[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 69 (Thursday, April 9, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19927-19929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07483]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-888, C-570-105]


Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod From India and the People's 
Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Orders

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

SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of 
Commerce (Commerce) and the International Trade Commission (ITC), 
Commerce is issuing the countervailing duty orders on carbon and alloy 
steel threaded rod (steel threaded rod) from India and the People's 
Republic of China (China).

DATES: Applicable April 9, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Genevieve Coen at (202) 482-3251 or 
Hannah Falvey at (202) 482-4889, AD/CVD Operations, Office V (India); 
Thomas Schauer at (202) 482-0410 or Allison Hollander at (202) 482-
2805, AD/CVD Operations, Office I (China); Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), on February 18, 2020, Commerce published its 
affirmative final determinations that countervailable

[[Page 19928]]

subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of steel 
threaded rod from India and China.\1\ On April 3, 2020, the ITC 
notified Commerce of its affirmative determinations that an industry in 
the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 
705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, by reason of subsidized imports of subject 
merchandise from India and China.\2\
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    \1\ See Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from India: Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 85 FR 8828 (February 
18, 2020); and Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from the People's 
Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination, 85 FR 8833 (February 18, 2020).
    \2\ See Letter to Jeffrey Kessler, Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance, from David S. Johanson, 
Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, regarding steel 
threaded rod from China and India, (April 3, 2020) (ITC Letter).
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Scope of the Order

    The scope of these orders covers steel threaded rod from India and 
China. For a complete description of the scope, see the appendix to 
this notice.

Countervailing Duty Orders

    On April 3, 2020, in accordance with sections 705(b)(1)(A)(i) and 
705(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final 
determinations in these investigations, in which it found that an 
industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of 
imports of steel threaded rod from India and China.\3\ Therefore, in 
accordance with section 705(c)(2) of the Act, Commerce is issuing these 
countervailing duty orders. Because the ITC determined that imports of 
steel threaded rod from India and China are materially injuring a U.S. 
industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from India or China, 
entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the 
assessment of countervailing duties.
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    \3\ See ITC Letter.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon 
further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties for all relevant 
entries of steel threaded rod from India and China. Countervailing 
duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of steel threaded rod 
from India and China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after July 29, 2019, the date of publication of the 
Preliminary Determinations,\4\ but will not include entries occurring 
after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before 
publication of the ITC's final injury determination, as further 
described below.
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    \4\ See Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from India: 
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and 
Alignment of Final Determination with Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination, 84 FR 36570 (July 29, 2019); see also 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).
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 706 of the Act, Commerce will instruct 
CBP to reinstitute the suspension of liquidation of steel threaded rod 
from India and China. We will also instruct CBP to require, pursuant to 
section 706(a)(1) of the Act, countervailing duties for each entry of 
the subject merchandise in an amount based on the net countervailable 
subsidy rates for the subject merchandise. These instructions 
suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.

                                  India
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                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
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Daksh Fasteners.........................................          211.72
Mangal Steel Enterprises Limited........................            6.07
All Others..............................................            6.07
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                                  China
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ningbo Zhongjiang High Strength Bolts Co., Ltd..........           31.02
Zhejiang Junyue Standard Part Co., Ltd..................           66.81
All Others..............................................           41.17
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Provisional Measures

    Section 703(d) of the Act states that instructions issued pursuant 
to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect 
for more than four months. In the underlying investigations, Commerce 
published the Preliminary Determinations on July 29, 2019. Therefore, 
the four-month period beginning on the date of the publication of the 
Preliminary Determinations ended on November 25, 2019.
    In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act and our practice, we 
instructed CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to 
liquidate, without regard to countervailing duties, unliquidated 
entries of steel threaded rod from India and China entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption after November 25, 2019, the 
date the provisional measures expired, until and through the day 
preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final injury 
determination in the Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation will 
resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determination in 
the Federal Register.

Notifications to Interested Parties

    This notice constitutes the countervailing duty orders with respect 
to steel threaded rod from India and China pursuant to section 706(a) 
of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of countervailing duty 
orders currently in effect at http://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
    These orders are issued and published in accordance with section 
706(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

    Dated: April 3, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

    The merchandise covered by the scope of these orders 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 orders 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 orders, 
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 these orders 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 orders whether or not imported attached to, or in 
conjunction with, other parts and accessories

[[Page 19929]]

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 orders 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 order 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 orders 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.

[FR Doc. 2020-07483 Filed 4-8-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P