[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 1 (Monday, January 4, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72-74]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32761]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-583-856]


Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from Taiwan: Negative 
Preliminary 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'') preliminarily 
determines that certain corrosion-resistant steel products 
(``corrosion-resistant steel'') from Taiwan are not being, or are not 
likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(``LTFV''), as provided in section 733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (``the Act''). The period of investigation (``POI'') is April 
1, 2014, through March 31, 2015. Interested parties are invited to 
comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective date: January 4, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Medley, Paul Stolz, or Shanah 
Lee, 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) 482-4987, (202) 482-4474, or (202) 482-6386, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on June 30, 2015.\1\ For a complete description of the 
events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the 
memorandum that is dated concurrently with this determination and 
hereby adopted by this notice.\2\ A list of topics included in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this 
notice. The Preliminary 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 https://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 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.
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    \1\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from Italy, 
India, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and 
Taiwan: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 80 FR 
37228 (June 30, 2015) (``Initiation Notice'').
    \2\ See Memorandum from Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination 
in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Corrosion-Resistant 
Steel Products from Taiwan'' (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum''), 
dated concurrently with this notice.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is corrosion-resistant 
steel from Taiwan. For a full description of the scope of this 
investigation, see the ``Scope of the Investigation,'' in Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to the Department's regulations,\3\ 
the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., ``scope'').\4\ Certain 
interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it 
appeared in the Initiation Notice, as well as additional language 
proposed by the Department. For a summary of the product coverage 
comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for this 
preliminary determination, and accompanying discussion and analysis of 
all comments timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum.\5\ The Department is preliminarily modifying the scope 
language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice to clarify that 
corrosion-resistant steel which is further processed in a third country 
is covered by the scope of the investigation. See ``Scope of the 
Investigation,'' in Appendix I, which includes the additional 
clarifying language.
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Initiation Notice, 80 FR at 37229.
    \5\ See Memorandum to Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, 
``Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From the People's 
Republic of China, India, Italy, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan: 
Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determinations,'' dated December 21, 2015.
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Postponement of Deadline for Preliminary Determination

    On October 14, 2015, the Department published the notice of 
postponement for the preliminary determination in this investigation in 
accordance with section 733(c)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.205(f)(1).\6\ As a result of the 41-day postponement, the revised 
deadline for the preliminary determination of this investigation is now 
December 21, 2015.\7\
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    \6\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from India, 
Italy, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and 
Taiwan: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations of Antidumping 
Duty Investigations, 80 FR 61793 (October 14, 2015).
    \7\ Id., 80 FR at 61794.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Export prices have been calculated in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Normal value (``NV'') is 
calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying our preliminary conclusions, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Determination

    For this preliminary determination, we have calculated a zero 
dumping margin for each individually investigated producer/exporter of 
the subject merchandise. Consistent with section 733(b)(3) of the Act, 
we are disregarding these rates and

[[Page 73]]

preliminarily determine that the individually reviewed mandatory 
respondents have not made sales of subject merchandise at LTFV.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter/manufacturer                       dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prosperity Tieh Enterprise Co., Ltd.........................        0.00
Yieh Phui Enterprise Co., Ltd. and Synn Industrial Co., Ltd         0.00
 \8\........................................................
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    Consistent with section 733(d)(1)(A) of the Act, the Department has 
not calculated a weighted-average dumping margin for all other 
producers or exporters because it has not made an affirmative 
preliminary determination of sales at LTFV.
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    \8\ We have preliminarily determined to collapse Yieh Phui 
Enterprise Co., Ltd. with its affiliate Synn Industrial Co., Ltd. 
(collectively, ``Yieh Phui''). See Memorandum to Erin Begnal, 
Director, Office III, ``Less Than Fair Value Investigation of 
Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from Taiwan: Preliminary 
Affiliation and Collapsing Memorandum for Yieh Phui Enterprise Co., 
Ltd.,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    Because the Department has not made an affirmative preliminary 
determination of sales at less than fair value, we are not directing 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation of any 
entries of corrosion-resistant steel from Taiwan.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    We will disclose the calculations performed to interested parties 
in this proceeding within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination. Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted 
to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 
seven days after the date on which the final verification report is 
issued in this proceeding, and rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after 
the deadline date for case briefs.\9\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) 
and (d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
proceeding are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement 
of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of 
authorities.
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce. 
All documents must be filed electronically using ACCESS. An 
electronically-filed request must be received successfully in its 
entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, within 30 days after the 
date of publication of this notice.\10\ Requests should contain the 
party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request 
for a hearing is made, the Department intends to hold the hearing at 
the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time and date to be determined. Parties 
should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing 
two days before the scheduled date.

Verification
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we intend to verify 
information relied upon in making our final determination.

International Trade Commission (``ITC'') Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we are notifying the 
ITC of our negative preliminary determination of sales at LTFV. If our 
final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the 
later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 
45 days after our final determination whether these imports are 
materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: December 21, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by the scope 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 metal 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 4.75 mm or more 
than 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 for above, and
    (2) where the width and thickness vary for a specific period 
(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 in 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; (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
 1.25 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


[[Page 74]]


    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 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.
    Subject merchandise also includes corrosion-resistant steel that 
has been further processed in a third country, including but not 
limited to annealing, tempering painting, varnishing, trimming, 
cutting, punching and/or slitting or any other processing that would 
not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the 
investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the in-
scope corrosion resistant 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 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 
measure at least twice the thickness; and
     Certain clad stainless flat-rolled products, which are 
three-layered corrosion-resistant steel 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, 7215.20.1500, 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.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum:

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances
V. Affiliation and Collapsing
VI. Scope of the Investigation
VII. Discussion of the Methodology
    A. Determination of the Comparison Method
    B. Results of the Differential Pricing Analysis
VIII. Date of Sale
IX. Product Comparisons
X. Export Price and Constructed Export Price
XI. Normal Value
    A. Comparison Market Viability
    B. Affiliated-Party Transactions and Arm's-Length Test
    C. Level of Trade
    D. Cost of Production Analysis
    1. Calculation of COP
    2. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
    3. Results of the COP Test
    E. Calculation of NV Based on Comparison-Market Prices
XII. Currency Conversion
XIII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2015-32761 Filed 12-31-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P