[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26006-26008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11908]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-065]


Stainless Steel Flanges From the People's Republic of China: 
Countervailing Duty Order

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

SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of 
Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC), 
Commerce is issuing the countervailing duty (CVD) order stainless steel 
flanges from the People's Republic of China (China).

DATES: Applicable June 5, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Huang at (202) 482-4047 or 
Justin Neuman at (202) 482-0486, AD/CVD Operations, Office V, 
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    In accordance with sections 705(a), 705(d), and 777(i) of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (Act), and 19 CFR 351.210(c), on April 
12, 2018, Commerce published its affirmative final determinations that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters 
of stainless steel flanges from China.\1\
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    \1\ See Countervailing Duty Investigation of Stainless Steel 
Flanges from the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative 
Determination, 83 FR 15790 (April 12, 2018) (Final Determination) 
and the accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.

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[[Page 26007]]

    On May 29, 2018, the ITC notified Commerce of its affirmative 
determination that an industry in the United States is materially 
injured within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, by 
reason of subsidized imports of subject merchandise from China.\2\
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    \2\ See Letters to Gary Taverman, Acting Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance, from Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, 
Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, regarding 
stainless steel flanges from China (May 29, 2018) (ITC Letter).
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Scope of the Order

    The scope of this order covers stainless steel flanges from China. 
For a complete description of the scope, see the Appendix to this 
notice.

Countervailing Duty Order

    On May 29, 2018, in accordance with sections 705(b)(1)(A)(i) and 
705(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination 
in this investigation, in which it found that an industry in the United 
States is materially injured by reason of imports of stainless steel 
flanges from China.\3\ Therefore, in accordance with section 705(c)(2) 
of the Act, Commerce is issuing this countervailing duty order. Because 
the ITC determined that imports of stainless steel flanges from China 
are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such 
merchandise from China, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for 
consumption, are subject to the assessment of countervailing duties.
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    \3\ See ITC Letter.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon 
further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties for all relevant 
entries of stainless steel flanges from China. Countervailing duties 
will be assessed on unliquidated entries of stainless steel flanges 
from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after January 23, 2018, the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determinations.\4\
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    \4\ See Countervailing Duty Investigation of Stainless Steel 
Flanges from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination, 83 FR 3124 (January 23, 2018) (Preliminary 
Determination) and the accompanying Preliminary Issues and Decision 
Memorandum. However, as described further below, countervailing 
duties will not be assessed on merchandise entered, or withdrawn for 
consumption, during the period of time between the expiration of 
provisional measures and the publication of the ITC's final injury 
determination in the Federal Register.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 706 of the Act, we will instruct CBP to 
suspend liquidation on all relevant entries of stainless steel flanges 
from China, as further described below. These instructions suspending 
liquidation will remain in effect until further notice. Commerce will 
also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the amounts as 
indicated below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication of 
the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations, CBP will require, at 
the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties on 
this subject merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the subsidy rates 
listed below.\5\ The all-others rate applies to all producers or 
exporters not specifically listed below.
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    \5\ See section 706(a)(3) of the Act.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
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Bothwell (Jiangyan) Steel Fittings Co., Ltd.............          174.73
Hydro-Fluids Controls Limited...........................          174.73
Jiangyin Shengda Brite Line Kasugai Flange Co., Ltd.....          174.73
Qingdao I-Flow Co., Ltd.................................          174.73
All-Others..............................................          174.73
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Provisional Measures

    Section 703(d) of the Act states that instructions issued pursuant 
to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect 
for more than four months. In the underlying investigations, Commerce 
published the Preliminary Determination on January 23, 2018. As such, 
the four-month period beginning on the date of the publication of the 
Preliminary Determinations ended on May 23, 2018. Furthermore, section 
707(b) of the Act states that definitive duties are to begin on the 
date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination.
    Therefore, in accordance with section 703(d) of the Act and our 
practice, we instructed CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation 
and to liquidate, without regard to countervailing duties, unliquidated 
entries of stainless steel flanges from China entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption, on or after May 23, 2018, the date the 
provisional measures expired, until and through the day preceding the 
date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination in the 
Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation will resume on the date of 
publication of the ITC's final determination in the Federal Register.

Notifications to Interested Parties

    This notice constitutes the countervailing duty order with respect 
to stainless steel flanges from China pursuant to section 706(a) of the 
Act. Interested parties can find a list of countervailing duty orders 
currently in effect at http://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
    This order is issued and published in accordance with section 
706(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

    Dated: May 29, 2018.
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

Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this order are certain forged stainless 
steel flanges, whether unfinished, semi-finished, or finished 
(certain forged stainless steel flanges). Certain forged stainless 
steel flanges are generally manufactured to, but not limited to, the 
material specification of ASTM/ASME A/SA182 or comparable domestic 
or foreign specifications. Certain forged stainless steel flanges 
are made in various grades such as, but not limited to, 304, 304L, 
316, and 316L (or combinations thereof). The term ``stainless 
steel'' used in this scope refers to an alloy steel containing, by 
actual weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or 
more of chromium, with or without other elements.
    Unfinished stainless steel flanges possess the approximate shape 
of finished stainless steel flanges and have not yet been machined 
to final specification after the initial forging or like operations. 
These machining processes may include, but are not limited to, 
boring, facing, spot facing, drilling, tapering, threading, 
beveling, heating, or compressing. Semi-finished stainless steel 
flanges are unfinished stainless steel flanges that have undergone 
some machining processes.
    The scope includes six general types of flanges. They are: (1) 
Weld neck, generally used in butt-weld line connection; (2) 
threaded, generally used for threaded line connections; (3) slip-on, 
generally used to slide over pipe; (4) lap joint, generally used 
with stub-ends/butt-weld line connections; (5) socket weld, 
generally used to fit pipe into a machine recession; and (6) blind, 
generally used to seal off a line. The sizes and descriptions of the 
flanges within the scope include all pressure classes of ASME B16.5 
and range from one-half inch to twenty-four inches nominal pipe 
size. Specifically excluded from the scope of this order are cast 
stainless steel flanges. Cast stainless steel flanges generally are 
manufactured to specification ASTM A351.
    The country of origin for certain forged stainless steel 
flanges, whether unfinished, semi-finished, or finished is the 
country where the flange was forged. Subject merchandise includes 
stainless steel flanges as defined above that have been further 
processed in a third country. The processing includes, but is not 
limited to, boring, facing, spot facing, drilling, tapering, 
threading,

[[Page 26008]]

beveling, heating, or compressing, and/or any other processing that 
would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the 
orders if performed in the country of manufacture of the stainless 
steel flanges.
    Merchandise subject to the order is typically imported under 
headings 7307.21.1000 and 7307.21.5000 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). While HTSUS subheadings and 
ASTM specifications are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the written description of the scope is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2018-11908 Filed 6-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P