[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 146 (Friday, July 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49953-49956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17941]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-881]


Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the Republic of 
Korea: Final 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'') determines 
that certain cold-rolled steel flat products (``cold-rolled steel'') 
from the Republic of Korea (Korea) are being, or are likely to be, sold 
in the United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''). The final 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins are listed below in the 
``Final Determination'' section of this notice. The period of 
investigation (``POI'') is July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.

DATES: Effective July 29, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Cho 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-
5075 or (202) 482-0649, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Department published the preliminary determination on March 7, 
2016.\1\ A summary of the events that occurred since the Department 
published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion 
of the issues raised by parties for this final determination, may be 
found in the Final Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the 
Republic of Korea: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination, 81 FR 
11757 (March 7, 2016) (Preliminary Determination) and accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ 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 Affirmative 
Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-
Rolled Steel Products from the Republic of Korea,'' (Final Issues 
and Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with this determination 
and hereby adopted by this notice.
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    Also, as explained in the memorandum from the Acting Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, the Department exercised

[[Page 49954]]

its authority to toll all administrative deadlines due to the recent 
closure of the Federal Government.\3\ As a consequence, all deadlines 
in this segment of the proceeding have been extended by four business 
days. The revised deadline for the final determination is now July 20, 
2016.
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    \3\ See Memorandum to the File from Ron Lorentzen, Acting A/S 
for Enforcement & Compliance, ``Tolling of Administrative Deadlines 
As a Result of the Government Closure During Snowstorm Jonas,'' 
dated January 27, 2016.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is cold-rolled steel from 
the Republic of Korea. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see the ``Scope of the Investigation,'' in Appendix II 
of this notice.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preliminary Scope Determination,\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 records 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, 
``Final Scope Comments Decision Memorandum,'' dated May 16, 2016 
(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 Final Issues and Decision 
Memorandum, which is hereby adopted by this notice.\6\ A list of the 
issues raised is attached to this notice as Appendix I. The Final 
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 Final Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed 
directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed and 
electronic versions of the Final Issues and Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.
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    \6\ See Final Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in January, March, and 
April 2016, the Department verified the sales and cost data reported by 
the mandatory respondents Hyundai Steel Company and POSCO,\7\ pursuant 
to section 782(i) of the Act. We used standard verification procedures, 
including an examination of relevant accounting and production records, 
and original source documents provided by respondents.
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    \7\ We are continuing to collapse the mandatory respondent 
Daewoo International Corporation (DWI) and POSCO, and henceforward 
refer to the collapsed entity as ``POSCO''. See Preliminary 
Determination, 81 FR at 11758.
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Use of Adverse Facts Available

    In making this final determination, the Department relied, in part, 
on facts available and, because Hyundai Steel Company did not act to 
the best of its ability in responding 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 the accompanying Final Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \8\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Changes to the Margin Calculations 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 
Hyundai Steel Company and POSCO. For a discussion of these changes, see 
the Final Issues and Decision Memorandum. We have also revised the all-
others rate.

All-Others Rate

    Consistent with sections 735(c)(1)(B)(i)(II) and 735(c)(5) of the 
Act, the Department also calculated an estimated all-others rate. 
Section 735(c)(5)(A) of 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 and de minimis 
margins, and any margins determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act. Where the rates for investigated companies are zero or de minimis, 
or based entirely on facts otherwise available, section 735(c)(5)(B) of 
the Act instructs the Department to establish an ``all others'' rate 
using ``any reasonable method.''
    In this investigation, we calculated weighted-average dumping 
margins for Hyundai Steel Company and POSCO, that are above de minimis 
and which are not based entirely on total facts available. We 
calculated the all-others rate using a simple average of the dumping 
margins calculated for the mandatory respondents.\9\
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    \9\ With two respondents, we would normally calculate (A) a 
weighted-average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory 
respondents; (B) a simple average of the dumping margins calculated 
for the mandatory respondents; and (C) a weighted-average of the 
dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents using each 
company's publicly-ranged values for the merchandise under 
consideration. We would compare (B) and (C) to (A) and select the 
rate closest to (A) as the most appropriate rate for all other 
companies. See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof From France, Germany, 
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances 
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 
(September 1, 2010). As complete publicly ranged sales data was 
unavailable, we based the all-others rate on a simple average of the 
two calculated margins.
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Final Determination Margins

    The Department determines that the following estimated weighted-
average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Weighted-average
      Exporter/manufacturer         dumping margins    Cash deposit rate
                                       (percent)           (percent)
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Hyundai Steel Company...........               34.33               34.33
POSCO and Daewoo International                  6.32                0.00
 Corporation....................
All Others......................               20.33               20.33
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[[Page 49955]]

Disclosure

    We intend to disclose to parties in this proceeding the 
calculations performed for this final determination within five days of 
the date of public announcement of our final determination, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to 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 entries of cold-rolled steel from Korea, 
which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after March 7, 2016 (the date of publication of the affirmative 
Preliminary Determination).
    Where the product under investigation is also subject to a 
concurrent countervailing duty investigation, we instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit less the amount of the countervailing duty 
determined to constitute any export subsidies. Because of the 
affirmative final determination in the countervailing duty 
investigation, suspension of liquidation will be ordered in that 
investigation, and so long as suspension of liquidation continues under 
this antidumping duty investigation, the cash deposit rates for this 
antidumping duty investigation will be the rates identified in the cash 
deposit rate column in the rate chart, above. In the event that a 
countervailing duty order is issued and suspension of liquidation 
continues in the companion countervailing duty investigation on cold-
rolled steel from the Korea, the Department will continue to instruct 
CBP to require cash deposits adjusted by the amount of export 
subsidies, as appropriate. These adjustments are reflected in the final 
column of the rate chart, above.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
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 cold-rolled steel from Korea 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 (``APOs'')

    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 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.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Final Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
VI. Discussion of the Issues

General Comments

    1. Differential Pricing

Company-Specific Comments

POSCO

    2. International Freight and Domestic Brokerage and Handling 
Expenses
    3. Loading and Foreign Inland Freight Expenses
    4. Quality Product Characteristic
    5. Yield Loss
    6. General and Administrative Expenses
    7. Home Market Gross Unit Price Field
    8. Inclusion of Warehousing Expense in Freight Revenue Cap 
Calculations
    9. CEP Offset
    10. Affiliated Party Purchases Cost Adjustment

Hyundai Steel

    11. Whether or not to apply total adverse facts available to 
Hyundai Steel
    12. Control Numbers and Prime/Non-Prime Designation
    13. U.S. Sales and Further Manufacturing Costs
    14. Repacking Cost for Further Manufactured Merchandise
    15. Reporting of Inland Freight, Warehousing Services, 
International Freight, and Other Services Provided by an Affiliated 
Company
    16. 2013 Financial Statements
    17. Certain Home Market Customers
    18. CEP Offset
    19. Other Issues
    20. Other Cost Issues
VII. Recommendation

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

[[Page 49956]]

 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; \10\
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    \10\ 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; \11\
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    \11\ 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; \12\
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    \12\ 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.\13\
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    \13\ 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 42501, 42503 (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.''
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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.\14\
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    \14\ 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 71741, 71741-42 (Dep't of Commerce, 
Dec. 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. 2016-17941 Filed 7-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P