[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38597-38599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-16888]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-549-840]


Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod From Thailand: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that carbon and alloy steel threaded rod (steel threaded rod) from 
Thailand is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at 
less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is 
January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable August 7, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eliza Siordia, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3878.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(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\ For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\2\ A list of topics included 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 https://access.trade.gov, and 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 
and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.
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    \1\ See Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from India, Taiwan, 
Thailand, and the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Less-
Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 84 FR 10034 (March 19, 2019) 
(Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Carbon 
and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are steel threaded rods 
from Thailand. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\3\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product

[[Page 38598]]

coverage (i.e., scope).\4\ 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.\5\ Commerce is 
preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice. See the revised scope in Appendix I to this notice.
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Initiation Notice.
    \5\ 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.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Pursuant to section 776(a) and (b) of the Act, 
Commerce has preliminarily relied upon facts otherwise available, with 
adverse inferences, for the mandatory respondent, Tycoons Worldwide 
Group (Thailand) Co. Ltd. (Tycoons), because this respondent did not 
timely respond to Commerce's antidumping duty questionnaire. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying the preliminary 
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    In accordance with section 733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, 
Commerce preliminarily finds that critical circumstances exist for 
Tycoons, and for all other producers and exporters. For a full 
description of the methodology and results of Commerce's critical 
circumstances analysis, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in 
the preliminary determination Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This 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. We cannot apply the methodology described in 
section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act to calculate the all-others rate 
because the sole margin in this preliminary determination was derived 
pursuant to section 776 of the Act. In cases where no weighted-average 
dumping margin other than margins that are zero, de minimis, or those 
determined entirely under section 776 of the Act has been established 
for individually examined entities, in accordance with section 
735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, Commerce averages the margins calculated by 
the petitioners in the petition and applies the result to all other 
entities not individually examined.\6\
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    \6\ See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of 
Germany, 73 FR 21909, 21912 (April 23, 2008), unchanged in Notice of 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite 
from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 38986, 38987 (July 8, 
2008), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2.
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    In the Petition, the petitioner calculated only one margin.\7\ 
Therefore, we assigned as the all-others rate the only margin in the 
Petition, which is 20.83 percent.\8\
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    \7\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitions for the Imposition of 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties: Carbon and Alloy Steel 
Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China, India, Taiwan, and 
Thailand,'' dated February 21, 2019 (the Petition).
    \8\ See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination: Purified 
Carboxymethylcellulose from Sweden, 69 FR 77213, 77215-16 (December 
27, 2004), unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value: Purified Carboxymethylcellulose from Sweden, 
70 FR 28278 (May 17, 2005).
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Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin exists during the period January 1, 
2018 through December 31, 2018:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                    Exporter/producer                         average
                                                          dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Tycoons Worldwide Group (Thailand) Co. Ltd..............           20.83
All Others..............................................           20.83
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(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 Appendix I, 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 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will 
instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: 
(1) The cash deposit rate for the respondent listed above will be equal 
to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
determined in this preliminary determination; (2) if the exporter is 
not a respondent identified above, but the producer is, then the cash 
deposit rate will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-
average dumping margin established for that producer of the subject 
merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and 
exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin.
    Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative 
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation 
shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of (a) 
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of 
liquidation was first ordered, or (b) the date on which notice of 
initiation of the investigation was published. Commerce preliminarily 
finds that critical circumstances exist for imports of subject 
merchandise produced or exported by Tycoons and all others. In 
accordance with section 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of 
liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of shipments of subject 
merchandise from the producer(s) or exporter(s) identified in this 
paragraph that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date which is 90 days before the 
publication of this notice.

Disclosure

    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with a preliminary determination within five 
days of any public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, 
within five days of the date of publication of the notice of 
preliminary determination in the Federal Register, in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because Commerce preliminarily applied AFA 
to the individually examined company, Tycoons, in this investigation, 
in accordance with section 776 of the Act, and the applied AFA rate is 
based solely on the petition, there are no calculations to disclose.

[[Page 38599]]

Verification

    Because the examined respondents in this investigation did not 
provide information requested by Commerce, and Commerce preliminarily 
determines that the examined respondent has been uncooperative, we will 
not conduct verification.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 50 
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination, 
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.\9\ 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.
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    \9\ 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, 
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.

Final Determination

    Section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1) provide that 
Commerce will issue the final determination within 75 days after the 
date of its preliminary determination. Accordingly, Commerce will make 
its final determination no later than 75 days after the signature date 
of this preliminary determination.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
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 these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: July 30, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the scope of these investigations 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 these investigations 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 these 
investigations, 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 investigations if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the threaded rod.
    Carbon and alloy steel threaded rod are also included in the 
scope of these investigations 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 these investigations 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 these investigations 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 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. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Scope Comments
VI. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
VII. All-Others Rate
VIII. Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-16888 Filed 8-6-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P