[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21316-21319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08235]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-031]


Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Iron Mechanical 
Transfer Drive Components From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination and Alignment of Final 
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 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 iron mechanical transfer drive 
components (``ITDCs'') from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). 
The period of investigation is January 1, 2014, through December 31, 
2014. We invite interested parties to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Effective Date: April 11, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brandon Farlander, Robert Galantucci, 
and Robert Bolling, AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and 
Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20230; telephone (202) 482-0182, (202) 482-2923, or (202) 482-3434, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to the Department's regulations,\1\ 
we set aside a period of time in our Initiation Notice for parties to 
raise issues regarding product coverage, and we encouraged all parties 
to submit comments within 20 calendar days of the signature date of 
that notice.\2\
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    \1\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) (``Preamble'').
    \2\ See Certain Iron Mechanical Transfer Drive Components From 
the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty 
Investigation, 80 FR 73722 (November 25, 2015).
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    We received several comments concerning the scope of the 
antidumping duty (``AD'') and CVD investigations of ITDCs from the PRC 
and Canada. On March 30, 2016, Petitioner filed an amendment to the 
scope to exclude certain finished torsional vibration dampeners 
(``TVDs''), as defined in the amended scope.\3\ Petitioner also noted 
that it is considering a potential additional exclusion to the scope to 
cover certain parts of TVDs.\4\ Also, on March 30, 2016, NOK Wuxi 
notified the Department of its intent to withdraw from participation in 
this investigation, contingent on the Department's acceptance and 
inclusion of Petitioner's amendment to the scope.\5\ Because 
Petitioner's proposed scope amendment was filed two days before the due 
date for the preliminary determination, the Department does not have 
sufficient time before the fully extended scheduled signature due date 
of the CVD preliminary determination to consider this proposed 
amendment to the scope. However, the Department will evaluate the scope 
comments and intends to issue its preliminary decision regarding the 
scope of the AD and CVD investigations in the preliminary determination 
of the companion antidumping investigations, which are due for 
signature on May 31, 2016.
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    \3\ See Submission of Petitioner, ``Certain Iron Mechanical 
Transfer Drive Components from Canada and the People's Republic of 
China: Petitioner's Amendment to the Scope,'' dated March 30, 2016.
    \4\ Id.
    \5\ See Submission of NOK Wuxi, ``Certain Iron Mechanical 
Transfer Drive Components from the People's Republic of China: 
Withdrawal from Investigation,'' dated March 30, 2016.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are ITDCs from the PRC. 
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
Appendix II to this notice.

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 each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, we preliminarily determine that there is a subsidy, 
i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives rise to a 
benefit to the

[[Page 21317]]

recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\6\ For a full description 
of the methodology underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\7\ A list of topics discussed 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 http://access.trade.gov, and 
is available 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 accessed directly 
at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic version are identical in content.
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    \6\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
    \7\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, 
``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of 
Certain Iron Mechanical Transfer Drive Components from the People's 
Republic of China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, 
this notice (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum'').
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    The Department notes that, in making these findings, we relied, in 
part, on facts available and, because we find that one or more 
respondents did not act to the best of their ability to respond to the 
Department's requests for information, we drew an adverse inference 
where appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise 
available.\8\ For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise 
Available and Adverse Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \8\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Alignment

    As noted in the Preliminary Determination Memorandum, based on a 
request made by the petitioner TB Wood's Incorporated, we are aligning 
the final CVD investigation in this investigation with the final 
determination in the companion AD investigation of ITDCs in accordance 
with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4).\9\ 
Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same 
date as the final AD determination, which is currently scheduled to be 
issued no later than August 14, 2016, unless postponed.\10\
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    \9\ See Letter from Petitioner, ``Certain Iron Mechanical 
Transfer Drive Components from the People's Republic of China: 
Petitioner's Request to Align the Countervailing Duty Final 
Determination with the Companion Antidumping Duty Final 
Determination,'' dated March 24, 2016.
    \10\ We note that the current deadline for the final AD 
determination is August 14, 2016, which is a Sunday. Pursuant to 
Department practice, the signature date will be the next business 
day, which is Monday, August 15, 2016. See Notice of Clarification: 
Application of ``Next Business Day'' Rule for Administrative 
Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, As 
Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
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Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation\11\
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    \11\ As explained in the memorandum from the Acting Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, the Department has 
exercised its discretion to toll all administrative deadlines due to 
the recent closure of the Federal Government. See Memorandum to the 
Record from Ron Lorentzen, Acting A/S for Enforcement & Compliance, 
regarding ``Tolling of Administrative Deadlines As a Result of the 
Government Closure During Snowstorm Jonas,'' dated January 27, 2016. 
All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been extended 
by four business days. The revised deadline for the preliminary 
determination of this investigation is now April 1, 2016.
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    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated an individual estimated countervailable subsidy rate for 
each exporter/producer of the subject merchandise individually 
investigated. Additionally, 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 weight 
averaging the subsidy rates of the companies selected for individual 
investigation by those companies' exports of the subject merchandise to 
the United States, excluding rates that are zero or de minimis or any 
rates determined entirely on the facts otherwise available. 
Accordingly, in these preliminary results, we have calculated the 
``all-others'' rate by weight-averaging the calculated subsidy rates of 
the two individually investigated respondents, using the respondent's 
publicly-ranged sales data for exports of subject merchandise to the 
United States.\12\ We preliminarily determine the countervailable 
subsidy rates to be:
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    \12\ See Memorandum to the File, ``Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Certain Iron Mechanical Transfer Drive Components 
from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Determination 
Margin Calculation for All-Others,'' dated concurrently with this 
memorandum.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Subsidy rate
                  Exporter/Producer                        (percent)
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NOK (Wuxi) Vibration Control China Co., Ltd., and                   2.68
 Wuxi NOK--Freudenberg Oil Seal Co., Ltd.............
Powermach Import & Export Co., Ltd. (Sichuan),                     33.94
 Sichuan Dawn Precision Technology Co., Ltd., Sichuan
 Dawn Foundry Co. Ltd., and Powermach Machinery Co.,
 Ltd.................................................
Changzhou Baoxin Metallurgy Equipment Manufacturing               166.77
 Co. Ltd.*...........................................
Changzhou Changjiang Gear Co., Ltd.*.................             166.77
Changzhou Gangyou Lifting Equipment Co., Ltd.*.......             166.77
Changzhou Juling Foundry Co., Ltd.*..................             166.77
Changzhou Liangjiu Mechanical Manufacturing Co Ltd.*.             166.77
Changzhou New Century Sprocket Group Company *.......             166.77
Changzhou Xiangjin Precision Machinery Co., Ltd.*....             166.77
FIT Bearings*........................................             166.77
Fuzhou Minyue Mechanical & Electrical Co., Ltd.*.....             166.77
Hangzhou Chinabase Machinery Co., Ltd.*..............             166.77
Hangzhou Ever Power Transmission Group *.............             166.77
Hangzhou Vision Chain Transmission Co., Ltd.*........             166.77
Hangzhou Xingda Machinery Co., Ltd.*.................             166.77
Henan Xinda International Trading Co., Ltd.*.........             166.77
Henan Zhiyuan Machinery Sprocket Co. Ltd.*...........             166.77
Jiangsu Songlin Automobile Parts Co., Ltd.*..........             166.77
Martin Sprocket & Gear (Changzhou) Co., Ltd.*........             166.77
Ningbo Blue Machines Co., Ltd.*......................             166.77

[[Page 21318]]

 
Ningbo Fulong Synchronous Belt Co., Ltd.*............             166.77
Ningbo Royu Machinery Co., Ltd.*.....................             166.77
Praxair Surface Technologies*........................             166.77
Qingdao Dazheng Jin Hao International Trade Co.,                  166.77
 Ltd.*...............................................
Quanzhou Licheng Xintang Automobile Parts Co., Ltd.               166.77
 (``XTP Auto Parts'')*...............................
Shangyu Shengtai Machinery Co., Ltd.*................             166.77
Shenzhen Derui Sourcing Co., Ltd.*...................             166.77
Shengzhou Shuangdong Machinery Co., Ltd.*............             166.77
Shengzhou Xinglong Machinery *.......................             166.77
Sichuan Reach Jiayuan Machinery Co. Ltd.*............             166.77
Tran-Auto Industries Co. Ltd.*.......................             166.77
Ubet Machinery *.....................................             166.77
All-Others...........................................              15.51
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Non-cooperative company to which an adverse facts available rate is
  being applied. See ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse
  Inferences,'' section in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

    In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, we 
are directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation 
of all entries of ITDCs from the PRC as described in the ``Scope of the 
Investigation'' that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of the publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register, and to require a cash deposit for such entries of 
merchandise in the amounts indicated above.

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.

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.\13\ 
Interested parties may submit case and rebuttal briefs, as well as 
request a hearing.\14\ For a schedule of the deadlines for filing case 
briefs, rebuttal briefs, and hearing requests, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)-(d), 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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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: April 1, 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. Alignment
IV. Scope Comments
V. Scope of the Investigation
VI. Injury Test
VII. Application of the CVD Law to Imports from the PRC
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Benchmarks and Interest Rates
X. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
XI. Analysis of Programs
XII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XIII. Conclusion

Appendix II

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are iron mechanical 
transfer drive components, whether finished or unfinished (i.e., 
blanks or castings). Subject iron mechanical transfer drive 
components are in the form of wheels or cylinders with a center bore 
hole that may have one or more grooves or teeth in their outer 
circumference that guide or mesh with a flat or ribbed belt or like 
device and are often referred to as sheaves, pulleys, flywheels, 
flat pulleys, idlers, conveyer pulleys, synchronous sheaves, and 
timing pulleys. The products covered by this investigation also 
include bushings, which are iron mechanical transfer drive 
components in the form of a cylinder and which fit into the bore 
holes of other mechanical transfer drive components to lock them 
into drive shafts by means of elements such as teeth, bolts, or 
screws.
    Iron mechanical transfer drive components subject to this 
investigation are those not less than 4.00 inches (101 mm) in the 
maximum nominal outer diameter.
    Unfinished iron mechanical transfer drive components (i.e., 
blanks or castings) possess the approximate shape of the finished 
iron mechanical transfer drive component and have not yet been 
machined to final specification after the initial casting, forging 
or like operations. These machining processes may include cutting, 
punching, notching, boring, threading, mitering, or chamfering.
    Subject merchandise includes iron mechanical transfer drive 
components as defined above that have been finished or machined in a 
third country, including but not limited to finishing/machining 
processes such as cutting, punching, notching, boring, threading, 
mitering, or chamfering, 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 iron mechanical 
transfer drive components.
    Subject iron mechanical transfer drive components are covered by 
the scope of the investigation regardless of width, design, or iron 
type (e.g., gray, white, or ductile iron). Subject iron mechanical 
transfer drive components are covered by the scope of the 
investigation regardless of whether they have non-iron attachments 
or parts and regardless of whether they are entered with other 
mechanical transfer drive components or as part of a mechanical 
transfer drive assembly (which typically includes one or more of the 
iron mechanical transfer drive components identified above, and 
which may also include other parts such as a belt, coupling and/or 
shaft). When entered as a mechanical transfer drive assembly, only 
the iron components that meet the physical description of covered 
merchandise are covered merchandise, not the other components in the 
mechanical transfer drive assembly (e.g., belt, coupling, shaft).

[[Page 21319]]

    For purposes of this investigation, a covered product is of 
``iron'' where the article has a carbon content of 1.7 percent by 
weight or above, regardless of the presence and amount of additional 
alloying elements.
    The merchandise covered by this investigation is currently 
classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(``HTSUS'') subheadings 8483.30.8090, 8483.50.6000, 8483.50.9040, 
8483.50.9080, 8483.90.3000, 8483.90.8080. Covered merchandise may 
also enter under the following HTSUS subheadings: 7325.10.0080, 
7325.99.1000, 7326.19.0010, 7326.19.0080, 8431.31.0040, 
8431.31.0060, 8431.39.0010, 8431.39.0050, 8431.39.0070, 
8431.39.0080, and 8483.50.4000. These HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes. The written description of the 
scope of the investigation is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2016-08235 Filed 4-8-16; 8:45 a.m.]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P