[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 215 (Friday, November 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68839-68841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-28452]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-475-833]


Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Corrosion-Resistant 
Steel Products From Italy: Preliminary Affirmative Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of certain corrosion-resistant steel products 
(``corrosion-resistant steel'') from Italy. The period of investigation 
is January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014. We invite interested 
parties to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective November 6, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Palmer, Irene Gorelik, and Katie 
Marksberry, AD/CVD Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone 
202.482.9068, 202.482.6905, and 202.482.7906, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are corrosion-resistant 
steel products from Italy. For a complete description of the scope of 
this investigation, see Appendix II.

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this countervailing duty (``CVD'') 
investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 
as amended (the ``Act''). For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memo.\1\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix I to this notice. The Preliminary 
Decision Memo is a public document and is on file electronically in the 
Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce 
building, as well as electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service 
System (``ACCESS''). ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov and it is available to all parties in the CRU. In 
addition, parties can directly access a complete version of the 
Preliminary Decision Memo on the internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memo and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memo are 
identical in content.
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    \1\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, 
``Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Corrosion-Resistant 
Steel Products from Italy: Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination,'' dated concurrently with this notice (``Preliminary 
Decision Memo'').
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Adverse Facts Available

    Section 776(a) of the Act provides that, subject to section 782(d) 
of the Act, the Department shall apply ``facts otherwise available'' 
if: (1) Necessary information is not on the record; or (2) an 
interested party or any other person (A) withholds information that has 
been requested, (B) fails to provide information within the deadlines 
established, or in the form and manner requested by the Department, 
subject to subsections (c)(1) and (e) of section 782 of the Act, (C) 
significantly impedes a proceeding, or (D) provides information that 
cannot be verified as provided by section 782(i) of the Act. 
Furthermore, section 776(b) of the Act provides that the Department may 
use an adverse inference in applying the facts otherwise available when 
a party fails to cooperate by not acting to the best of its ability to 
comply with a request for information.
    In this case, the Department twice requested information with 
respect to the Industrial Development Grants Under Law 488/92, 
Technological Innovation Grants and Loans Under Law 46/82, and Certain 
Social Security

[[Page 68840]]

Reductions and Exemptions (``Sgravi'' Benefits) from the Government of 
Italy. The Government of Italy withheld necessary information with 
respect to each of these programs, failed to provide information in the 
form and manner requested, and did not provide requested information by 
the deadlines for submission of the information, as explained in more 
detail in the Preliminary Decision Memo. Furthermore, the Department 
has concluded that the Government of Italy did not cooperate to the 
best of its ability in providing the requested information. 
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, we have 
preliminarily determined that for each of these programs, the 
application of adverse facts available is warranted. For the Industrial 
Development Grants Under Law 488/92 and Technological Innovation Grants 
and Loans Under Law 46/82 programs, we have preliminarily determined as 
adverse facts available that these programs are de facto specific, in 
accordance with section 771(5A)(D)(iii) of the Act. For the Sgravi 
Benefits, we have preliminarily determined that the reduced tax revenue 
due to the Government of Italy under these provisions constitute 
financial contributions within the meaning of section 771(5)(D)(ii) of 
the Act as revenue forgone. We have also preliminarily determined that 
revenue forgone under these provisions is either de facto specific, in 
accordance with section 771(5A)(D)(ii) of the Act, or regionally 
specific, in accordance with section 771(5A)(D)(iv) of the Act.
    In addition, one company selected as a mandatory respondent, Ilva 
S.p.A., did not respond to the Department's questionnaires or 
participate in the investigation. Accordingly, as adverse facts 
available, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b), we have preliminarily 
determined that Ilva benefitted from certain countervailable programs 
during the POI and calculated a rate for Ilva based on those programs. 
For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and 
Adverse Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision Memo.

Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated an individual rate for each producer/exporter of the subject 
merchandise individually investigated. We preliminarily determine the 
countervailable subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Company                      Subsidy rate (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acciaieria Arvedi S.p.A., Finarvedi         0.38 (de minimis).
 S.p.A., Arvedi Tubi Acciaio S.p.A., Euro-
 Trade S.p.A., and Siderurgica Triestina
 Srl., collectively, the Arvedi Group.
Marcegaglia S.p.A. and Marfin S.p.A., the   0.04 (de minimis).
 Marcegaglia Group.
Ilva S.p.A................................  38.41.
All Others................................  13.06.
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    In accordance with section 703(d)(2) of the Act, we will direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all 
entries of corrosion-resistant from Italy as described in the scope of 
the investigation section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register, except for the Arvedi Group and the Marcegaglia 
Group, as described below. Section 703(e)(2) of the Act provides that, 
given an affirmative determination of critical circumstances, any 
suspension of liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of 
merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the later of (a) the date which is 90 days before the date on 
which the suspension of liquidation was first ordered, or (b) the date 
on which notice of initiation of the investigation was published. On 
October 29, 2015, we preliminarily found that critical circumstances 
exist for imports produced or exported by Ilva S.p.A.\2\ For Ilva 
S.p.A., in accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, suspension 
of liquidation of corrosion-resistant steel from Italy, as described in 
the ``Scope of the Investigation'' section, shall apply to unliquidated 
entries of merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date which is 90 days before the 
publication of this notice, the date suspension of liquidation is first 
ordered. Because we preliminarily found critical circumstances do not 
exist for all other producers and exporters, we will begin suspension 
of liquidation for such firms on the date of publication of this notice 
in the Federal Register. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department 
will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the amounts 
indicated above. Further, because we reached a negative preliminary 
countervailing duty determination for the Arvedi Group and the 
Marcegaglia Group, we will not instruct CBP to suspend liquidation of 
entries for these companies.
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    \2\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations of 
Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from India, Italy, the People's 
Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan: Preliminary 
Determinations of Critical Circumstances, 80 FR _____ (November ___, 
2015) (signed October 29, 2015).
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    In accordance with sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, for 
companies not individually investigated, we apply an ``all-others'' 
rate, which is normally calculated by weighting the subsidy rates of 
the individual companies selected as mandatory respondents by those 
companies' exports of the subject merchandise to the United States. 
Under section 705(c)(5)(i) of the Act, the all-others rate excludes 
zero and de minimis rates calculated for the exporters and producers 
individually investigated as well as rates based entirely on facts 
otherwise available. Where the rates for the individually investigated 
companies are all zero or de minimis, or determined entirely using 
facts otherwise available, section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act 
instructs the Department to establish an all-others rate using ``any 
reasonable method.'' Where the countervailable subsidy rates for all of 
the individually investigated respondents are zero or de minimis or are 
based on AFA, the Department's practice, pursuant to 705(c)(5)(A)(ii), 
is to calculate the all others rate based on a simple average of the 
zero or de minimis margins and the margins based on AFA. 
Notwithstanding the language of section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, we 
have not calculated the ``all-others'' rate by weight averaging the 
rates of the two individually investigated respondents plus the margin 
based on AFA, because Ilva failed to report volume data that would 
enable the Department to determine the all-others rate based on a 
weighted-average. Therefore, and consistent with the Department's 
practice, for the ``all-others'' rate, we calculated a simple average 
of the two responding firms' rates and the AFA rate for the non-
responsive company.\3\
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    \3\ See, e.g., Countervailing Duty Investigation of Chlorinated 
Isocyanurates from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final 
Antidumping Determination, 79 FR 10097 (February 24, 2014); see 
also, Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From Taiwan: Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination, 79 FR 61602 (October 14, 2014) 
and accompanying IDM at VIII. Calculation of the All Others Rate.
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we intend to verify 
the information submitted by the respondents prior to making our final 
determination.

[[Page 68841]]

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (``ITC'') of our determination. In 
addition, we are making available to the ITC all non-privileged and 
non-proprietary information relating to this investigation. We will 
allow the ITC access to all privileged and business proprietary 
information in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not 
disclose such information, either publicly or under an administrative 
protective order, without the written consent of the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
    In accordance with section 705(b)(2) of the Act, if our final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will make its final determination 
within 45 days after the Department makes its final determination.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with this preliminary 
determination within five days of its public announcement.\4\ 
Interested parties may submit case and rebuttal briefs,\5\ and request 
a hearing.\6\ For a schedule of the deadlines for filing case briefs, 
rebuttal briefs, and hearing requests, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \4\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c) and (d).
    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.510.
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    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: November 2, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memo

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances
VI. Injury Test
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Benchmarks and Discount Rates
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Calculation of All Others Rate
XII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XIII. Conclusion

Appendix II

    The products covered by this investigation are certain flat-
rolled steel products, either clad, plated, or coated with 
corrosion-resistant metals such as zinc, aluminum, or zinc-, 
aluminum-, nickel- or iron-based alloys, whether or not corrugated 
or painted, varnished, laminated, or coated with plastics or other 
non-metallic substances in addition to the metallic coating. The 
products covered include coils that have a width of 12.7 mm or 
greater, 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 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 covered also include products not in coils (e.g., in 
straight lengths) of a thickness of 4.75 mm or more and a width 
exceeding 150 mm and measuring at least twice 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 achieved 
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, and
    (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 this investigation 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 (also called wolfram), or
 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
 0.10 percent of niobium (also called columbium), 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 and high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels. 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.
    Furthermore, this scope also includes Advanced High Strength 
Steels (AHSS) and Ultra High Strength Steels (UHSS), both of which 
are considered high tensile strength and high elongation steels.
    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 this 
investigation unless specifically excluded. The following products 
are outside of and/or specifically excluded from the scope of this 
investigation:
     Flat-rolled steel products either plated or coated with 
tin, lead, chromium, chromium oxides, both tin and lead (``terne 
plate''), or both chromium and chromium oxides (``tin free steel''), 
whether or not painted, varnished or coated with plastics or other 
non-metallic substances in addition to the metallic coating;
     Clad products in straight lengths of 4.7625 mm or more 
in composite thickness and of a width which exceeds 150 mm and 
measures at least twice the thickness; and
     Certain clad stainless flat-rolled products, which are 
three-layered corrosion-resistant flat-rolled steel products less 
than 4.75 mm in composite thickness that consist of a flat-rolled 
steel product clad on both sides with stainless steel in a 20%-60%-
20% ratio.
    The products subject to the investigation are currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under item numbers: 7210.30.0030, 7210.30.0060, 
7210.41.0000, 7210.49.0030, 7210.49.0091, 7210.49.0095, 
7210.61.0000, 7210.69.0000, 7210.70.6030, 7210.70.6060, 
7210.70.6090, 7210.90.6000, 7210.90.9000, 7212.20.0000, 
7212.30.1030, 7212.30.1090, 7212.30.3000, 7212.30.5000, 
7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, and 7212.60.0000.
    The products subject to the investigation may also enter under 
the following HTSUS item numbers: 7210.90.1000, 7215.90.1000, 
7215.90.3000, 7215.90.5000, 7217.20.1500, 7217.30.1530, 
7217.30.1560, 7217.90.1000, 7217.90.5030, 7217.90.5060, 
7217.90.5090, 7225.91.0000, 7225.92.0000, 7225.99.0090, 
7226.99.0110, 7226.99.0130, 7226.99.0180, 7228.60.6000, 
7228.60.8000, and 7229.90.1000.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the 
investigation is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2015-28452 Filed 11-5-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P