, the 
Department requests all interested parties to submit such comments by 5 
p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Monday, September 21, 2015, which 
is the first business day after 20 calendar days from the signature 
date of this notice.\8\ Any rebuttal comments, which may include 
factual information, must be filed by 5 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, October 1, 
2015, which is 10 calendar days after the initial comments.
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b).
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    The Department requests that any factual information the parties 
consider relevant to the scope of the investigations be submitted 
during this time period. However, if a party subsequently finds that 
additional factual information pertaining to the scope of the 
investigations may be relevant, the party may contact the Department 
and request permission to submit the additional information. All such 
comments must be filed on the records of each of the concurrent AD and 
CVD investigations.

Filing Requirements

    All submissions to the Department must be filed electronically 
using Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS).\9\ An electronically 
filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by the 
time and date when it is due. Documents excepted from the electronic 
submission requirements must be filed manually (i.e., in paper form) 
with Enforcement and Compliance's APO/Dockets Unit, Room 18022, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230, and stamped with the date and time of receipt by 
the applicable deadlines.
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    \9\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order 
Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011) for details of the 
Department's electronic filing requirements, which went into effect 
on August 5, 2011. Information on help using ACCESS can be found at 
https://access.trade.gov/help.aspx and a handbook can be found at 
https://access.trade.gov/help/Handbook%20on%20Electronic%20Filling%20Procedures.pdf.
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Comments on Product Characteristics for AD Questionnaires

    The Department will give interested parties an opportunity to 
provide comments on the appropriate physical characteristics of hot-
rolled steel to be reported in response to the Department's AD 
questionnaires. This information will be used to identify the key 
physical characteristics of the subject merchandise in order to report 
the relevant factors and costs of production accurately as well as to 
develop appropriate product-comparison criteria.
    The Department will release a proposed list of physical 
characteristics and product-comparison criteria, and interested parties 
will have the opportunity to provide any information or comments that 
they feel are relevant to the development of an accurate list of 
physical characteristics. Specifically, they may provide comments as to 
which characteristics are appropriate to use as: (1) General product 
characteristics and (2) product-comparison criteria. We note that it is 
not always appropriate to use all product characteristics as product-
comparison criteria. We base product-comparison criteria on meaningful 
commercial differences among products. In other words, although there 
may be some physical product characteristics utilized by manufacturers 
to describe hot-rolled steel, it may be that only a select few product 
characteristics take into account commercially meaningful physical 
characteristics. In addition, interested parties may comment on the 
order in which the physical characteristics should be used in matching 
products. Generally, the Department attempts to list the most important 
physical characteristics first and the least important characteristics 
last.
    All comments and submissions to the Department must be filed 
electronically using ACCESS, as explained above, on the records of the 
Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the 
United Kingdom less-than-fair-value investigations.

Determination of Industry Support for the Petitions

    Section 732(b)(1) of the Act requires that a petition be filed on 
behalf of the domestic industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act 
provides that a petition meets this requirement if the domestic 
producers or workers who support the petition account for: (i) At least 
25 percent of the total production of the domestic like product; and 
(ii) more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like 
product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support 
for, or opposition to, the petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D) of 
the Act provides that, if the petition does not establish support of 
domestic producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of 
the total production of the domestic like product, the Department 
shall: (i) Poll the industry or rely on other information in order to 
determine if there is support for the petition, as required by 
subparagraph (A); or (ii) determine industry support using a 
statistically valid sampling method to poll the ``industry.''
    Section 771(4)(A) of the Act defines the ``industry'' as the 
producers as a whole of a domestic like product. Thus, to determine 
whether a petition has the requisite industry support, the statute 
directs the Department to look to producers and workers who produce the 
domestic like product. The International

[[Page 54263]]

Trade Commission (ITC), which is responsible for determining whether 
``the domestic industry'' has been injured, must also determine what 
constitutes a domestic like product in order to define the industry. 
While both the Department and the ITC must apply the same statutory 
definition regarding the domestic like product,\10\ they do so for 
different purposes and pursuant to a separate and distinct authority. 
In addition, the Department's determination is subject to limitations 
of time and information. Although this may result in different 
definitions of the like product, such differences do not render the 
decision of either agency contrary to law.\11\
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    \10\ See section 771(10) of the Act.
    \11\ See USEC, Inc. v. United States, 132 F. Supp. 2d 1, 8 (CIT 
2001) (citing Algoma Steel Corp., Ltd. v. United States, 688 F. 
Supp. 639, 644 (CIT 1988), aff'd 865 F.2d 240 (Fed. Cir. 1989)).
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    Section 771(10) of the Act defines the domestic like product as ``a 
product which is like, or in the absence of like, most similar in 
characteristics and uses with, the article subject to an investigation 
under this title.'' Thus, the reference point from which the domestic 
like product analysis begins is ``the article subject to an 
investigation'' (i.e., the class or kind of merchandise to be 
investigated, which normally will be the scope as defined in the 
Petitions).
    With regard to the domestic like product, Petitioners do not offer 
a definition of the domestic like product distinct from the scope of 
the investigations. Based on our analysis of the information submitted 
on the record, we have determined that hot-rolled steel constitutes a 
single domestic like product and we have analyzed industry support in 
terms of that domestic like product.\12\
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    \12\ For a discussion of the domestic like product analysis in 
this case, see Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation Checklist: 
Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia (Australia AD 
Checklist), at Attachment II, Analysis of Industry Support for the 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions Covering Certain Hot-
Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia, Brazil, Japan, the 
Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, the Republic of Turkey, and the 
United Kingdom (Attachment II); Antidumping Duty Investigation 
Initiation Checklist: Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from 
Brazil (Brazil AD Checklist), at Attachment II; Antidumping Duty 
Investigation Initiation Checklist: Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from Japan (Japan AD Initiation Checklist), at Attachment 
II; Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation Checklist: Certain 
Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the Republic of Korea (Korea AD 
Initiation Checklist), at Attachment II; Antidumping Duty 
Investigation Initiation Checklist: Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from the Netherlands (Netherlands AD Initiation Checklist), 
at Attachment II; Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation 
Checklist: Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the Republic 
of Turkey (Turkey AD Initiation Checklist); and Antidumping Duty 
Investigation Initiation Checklist: Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from the United Kingdom (United Kingdom AD Initiation 
Checklist). These checklists are dated concurrently with this notice 
and on file electronically via ACCESS. Access to documents filed via 
ACCESS is also available in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of 
the main Department of Commerce building.
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    In determining whether Petitioners have standing under section 
732(c)(4)(A) of the Act, we considered the industry support data 
contained in the Petitions with reference to the domestic like product 
as defined in the ``Scope of the Investigations,'' in Appendix I of 
this notice. Petitioners provided their production volume of the 
domestic like product in 2014, as well as an estimate of total 
production of the domestic like product for the entire domestic 
industry.\13\ To establish industry support, Petitioners compared their 
own production to total estimated production of the domestic like 
product for the entire domestic industry.\14\
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    \13\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at 2-4 and Exhibits I-3 and 
I-4; see also General Issues Supplement, at 8-9.
    \14\ Id. For further discussion, see Australia AD Initiation 
Checklist, Brazil AD Initiation Checklist, Japan AD Initiation 
Checklist, Korea AD Initiation Checklist, Netherlands AD Initiation 
Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation Checklist, and United Kingdom AD 
Initiation Checklist, at Attachment II.
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    Our review of the data provided in the Petitions, General Issues 
Supplement, and other information readily available to the Department 
indicates that Petitioners have established industry support.\15\ 
First, the Petitions established support from domestic producers (or 
workers) accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production of 
the domestic like product and, as such, the Department is not required 
to take further action in order to evaluate industry support (e.g., 
polling).\16\ Second, the domestic producers (or workers) have met the 
statutory criteria for industry support under section 732(c)(4)(A)(i) 
of the Act because the domestic producers (or workers) who support the 
Petitions account for at least 25 percent of the total production of 
the domestic like product.\17\ Finally, the domestic producers (or 
workers) have met the statutory criteria for industry support under 
section 732(c)(4)(A)(ii) of the Act because the domestic producers (or 
workers) who support the Petitions account for more than 50 percent of 
the production of the domestic like product produced by that portion of 
the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the 
Petitions.\18\ Accordingly, the Department determines that the 
Petitions were filed on behalf of the domestic industry within the 
meaning of section 732(b)(1) of the Act.
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    \15\ See Australia AD Initiation Checklist, Brazil AD Initiation 
Checklist, Japan AD Initiation Checklist, Korea AD Initiation 
Checklist, Netherlands AD Initiation Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation 
Checklist, and United Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist, at Attachment 
II.
    \16\ See section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act; see also Australia AD 
Initiation Checklist, Brazil AD Initiation Checklist, Japan AD 
Initiation Checklist, Korea AD Initiation Checklist, Netherlands AD 
Initiation Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation Checklist, and United 
Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist, at Attachment II.
    \17\ See Australia AD Initiation Checklist, Brazil AD Initiation 
Checklist, Japan AD Initiation Checklist, Korea AD Initiation 
Checklist, Netherlands AD Initiation Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation 
Checklist, and United Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist, at Attachment 
II.
    \18\ Id.
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    The Department finds that Petitioners filed the Petitions on behalf 
of the domestic industry because they are interested parties as defined 
in section 771(9)(C) of the Act and they have demonstrated sufficient 
industry support with respect to the AD investigations that they are 
requesting the Department to initiate.\19\
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    \19\ Id.
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Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and Causation

    Petitioners allege that the U.S. industry producing the domestic 
like product is being materially injured, or is threatened with 
material injury, by reason of the imports of the subject merchandise 
sold at less than normal value (NV). In addition, Petitioners allege 
that subject imports exceed the negligibility threshold provided for 
under section 771(24)(A) of the Act.\20\ Petitioners contend that the 
industry's injured condition is illustrated by reduced market share; 
underselling and price suppression or depression; lost sales and 
revenues; decline in production, shipments, and capacity utilization; 
and decline in financial performance.\21\ We have assessed the 
allegations and supporting evidence regarding material injury, threat 
of material injury, and causation, and we have determined that these 
allegations are properly supported by adequate evidence and meet the 
statutory requirements for initiation.\22\
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    \20\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at 21-22 and Exhibit I-11.
    \21\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at 15-19, 21-42 and Exhibits 
I-4, I-6, I-9 and I-11 through I-17; see also General Issues 
Supplement, at 9-10.
    \22\ See Australia AD Initiation Checklist, Brazil AD Initiation 
Checklist, Japan AD Initiation Checklist, Korea AD Initiation 
Checklist, Netherlands AD Initiation Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation 
Checklist, and United Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist, at Attachment 
III, Analysis of Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and 
Causation for the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions 
Covering Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia, 
Brazil, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, the Republic 
of Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

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[[Page 54264]]

Allegations of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value

    The following is a description of the allegations of sales at less-
than-fair value upon which the Department based its decision to 
initiate investigations of imports of hot-rolled steel from Australia, 
Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. 
The sources of data for the deductions and adjustments relating to U.S. 
price and NV are discussed in greater detail in the country-specific 
initiation checklists.

Export Price

    For the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, Petitioners 
based export price (EP) U.S. prices on price quotes/offers for sales of 
hot-rolled steel produced in, and exported from, the subject 
country.\23\ For the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Petitioners 
also based EP U.S. prices on average unit values (AUVs) of U.S. imports 
from those countries.\24\ For Australia, Brazil, and Japan, Petitioners 
used AUV data as the basis for U.S. price.\25\ Where applicable, 
Petitioners made deductions from U.S. price for movement expenses 
consistent with the delivery terms.\26\ Where applicable, Petitioners 
also deducted from U.S. price trading company/distributor/reseller 
mark-ups estimated using Petitioners' knowledge of the U.S. 
industry.\27\
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    \23\ See the Netherlands AD Initiation Checklist; Turkey AD 
Initiation Checklist, and the United Kingdom AD Initiation 
Checklist.
    \24\ See the Netherlands AD Initiation Checklist and the United 
Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist.
    \25\ See Australia AD Initiation Checklist, Brazil AD Initiation 
Checklist, and Japan AD Initiation Checklist.
    \26\ See Australia AD Initiation Checklist, Japan AD Initiation 
Checklist, Korea AD Initiation Checklist, the Netherlands AD 
Initiation Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation Checklist, and the United 
Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist.
    \27\ See Turkey AD Initiation Checklist.
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Constructed Export Price

    For Korea, because Petitioners had reason to believe the sale was 
made through a U.S. affiliate, Petitioners based constructed export 
price (CEP) on a price quote/offer for sale of hot-rolled steel 
produced in, and exported from, Korea.\28\ Petitioners made deductions 
from U.S. price for movement expenses consistent with the delivery 
terms, imputed credit expenses, and deducted from U.S. price trading 
company/distributor/reseller mark-ups estimated using publicly reported 
expenses in the most recently available annual report of a distributor 
of steel.\29\
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    \28\ See Korea AD Initiation Checklist.
    \29\ Id.
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Normal Value

    For Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, and Turkey, Petitioners 
provided home market price information obtained through market research 
for hot-rolled steel produced in and offered for sale in each of these 
countries.\30\ For all five of these countries, Petitioners provided an 
affidavit or declaration from a market researcher for the price 
information.\31\ For Brazil, Petitioners made deductions from the home 
market price for movement expenses and taxes consistent with the 
delivery terms.\32\ For Korea, home market imputed credit expenses were 
deducted from the price.\33\ Petitioners made no other adjustments to 
the offer prices to calculate NV, as no others were warrented by the 
terms associated with the offers.\34\
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    \30\ See Australia AD Initiation Checklist, Brazil AD Initiation 
Checklist, Japan AD Initiation Checklist, Korea AD Initiation 
Checklist, and Turkey AD Initiation Checklist.
    \31\ Id.; see also Memorandum to the File, ``Telephone Call to 
Foreign Market Researcher Regarding Antidumping Petition,'' on each 
of the country-specific records, dated August 20, 2015 (Australia), 
August 20, 2015 (Brazil), August 25, 2015 (Japan), and August 25, 
2015 (Korea).
    \32\ See Brazil AD Initiation Checklist.
    \33\ See Korea AD Initiation Checklist.
    \34\ See Australia AD Initiation Checklist, Brazil AD Initiation 
Checklist, Japan AD Initiation Checklist, Korea AD Initiation 
Checklist, and Turkey AD Initiation Checklist.
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    For Korea, and Turkey, Petitioners provided information that sales 
of hot-rolled steel in the respective home markets were made at prices 
below the cost of production (COP), and for the United Kingdom, and the 
Netherlands, Petitioners did not provide home market price information 
because, as noted below, they were unable to obtain home market prices. 
For all four of these countries, Petitioners calculated NV based on 
constructed value (CV).\35\ For further discussion of COP and NV based 
on CV, see below.\36\
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    \35\ See Korea AD Initiation Checklist, Netherlands AD 
Initiation Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation Checklist, and United 
Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist.
    \36\ In accordance with section 505(a) of the Trade Preferences 
Extension Act of 2015, amending section 773(b)(2) of the Act, for 
all of the investigations, the Department will request information 
necessary to calculate the CV and COP to determine whether there are 
reasonable grounds to believe or suspect that sales of the foreign 
like product have been made at prices that represent less than the 
COP of the product. The Department will no longer require a COP 
allegation to conduct this analysis.
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Normal Value Based on Constructed Value

    Pursuant to section 773(b)(3) of the Act, COP consists of the cost 
of manufacturing (COM); selling, general and administrative (SG&A) 
expenses; financial expenses; and packing expenses. Petitioners 
calculated COM based on Petitioners' experience adjusted for known 
differences between producing in the United States and producing in the 
respective country (i.e., Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the 
United Kingdom), during the proposed POI.\37\ Using publicly-available 
data to account for price differences, Petitioners multiplied the 
surrogate usage quantities by the submitted value of the inputs used to 
manufacture hot-rolled steel in each country.\38\ For Korea, the 
Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, labor rates were derived 
from publicly available sources multiplied by the product-specific 
usage rates.\39\ For Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United 
Kingdom, to determine factory overhead, SG&A, and financial expense 
rates, Petitioners relied on financial statements of producers of 
comparable merchandise operating in the respective foreign country.\40\
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    \37\ See Korea AD Initiation Checklist, Netherlands AD 
Initiation Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation Checklist, and United 
Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist.
    \38\ Id.
    \39\ Id.
    \40\ Id.
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    For Turkey and Korea, because certain home market prices fell below 
COP, pursuant to sections 773(a)(4), 773(b), and 773(e) of the Act, as 
noted above, Petitioners calculated NV also based on CV for those 
countries.\41\ For the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Petitioners 
indicated they were unable to obtain home market prices; accordingly, 
Petitioners based NV only on CV for those countries.\42\ Pursuant to 
section 773(e) of the Act, CV consists of the COM, SG&A, financial 
expenses, packing expenses, and profit. Petitioners calculated CV using 
the same average COM, SG&A, and financial expenses, used to calculate 
COP.\43\ Petitioners relied on the financial statements of the same 
producers that they used for calculating manufacturing overhead, SG&A, 
and financial expenses to calculate the profit rate. For Turkey, we 
made an adjustment to the Petitioners' calculated profit rate.\44\
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    \41\ See Turkey AD Initiation Checklist, and Korea Initiation 
Checklist.
    \42\ See Netherlands AD Initiation Checklist, and United Kingdom 
AD Initiation Checklist.
    \43\ See Korea AD Initiation Checklist, Netherlands AD 
Initiation Checklist, Turkey AD Initiation Checklist, and United 
Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist.
    \44\ See Turkey AD Initiation Checklist.
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Fair Value Comparisons

    Based on the data provided by Petitioners, there is reason to 
believe

[[Page 54265]]

that imports of hot-rolled steel from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, 
the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, are being, or are 
likely to be, sold in the United States at less-than-fair value. Based 
on comparisons of EP or CEP to NV in accordance with section 773(a) of 
the Act, the estimated dumping margin(s) for hot-rolled steel are as 
follows: (1) Australia is 99.20 percent; \45\ (2) Brazil is 34.28 
percent; \46\ (3) Japan range from 16.15 to 34.53 percent; \47\ (4) 
Korea range from 86.96 to 158.93 percent; \48\ (5) the Netherlands 
range from 55.21 to 173.17 percent; \49\ (6) Turkey range from 96.77 to 
197.41 percent; \50\ and (7) the United Kingdom range from 50.63 to 
161.75 percent.\51\
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    \45\ See Australia AD Initiation Checklist.
    \46\ See Brazil AD Initiation Checklist.
    \47\ See Japan AD Initiation Checklist.
    \48\ See Korea AD Initiation Checklist.
    \49\ See Netherlands AD Initiation Checklist.
    \50\ See Turkey AD Initiation Checklist.
    \51\ See United Kingdom AD Initiation Checklist.
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Initiation of Less-than-Fair-Value Investigations

    Based upon the examination of the AD Petitions on hot-rolled steel 
from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the 
United Kingdom, we find that Petitions meet the requirements of section 
732 of the Act. Therefore, we are initiating AD investigations to 
determine whether imports of hot-rolled steel from Australia, Brazil, 
Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, are 
being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less-than-fair 
value. In accordance with section 733(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.205(b)(1), unless postponed, we will make our preliminary 
determinations no later than 140 days after the date of this 
initiation.
    On June 29, 2015, the President of the United States signed into 
law the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, which made numerous 
amendments to the AD and CVD law.\52\ The 2015 law does not specify 
dates of application for those amendments. On August 6, 2015, the 
Department published an interpretative rule, in which it announced the 
applicability dates for each amendment to the Act, except for 
amendments contained in section 771(7) of the Act, which relate to 
determinations of material injury by the ITC.\53\ The amendments to 
sections 771(15), 773, 776, and 782 of the Act are applicable to all 
determinations made on or after August 6, 2015, and, therefore, apply 
to these AD investigations.\54\
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    \52\ See Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, Pub. L. 114-
27, 129 Stat. 362 (2015).
    \53\ See Dates of Application of Amendments to the Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Laws Made by the Trade Preferences Extension 
Act of 2015, 80 FR 46793 (August 6, 2015) (Applicability Notice).
    \54\ Id. at 46794-95. The 2015 amendments may be found at 
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1295/text/pl.
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Respondent Selection

    Petitioners named six companies in Brazil, five companies in Japan, 
four companies in Korea, four companies in the Netherlands, six 
companies in Turkey, and five companies in the United Kingdom, as 
producers/exporters of hot-rolled steel.\55\ Following standard 
practice in AD investigations involving market economy countries, the 
Department intends to select respondents based on U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) data for U.S. imports under the appropriate 
HTSUS numbers listed in the ``Scope of Investigations'' section above. 
We intend to release the CBP data under Administrative Protective Order 
(APO) to all parties with access to information protected by APO within 
five business days of publication of this Federal Register notice.
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    \55\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at 15 and Exhibit I-8.
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    Although the Department normally relies on the number of producers/
exporters identified in the petition and/or import data from CBP to 
determine whether to select a limited number of producers/exporters for 
individual examination in AD investigations, Petitioners identified 
only one company as a producer/exporter of hot-rolled steel in 
Australia: BlueScope Steel.\56\ Petitioners provided independent, 
third-party sources as support for their claim regarding BlueScope 
Steel. Additionally, we currently know of no additional producers/
exporters of subject merchandise from Australia. Accordingly, the 
Department intends to examine all known producers/exporters in the 
investigation for Australia (i.e., the company named in the petition).
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    \56\ See Volume I of the Petitions, at Exhibit I-8; see also 
Volume II of the Petitions, at 3 and Exhibit II-4.
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    Interested parties wishing to comment regarding respondent 
selection must do so within seven business days of the publication of 
this notice. Comments must be filed electronically using ACCESS. An 
electronically-filed document must be received successfully in its 
entirety by the Department's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 
p.m. ET by the date noted above. We intend to make our decision 
regarding respondent selection within 20 days of publication of this 
notice.

Distribution of Copies of the Petitions

    In accordance with section 732(b)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.202(f), copies of the public version of the Petitions have been 
provided to the governments of Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the 
Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom via ACCESS. To the extent 
practicable, we will attempt to provide a copy of the public version of 
the Petitions to each exporter named in the Petitions, as provided 
under 19 CFR 351.203(c)(2).

ITC Notification

    We have notified the ITC of our initiation, as required by section 
732(d) of the Act.

Preliminary Determinations by the ITC

    The ITC will preliminarily determine, within 45 days after the date 
on which the Petitions were filed, whether there is a reasonable 
indication that imports of hot-rolled steel from Australia, Brazil, 
Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and/or the United Kingdom are 
materially injuring or threatening material injury to a U.S. 
industry.\57\ A negative ITC determination for any country will result 
in the investigation being terminated with respect to that country; 
\58\ otherwise, these investigations will proceed according to 
statutory and regulatory time limits.
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    \57\ See section 733(a) of the Act.
    \58\ Id.
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Submission of Factual Information

    Factual information is defined in 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) as: (i) 
Evidence submitted in response to questionnaires; (ii) evidence 
submitted in support of allegations; (iii) publicly available 
information to value factors under 19 CFR 351.408(c) or to measure the 
adequacy of remuneration under 19 CFR 351.511(a)(2); (iv) evidence 
placed on the record by the Department; and (v) evidence other than 
factual information described in (i)-(iv). The regulation requires any 
party, when submitting factual information, to specify under which 
subsection of 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) the information is being submitted 
and, if the information is submitted to rebut, clarify, or correct 
factual information already on the record, to provide an explanation 
identifying the information already on the record that the factual 
information seeks to rebut, clarify, or correct. Time limits for the 
submission of factual information are addressed in 19 CFR 351.301, 
which provides specific time limits based on the type of factual 
information being submitted. Please review the regulations prior to

[[Page 54266]]

submitting factual information in these investigations.

Extensions of Time Limits

    Parties may request an extension of time limits before the 
expiration of a time limit established under Part 351, or as otherwise 
specified by the Secretary. In general, an extension request will be 
considered untimely if it is filed after the expiration of the time 
limit established under Part 351 expires. For submissions that are due 
from multiple parties simultaneously, an extension request will be 
considered untimely if it is filed after 10 a.m. on the due date. Under 
certain circumstances, we may elect to specify a different time limit 
by which extension requests will be considered untimely for submissions 
which are due from multiple parties simultaneously. In such a case, we 
will inform parties in the letter or memorandum setting forth the 
deadline (including a specified time) by which extension requests must 
be filed to be considered timely. An extension request must be made in 
a separate, stand-alone submission; under limited circumstances we will 
grant untimely-filed requests for the extension of time limits. Review 
Extension of Time Limits; Final Rule, 78 FR 57790 (September 20, 2013), 
available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-09-20/html/2013-22853.htm, prior to submitting factual information in this segment.

Certification Requirements

    Any party submitting factual information in an AD or CVD proceeding 
must certify to the accuracy and completeness of that information.\59\ 
Parties are hereby reminded that revised certification requirements are 
in effect for company/government officials, as well as their 
representatives. Investigations initiated on the basis of Petitions 
filed on or after August 16, 2013, and other segments of any AD or CVD 
proceedings initiated on or after August 16, 2013, should use the 
formats for the revised certifications provided at the end of the Final 
Rule.\60\ The Department intends to reject factual submissions if the 
submitting party does not comply with applicable revised certification 
requirements.
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    \59\ See section 782(b) of the Act.
    \60\ See Certification of Factual Information to Import 
Administration during Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Proceedings, 78 FR 42678 (July 17, 2013) (Final Rule); see also 
frequently asked questions regarding the Final Rule, available at 
http://enforcement.trade.gov/tlei/notices/factual_info_final_rule_FAQ_07172013.pdf.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. On January 22, 2008, the 
Department published Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Documents Submission Procedures; APO Procedures, 73 FR 3634 (January 
22, 2008). Parties wishing to participate in these investigations 
should ensure that they meet the requirements of these procedures 
(e.g., the filing of letters of appearance as discussed in 19 CFR 
351.103(d)).
    This notice is issued and published pursuant to section 777(i) of 
the Act.

    Dated: August 31, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

 Scope of the Investigations

    The products covered by these investigations are certain hot-
rolled, flat-rolled steel products, with or without patterns in 
relief, and whether or not annealed, painted, varnished, or coated 
with plastics or other non-metallic substances. The products covered 
do not include those that are clad, plated, or coated with metal. 
The products covered include coils that have a width or other 
lateral measurement (``width'') of 12.7 mm or greater, regardless of 
thickness, and regardless of form of coil (e.g., in successively 
superimposed layers, spirally oscillating, etc.). The products 
covered also include products not in coils (e.g., in straight 
lengths) of a thickness of less than 4.75 mm and a width that is 
12.7 mm or greater and that measures at least 10 times the 
thickness. The products described above may be rectangular, square, 
circular, or other shape and include products of either rectangular 
or non-rectangular cross-section where such cross-section is achieve 
subsequent to the rolling process, i.e., products which have been 
``worked after rolling'' (e.g., products which have been beveled or 
rounded at the edges). For purposes of the width and thickness 
requirements referenced above:
    (1) Where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is 
within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual 
measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions 
set forth above unless the resulting measurement makes the product 
covered by the existing antidumping \61\ or countervailing duty \62\ 
orders on Certain Cut-To-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products 
From the Republic of Korea (A-580-836; C-580-837), and
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    \61\ Notice of Amendment of Final Determinations of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Orders: Certain Cut-To-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From France, India, 
Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the Republic of Korea, 65 FR 6585 
(February 10, 2000).
    \62\ Notice of Amended Final Determinations: Certain Cut-to-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate From India and the Republic of 
Korea; and Notice of Countervailing Duty Orders: Certain Cut-To-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate From France, India, Indonesia, 
Italy, and the Republic of Korea, 65 FR 6587 (February 10, 2000).
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    (2) where the width and thickness vary for a specific product 
(e.g., the thickness of certain products with non-rectangular cross-
section, the width of certain products with non-rectangular shape, 
etc.), the measurement at its greatest width or thickness applies.
    Steel products included in the scope of these investigations are 
products 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:

 2.50 percent of manganese, or
 3.30 percent of silicon, or
 1.50 percent of copper, or
 1.50 percent of aluminum, or
 1.25 percent of chromium, or
 0.30 percent of cobalt, or
 0.40 percent of lead, or
 2.00 percent of nickel, or
 0.30 percent of tungsten, or
 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
 0.10 percent of niobium, or
 0.30 percent of vanadium, or
 0.30 percent of zirconium.

    Unless specifically excluded, products are included in this 
scope regardless of levels of boron and titanium.
    For example, specifically included in this scope are vacuum 
degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-
free (IF)) steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, the 
substrate for motor lamination steels, Advanced High Strength Steels 
(AHSS), and Ultra High Strength Steels (UHSS). IF steels are 
recognized as low carbon steels with micro-alloying levels of 
elements such as titanium and/or niobium added to stabilize carbon 
and nitrogen elements. HSLA steels are recognized as steels with 
micro-alloying levels of elements such as chromium, copper, niobium, 
titanium, vanadium, and molybdenum. The substrate for motor 
lamination steels contains micro-alloying levels of elements such as 
silicon and aluminum. AHSS and UHSS are considered high tensile 
strength and high elongation steels, although AHSS and UHSS are 
covered whether or not they are high tensile strength or high 
elongation steels.
    Subject merchandise includes hot-rolled steel that has been 
further processed in a third country, including but not limited to 
pickling, oiling, levelling, annealing, tempering, temper rolling, 
skin passing, painting, varnishing, trimming, cutting, punching, 
and/or slitting, or any other processing that would not otherwise 
remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigations if 
performed in the country of manufacture of the hot-rolled steel.
    All products that meet the written physical description, and in 
which the chemistry quantities do not exceed any one of the noted 
element levels listed above, are within the scope of these 
investigations unless

[[Page 54267]]

specifically excluded. The following products are outside of and/or 
specifically excluded from the scope of these investigations:
     Universal mill plates (i.e., hot-rolled, flat-rolled 
products not in coils that have been rolled on four faces or in a 
closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm but not exceeding 1250 
mm, of a thickness not less than 4.0 mm, and without patterns in 
relief);
     Products that have been cold-rolled (cold-reduced) 
after hot-rolling; \63\
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    \63\ For purposes of this scope exclusion, rolling operations 
such as a skin pass, levelling, temper rolling or other minor 
rolling operations after the hot-rolling process for purposes of 
surface finish, flatness, shape control, or gauge control do not 
constitute cold-rolling sufficient to meet this exclusion.
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     Ball bearing steels; \64\
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    \64\ Ball bearing steels are defined as steels which contain, in 
addition to iron, each of the following elements by weight in the 
amount specified: (i) Not less than 0.95 nor more than 1.13 percent 
of carbon; (ii) not less than 0.22 nor more than 0.48 percent of 
manganese; (iii) none, or not more than 0.03 percent of sulfur; (iv) 
none, or not more than 0.03 percent of phosphorus; (v) not less than 
0.18 nor more than 0.37 percent of silicon; (vi) not less than 1.25 
nor more than 1.65 percent of chromium; (vii) none, or not more than 
0.28 percent of nickel; (viii) none, or not more than 0.38 percent 
of copper; and (ix) none, or not more than 0.09 percent of 
molybdenum.
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     Tool steels; \65\ and
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    \65\ Tool steels are defined as steels which contain the 
following combinations of elements in the quantity by weight 
respectively indicated: (i) More than 1.2 percent carbon and more 
than 10.5 percent chromium; or (ii) not less than 0.3 percent carbon 
and 1.25 percent or more but less than 10.5 percent chromium; or 
(iii) not less than 0.85 percent carbon and 1 percent to 1.8 
percent, inclusive, manganese; or (iv) 0.9 percent to 1.2 percent, 
inclusive, chromium and 0.9 percent to 1.4 percent, inclusive, 
molybdenum; or (v) not less than 0.5 percent carbon and not less 
than 3.5 percent molybdenum; or (vi) not less than 0.5 percent 
carbon and not less than 5.5 percent tungsten.
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     Silico-manganese steels; \66\
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    \66\ Silico-manganese steel is defined as steels containing by 
weight: (i) Not more than 0.7 percent of carbon; (ii) 0.5 percent or 
more but not more than 1.9 percent of manganese, and (iii) 0.6 
percent or more but not more than 2.3 percent of silicon.
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    The products subject to these investigations are currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under item numbers: 7208.10.1500, 7208.10.3000, 
7208.10.6000, 7208.25.3000, 7208.25.6000, 7208.26.0030, 
7208.26.0060, 7208.27.0030, 7208.27.0060, 7208.36.0030, 
7208.36.0060, 7208.37.0030, 7208.37.0060, 7208.38.0015, 
7208.38.0030, 7208.38.0090, 7208.39.0015, 7208.39.0030, 
7208.39.0090, 7208.40.6030, 7208.40.6060, 7208.53.0000, 
7208.54.0000, 7208.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7211.14.0030, 
7211.14.0090, 7211.19.1500, 7211.19.2000, 7211.19.3000, 
7211.19.4500, 7211.19.6000, 7211.19.7530, 7211.19.7560, 
7211.19.7590, 7225.11.0000, 7225.19.0000, 7225.30.3050, 
7225.30.7000, 7225.40.7000, 7225.99.0090, 7226.11.1000, 
7226.11.9030, 7226.11.9060, 7226.19.1000, 7226.19.9000, 
7226.91.5000, 7226.91.7000, and 7226.91.8000. The products subject 
to the investigations may also enter under the following HTSUS 
numbers: 7210.90.9000, 7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 
7212.50.0000, 7214.91.0015, 7214.91.0060, 7214.91.0090, 
7214.99.0060, 7214.99.0075, 7214.99.0090, 7215.90.5000, 
7226.99.0180, and 7228.60.6000.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
U.S. Customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of 
the investigations is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2015-22557 Filed 9-8-15; 8:45 a.m.]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P