[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 241 (Monday, December 16, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68398-68400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27030]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-549-817]


Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From Thailand: 
Preliminary Determination of No Shipments; 2017-2018

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that there were no shipments of subject merchandise during the period 
of review (POR) November 1, 2017 through October 31, 2018. We invite 
interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable December 16, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chelsey Simonovich, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1979.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On November 1, 2018, Commerce published in the Federal Register a 
notice of opportunity to request an administrative review of the order 
on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products (hot-rolled steel) 
from Thailand for the POR.\1\ On November 30, 2018, Commerce received a 
request for administrative review covering imports of hot-rolled steel 
from Thailand, which was filed in proper form by Steel Dynamics and 
SSAB Enterprises (collectively, the petitioners).\2\ Commerce published 
the notice of initiation of this administrative review on February 6, 
2019, covering the two companies for which we received a request for 
review.\3\
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    \1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity To Request Administrative 
Review, 83 FR 54912 (November 1, 2018).
    \2\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel 
Flat Products from Thailand: Request for Administrative Review,'' 
dated November 30, 2018.
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 84 FR 2160 (February 6, 2019).
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    On February 27, 2019, Commerce received a notification of no 
shipments from Sahaviriya Steel Industries Public Co., Ltd. 
(Sahaviriya) and G Steel Public Company Ltd. (G Steel).\4\ On March 5, 
2019, Commerce published a memorandum informing interested parties that 
we had made an inquiry to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with 
regard to entries of subject merchandise for the purposes of potential 
respondent selection. The results indicated that there were no 
shipments of subject merchandise from Thailand as country of origin or 
country of export by G Steel or Sahaviriya into the United States 
during the POR.\5\ On March 20, 2019, Commerce made inquiries to CBP 
informing CBP that Commerce's records indicated no shipments from G 
Steel and Sahaviriya and requested that any CBP import officers aware 
of entries inform Commerce within ten days.\6\ We received no 
notifications from CBP.
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    \4\ See Sahaviriya and G Steel's Letter, ``Certain Hot-Rolled 
Carbon Steel Flat Products from Thailand: Notice of No Shipments for 
Sahaviriya Steel Industries and G Steel Public Company (11//01/17-
10/31/18),'' dated February 27, 2019.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat 
Products from Thailand: Placement on the Record of Results of 
Inquiry to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for 2017-2018 Period 
of Review,'' dated March 5, 2019 (CBP Memo).
    \6\ See CBP Message 9079310, ``No shipments inquiry for certain 
hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from Thailand produced and/or 
exported by G Steel Public Company Ltd. (A-549-817),'' and CBP 
Message 9079311, ``No shipments inquiry for certain hot-rolled 
carbon steel flat products from Thailand produced and/or exported by 
Sahaviriya Steel Industries Public Co., Ltd. (A-549-817),'' both 
dated March 20, 2019 (CBP Message 9079311 and CBP Message 9079311, 
respectively).
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    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 28, 2019.\7\ On September 10, 
2019, Commerce further extended the time limit for completion of the 
preliminary results of the review to no later than December 10, 
2019.\8\ This preliminary determination is made in accordance with 
section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).
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    \7\ See Memorandum, ``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. If 
the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with 
Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the next business day.
    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat 
Products from Thailand: Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,'' dated September 
10, 2019.
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Scope of the Order

    The product covered by the order is hot-rolled steel from Thailand. 
For a complete description of the scope of the order, see the appendix 
to this notice.

Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

    Based on record evidence, we preliminarily determine that G Steel 
and Sahaviriya had no shipments of subject merchandise during the POR. 
With respect to G Steel and Sahaviriya, CBP stated that it did not find 
any shipments of subject merchandise from these two companies during 
the POR.\9\
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    \9\ See CBP Memo; see also CBP Message 9079310; and CBP Message 
9079311.
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    Consistent with our practice, we find that it is not appropriate to 
rescind the review with respect to G Steel and Sahaviriya, but rather 
to complete the review and issue appropriate instructions to CBP based 
on the final results of this review.\10\
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    \10\ See, e.g., Magnesium Metal from the Russian Federation: 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 
26922, 26923 (May 13, 2010), unchanged in Magnesium Metal from the 
Russian Federation: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 75 FR 56989 (September 17, 2010).
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Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs to Commerce no later than 
30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\11\ Rebuttal 
briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not 
later than five days after the date for filing case briefs.\12\ 
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who submit case 
briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding 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(c)(1)(ii).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
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    All submissions to Commerce must be filed electronically via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS) and must also be served 
on interested parties.\13\ 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. An 
electronically filed document must be received successfully

[[Page 68399]]

in its entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the date that the document 
is due.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.303(f).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via 
Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS. An electronically filed 
request must be received successfully in its entirety by 5:00 p.m. 
Eastern Time within 30 days of the date of publication of this 
notice.\14\ Requests should contain: (1) The party's name, address and 
telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of 
issues parties intend to discuss. Issues raised in the hearing will be 
limited to those raised in the respective case and rebuttal briefs. 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 date and time to be determined.\15\ Parties 
should confirm the date, time, and location of the hearing two days 
before the scheduled date.
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of its analysis of the issues raised in 
any case or rebuttal briefs, no later than 120 days after the date of 
publication of this notice, unless extended.\16\
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    \16\ See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act; and 19 CFR 351.213(h).
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Assessment Rates

    If we continue to find in the final results that G Steel and 
Sahaviriya had no shipments of subject merchandise, for entries of 
subject merchandise during the POR produced by G Steel and Sahaviriya 
for which these companies did not know that the merchandise was 
destined for the United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate these 
entries at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediate 
company(ies) involved in the transaction.\17\
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    \17\ For a full discussion of this clarification, see 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of 
Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).
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    We intend to issue instructions to CBP 15 days after the date of 
publication of the final results of this review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following deposit requirements will be effective for all 
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rates for G Steel and 
Sahaviriya will remain unchanged from the rate assigned to them in the 
most recently completed review of those companies; (2) for merchandise 
exported by manufacturers or exporters not covered in this review but 
covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the cash deposit rate 
will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most 
recently-completed segment; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered 
in this review, a prior review, or the original investigation, but the 
manufacturer is, then the cash deposit rate will be the rate 
established for the most recently completed segment for the 
manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all 
other manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 4.44 percent, the 
all-others rate established in the less-than-fair-value 
investigation.\18\ These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.
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    \18\ See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value; Certain Hot Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from 
Thailand, 66 FR 49623 (September 28, 2001).
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Notification to Importers

    This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2), to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement may result in the presumption that reimbursement 
of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double 
antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: December 10, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

SCOPE OF THE ORDER

    For purposes of the Order, the products covered are certain hot-
rolled carbon steel flat products of a rectangular shape, of a width 
of 0.5 inch or greater, neither clad, plated, nor coated with metal 
and whether or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or 
other non-metallic substances, in coils (whether or not in 
successively superimposed layers), regardless of thickness, and in 
straight lengths of a thickness of less than 4.75 mm and of a width 
measuring at least 10 times the thickness. Universal mill plate 
(i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces or in a closed box 
pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm, but not exceeding 1250 mm, and of 
a thickness of not less than 4.0 mm, not in coils and without 
patterns in relief) of a thickness not less than 4.0 mm is not 
included within the scope of the order.
    Specifically included within the scope of the order are vacuum 
degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-
free (IF)) steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, and the 
substrate for motor lamination steels. IF steels are recognized as 
low carbon steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as 
titanium or niobium (also commonly referred to as columbium), or 
both, added to stabilize carbon and nitrogen elements. HSLA steels 
are recognized as steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such 
as chromium, copper, niobium, vanadium, and molybdenum. The 
substrate for motor lamination steels contains micro-alloying levels 
of elements such as silicon and aluminum.
    Steel products to be included in the scope of the order, 
regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTS), are products in which: (i) Iron predominates, 
by weight, over each of the other contained elements; (ii) the 
carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight; and (iii) none of 
the elements listed below exceeds the quantity, by weight, 
respectively indicated:

1.80 percent of manganese,
or 2.25 percent of silicon,
or 1.00 percent of copper,
or 0.50 percent of aluminum,
or 1.25 percent of chromium,
or 0.30 percent of cobalt,
or 0.40 percent of lead,
or 1.25 percent of nickel,
or 0.30 percent of tungsten,
or 0.10 percent of molybdenum,
or 0.10 percent of niobium,
or 0.15 percent of vanadium,
or 0.15 percent of zirconium.

    All products that meet the physical and chemical description 
provided above are within the scope of the order unless otherwise 
excluded. The following products, by way of example, are outside or 
specifically excluded from the scope of the order:

--Alloy hot-rolled steel products in which at least one of the 
chemical elements exceeds those listed above (including, e.g., ASTM 
specifications A543, A387, A514, A517, A506).
--Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)/American Iron and Steel 
Institute (AISI) grades of series 2300 and higher.
--Ball bearings steels, as defined in the HTS.
--Tool steels, as defined in the HTS.
--Silico-manganese (as defined in the HTS) or silicon electrical 
steel with a silicon level exceeding 2.25 percent.
--ASTM specifications A710 and A736.
--USS Abrasion-resistant steels (USS AR 400, USS AR 500).
--All products (proprietary or otherwise) based on an alloy ASTM 
specification

[[Page 68400]]

(sample specifications: ASTM A506, A507).
--Non-rectangular shapes, not in coils, which are the result of 
having been processed by cutting or stamping and which have assumed 
the character of articles or products classified outside chapter 72 
of the HTS.

    The merchandise subject to the order is classified in the HTS at 
subheadings: 7208.10.15.00, 7208.10.30.00, 7208.10.60.00, 
7208.25.30.00, 7208.25.60.00, 7208.26.00.30, 7208.26.00.60, 
7208.27.00.30, 7208.27.00.60, 7208.36.00.30, 7208.36.00.60, 
7208.37.00.30, 7208.37.00.60, 7208.38.00.15, 7208.38.00.30, 
7208.38.00.90, 7208.39.00.15, 7208.39.00.30, 7208.39.00.90, 
7208.40.60.30, 7208.40.60.60, 7208.53.00.00, 7208.54.00.00, 
7208.90.00.00, 7211.14.00.90, 7211.19.15.00, 7211.19.20.00, 
7211.19.30.00, 7211.19.45.00, 7211.19.60.00, 7211.19.75.30, 
7211.19.75.60, and 7211.19.75.90. Certain hot-rolled flat-rolled 
carbon steel flat products covered by the order, including: Vacuum 
degassed fully stabilized; high strength low alloy; and the 
substrate for motor lamination steel may also enter under the 
following tariff numbers: 7225.11.00.00, 7225.19.00.00, 
7225.30.30.50, 7225.30.70.00, 7225.40.70.00, 7225.99.00.90, 
7226.11.10.00, 7226.11.90.30, 7226.11.90.60, 7226.19.10.00, 
7226.19.90.00, 7226.91.50.00, 7226.91.70.00, 7226.91.80.00, and 
7226.99.01.80. Subject merchandise may also enter under 
7210.70.30.00, 7210.90.90.00, 7211.14.00.30, 7212.40.10.00, 
7212.40.50.00, and 7212.50.00.00. Although the HTS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes, the written 
description of the merchandise under the order is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2019-27030 Filed 12-13-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P