[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 145 (Monday, July 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36578-36581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-16036]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-105]


Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod From the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and 
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and 
exporters of carbon and alloy steel threaded rod (steel threaded rod) 
from the People's Republic of China (China) for the period of 
investigation (POI) January 1, 2018

[[Page 36579]]

through December 31, 2018. Interested parties are invited to comment on 
this preliminary determination.


DATES: Applicable July 29, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Schauer or Allison Hollander, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 482-0410 or (202) 
482-2805, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on March 19, 
2019.\1\ On April 19, 2019, in accordance with section 703(c)(1)(A) of 
the Act, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination in this 
investigation to July 22, 2019.\2\
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    \1\ See Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from India and the 
People's Republic of China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty 
Investigations, 84 FR 10040 (March 19, 2019) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from India and the 
People's Republic of China: Postponement of Preliminary 
Determinations in the Countervailing Duty Investigations, 84 FR 
17379 (April 25, 2019). In accordance with Commerce's practice, 
where a deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the 
appropriate deadline is the next business day. See Notice of 
Clarification: Application of ``Next Business Day'' Rule for 
Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 
2930, As Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II 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 http://access.trade.gov and is available to all 
parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Commerce 
building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and its electronic 
version are identical in content.
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    \3\ See ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination: Countervailing Duty Investigation of Carbon and Alloy 
Steel Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the scope of this investigation is steel 
threaded rod from China. For a full description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I to this notice.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product coverage comments 
and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for this preliminary 
determination and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments 
timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ 
Commerce is preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared 
in the Initiation Notice.\7\ See the revised scope in Appendix I to 
this notice.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from 
India, Taiwan, Thailand, and the People's Republic of China: Scope 
Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determinations,'' 
dated July 22, 2019 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \7\ Id. at 3-4.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a 
subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives 
rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is 
specific.\8\ In making these findings, Commerce relied, in part, on 
facts available, and because one or more respondents did not act to the 
best of their ability to respond to Commerce's requests for 
information, Commerce drew an adverse inference where appropriate in 
selecting from among the facts otherwise available.\9\ For further 
information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse 
Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \8\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
    \9\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Alignment

    In accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(4), and based on the petitioner's request,\10\ Commerce is 
aligning the final countervailing duty (CVD) determination in this 
investigation with the final determination in the companion antidumping 
duty (AD) investigation of steel threaded rod from China. Consequently, 
the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the 
final AD determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no 
later than December 3, 2019, unless postponed.
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    \10\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded 
Rod from China: Request to Align the Final Determinations,'' dated 
June 14, 2019.
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All-Others Rate

    Sections 703(d)(1)(A)(i) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that 
in the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate 
shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated 
subsidy rates established for those companies individually examined, 
excluding any zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely 
under section 776 of the Act.
    In this investigation, Commerce calculated individual estimated 
countervailable subsidy rates for Ningbo Zhongjiang High Strength Bolts 
Co., Ltd. (Zhongjiang Bolts) and Zhejiang Junyue Standard Part Co., 
Ltd. (Junyue) that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
otherwise available. Commerce calculated the all-others rate using a 
weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for the 
examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S. sale 
quantities for the merchandise under consideration.\11\
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    \11\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally 
calculates (A) a weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates 
calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average of the 
estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents; and 
(C) a weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for 
the examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S. 
sale quantities for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce 
then compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) 
as the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. 
See, e.g., 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 
available, Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly ranged 
sales data of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of 
the data, see the All-Others' Rate Calculation Memorandum.

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[[Page 36580]]

Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
countervailable subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Net
                                                                subsidy
                           Company                               rate
                                                               (percent)
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Ningbo Zhongjiang High Strength Bolts Co., Ltd..............       23.41
Zhejiang Junyue Standard Part Co., Ltd......................       24.89
All Others..................................................       23.83
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will 
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation 
of entries of subject merchandise as described in the scope of the 
investigation section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register. Further, pursuant to section 703(d)(1)(B) of the Act 
and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash 
deposit equal to the rates indicated above.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of this notice in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments regarding non-scope issues 
may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance no later than seven days after the date on which the last 
verification report is issued in this investigation. Rebuttal briefs, 
limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than 
five days after the deadline date for submitting non-scope related case 
briefs.\12\ The deadlines for scope-related comments and rebuttals are 
set in the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\13\
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
    \13\ See Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who submit 
case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation 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.
    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, 
Commerce 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

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If the 
final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the 
later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 
45 days after the final determination whether imports of the subject 
merchandise are materially injuring, or threaten material injury, to 
the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: July 22, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the scope of this investigation is 
carbon and alloy steel threaded rod. Steel threaded rod is certain 
threaded rod, bar, or studs, of carbon or alloy steel, having a 
solid, circular cross section of any diameter, in any straight 
length. Steel threaded rod is normally drawn, cold-rolled, threaded, 
and straightened, or it may be hot-rolled. In addition, the steel 
threaded rod, bar, or studs subject to this investigation are non-
headed and threaded along greater than 25 percent of their total 
actual length. A variety of finishes or coatings, such as plain oil 
finish as a temporary rust protectant, zinc coating (i.e., 
galvanized, whether by electroplating or hot-dipping), paint, and 
other similar finishes and coatings, may be applied to the 
merchandise.
    Steel threaded rod is normally produced to American Society for 
Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications ASTM A36, ASTM A193 B7/
B7m, ASTM A193 B16, ASTM A307, ASTM A320 L7/L7M, ASTM A320 L43, ASTM 
A354 BC and BD, ASTM A449, ASTM F1554-36, ASTM F1554-55, ASTM F1554 
Grade 105, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 
specification ASME B18.31.3, and American Petroleum Institute (API) 
specification API 20E. All steel threaded rod meeting the physical 
description set forth above is covered by the scope of this 
investigation, whether or not produced according to a particular 
standard.
    Subject merchandise includes material matching the above 
description that has been finished, assembled, or packaged in a 
third country, including by cutting, chamfering, coating, or 
painting the threaded rod, by attaching the threaded rod to, or 
packaging it with, another product, or any other finishing, 
assembly, or packaging operation that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the threaded rod.
    Carbon and alloy steel threaded rod are also included in the 
scope of this investigation whether or not imported attached to, or 
in conjunction with, other parts and accessories such as nuts and 
washers. If carbon and alloy steel threaded rod are imported 
attached to, or in conjunction with, such non-subject merchandise, 
only the threaded rod is included in the scope.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are: (1) Threaded 
rod, bar, or studs which are threaded only on one or both ends and 
the threading covers 25 percent or less of the total actual length; 
and (2) stainless steel threaded rod, defined as steel threaded rod 
containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 
percent or more of chromium, with our without other elements.
    Excluded from the scope of the antidumping investigation on 
steel threaded rod from the People's Republic of China is any 
merchandise covered by the existing antidumping order on Certain 
Steel Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China. See Certain 
Steel Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China: Notice of 
Antidumping Duty Order, 74 FR 17154 (April 14, 2009).
    Specifically excluded from the scope of this investigation is 
threaded rod that is imported as part of a package of hardware in 
conjunction with a ready-to-assemble piece of furniture.
    Steel threaded rod is currently classifiable under subheadings 
7318.15.5051, 7318.15.5056, and 7318.15.5090 of the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Subject merchandise 
may also enter under subheading 7318.15.2095 and 7318.19.0000 of the 
HTSUS. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience

[[Page 36581]]

and U.S. Customs purposes only. The written description of the scope 
is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Injury Test
VI. Application of the CVD Law to Imports From China
VII. Diversification of China's Economy
VIII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
IX. Subsidies Valuation
X. Benchmarks and Discount Rates
XI. Analysis of Programs
XII. ITC Notification
XIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-16036 Filed 7-26-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P