[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 146 (Friday, July 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49950-49953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17938]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-821-822]


Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the Russian 
Federation: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``Department'') determines that 
cold-rolled steel flat products (``cold-rolled steel'') from the 
Russian Federation (``Russia'') are being, or are likely to be, sold in 
the United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''). The period of 
investigation (``POI'') is July 31, 2014, through June 30, 2015. The 
final dumping margins of sales at LTFV are listed below in the ``Final 
Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective July 29, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurel LaCivita, Eve Wang or Alex 
Rosen, 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) 482-4243, (202) 482-6231 or (202) 482-7814, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 8, 2016, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination of this antidumping duty (``AD'') investigation and 
invited parties to comment.\1\ As provided in section 782(i) of the 
Act, in April and May 2016, the Department verified the sales and cost 
data reported by Severstal Export GmbH and PAO Severstal (collectively 
``Severstal'') and Novex Trading (Swiss) SA and Novolipetsk Steel OJSC 
(collectively ``NLMK''), the two mandatory respondents in this 
investigation. In June 2016, ArcelorMittal USA LLC (``ArcelorMittal''), 
on behalf of Petitioners,\2\ Severstal, and NLMK submitted case briefs 
and rebuttal briefs. For a complete discussion of the events that 
occurred since the Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.\3\
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    \1\ See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the Russian 
Federation: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value, Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, and Postponement of Final Determination, 81 FR 12072 
(March 8, 2016) (``Preliminary Determination'').
    \2\ Petitioners are AK Steel Corporation, ArcelorMittal USA LLC, 
Nucor Corporation, Steel Dynamics, Inc., and United States Steel 
Corporation.
    \3\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, 
``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination in the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from the Russian Federation,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice (``Issues and Decision Memorandum'').
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are cold-rolled steel 
from the Russian Federation. For a complete description of the scope of 
this investigation, see the ``Scope of the Investigation,'' in 
Attachment II of this notice.

[[Page 49951]]

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,\4\ 
the Department set aside a period of time for parties to address scope 
issues in case briefs or other written comments on scope issues.
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    \4\ 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 February 29, 
2016 (``Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum'').
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    For a summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal 
responses submitted to the record of the cold-rolled steel 
investigations, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all 
comments timely received, see the Final Scope Decision Memorandum.\5\ 
The Final Scope Decision Memorandum is incorporated by, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice.
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    \5\ See Memorandum to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, 
``Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Final Determinations,'' 
dated concurrently with this notice (``Final Scope Decision 
Memorandum'').
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in 
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, 
which is incorporated by reference and hereby adopted by this notice. A 
list of the issues raised is attached to this notice as Attachment I. 
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 https://access.trade.gov and 
it is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B-8024 
of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed and 
electronic versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical 
in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations. For a 
discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum. We 
have also revised the all-others rate.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the 
Act'') provides that the estimated all-others rate shall be an amount 
equal to the weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margins established for exporters and producers individually 
investigated excluding any zero or de minimis margins, and margins 
determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. In this case, because 
the final dumping margin calculated for NLMK is de minimis, we assigned 
the rate calculated for Severstal as the ``all-others'' rate in the 
final determination, in accordance with section 735(c)(5)(A) of the 
Act.

Final Determination

    The Department determines that the final weighted-average dumping 
margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Weighted-average  margin
             Exporter/producer                        (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Severstal Export GmbH and PAO Severstal...  13.36.
Novex Trading (Swiss) SA and Novolipetsk    1.04 (de minimis).
 Steel OJSC.
All Others................................  13.36.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed within five days 
of the publication of this notice to interested parties, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, In Part

    On February 29, 2016 the Department found that critical 
circumstances existed for merchandise exported by Severstal and NLMK, 
as well as for ``all others.'' \6\ Based on the final sales data 
submitted by Severstal and NLMK and further analysis following the 
Preliminary Determination, we are modifying our findings for the final 
determination, in part. For the final determination, with respect to 
NLMK, we have determined that cold-rolled steel is not being, or is not 
likely to be, sold in the United States at LTFV and, thus, we are 
issuing a negative critical circumstances determination. With respect 
to Severstal, our analysis of Severstal revised reported monthly data 
demonstrates that Severstal's shipments of cold-rolled steel during the 
comparison period increased less than 15 percent over the respective 
imports in the base period, and thus, we are issuing a negative 
critical circumstances determination. For all others, we relied on 
NLMK's reported shipment data and Severstal's revised shipment data and 
determined that the imports during the comparison period increased more 
than 15 percent over the respective imports under the same methodology 
as in the Preliminary Determination. Accordingly, we determine that 
critical circumstances did not exist with regard to NLMK's or 
Sevestal's imports of cold-rolled steel, but existed with regard to all 
others. For a complete discussion of this issue, see the ``Final 
Determination of Critical Circumstances, In Part'' section of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \6\ See Preliminary Determination.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, the Department 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to continue 
to suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of cold-rolled steel 
from Russia as described in the ``Scope of the Investigation'' section, 
which are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after March 8, 2016, the date of publication in the Federal Register of 
the affirmative Preliminary Determination. Because of our affirmative 
determination of critical circumstances for ``all others,'' in 
accordance with section 735(a)(3) and (c)(4)(C) of the Act, suspension 
of liquidation of cold-rolled steel from Russia, as described in the 
``Scope of the Investigation'' section, shall apply, for ``all 
others,'' 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 the Preliminary Determination. Because we 
find in this final determination that critical circumstances do not 
exist for Severstal, we will terminate the retroactive suspension of 
liquidation ordered at the Preliminary Determination and release any 
cash deposits that were required during that period, consistent with 
section 735(c)(3) of the Act. For NLMK, which includes Novex Trading 
(Swiss) SA and Novolipetsk Steel OJSC, because this entity's estimated 
weighted-average final dumping margin is de minimis, we are directing 
CBP to terminate suspension of liquidation of entries of cold-rolled 
steel produced and exported by this entity.
    Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department will 
instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the weighted-average 
amount by which normal value exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) For the 
mandatory

[[Page 49952]]

respondent listed above, the cash deposit rate will be equal to the 
dumping margin which the Department determined in this final 
determination adjusted, as appropriate, for export subsidies found in 
the final determination of the companion countervailing duty 
investigation; \7\ (2) if the exporter is not a firm identified in this 
investigation, but the producer is, the cash deposit rate will be the 
rate established for the producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) 
the cash deposit rates for all other producers or exporters will be 
13.36 percent, as discussed in the ``All-Others Rate'' section above. 
The suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.
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    \7\ In this case, although the product under investigation is 
also subject to a countervailing duty investigation, the Department 
found no countervailing duty determined to constitute an export 
subsidy. Therefore, we did not offset the cash deposit rates shown 
above for purposes of this determination.
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (``ITC'') of the final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this 
proceeding is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the 
Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of certain cold-
rolled steel from Russia no later than 45 days after our final 
determination. If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of 
material injury does not exist, the proceeding will be terminated and 
all cash deposits will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such 
injury does exist, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order 
directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction by the Department, 
antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective 
date of the suspension of liquidation.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders (``APO'')

    This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to APO of their 
responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 
notification of the return or 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 violation 
subject to sanction.
    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: July 20, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Attachment I

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, In Part
V. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
VI. List of Comments
VII. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Application of Adverse Facts Available (``AFA'') for 
Severstal
    Comment 2: Classification of Severstal Export's Sales through 
SSE Miami
    Comment 3: Treatment of SSE Miami's Indirect Selling Expenses in 
the Determination of U.S. Price
    Comment 4: The Use of Zeroing in Severstal's Margin Analysis
    Comment 5: Calculation of Severstal Export's U.S. Customs 
Clearance Costs
    Comment 6: Financial Expenses and Foreign Exchange Losses for 
Severstal
    Comment 7: Missing Costs for Severstal
    Comment 8: Cost for Products Sold but not Produced During the 
POI for Severstal
    Comment 9: Major Inputs for Severstal
    Comment 10: Financial Expense Ratio Calculation for Severstal
    Comment 11: Ministerial Errors for Severstal
    Comment 12: NLMK's Date of Sale for the U.S. Sales
    Comment 13: Reserve for Doubtful Debts in NLMK's Indirect 
Selling Expenses
    Comment 14: NLMK's Other Income and Expense Items
    Comment 15: Allocation of the Parent Company's Expenses to NLMK
    Comment 16: NLMK's Net Financial Expense Ratio
    Comment 17: Minor Corrections in NLMK's Margin Calculation
VIII. Recommendation

Attachment 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

[[Page 49953]]

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; \8\
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    \8\ 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.
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     Tool steels; \9\
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    \9\ 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.
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     Silico-manganese steel; \10\
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    \10\ 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.
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     Grain-oriented electrical steels (``GOES'') as defined 
in the final determination of the U.S. Department of Commerce in 
Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel from Germany, Japan, and Poland.\11\
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    \11\ 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) (``Grain-
Oriented Electrical Steel from Germany, Japan, and Poland''). 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.''
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     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.\12\
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    \12\ 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, 
Dec. 3, 2014) (``Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the People's 
Republic of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, 
and Taiwan''). 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. 2016-17938 Filed 7-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P