[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 120 (Friday, June 21, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29161-29164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13250]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-086]
Steel Propane Cylinders From the People's Republic of China:
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that steel
propane cylinders from the People's Republic of China (China) are
being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair
value (LTFV).
DATES: Applicable June 21, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Berger or Laura Griffith,
AD/CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance,
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2483
or (202) 482-6430, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On December 27, 2018, Commerce published its Preliminary
Determination of sales at LTFV of steel propane cylinders from
China.\1\ A complete
[[Page 29162]]
summary of the events that occurred since Commerce 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
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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\1\ See Steel Propane Cylinders from the People's Republic of
China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination Measures, 83 FR
66675 (December 27, 2018) (Preliminary Determination), and
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel
Propane Cylinders from the People's Republic of China,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and
Decision Memorandum).
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The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is
available 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 B-8024 of Commerce's
main building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum can be accessed at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Issues and Decision Memorandum and electronic version
are identical in content.
Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by
the partial federal government closure from December 22, 2018 through
the resumption of operations on January 29, 2019.\3\ If the new
deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with Commerce's
practice, the deadline will become the next business day. The revised
deadline for the final results of this investigation is now June 17,
2019.
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\3\ See Memorandum to the Record from 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, ``Deadlines
Affected by the Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated
January 28, 2019. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding
have been extended by 40 days.
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Period of Investigation
The POI is October 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018.
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel propane
cylinders from China. For a complete discussion of the scope of this
investigation, see Appendix I of this notice.
Scope Comments
During the course of this investigation and the concurrent
countervailing duty (CVD) investigation, Commerce received scope
comments from interested parties. Certain interested parties commented
on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the Preliminary
Scope Decision Memorandum,\4\ which was issued concurrently with the
Preliminary Determination. We did not receive any scope comments after
the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum; therefore, the preliminary
scope determination remains unchanged in the final determination.
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\4\ See Memorandum, ``Steel Propane Cylinders from the People's
Republic of China (China) and Thailand: Scope Decision Memorandum
for the Preliminary Antidumping Duty (AD) and Countervailing Duty
(CVD) Determinations,'' dated December 18, 2018 (Preliminary Scope
Decision Memorandum).
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Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act), Commerce verified the sales and cost data reported by Hong
Kong GSBF Company Ltd. and GSBF TANK Inc. (collectively, GSBF) and
Shandong Huanri Group Co., Ltd. (Huanri) for use in our final
determination. We used standard verification procedures, including an
examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original
source documents provided by the respondents.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted
by interested parties in this proceeding are discussed in the Issues
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues raised by parties and
responded to by Commerce are in the Issues and Decision Memorandum,
attached at Appendix II.
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
both respondents since the Preliminary Determination. For a discussion
of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
China-Wide Entity
For the reasons explained in the Preliminary Determination, we are
continuing to find that the use of adverse facts available (AFA),
pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, is appropriate and are
applying a rate based entirely on AFA to the China-wide entity.
Commerce did not receive timely responses to its quantity and value
(Q&V) questionnaire, separate rate applications, or separate rate
supplemental questionnaires from certain exporters and/or producers of
subject merchandise that were named in the petition and to which
Commerce issued Q&V questionnaires.\5\ TPA Metals and Machinery (DG)
Co. Ltd., which did respond to the Q&V questionnaire and was initially
selected as a mandatory respondent in this investigation, failed to
respond to Commerce's initial questionnaire, and was thus deemed non-
responsive.\6\ As these non-responsive companies in China did not
demonstrate that they are eligible for separate rate status, Commerce
continues to consider them to be a part of the China-wide entity.
Consequently, we continue to find that the China-wide entity withheld
requested information, significantly impeded the proceeding, and failed
to cooperate to the best of their abilities, and thus we are continuing
to base the China-wide entity's rate on AFA.
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\5\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 15.
\6\ Id.
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China-Wide Rate
In selecting the AFA rate for the China-wide entity, Commerce's
practice is to select a rate that is sufficiently adverse to ensure
that the uncooperative party does not obtain a more favorable result by
failing to cooperate than if it had fully cooperated.\7\ Specifically,
it is Commerce's practice to select, as an AFA rate, the higher of: (a)
The highest dumping margin alleged in the petition; or, (b) the highest
calculated dumping margin of any respondent in the investigation.\8\ As
AFA, Commerce has assigned to the China-wide entity the rate of 108.60
percent.
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\7\ See, e.g., Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination:
Purified Carboxymethyl cellulose from Finland, 69 FR 77216, 77219
(December 27, 2004), unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Purified Carboxymethyl Cellulose from
Finland, 70 FR 28279, 28279 (May 17, 2005).
\8\ See, e.g., Certain Stilbenic Optical Brightening Agents from
the People's Republic of China: Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value, 77 FR 17436, 17438 (March 26, 2012); Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled
Flat-Rolled Carbon Quality Steel Products from the People's Republic
of China, 65 FR 34660 (May 31, 2000), and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
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Combination Rates
In the Initiation Notice, Commerce stated that it would calculate
combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a separate
rate in this investigation.\9\ Accordingly, we have assigned
combination rates to
[[Page 29163]]
certain companies, as provided in the ``Final Determination'' section
below.
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\9\ See Steel Propane Cylinders from the People's Republic of
China, Taiwan, and Thailand: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigations, 83 FR 28196, 28201 (June 18, 2018) (Initiation
Notice).
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Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following weighted-average dumping
margins exist for the period October 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018:
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Cash deposit
Weighted- adjusted for
Producer Exporter average margin subsidy offset
(percent) (percent)
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GSBF Tank Inc............................ Hong Kong GSBF Company Limited... 37.41 3.94
Shandong Huanri Group Co. Ltd............ Shandong Huanri Group Co. Ltd.... 25.52 0.0
Jiaxing Pressure Vessel Factory.......... Jiaxing Pressure Vessel Factory.. 26.28 0.0
China-Wide Entity \10\................... ................................. 108.60 75.13
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Disclosure
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\10\ The China-wide entity includes: Hubei Daly LPG Cylinder
Manufacturer Co. Ltd., Taishan Machinery Factory Ltd., TPA Metals
and Machinery (DG) Co. Ltd., Wuyi Xilinde Machinery Manufacture Co.,
Ltd., and Zhejiang Jucheng Steel Cylinder Co., Ltd.
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We will disclose the calculations performed within five days of
public announcement of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR
351.224(b).
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of steel propane
cylinders from China, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which
were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after
December 27, 2018, the date of publication of the Preliminary
Determination of this investigation in the Federal Register. Further,
Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the
estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price as
shown above.
To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of domestic
subsidy pass-through and export subsidies determined in a companion CVD
proceeding when CVD provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly,
where Commerce makes an affirmative determination for domestic subsidy
pass-through or export subsidies, Commerce offsets the calculated
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate rate(s).
In this case, we have made an affirmative determination for domestic
subsidy pass-through and export subsidies for certain respondents.
However, suspension of liquidation for provisional measures in the
companion CVD case has been discontinued; therefore, we are not
instructing CBP to collect cash deposits based upon the adjusted
estimated weighted-average dumping margin for those subsidies at this
time.
Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal
to the weighted-average amount by which NV exceeds U.S. price as
follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the exporter/producer
combination listed in the table above will be the rate identified for
that combination in the table; (2) for all combinations of exporters/
producers of merchandise under consideration that have not received
their own separate rate above, the cash-deposit rate will be the cash
deposit rate established for the China-wide entity; and (3) for all
non-Chinese exporters of the merchandise under consideration which have
not received their own separate rate above, the cash-deposit rate will
be the cash deposit rate applicable to the Chinese exporter/producer
combination that supplied that non-Chinese exporter. These suspension
of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
International Trade Commission (ITC) 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, or sales (or the
likelihood of sales) for importation of steel propane cylinders from
China 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, Commerce
will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon
further instruction by Commerce, 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
This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an
administrative protective order (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.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
Dated: June 17, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel cylinders
for compressed or liquefied propane or other gases (steel propane
cylinders) meeting the requirements of, or produced to meet the
requirements of, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)
Specifications 4B, 4BA, or 4BW, or Transport Canada Specification
4BM, 4BAM, or 4BWM, or United Nations pressure receptacle standard
ISO 4706 and otherwise meeting the description provided below. The
scope includes steel propane cylinders regardless of whether they
have been certified to these specifications before importation.
Steel propane cylinders range from 2.5 pound nominal gas capacity
(approximate 6 pound water capacity and approximate 4-6 pound tare
weight) to 42 pound nominal gas capacity (approximate 100 pound
water capacity and approximate 28-32 pound tare
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weight). Steel propane cylinders have two or fewer ports and may be
imported assembled or unassembled (i.e., welded or brazed before or
after importation), with or without all components (including
collars, valves, gauges, tanks, foot rings, and overfill prevention
devices), and coated or uncoated. Also included within the scope are
drawn cylinder halves, unfinished propane cylinders, collars, and
foot rings for steel propane cylinders.
An ``unfinished'' or ``unassembled'' propane cylinder includes
drawn cylinder halves that have not been welded into a cylinder,
cylinders that have not had flanges welded into the port hole(s),
cylinders that are otherwise complete but have not had collars or
foot rings welded to them, otherwise complete cylinders without a
valve assembly attached, and cylinders that are otherwise complete
except for testing, certification, and/or marking.
This investigation also covers steel propane cylinders that
meet, are produced to meet, or are certified as meeting, other U.S.
or Canadian government, international, or industry standards
(including, for example, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME), or American National Standard Institute (ANSI)), if they
also meet, are produced to meet, or are certified as meeting USDOT
Specification 4B, 4BA, or 4BW, or Transport Canada Specification
4BM, 4BAM, or 4BWM, or a United Nations pressure receptacle standard
ISO 4706.
Subject merchandise also includes steel propane cylinders that
have been further processed in a third country, including but not
limited to, attachment of collars, foot rings, or handles by welding
or brazing, heat treatment, painting, testing, certification, 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 in-scope steel propane cylinders.
Specifically excluded are seamless steel propane cylinders and
propane cylinders made from stainless steel (i.e., steel containing
at least 10.5 percent chromium by weight and less than 1.2 percent
carbon by weight), aluminum, or composite fiber material. Composite
fiber material is material consisting of the mechanical combination
of two components: Fiber (typically glass, carbon, or aramid
(synthetic polymer)) and a matrix material (typically polymer resin,
ceramic, or metallic).
The merchandise subject to this investigation is properly
classified under statistical reporting numbers 7311.00.0060 and
7311.00.0090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS statistical reporting numbers are
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the merchandise is dispositive.
Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Selection of Financial Statements to Value the
Financial Ratios
Comment 2: Subsidy Rate Calculated for the Export Buyer's Credit
Program
Comment 3: Surrogate Value Selections for Huanri and GSBF
A. Natural Gas for Huanri
B. Rubber Plug for GSBF
C. Teflon Tape for GSBF
D. Valve for GSBF
E. Steel Roll for GSBF
F. Steel Scrap for GSBF
Comment 4: Ministerial Errors and Other Issues
A. Errors in the Determination of the Surrogate Financial Ratios
B. Argon Conversion for Huanri and GSBF
C. Oxygen Gas Conversion for GSBF
D. Natural Gas Conversion for Huanri
E. Calculation of Market Economy Purchase for Overflow
Protection Devices (OPDs) for Huanri
F. Misclassified Paint Variable in GSBF's Margin Calculation
Program
G. Errors Identified in Huanri's Verification Report
VI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2019-13250 Filed 6-20-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P