[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 172 (Thursday, September 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46713-46715]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19195]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-874]


Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products From Japan: Notice of 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review

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

SUMMARY: On July 19, 2019, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) 
published its notice of initiation and preliminary results of a 
changed-circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty (AD) order 
on certain hot-rolled steel flat products (hot-rolled steel) from 
Japan. In that notice, Commerce preliminarily determined that (1) 
Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) is the successor-in-interest to Nippon 
Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC); (2) Nippon Steel Nisshin 
Co., Ltd. (Nippon Nisshin) is the successor in interest to Nisshin 
Steel Co., Ltd. (Nisshin Steel); and (3) Nippon Steel Trading 
Corporation (NSTC) is the successor in interest to Nippon Steel & 
Sumikin Bussan Corporation (NSSBC). Additionally, Commerce 
preliminarily determined that NSC, Nippon Nisshin, and NSTC should be 
treated as a single entity, and should receive the same AD cash deposit 
rate with respect to the subject merchandise as NSSMC, the predecessor 
company. No interested party submitted comments regarding the 
initiation and preliminary results. For these final results, Commerce 
continues to find that NSC is the successor-in-interest to NSSMC.

DATES: Applicable September 5, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leo Ayala or Jun Jack Zhao, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue

[[Page 46714]]

NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3945 or (202) 482-1396, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On July 19, 2019, Commerce published its notice of initiation and 
preliminary results of this CCR of the AD order on hot-rolled steel 
from Japan,\1\ preliminarily determining that (1) NSC is the successor-
in-interest to NSSMC; (2) Nippon Nisshin is the successor in interest 
to Nisshin Steel; and (3) NSTC is the successor in interest to 
NSSBC.\2\ Additionally, because Commerce had previously determined that 
NSSMC, Nisshin Steel, and NSSBC are affiliated companies and should be 
treated as a single entity, Commerce preliminarily determined that NSC, 
including Nippon Nisshin and NSTC, should receive the same AD cash 
deposit rate (i.e., 4.99 percent) with respect to the subject 
merchandise as NSSMC, its predecessor company.\3\ In the Initiation and 
Preliminary Results, Commerce provided all interested parties with an 
opportunity to comment and to request a public hearing regarding the 
preliminary findings. Commerce received no comments regarding the 
preliminary findings and no requests for a public hearing from 
interested parties within the time period set forth in the Initiation 
and Preliminary Results.
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    \1\ See Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia, 
Brazil, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, the Republic 
of Turkey, and the United Kingdom: Amended Final Affirmative 
Antidumping Determinations for Australia, the Republic of Korea, and 
the Republic of Turkey and Antidumping Duty Orders, 81 FR 67962 
(October 3, 2016) (Order).
    \2\ See Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review: Certain Hot-Rolled 
Steel Flat Products from Japan, 84 FR 34865 (July 19, 2019) 
(Initiation and Preliminary Results).
    \3\ Id.
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this order are hot-rolled steel flat 
products from Japan. For a full description of the scope of the order, 
see the ``Scope of the Order'' at the Appendix to this notice.

Final Results of CCR

    For the reasons stated in the Initiation and Preliminary Results, 
and because we received no comments from interested parties to the 
contrary, Commerce continues to find that NSC, Nippon Nisshin, and NSTC 
are affiliated companies that should be treated as a single entity that 
is the successor-in-interest to NSSMC. As a result of this 
determination, we find that NSC, Nippon Nisshin, and NSTC should 
receive the AD cash deposit rate previously assigned to NSSMC under the 
Order.\4\ Consequently, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection to suspend liquidation of all shipments of subject 
merchandise produced or exported by NSC, Nippon Nisshin, and NSTC and 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
publication date of this notice in the Federal Register at a cash 
deposit rate of 4.99 percent, which is the current AD cash deposit rate 
for NSSMC.\5\ This cash deposit requirement shall remain in effect 
until further notice.
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    \4\ See Order.
    \5\ NSSMC received a cash deposit rate of 4.99 percent in the 
amended final determination of the investigation of hot-rolled steel 
products from Japan. See Order, 81 FR at 67965.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    Commerce is issuing and publishing these final results and notice 
in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and (4) and 777(i) of the Tariff 
Act of 1930, as amended, and sections 19 CFR 351.216 and 
351.221(c)(3)(i).

    Dated: August 28, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the scope are certain hot-rolled, flat-
rolled steel products, with or without patterns in relief, and 
whether or not annealed, painted, varnished, or coated with plastics 
or other non-metallic substances. The products covered do not 
include those that are clad, plated, or coated with metal. The 
products covered include coils that have a width or other lateral 
measurement (``width'') of 12.7 mm or greater, regardless of 
thickness, and regardless of form of coil (e.g., in successively 
superimposed layers, spirally oscillating, etc.). The products 
covered also include products not in coils (e.g., in straight 
lengths) of a thickness of less than 4.75 mm and a width that is 
12.7 mm or greater and that measures at least 10 times the 
thickness. The products described above may be rectangular, square, 
circular, or other shape and include products of either rectangular 
or non-rectangular cross-section where such cross-section is 
achieved subsequent to the rolling process, i.e., products which 
have been ``worked after rolling'' (e.g., products which have been 
beveled or rounded at the edges). For purposes of the width and 
thickness requirements referenced above:
    (1) Where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is 
within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual 
measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions 
set forth above unless the resulting measurement makes the product 
covered by the existing antidumping \1\ or countervailing duty \2\ 
orders on Certain Cut-To-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products 
From the Republic of Korea (A-580-836; C-580-837), and
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    \1\ See Notice of Amendment of Final Determinations of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Orders: Certain Cut-To-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products from France, India, 
Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the Republic of Korea, 65 FR 6585 
(February 10, 2000).
    \2\ See Notice of Amended Final Determinations: Certain Cut-to-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from India and the Republic of 
Korea; and Notice of Countervailing Duty Orders: Certain Cut-To-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from France, India, Indonesia, 
Italy, and the Republic of Korea, 65 FR 6587 (February 10, 2000).
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    (2) where the width and thickness vary for a specific product 
(e.g., the thickness of certain products with non-rectangular cross-
section, the width of certain products with non-rectangular shape, 
etc.), the measurement at its greatest width or thickness applies.
    Steel products included in the scope are products in which: (1) 
Iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other contained 
elements; (2) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight; 
and (3) none of the elements listed below exceeds the quantity, by 
weight, respectively indicated:

 2.50 percent of manganese, or
 3.30 percent of silicon, or
 1.50 percent of copper, or
 1.50 percent of aluminum, or
 1.25 percent of chromium, or
 0.30 percent of cobalt, or
 0.40 percent of lead, or
 2.00 percent of nickel, or
 0.30 percent of tungsten, or
 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
 0.10 percent of niobium, or
 0.30 percent of vanadium, or
 0.30 percent of zirconium.

    Unless specifically excluded, products are included in this 
scope regardless of levels of boron and titanium.
    For example, specifically included in this scope are vacuum 
degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-
free (IF)) steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, the 
substrate for motor lamination steels, Advanced High Strength Steels 
(AHSS), and Ultra High Strength Steels (UHSS). IF steels are 
recognized as low carbon steels with micro-alloying levels of 
elements such as titanium and/or niobium added to stabilize carbon 
and nitrogen elements. HSLA steels are recognized as steels with 
micro-alloying levels of elements such as chromium, copper, niobium, 
titanium, vanadium, and molybdenum. The substrate for motor 
lamination steels contains micro-alloying levels of elements such as 
silicon and aluminum. AHSS and UHSS are considered high tensile 
strength and high elongation steels, although AHSS and UHSS are 
covered whether or not they are high tensile strength or high 
elongation steels.
    Subject merchandise includes hot-rolled steel that has been 
further processed in a third country, including but not limited to 
pickling, oiling, levelling, annealing, tempering, temper rolling, 
skin passing, painting, varnishing, trimming, cutting,

[[Page 46715]]

punching, and/or slitting, or any other processing that would not 
otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the hot-rolled steel.
    All products that meet the written physical description, and in 
which the chemistry quantities do not exceed any one of the noted 
element levels listed above, are within the scope unless 
specifically excluded. The following products are outside of and/or 
specifically excluded from the scope:
     Universal mill plates (i.e., hot-rolled, flat-rolled 
products not in coils that have been rolled on four faces or in a 
closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm but not exceeding 1250 
mm, of a thickness not less than 4.0 mm, and without patterns in 
relief);
     Products that have been cold-rolled (cold-reduced) 
after hot-rolling; \3\
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    \3\ For purposes of this scope exclusion, rolling operations 
such as a skin pass, levelling, temper rolling or other minor 
rolling operations after the hot-rolling process for purposes of 
surface finish, flatness, shape control, or gauge control do not 
constitute cold-rolling sufficient to meet this exclusion.
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     Ball bearing steels; \4\
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    \4\ Ball bearing steels are defined as steels which contain, in 
addition to iron, each of the following elements by weight in the 
amount specified: (i) Not less than 0.95 nor more than 1.13 percent 
of carbon; (ii) not less than 0.22 nor more than 0.48 percent of 
manganese; (iii) none, or not more than 0.03 percent of sulfur; (iv) 
none, or not more than 0.03 percent of phosphorus; (v) not less than 
0.18 nor more than 0.37 percent of silicon; (vi) not less than 1.25 
nor more than 1.65 percent of chromium; (vii) none, or not more than 
0.28 percent of nickel; (viii) none, or not more than 0.38 percent 
of copper; and (ix) none, or not more than 0.09 percent of 
molybdenum.
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     Tool steels; \5\ and
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    \5\ Tool steels are defined as steels which contain the 
following combinations of elements in the quantity by weight 
respectively indicated: (i) More than 1.2 percent carbon and more 
than 10.5 percent chromium; or (ii) not less than 0.3 percent carbon 
and 1.25 percent or more but less than 10.5 percent chromium; or 
(iii) not less than 0.85 percent carbon and 1 percent to 1.8 
percent, inclusive, manganese; or (iv) 0.9 percent to 1.2 percent, 
inclusive, chromium and 0.9 percent to 1.4 percent, inclusive, 
molybdenum; or (v) not less than 0.5 percent carbon and not less 
than 3.5 percent molybdenum; or (vi) not less than 0.5 percent 
carbon and not less than 5.5 percent tungsten.
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     Silico-manganese steels; \6\
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    \6\ Silico-manganese steel is defined as steels containing by 
weight: (i) Not more than 0.7 percent of carbon; (ii) 0.5 percent or 
more but not more than 1.9 percent of manganese, and (iii) 0.6 
percent or more but not more than 2.3 percent of silicon.
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    The products subject to the scope are currently classified in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under 
item numbers: 7208.10.1500, 7208.10.3000, 7208.10.6000, 
7208.25.3000, 7208.25.6000, 7208.26.0030, 7208.26.0060, 
7208.27.0030, 7208.27.0060, 7208.36.0030, 7208.36.0060, 
7208.37.0030, 7208.37.0060, 7208.38.0015, 7208.38.0030, 
7208.38.0090, 7208.39.0015, 7208.39.0030, 7208.39.0090, 
7208.40.6030, 7208.40.6060, 7208.53.0000, 7208.54.0000, 
7208.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7211.14.0030, 7211.14.0090, 
7211.19.1500, 7211.19.2000, 7211.19.3000, 7211.19.4500, 
7211.19.6000, 7211.19.7530, 7211.19.7560, 7211.19.7590, 
7225.11.0000, 7225.19.0000, 7225.30.3050, 7225.30.7000, 
7225.40.7000, 7225.99.0090, 7226.11.1000, 7226.11.9030, 
7226.11.9060, 7226.19.1000, 7226.19.9000, 7226.91.5000, 
7226.91.7000, and 7226.91.8000. The products subject to the scope 
may also enter under the following HTSUS numbers: 7210.90.9000, 
7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, 
7214.91.0015, 7214.91.0060, 7214.91.0090, 7214.99.0060, 
7214.99.0075, 7214.99.0090, 7215.90.5000, 7226.99.0180, and 
7228.60.6000.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) purposes only. The written 
description of the scope is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2019-19195 Filed 9-4-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P