[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 197 (Tuesday, October 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61369-61371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25988]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-428-602]


Brass Sheet and Strip From Germany: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review and Final Determination of No Shipments; 
2013-2014

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to a request from Petitioners,\1\ the Department 
of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of 
the antidumping duty order on brass sheet and strip from Germany. The 
period of review (POR) is March 1, 2013, through February 28, 2014.\2\ 
The review covers ten producers or exporters of subject merchandise.\3\ 
We find that three of the producers or exporters for which the 
Department initiated a review, Schwermetall, ThyssenKrupp, and Wieland, 
had no shipments during the POR. Further, we find that subject 
merchandise has been sold at less than normal value by seven of the 
companies subject to this review.\4\ Based on our analysis of the 
comments and information received, these final results remain unchanged 
from the Preliminary Results.\5\ For the final weighted-average dumping 
margin, see the ``Final Results of Review'' section below.
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    \1\ The Petitioners are GBC Metals, LLC of Global Brass and 
Copper, Inc., dba Olin Brass, Heyco Metals, Inc., Aurubis Buffalo, 
Inc. PMX Industries, Inc. and Revere Copper Products, Inc.
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation in Part, 79 FR 
24398 (April 30, 2014) (Initiation).
    \3\ The ten producers or exporters include: Aurubis Stolberg 
GmbH & Co. KG, Carl Schreiber GmbH, KME Germany AG & Co. KG, 
Messingwerk Plettenberg Herfeld GmbH & Co. KG (Messingwerk), MKM 
Mansfelder Kupfer & Messing GmbH, Schlenk Metallfolien GmbH & Co. 
KG, Schwermetall Halbzeugwerk GmbH & Co. KG (Schwermetall), 
Sundwiger Messingwerke GmbH & Co. KG, ThyssenKrupp VDM GmbH 
(ThyssenKrupp), and Wieland-Werke AG (Wieland).
    \4\ The seven companies include Aurubis Stolberg GmbH & Co. KG, 
Carl Schreiber GmbH, KME Germany AG & Co. KG, Messingwerk, MKM 
Mansfelder Kupfer & Messing GmbH, Schlenk Metallfolien GmbH & Co. 
KG, and Sundwiger Messingwerke GmbH & Co. KG.
    \5\ See Brass Sheet and Strip from Germany: Preliminary Results 
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Preliminary 
Determination of No Shipments; 2013-2014, 80 FR 18357 (April 6, 
2015) (Preliminary Results), and accompanying ``Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum for the Final Results of the Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review: Brass Sheet and Strip from Germany; 2013-
2014'' from Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to Paul Piquado, 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, dated March 31, 
2015 (Preliminary Decision Memorandum). The three producers or 
exporters which we determine had no shipments are Schwermetall, 
ThyssenKrupp, and Wieland.

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DATES: Effective Date: October 13, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George McMahon or Eric Greynolds, AD/
CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
1167 or (202) 482-6071, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to the antidumping duty order is brass 
sheet and strip, other than leaded brass and tin brass sheet and strip, 
from Germany, which is currently classified under subheading 
7409.21.00.50, 7409.21.00.75, 7409.21.00.90, 7409.29.00.50, 
7409.29.00.75, and 7409.29.00.90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
merchandise subject to the order is dispositive.\6\
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    \6\ For a full description of the scope of the order, see the 
``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Results of the 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Brass Sheet and Strip from 
Germany; 2013-2014'' from Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, 
dated concurrently with this notice (Issues and Decision 
Memorandum).
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Methodology

    In accordance with sections 776(a) and (b) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act), we relied on facts available with an 
adverse inference with respect to Messingwerk, the sole company 
selected for individual examination in this review. Thus, we are 
assigning a rate of 55.60 percent as the dumping margin for 
Messingwerk.\7\ In making these findings, we relied on facts available 
because Messingwerk failed to respond to the Department's antidumping 
duty questionnaire, and thus withheld requested information, failed to 
provide requested information by the established deadlines, and 
significantly impeded this proceeding. See sections 776(a)(1) and 
(2)(A)-(C) of the Act. Furthermore, because we determine that 
Messingwerk failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its 
ability to comply with the Department's requests for information, we 
drew an adverse inference in selecting from among the facts otherwise 
available. See section 776(b) of the Act.
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    \7\ For a full description of the Department's selection of the 
55.60 percent adverse facts available dumping margin, see Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
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    Additionally, as indicated in the ``Final Results of Review'' 
section below, we determine that a margin of 22.61 percent applies to 
the six firms not selected for individual review. We have determined to 
base the dumping margin for the six companies not selected for 
individual examination in this review on an average of the range of 
certain dumping margins contained in the underlying Petition.\8\ For 
further information, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum \9\ at the 
section titled, ``Rate for Non-Examined Companies.''
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    \8\ See Brass Sheet and Strip From The Federal Republic of 
Germany; Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigation, 51 FR 11774 
(April 7, 1986).
    \9\ See the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    For a full description of the methodology underlying our

[[Page 61370]]

conclusions, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A list of topics 
included in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is included in the 
Appendix attached to this notice.
    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 (ACCESS). 
ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov and 
to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 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.

Final Determination of No Shipments

    Based on our analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
information and information provided by Schwermetall, ThyssenKrupp, and 
Wieland, we determine that Schwermetall, ThyssenKrupp, and Wieland had 
no shipments of the subject merchandise, and, therefore, no reviewable 
transactions, during the POR. For a full discussion of this 
determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Final Results of Review

    As a result of this review, the Department determines that the 
following dumping margins on brass sheet and strip from Germany exist 
for the period March 1, 2013, through February 28, 2014:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin
                  Producer and/or exporter                     (percent)
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Aurubis Stolberg GmbH & Co. KG..............................       22.61
Carl Schreiber GmbH.........................................       22.61
KME Germany AG & Co. KG.....................................       22.61
Messingwerk Plettenberg Herfeld GmbH & Co. KG...............       55.60
MKM Mansfelder Kupfer & Messing GmbH........................       22.61
Schlenk Metallfolien GmbH & Co. KG..........................       22.61
Sundwiger Messingwerke GmbH & Co. KG........................       22.61
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Assessment Rates

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(1), the Department determined, and CBP shall assess, 
antidumping duties on all appropriate entries of subject merchandise, 
in accordance with the final results of this review. The Department 
intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP 15 days after the date 
of publication of these final results of review.
    We will instruct CBP to apply an ad valorem assessment rate of 
55.60 percent to all entries of subject merchandise during the POR 
which were produced and/or exported by Messingwerk, and an ad valorem 
assessment rate of 22.61 percent to all entries of subject merchandise 
during the POR which were produced and/or exported by the six 
aforementioned companies which were not selected for individual 
examination.
    Consistent with the Department's ``automatic assessment'' 
regulation,\10\ for entries of subject merchandise during the POR 
produced by the above-referenced companies, for which the company did 
not know that its merchandise was destined for the United States, we 
will instruct CBP to liquidate these entries at the all-others rate 
established in the less-than fair-value (LTFV) investigation, 7.30 
percent,\11\ if there is no rate for the intermediary involved in the 
transaction. See Assessment Policy Notice for a full discussion of this 
clarification. Further, because ``as entered'' liquidation instructions 
do not alleviate the concerns which the Assessment Policy Notice was 
intended to address, we find it appropriate in this case to instruct 
CBP to liquidate any existing entries of merchandise produced by 
Schwermetall, ThyssenKrupp, or Wieland and exported by other parties at 
the all others rate base on our determination that Schwermetall, 
ThyssenKrupp, and Wieland had no shipments of subject merchandise from 
Germany.\12\
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    \10\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003) 
(Assessment Policy Notice).
    \11\ See Antidumping Duty Order: Brass Sheet and Strip From the 
Federal Republic of Germany, 52 FR 6997 (March 6, 1987), as amended, 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Amendment 
to Antidumping Duty Order: Brass Sheet and Strip From Germany, 52 FR 
35750 (April 8, 1987) (Order).
    \12\ See, e.g., Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from India: 
Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 73 FR 
77610, 77612 (December 19, 2008).
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Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the notice of final results of administrative review for 
all shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication of the final 
results of this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(2) 
of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for respondents noted above will 
be the rate established in the final results of this administrative 
review; (2) for merchandise exported by manufacturers or exporters not 
covered in this administrative review but covered in a prior segment of 
the proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company 
specific rate published for the most recently completed segment of this 
proceeding; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a 
prior review, or the original investigation, but the manufacturer is, 
the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most 
recently completed segment of this proceeding for the manufacturer of 
the subject merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other 
manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 7.30 percent, the all-
others rate determined in the less than fair value investigation. These 
cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.

Notification to Importers Regarding the Reimbursement of Duties

    This notice also serves as a final reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping and/or countervailing duties 
prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during the POR. Failure to 
comply with this requirement could result in the Department's 
presumption that reimbursement of antidumping and/or countervailing 
duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of doubled antidumping 
duties.

Administrative Protective Order

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3), which 
continues to govern business proprietary information in this segment of 
the proceeding. Timely written notification of the return/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.
    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.


[[Page 61371]]


    Dated: October 5, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Final Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. No Shipment Determination
V. List of Comments
    Comment 1: Whether the Adverse Facts Available (AFA) Rate Is 
Probative for the POR
    Comment 2: Whether the AFA Rate Is Aberrant
    Comment 3: Whether the AFA Rate Is Incorrect Based on 
Verification in the Investigation
    Comment 4: Whether the AFA Rate Is Supported by the Department's 
Rationale
    Comment 5: Whether the Department Provided Documentation to KL 
USA To Support the AFA Rate
VI. Analysis of Comments
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2015-25988 Filed 10-9-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P