[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 236 (Monday, December 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58178-58181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26607]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-029, C-570-030]


Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the People's 
Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Anti-
Circumvention Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty 
Orders

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that imports of certain cold-rolled steel flat products 
(CRS), produced in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) using 
carbon hot-rolled steel (HRS) manufactured in the People's Republic of 
China (PRC), are circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) and 
countervailing duty (CVD) orders on CRS from the PRC.

DATES: Applicable December 11, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Cho, Tyler Weinhold, or John 
Drury, AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
5075; (202) 482-1121; or (202) 482-0195, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Certain domestic interested parties, Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI), 
California Steel Industries (CSI), ArcelorMittal USA LLC (AMUSA), Nucor 
Corporation (Nucor), United States Steel Corporation, and AK Steel 
Corporation (collectively, the domestic parties), filed submissions \1\ 
alleging that imports of cold-rolled steel from Vietnam made from HRS 
sourced from the PRC and exported to the United States as cold-rolled 
steel of Vietnamese origin are circumventing the CRS Orders.\2\ In 
their submissions, domestic parties requested the Department initiate 
anti-circumvention inquiries pursuant to section 781(b) of the Tariff 
Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.225(h), to determine 
whether the importation of the PRC-origin HRS substrate input for 
finishing into CRS in Vietnam and subsequent sale of that CRS to the 
United States constitutes circumvention of the CRS Orders.
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    \1\ See Domestic Parties' Letter, ``Certain Cold-Rolled Steel 
Flat Products from China: Request for Circumvention Ruling,'' dated 
September 22, 2016 (Circumvention Ruling Request September 22, 
2017), and Petitioners' Letter, ``Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from the People's Republic of China--Request for 
Circumvention Ruling Pursuant to Section 781(b) of the Tariff Act of 
1930,'' dated September 27, 2016 (Circumvention Ruling Request 
September 27, 2017).
    \2\ See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Japan and 
the People's Republic of China: Antidumping Duty Orders, 81 FR 45955 
(July 14, 2016) (CRS AD Order), and Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from the People's Republic of China: Countervailing Duty 
Order, 81 FR 45960 (July 14, 2016) (CRS CVD Order) (collectively, 
CRS Orders).
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    On November 17, 2016, the Department published the notice of 
initiation of anti-circumvention inquiries on imports of CRS from 
Vietnam.\3\ On August 29, 2017, the Department postponed the final 
determination of these inquiries and the revised final deadlines are 
now February 15, 2018.\4\ For a complete description of the events that 
followed the initiation of these inquiries, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\5\ 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 accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the electronic versions of 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \3\ See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the 
People's Republic of China: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention 
Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders, 81 
FR 81057 (November 17, 2016) (Initiation Notice).
    \4\ See Letter, ``Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products (CRS) 
from the People's Republic of China (PRC): Extension of Anti-
Circumvention Final Rulings,'' August 29, 2017.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determinations in the Anti-Circumvention Inquiries of Certain Cold-
Rolled Steel Products from the People's Republic of China,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).

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[[Page 58179]]

Scope of the Orders

    The products covered by these orders are certain cold-rolled (cold-
reduced), flat-rolled steel products, whether or not annealed, painted, 
varnished, or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic substances. For 
a complete description of the scope of the orders, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\6\
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    \6\ Id.
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Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiries

    These anti-circumvention inquiries cover cold-rolled steel produced 
in Vietnam from HRS substrate input manufactured in the PRC and 
subsequently exported from Vietnam to the United States (inquiry 
merchandise). These preliminary rulings apply to all shipments of 
inquiry merchandise on or after the date of the initiation of these 
inquiries.

Methodology

    The Department is conducting these anti-circumvention inquiries in 
accordance with section 781(b) of the Act. Because Vietnam and the PRC 
\7\ are non-market economy countries, within the meaning of section 
771(18) of the Act, the Department has calculated the value of certain 
processing and merchandise using factors of production and market 
economy values, as discussed in section 773(c) of the Act. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying the Department's preliminary 
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \7\ See Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Aluminum Foil 
from the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination, 82 FR 50858, 50861 (November 2, 2017) citing 
Memorandum to Gary Taverman, ``China's Status as a Non-Market 
Economy,'' dated October 26, 2017. See also Certain Oil Country 
Tubular Goods from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 81 FR 24797 
(October 14, 2016) (unchanged in Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods 
from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review; 2014-2015, 82 FR 18611 (April 20, 
2017)).
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Preliminary Finding

    As detailed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, we 
preliminarily determine that CRS produced in Vietnam from HRS sourced 
from the PRC is circumventing the CRS Orders. We therefore 
preliminarily determine that it is appropriate to include this 
merchandise within the CRS Orders and to instruct U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) to suspend any entries of CRS from Vietnam 
produced from HRS from the PRC.

Suspension of Liquidation

    As stated above, the Department has made a preliminary affirmative 
finding of circumvention of the CRS Orders by exports to the United 
States of CRS produced in Vietnam from PRC-origin HRS. This 
circumvention finding applies to CRS produced by any Vietnamese company 
from PRC-origin HRS substrate input. In accordance with section 19 CFR 
351.225(l)(2), the Department will direct CBP to suspend liquidation 
and to require a cash deposit of estimated duties on unliquidated 
entries of CRS produced in Vietnam from PRC-origin HRS that were 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
November 4, 2016, the date of initiation of the anti-circumvention 
inquiry.
    The suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice. In the underlying AD and CVD investigations, 
there were no cooperating respondents and, accordingly, all producers/
exporters, as appropriate, of subject merchandise received the same AD 
rate of 199.76 and CVD rate of 256.44. Therefore, the Department is 
using these rates, the only rates on the records of these proceedings. 
Thus, the Department will instruct CBP to require AD cash deposits 
equal to the rate of 199.76 percent and CVD cash deposits equal to the 
rate 256.44 percent.
    CRS produced in Vietnam from HRS that is not of PRC-origin is not 
subject to these inquiries. Therefore, cash deposits are not required 
for such merchandise. If an importer imports CRS from Vietnam and it 
claims that the CRS was not produced from HRS substrate manufactured in 
the PRC, in order not to be subject to cash deposit requirements, the 
importer and exporter are required to meet the certification and 
documentation requirements described in Appendix II. Exporters of CRS 
produced from non-PRC origin HRS substrate must prepare and maintain an 
Exporter Certification and documentation supporting the Certification 
(see Appendix IV). In addition, importers of such CRS must prepare and 
maintain an Importer Certification (see Appendix III) as well as 
documentation supporting the Importer Certification. Besides the 
Importer Certification, the importer must also maintain a copy of an 
Exporter Certification (see Appendix IV) and relevant supporting 
documentation from its exporter of CRS who did not use the PRC-origin 
HRC substrate.

Verification

    As provided in 19 CFR 351.307, the Department intends to verify 
information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the last final verification report is 
issued in these anti-circumvention inquiries, unless the Secretary 
alters the time limit. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in 
case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the 
deadline date for case briefs.\8\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 
(d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in these 
anti-circumvention inquiries are encouraged to submit with each 
argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the 
argument; and (3) a table of authorities.
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, 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, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC, 20230, at a 
time and date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the 
date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled 
date.

International Trade Commission Notification

    The Department, consistent with section 781(e) of the Act, has 
notified the International Trade Commission (ITC) of these preliminary 
determinations to include the merchandise subject to these anti-
circumvention inquiries within the CRS Orders. Pursuant to section 
781(e) of the Act, the ITC may request consultations concerning the 
Department's proposed inclusion of the subject merchandise. If, after 
consultations, the ITC believes that a significant injury issue is 
presented by the proposed inclusion, it will have 60

[[Page 58180]]

days from the date of notification by the Department to provide written 
advice.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These determinations are issued and published in accordance with 
section 781(b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.225(f).

    Dated: December 5, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Voluntary Respondent Treatment
IV. Scope of the Orders
V. Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiries
VI. Period of Review
VII. Surrogate Countries and Methodology for Valuing Inputs From the 
PRC and Processing in Vietnam
VIII. Statutory Framework
IX. Statutory Analysis
X. Country-Wide Determination
XI. Certification for Not Using PRC-Origin HRS
XII. Recommendation

Appendix II

Certification Requirements

    If an importer imports certain cold-rolled steel flat products 
(CRS) from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) and claims 
that the CRS was not produced from hot-rolled steel substrate 
(substrate) manufactured in the People's Republic of China (PRC), 
the importer is required to complete and maintain the importer 
certification attached hereto as Appendix III. The importer and 
exporter are required to maintain the exporter certification 
attached hereto as Appendix IV. The importer certification must be 
completed, signed, and dated at the time of the entry of the CRS 
product. The exporter certification must be completed, signed, and 
dated at the time of shipment of the relevant entries. For shipments 
and/or entries on or after November 4, 2016, but before the 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, for which 
certifications are required, importers and exporters should complete 
the required certification within 30 days of the publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. The importer and Vietnamese exporter 
are also required to maintain sufficient documentation supporting 
their certifications. The importer will not be required to submit 
the certifications or supporting documentation to U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) as part of the entry process. However, the 
importer and the exporter will be required to present the 
certifications and supporting documentation, to the Department and/
or CBP, as applicable, upon request by the respective agency. 
Additionally, the claims made in the certifications and any 
supporting documentation are subject to verification by the 
Department and/or CBP. The importer and exporter are required to 
maintain the certifications and supporting documentation for the 
later of (1) a period of five years from the date of entry or (2) a 
period of three years after the conclusion of any litigation in 
United States courts regarding such entries. If it is determined 
that the certification and/or documentation requirements in a 
certification have not been met, the Department intends to instruct 
CBP to suspend, under the PRC CRS orders (A-570-029, C-570-030), all 
unliquidated entries for which these requirements were not met and 
require the importer to post applicable antidumping duty (AD) and 
countervailing duty (CVD) cash deposits equal to the rates as 
determined by the Department of Commerce. Entries suspended under A-
570-029 and C-570-030 will be liquidated pursuant to applicable 
administrative reviews of the PRC orders or through the automatic 
liquidation process.

Appendix III

Importer Certification

    I hereby certify that:
     My name is {INSERT COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME HERE{time}  
and I am an official of {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} ;
     I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding 
the importation of the cold-rolled steel flat products produced in 
Vietnam that entered under entry number(s) {INSERT ENTRY 
NUMBER(S){time}  and are covered by this certification;
     I have personal knowledge of the facts regarding the 
production of the imported products covered by this certification;
     These cold-rolled steel flat products produced in 
Vietnam do not contain hot-rolled steel substrate produced in the 
People's Republic of China (PRC):
     I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING 
COMPANY{time}  is required to maintain a copy of this certification 
and sufficient documentation supporting this certification for the 
later of (1) a period of five years from the date of entry or (2) a 
period of three years after the conclusion of any litigation in the 
United States courts regarding such entries;
     I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING 
COMPANY{time}  is required to provide this certification and 
supporting records, upon request, to U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) and/or the Department of Commerce (the Department);
     I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING 
COMPANY{time}  is required to maintain a copy of the exporter's 
certification for the later of (1) a period of five years from the 
date of entry or (2) a period of three years after the conclusion of 
any litigation in United States courts regarding such entries;
     I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING 
COMPANY{time}  is required to maintain and provide a copy of the 
exporter's certification and supporting records, upon request, to 
CBP and/or the Department;
     I understand that the claims made herein, and the 
substantiating documentation, are subject to verification by CBP 
and/or the Department;
     I understand that failure to maintain the required 
certification and/or failure to substantiate the claims made herein 
will result in:
    [cir] suspension of liquidation of all unliquidated entries (and 
entries for which liquidation has not become final) for which these 
requirements were not met and
    [cir] the requirement that the importer post applicable 
antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cash deposits 
equal to the rates as determined by the Department;
     I understand that agents of the importer, such as 
brokers, are not permitted to make this certification;
     This certification was completed at the time of entry;
     I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited 
to, 18 U.S.C. 1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who 
knowingly and willfully make material false statements to the U.S. 
government.

Signature--------------------------------------------------------------

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NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL

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TITLE

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DATE

Appendix IV

Exporter Certification

    I hereby certify that:
     My name is {INSERT COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME HERE{time}  
and I am an official of {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY{time} ;
     I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding 
the production and exportation of the cold-rolled steel flat 
products identified below.
     These cold-rolled steel flat products produced in 
Vietnam do not contain hot-rolled steel substrate produced in the 
People's Republic of China (PRC):
     I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING 
COMPANY{time}  is required to maintain a copy of this certification 
and sufficient documentation supporting this certification for the 
later of (1) a period of five years from the date of entry or (2) a 
period of three years after the conclusion of any litigation in the 
United States courts regarding such entries;
     I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING 
COMPANY{time}  must provide this Exporter Certification to the U.S. 
importer at the time of shipment;
     I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING 
COMPANY{time}  is required to provide a copy of this certification 
and supporting records, upon request, to U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) and/or the Department of Commerce (the Department);
     I understand that the claims made herein, and the 
substantiating documentation are subject to verification by CBP and/
or the Department;
     I understand that failure to maintain the required 
certification and/or failure to substantiate the claims made herein 
will result in:

[[Page 58181]]

    [cir] suspension of all unliquidated entries (and entries for 
which liquidation has not become final) for which these requirements 
were not met and
    [cir] the requirement that the importer post applicable 
antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cash deposits 
equal to the rates as determined by the Department;
     This certification was completed at or prior to the 
time of shipment;
     I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited 
to, 18 U.S.C. 1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who 
knowingly and willfully make material false statements to the U.S. 
government.

Signature--------------------------------------------------------------

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NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL

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TITLE

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DATE


[FR Doc. 2017-26607 Filed 12-8-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P