[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 44 (Monday, March 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11751-11754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05001]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-029]


Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products From the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that certain cold-rolled steel flat products (cold-rolled 
steel) from the People's Republic of China (the PRC) are being, or are 
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 is January 1, 2015, through June 
30, 2015. The estimated weighted-average dumping margin is shown in the 
``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice. We invite 
interested parties to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective March 7, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Hoefke or Robert James, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-4947 
or (202) 482-0679, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on August 24, 2015.\1\ For a complete description of the 
events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum that is dated concurrently with this 
determination and is hereby adopted by this notice.\2\ A list of topics 
included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix 
I 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 electronic version of Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Brazil, the 
People's Republic of China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the 
Netherlands, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 80 FR 51198 
(August 24, 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 Cold-Rolled Steel 
Flat Products from the People's Republic of China,'' dated 
concurrently with and hereby adopted by this notice.

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[[Page 11752]]

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are cold-rolled steel 
flat products from the PRC. For a complete description of the scope of 
this investigation, see Appendix II.

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 not modifying the scope 
language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice.
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Initiation Notice, 80 FR at 51199.
    \5\ See Memorandum to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, 
``Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Products From Brazil, the People's 
Republic of China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian 
Federation, and the United Kingdom: Scope Comments Decision 
Memorandum for the Preliminary Determinations,'' dated concurrently 
with this preliminary determination.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Because none of the potential respondents in 
this investigation submitted separate rate applications, they are 
considered to be part of the PRC-wide entity. Further, the PRC-wide 
entity did not provide necessary quantity-and-value data the Department 
requested. Therefore, in making this preliminary determination, the 
Department relied on facts available and, because respondents failed to 
cooperate by not acting to the best of their ability to respond to the 
Department's requests for information, we drew an adverse inference in 
selecting a rate from among the facts otherwise available.\6\ For 
further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse 
Inferences'' in the accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \6\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances

    On October 30, 2015, Petitioners filed a timely critical 
circumstances allegation, pursuant to section 703(e)(1) and 733(e)(1) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, alleging that critical circumstances 
exist with respect to imports of certain cold-rolled steel flat 
products from the PRC.\7\ We preliminarily determine, on the basis of 
adverse facts available, that critical circumstances exist for PRC-wide 
entity. A discussion of our determination can be found in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum at the section, ``Preliminary 
Determination of Critical Circumstances.''
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    \7\ See Letter from Petitioners, dated October 30, 2015.
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Preliminary Determination

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Dumping
                          Company                                rate
                                                              (percent)
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PRC-Wide Entity............................................      265.79
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we will direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all 
entries of cold-rolled steel from the PRC 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.
    Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative 
determination of critical circumstance, 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 investigation was published. Accordingly, for the PRC-
wide entity, in accordance with section 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the 
suspension of liquidation 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. 
We will also instruct CBP, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act 
and 19 CFR 351.205(d), to require a cash deposit equal to the margins 
indicated in the chart above.\8\ The suspension of liquidation will 
remain in effect until further notice.
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    \8\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 
(October 3, 2011).
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    With respect to the PRC-wide entity, we find that export subsidies 
constitute 66.03 percent \9\ of the preliminarily calculated 
countervailing duty rate in the concurrent countervailing duty 
investigation, and thus, we will offset the PRC-wide rate of 265.79 by 
countervailing duty rate attributable to export subsidies (i.e., 66.03 
percent) to calculate the cash deposit rate for this LTFV 
investigation. Accordingly, the cash deposit rate will be 199.76 
percent.
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    \9\ The following programs were initiated on as export specific 
in the concurrent countervailing duty investigation were initiated 
on: Export Loans; Preferential Lending to Cold-Rolled Steel 
Producers and Exporters Classified As ``Honorable Enterprises''; 
Preferential Income Tax Subsidies for Foreign Invested Enterprises--
Export Oriented FIEs; Programs to Rebate Antidumping Legal Fees; 
Export Assistance Grants; Subsidies for Development of Famous Export 
Brands and China World Top Brands; Sub-Central Government Programs 
to Promote Famous Export Brands and China World Top Brands; Export 
Interest Subsidies; Export Seller's Credits; Export Buyer's Credits; 
Export Credit Insurance Subsidies; Export Credit Guarantees''. See 
Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From Brazil, India, the 
People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian 
Federation: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 80 FR 
51206 (August 24, 2015), see also Countervailing Duty Investigation 
of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From India: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With 
Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 80 FR 79562 (December 22, 
2015) and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 11-15 and 
Appendix 1.
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We will disclose the calculations performed to interested parties 
in this proceeding within five days of the date of announcement of this 
preliminary determination in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Case 
briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 30 days after 
the publication of this preliminary determination in the Federal 
Register.\10\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, 
may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for 
case briefs.\11\
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(b)(2)(c)(i).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309, see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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    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.\12\ This summary should be limited to five pages total, 
including footnotes.
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).

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[[Page 11753]]

    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must do so in 
writing within 30 days after the publication of this preliminary 
determination in the Federal Register.\13\ 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 date, time, and location to be 
determined. Parties will be notified of the date, time, and location of 
any hearing.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    Parties must file their case and rebuttal briefs, and any requests 
for a hearing, electronically using ACCESS.\14\ Electronically-filed 
documents must be received successfully in their entirety by 5:00 p.m. 
Eastern Time on the due dates established above.\15\
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(2)(i).
    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1).
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we are notifying the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our 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)(I) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: February 29, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstance
V. Scope of the Investigation
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
    A. Non-Market Economy Country
    B. The PRC-wide Entity
    C. Application of Facts Available and Adverse Inferences
VII. Adjustment Under Section 777A(F) of the Act
VIII. Adjustment to Cash Deposit Rate for Export Subsidies
IX. Disclosure and Public Comment
X. Conclusion

Appendix II--Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain cold-
rolled (cold-reduced), flat-rolled steel products, 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 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, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, 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. Motor lamination steels contain 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 cold-rolled 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 cold-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 this 
investigation unless specifically excluded. The following products 
are outside of and/or specifically excluded from the scope of this 
investigation:
     Ball bearing steels; \16\
     Tool steels; \17\
     Silico-manganese steel; \18\
     Grain-oriented electrical steels (GOES) as defined in 
the final determination of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Grain-
Oriented

[[Page 11754]]

Electrical Steel From Germany, Japan, and Poland.\19\
     Non-Oriented Electrical Steels (NOES), as defined in 
the antidumping orders issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 
Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From the People's Republic of China, 
Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan.\20\
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    \16\ 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.
    \17\ 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.
    \18\ 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.
    \19\ See Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel From Germany, Japan, 
and Poland: Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value 
and Certain Final Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, 79 FR 42,501, 42,503 (Dep't of Commerce, July 22, 
2014). This determination defines grain-oriented electrical steel as 
``a flat-rolled alloy steel product containing by weight at least 
0.6 percent but not more than 6 percent of silicon, not more than 
0.08 percent of carbon, not more than 1.0 percent of aluminum, and 
no other element in an amount that would give the steel the 
characteristics of another alloy steel, in coils or in straight 
lengths.''
    \20\ See Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From the People's 
Republic of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, 
and Taiwan: Antidumping Duty Orders, 79 FR 71,741, 71,741-42 (Dep't 
of Commerce, December 3, 2014). The orders define NOES as ``cold-
rolled, flat-rolled, alloy steel products, whether or not in coils, 
regardless of width, having an actual thickness of 0.20 mm or more, 
in which the core loss is substantially equal in any direction of 
magnetization in the plane of the material. The term `substantially 
equal' means that the cross grain direction of core loss is no more 
than 1.5 times the straight grain direction (i.e., the rolling 
direction) of core loss. NOES has a magnetic permeability that does 
not exceed 1.65 Tesla when tested at a field of 800 A/m (equivalent 
to 10 Oersteds) along (i.e., parallel to) the rolling direction of 
the sheet (i.e., B800 value). NOES contains by weight more than 1.00 
percent of silicon but less than 3.5 percent of silicon, not more 
than 0.08 percent of carbon, and not more than 1.5 percent of 
aluminum. NOES has a surface oxide coating, to which an insulation 
coating may be applied.''
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    The products subject to this investigation are currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under item numbers: 7209.15.0000, 7209.16.0030, 
7209.16.0060, 7209.16.0070, 7209.16.0091, 7209.17.0030, 
7209.17.0060, 7209.17.0070, 7209.17.0091, 7209.18.1530, 
7209.18.1560, 7209.18.2510, 7209.18.2520, 7209.18.2580, 
7209.18.6020, 7209.18.6090, 7209.25.0000, 7209.26.0000, 
7209.27.0000, 7209.28.0000, 7209.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 
7211.23.1500, 7211.23.2000, 7211.23.3000, 7211.23.4500, 
7211.23.6030, 7211.23.6060, 7211.23.6090, 7211.29.2030, 
7211.29.2090, 7211.29.4500, 7211.29.6030, 7211.29.6080, 
7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7225.50.6000, 
7225.50.8080, 7225.99.0090, 7226.92.5000, 7226.92.7050, and 
7226.92.8050. The products subject to the investigation may also 
enter under the following HTSUS numbers: 7210.90.9000, 7212.50.0000, 
7215.10.0010, 7215.10.0080, 7215.50.0016, 7215.50.0018, 
7215.50.0020, 7215.50.0061, 7215.50.0063, 7215.50.0065, 
7215.50.0090, 7215.90.5000, 7217.10.1000, 7217.10.2000, 
7217.10.3000, 7217.10.7000, 7217.90.1000, 7217.90.5030, 
7217.90.5060, 7217.90.5090, 7225.19.0000, 7226.19.1000, 
7226.19.9000, 7226.99.0180, 7228.50.5015, 7228.50.5040, 
7228.50.5070, 7228.60.8000, and 7229.90.1000.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
U.S. Customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of 
the investigation is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2016-05001 Filed 3-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P