[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 25, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50382-50384]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20812]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-583-865]


Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod From Taiwan: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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 (CASTR) from Taiwan 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 September 25, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas Czajkowski or Ethan Talbot, 
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) 482-1395 or (202) 
482-1030, respectively.

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\ On June 14, 2019, Commerce postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation and the revised deadline is now 
September 19, 2019.\2\ For a complete description of the events that 
followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\3\ 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 Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod From India, Taiwan, 
and the People's Republic of China: Postponement of Preliminary 
Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 84 FR 
27764 (June 14, 2019).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Carbon 
and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from Taiwan,'' dated concurrently with, 
and hereby adopted by this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is CASTR from Taiwan. For 
a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix 
I.

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 investigation, 
and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely 
received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ The scope 
case briefs were due on August 28, 2019, 30 days after the publication 
of CASTR from China Preliminary CVD Determination.\7\

[[Page 50383]]

There will be no further opportunity for comments on scope-related 
issues.\8\
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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\ The scope case briefs were due 30 days after the publication 
of 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, 84 FR 36578 (July 29, 2019) (CASTR from China 
Preliminary CVD Determination). See the Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum at 3. The deadline for the scope case briefs was 
Wednesday, August 28, 2019. Because the deadline for rebuttal briefs 
fell on Monday, September 2, 2019, a Federal holiday, the actual 
deadline for the scope rebuttal briefs was Tuesday, September 3, 
2019. See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1) (``For both electronically filed and 
manually filed documents, if the applicable due date falls on a non-
business day, the Secretary will accept documents that are filed on 
the next business day.'').
    \8\ Parties were already permitted the opportunity to file scope 
case briefs. Case briefs, other written comments, and rebuttal 
briefs should not include scope-related issues. See Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum at 3.
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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 determined to use facts available, and to 
apply an adverse inference when selecting from among the facts 
otherwise available for Quintain Steel Co. Ltd. (Quintain Steel), Top 
Forever Screws Co. Ltd. (Top Forever), Fastenal Asia Pacific Ltd. TW 
Repres (Fastenal), QST International Corporation (QST), and Ta Chen 
Steel Pipe Ltd. (Ta Chen). For a full description of the methodology 
underlying the preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(A)(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.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters or 
producers individually examined are zero, de minimis or determined 
based entirely on facts otherwise available, Commerce may use any 
reasonable method to establish the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin for all-other producers or exporters. Commerce has preliminarily 
determined the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for the 
individually examined respondent under section 776 of the Act. 
Consequently, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, Commerce's 
normal practice under these circumstances is to calculate the all-
others rate as a simple average of the alleged dumping margin(s) from 
the petition.\9\ In this investigation, only a single dumping margin 
was alleged in the petition, 32.26 percent (as calculated for the 
purposes of initiation).\10\ As such, consistent with its practice, 
Commerce is preliminarily assigning the dumping margin alleged in the 
petition as the all-others rate to all exporters or producers not 
individually examined. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying Commerce's analysis, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \9\ See, e.g., 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; 
see also, Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Raw Flexible Magnets from Taiwan, 73 FR 39673, 39674 (July 
10, 2008); Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 
79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from 
Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 
14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014).
    \10\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation 
Initiation Checklist: Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from 
Taiwan,'' dated March 13, 2019.
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Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
                                                              average
                  Exporter or producer                    dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Quintain Steel Co. Ltd..................................         * 32.26
Top Forever Screws Co. Ltd..............................         * 32.26
Fastenal Asia Pacific Ltd. TW Repres....................         * 32.26
QST International Corporation...........................         * 32.26
Ta Chen Steel Pipe Ltd..................................         * 32.26
All Others..............................................           32.26
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* Adverse Facts Available.

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 as described above, as follows: (1) The cash 
deposit rate for the respondents 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 or 
exporters will be equal to the all others estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin.

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 companies--Quintain Steel, Top Forever, 
Fastenal, QST, and Ta Chen--in this investigation, in accordance with 
section 776 of the Act, and the applied AFA rate is based solely on the 
highest dumping margin alleged in the petition, there are no 
calculations to disclose.

Verification

    Because Quintain Steel, Top Forever, Fastenal, QST, and Ta Chen did 
not provide information requested by Commerce, and Commerce 
preliminarily determines that each of the examined respondents 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 30 
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination. 
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be 
submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for case 
briefs.\11\ 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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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).

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[[Page 50384]]

    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)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. Section 351.210(e)(2) of Commerce's regulations 
requires that a request by exporters for postponement of the final 
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months 
in duration, and 19 CFR 351.210(e)(1) further provides that Commerce 
may grant the request, unless Commerce finds compelling reasons to deny 
the request.
    On August 18, 2019, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Ta Chen 
requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and agreed to 
extend the application of the provisional measures. However, we find 
that a compelling reason to deny the request to postpone the final 
determination exists because on August 28, 2019, Ta Chen informed 
Commerce that it would no longer participate in the investigation. 
Since there are no respondents participating in this investigation, 
there is no need to postpone the final determination, and we are thus 
compelled to deny the request. In accordance with section 735(a)(2) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(e)(1), because a compelling reason for 
denial exists, we are not granting Ta Chen's request to postpone the 
final determination. Therefore, we intend to issue the final 
determination pursuant to section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(1).

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: September 19, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the scope of the 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 the 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 A329 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 the 
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 the 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 the 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 the 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 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 Comments
V. Scope of the Investigation
VI. Product Characteristics
VII. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
VIII. All-Others Rate
IX. Verification
X. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-20812 Filed 9-24-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P