[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 108 (Thursday, June 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34413-34416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12078]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-878, C-580-879, A-580-881, C-580-882]


Initiation of Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Changed 
Circumstances Reviews: Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products and 
Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From the Republic of Korea

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

SUMMARY: In response to a request from KG Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. (KG 
Dongbu Steel), and pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act), and, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating changed 
circumstances reviews (CCRs) of the antidumping duty (AD) and 
countervailing duty (CVD) orders on certain cold-rolled steel flat 
products (cold-rolled steel) and certain corrosion-resistant steel 
products (CORE) from the Republic of Korea (Korea). These reviews will 
determine whether KG Dongbu Steel is the successor-in-interest to 
Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. (Dongbu Steel) and Dongbu Incheon Steel Co., 
Ltd. (Dongbu Incheon).

DATES: Applicable June 4, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua A. DeMoss, 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) 482-3362.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On May 24, 2019, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
final results of the AD and CVD administrative reviews of cold-rolled 
steel from Korea, where Dongbu Steel and Dongbu Incheon were non-
examined companies.\1\ As a result of these administrative reviews, 
Commerce assigned a cash deposit rate of 11.60 percent to Dongbu Steel 
and Dongbu Incheon for the AD administrative review, based on the non-
selected respondent rate (i.e., the weighted-average of the 
respondent's calculated weighted-average dumping margins),\2\ and a 
subsidy rate of 0.56 percent for the CVD administrative review based on 
the all-others subsidy rate.\3\
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    \1\ See Certain Cold Rolled Steel Flat Products From the 
Republic of Korea: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review; 2016-2017, 84 FR 24083 (May 24, 2019) (Cold-Rolled Steel AD 
Final); see also Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the 
Republic of Korea: Final Results of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review, 2016, 84 FR 24087 (May 24, 2019). On July 5, 
2019, Commerce amended the final results of the CVD administrative 
review of cold-rolled steel from Korea. See Countervailing Duty 
Order on Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the Republic 
of Korea: Amended Final Results of the First Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review, 84 FR 32123 (July 5, 2019) (Cold-Rolled Steel 
CVD Amended Final).
    \2\ See Cold-Rolled Steel AD Final.
    \3\ See Cold-Rolled Steel CVD Amended Final.
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    Similarly, on March 17, 2020, Commerce published in the Federal 
Register the final results of the AD and CVD administrative reviews of 
CORE.\4\ In the final results of the AD administrative review, Commerce 
assigned a cash deposit rate of 2.43 percent to Dongbu Steel and Dongbu 
Incheon based on the non-selected respondent rate.\5\ For the CVD 
administrative review, Commerce assigned a subsidy rate of 7.16 percent 
to Dongbu Steel and Dongbu Incheon as mandatory respondents.\6\
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    \4\ See Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From the Republic of 
Korea: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and 
Final Determination of No Shipments; 2017-2018, 85 FR 15114 (March 
17, 2020) (CORE AD Final); see also Certain Corrosion-Resistant 
Steel Products From the Republic of Korea: Final Results of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2017, 85 FR 15112 (March 
17, 2020) (CORE CVD Final).
    \5\ See CORE AD Final.
    \6\ See CORE CVD Final.
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    On April 13, 2020, KG Dongbu Steel informed Commerce that, on March 
2, 2020, Dongbu Steel publicly announced its merger with its wholly 
owned subsidiary, Dongbu Incheon.\7\ KG Dongbu Steel stated that, as of 
March 27, 2020, the newly merged Dongbu Steel officially changed its 
name to KG Dongbu Steel, therefore becoming the successor-in-interest 
to Dongbu Steel and Dongbu Incheon, Dongbu Steel's wholly-owned 
subsidiary.\8\ KG Dongbu Steel requests that Commerce conduct CCRs and 
find that KG Dongbu Steel is the successor-in-interest to Dongbu Steel 
and Dongbu Incheon, and that it be subject to Dongbu Steel's and Dongbu 
Incheon's AD margins and CVD subsidy rates for both cold-rolled steel 
and CORE. We did not receive comments from other interested parties 
concerning these requests.
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    \7\ See KG Dongbu Steel's Letter, ``Request for Changed 
Circumstances Review: Change of Name for Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. and 
Dongbu Incheon Steel Co., Ltd.,'' dated April 13, 2020.
    \8\ Id. at 2-3.
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Scopes of the Orders

Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products

    The products covered by this order are certain cold-rolled (cold-
reduced), flat-rolled steel products, 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 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 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 covered also include products not in coils 
(e.g., in straight lengths) of a thickness of 4.75 mm or more and a 
width exceeding 150 mm and measuring at least twice 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, and
    (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 of these Orders 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

[[Page 34414]]

 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 (also called wolfram), or
 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
 0.10 percent of niobium (also called columbium), 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, 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. Motor lamination 
steels contain 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 cold-rolled steel that has been 
further processed in a third country, including but not limited to 
annealing, tempering, painting, varnishing, trimming, cutting, 
punching, and/or slitting, or any other processing that would not 
otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of these Orders if 
performed in the country of manufacture of the cold-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 of these Orders 
unless specifically excluded. The following products are outside of 
and/or specifically excluded from the scope of these Orders:
     Ball bearing steels; \9\
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    \9\ 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; \10\
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    \10\ 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 steel; \11\
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    \11\ 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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     Grain-oriented electrical steels (GOES) as defined in the 
final determination of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Grain-
Oriented Electrical Steel from Germany, Japan, and Poland.\12\
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    \12\ See Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel from Germany, Japan, 
and Poland: Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value 
and Certain Final Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, 79 FR 42501, 42503 (July 22, 2014). This 
determination defines grain-oriented electrical steel as ``a flat-
rolled alloy steel product containing by weight at least 0.6 percent 
but not more than 6 percent of silicon, not more than 0.08 percent 
of carbon, not more than 1.0 percent of aluminum, and no other 
element in an amount that would give the steel the characteristics 
of another alloy steel, in coils or in straight lengths.''
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     Non-Oriented Electrical Steels (NOES), as defined in the 
antidumping orders issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce in Non-
Oriented Electrical Steel from the People's Republic of China, Germany, 
Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan.\13\
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    \13\ See Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the People's 
Republic of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, 
and Taiwan: Antidumping Duty Orders, 79 FR 71741, 71741-42 (December 
3, 2014). The orders define NOES as ``cold-rolled, flat-rolled, 
alloy steel products, whether or not in coils, regardless of width, 
having an actual thickness of 0.20 mm or more, in which the core 
loss is substantially equal in any direction of magnetization in the 
plane of the material. The term `substantially equal' means that the 
cross grain direction of core loss is no more than 1.5 times the 
straight grain direction (i.e., the rolling direction) of core loss. 
NOES has a magnetic permeability that does not exceed 1.65 Tesla 
when tested at a field of 800 A/m (equivalent to 10 Oersteds) along 
(i.e., parallel to) the rolling direction of the sheet (i.e., B800 
value). NOES contains by weight more than 1.00 percent of silicon 
but less than 3.5 percent of silicon, not more than 0.08 percent of 
carbon, and not more than 1.5 percent of aluminum. NOES has a 
surface oxide coating, to which an insulation coating may be 
applied.''
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    The products subject to these Orders are currently classified in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item 
numbers: 7209.15.0000, 7209.16.0030, 7209.16.0060, 7209.16.0070, 
7209.16.0091, 7209.17.0030, 7209.17.0060, 7209.17.0070, 7209.17.0091, 
7209.18.1530, 7209.18.1560, 7209.18.2510, 7209.18.2520, 7209.18.2580, 
7209.18.6020, 7209.18.6090, 7209.25.0000, 7209.26.0000, 7209.27.0000, 
7209.28.0000, 7209.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7211.23.1500, 7211.23.2000, 
7211.23.3000, 7211.23.4500, 7211.23.6030, 7211.23.6060, 7211.23.6090, 
7211.29.2030, 7211.29.2090, 7211.29.4500, 7211.29.6030, 7211.29.6080, 
7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7225.50.6000, 7225.50.8080, 
7225.99.0090, 7226.92.5000, 7226.92.7050, and 7226.92.8050.
    The products subject to these Orders may also enter under the 
following HTSUS numbers: 7210.90.9000, 7212.50.0000, 7215.10.0010, 
7215.10.0080, 7215.50.0016, 7215.50.0018, 7215.50.0020, 7215.50.0061, 
7215.50.0063, 7215.50.0065, 7215.50.0090, 7215.90.5000, 7217.10.1000, 
7217.10.2000, 7217.10.3000, 7217.10.7000, 7217.90.1000, 7217.90.5030, 
7217.90.5060, 7217.90.5090, 7225.19.0000, 7226.19.1000, 7226.19.9000, 
7226.99.0180, 7228.50.5015, 7228.50.5040, 7228.50.5070, 7228.60.8000, 
and 7229.90.1000.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and U.S. 
Customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of these 
Orders is dispositive.

Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products

    The products covered by this order are certain flat-rolled steel 
products, either clad, plated, or coated with corrosion-resistant 
metals such as zinc, aluminum, or zinc-, aluminum-, nickel- or iron-
based alloys, whether or not corrugated or painted, varnished, 
laminated, or coated with plastics or other non-metallic substances in 
addition to the metallic coating. The products covered include coils 
that have a width of 12.7 mm or greater, 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 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 covered also

[[Page 34415]]

include products not in coils (e.g., in straight lengths) of a 
thickness of 4.75 mm or more and a width exceeding 150 mm and measuring 
at least twice 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, and
    (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 of these Orders 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 (also called wolfram), or
 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
 0.10 percent of niobium (also called columbium), 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 and high strength low alloy (``HSLA'') steels. 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.
    Furthermore, this scope also includes Advanced High Strength Steels 
(``AHSS'') and Ultra High Strength Steels (``UHSS''), both of which are 
considered high tensile strength and high elongation steels.
    Subject merchandise also includes corrosion-resistant steel that 
has been further processed in a third country, including but not 
limited to annealing, tempering painting, varnishing, trimming, 
cutting, punching and/or slitting or any other processing that would 
not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of these Orders if 
performed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope corrosion 
resistant 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 of these Orders 
unless specifically excluded. The following products are outside of 
and/or specifically excluded from the scope of these Orders: Flat-
rolled steel products either plated or coated with tin, lead, chromium, 
chromium oxides, both tin and lead (``terne plate''), or both chromium 
and chromium oxides (``tin free steel''), whether or not painted, 
varnished or coated with plastics or other non-metallic substances in 
addition to the metallic coating; Clad products in straight lengths of 
4.7625 mm or more in composite thickness and of a width which exceeds 
150 mm and measures at least twice the thickness; and Certain clad 
stainless flat-rolled products, which are three-layered corrosion-
resistant flat-rolled steel products less than 4.75 mm in composite 
thickness that consist of a flat-rolled steel product clad on both 
sides with stainless steel in a 20%-60%-20% ratio.
    The products subject to these Orders are currently classified in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') under 
item numbers: 7210.30.0030, 7210.30.0060, 7210.41.0000, 7210.49.0030, 
7210.49.0091, 7210.49.0095, 7210.61.0000, 7210.69.0000, 7210.70.6030, 
7210.70.6060, 7210.70.6090, 7210.90.6000, 7210.90.9000, 7212.20.0000, 
7212.30.1030, 7212.30.1090, 7212.30.3000, 7212.30.5000, 7212.40.1000, 
7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, and 7212.60.0000.
    The products subject to these Orders may also enter under the 
following HTSUS item numbers: 7210.90.1000, 7215.90.1000, 7215.90.3000, 
7215.90.5000, 7217.20.1500, 7217.30.1530, 7217.30.1560, 7217.90.1000, 
7217.90.5030, 7217.90.5060, 7217.90.5090, 7225.91.0000, 7225.92.0000, 
7225.99.0090, 7226.99.0110, 7226.99.0130, 7226.99.0180, 7228.60.6000, 
7228.60.8000, and 7229.90.1000.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of these 
Orders is dispositive.

Initiation of AD and CVD CCRs

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d), 
Commerce will conduct a CCR upon receipt of a request from an 
interested party for a review of an AD or CVD order which shows changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order. In the past, 
Commerce has used CCRs to address the applicability of cash deposit 
rates after there have been changes in the name or structure of a 
respondent, such as a merger or spinoff (successor-in-interest or 
successorship determinations).\14\ The information submitted by KG 
Dongbu Steel supporting its claim that it is the successor-in-interest 
to Dongbu Steel and Dongbu Incheon demonstrates changed circumstances 
sufficient to warrant such a review.\15\ Therefore, in accordance with 
751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d) and (e), we are 
initiating CCRs based on the information contained in KG Dongbu Steel's 
submission.
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    \14\ See, e.g., Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the 
People's Republic of China: Initiation and Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 82 FR 51605, 51606 
(November 7, 2017), unchanged in Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof 
from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 82 FR 60177 (December 19, 2017).
    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.216(d).
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    Commerce will issue questionnaires requesting additional 
information for the reviews, and will publish in the Federal Register a 
notice of the preliminary results, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.221(b)(2) and (4), and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(i). The notice will set 
forth the factual and legal conclusions upon which our preliminary 
results are based and a description of any action proposed based on 
those results. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(ii), interested parties 
will have an opportunity to comment on the preliminary results. In 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(e), Commerce intends to issue the final 
results no later than 270 days after the date on which the reviews are 
initiated. Note that Commerce has modified certain of its requirements 
for serving documents containing business proprietary

[[Page 34416]]

information until July 17, 2020, unless extended.\16\
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    \16\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 29615 (May 18, 
2020).
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Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice is published in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 
777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.216(b), 351.221(b), and 
351.221(c)(3).

    Dated: May 28, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2020-12078 Filed 6-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P