[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 134 (Monday, July 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41957-41960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15078]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-026, C-570-027]
Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From the People's
Republic of China: Affirmative Final Determination of Circumvention
Involving the United Arab Emirates
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports
of certain corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE), completed in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) using carbon hot-rolled steel (HRS) and/or
cold-rolled steel (CRS) flat products manufactured in the People's
Republic of China (China), are circumventing the antidumping duty (AD)
and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on CORE from China.
DATES: Applicable July 13, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eva Kim or Jeff Pedersen, AD/CVD
Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-8283 and (202) 482-2769,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 18, 2020, Commerce published the Preliminary
Determination \1\ of circumvention of the China CORE Orders.\2\ A
summary of events that occurred since Commerce published the
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues
raised by parties for this final determination, may be found in the
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\3\ The Issues and 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. In addition, a complete version of the Issues
and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the electronic versions of
the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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\1\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from the
People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of
Circumvention Involving the United Arab Emirates, 85 FR 8841
(February 18, 2020) (Preliminary Determination) and accompanying
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
\2\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from India,
Italy, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea and
Taiwan: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Determination for
India and Taiwan, and Antidumping Duty Orders, 81 FR 48390 (July 25,
2016); see also Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from
India, Italy, Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China:
Countervailing Duty Order, 81 FR 48387 (July 25, 2016)
(collectively, China CORE Orders).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Anti-Circumvention Inquiries Involving the United Arab Emirates of
the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders on Certain Corrosion-
Resistant Steel Products from the People's Republic of China,''
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues
and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Orders
The products covered by these orders 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. For a complete description of the
scope of the orders, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiries
These anti-circumvention inquiries cover CORE completed in the UAE
from HRS and/or CRS substrate input manufactured in China and
subsequently exported to the United States (merchandise subject to
these inquiries). This final ruling applies to all shipments of
merchandise subject to these inquiries entered on or after the date of
the initiation of these inquiries.\4\ Importers and exporters of CORE
produced in the UAE using: (1) HRS manufactured in the UAE or other
third countries, (2) CRS manufactured in the UAE using HRS produced in
the UAE or other third countries, or (3) CRS manufactured in other
third countries, must certify that the HRS and/or CRS processed into
CORE in the UAE did not originate in China, as provided for in the
certifications attached to this Federal Register notice. Otherwise,
their merchandise will be subject to AD and CVD requirements.
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\4\ See Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from the People's
Republic of China: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention Inquiries on the
Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders, 84 FR 43585 (August
21, 2019) (Initiation Notice) and accompanying Memorandum, ``Certain
Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from the People's Republic of
China: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention Inquiries on the Antidumping
Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders,'' dated August 12, 2019
(Initiation Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting these anti-circumvention inquiries in
accordance with section 781(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act). Because China is a non-market economy, within the meaning of
section 771(18) of the Act,\5\ Commerce calculated the value of
Chinese-origin input costs using prices of factors of production and
market economy values, as discussed in section 773(c) of the Act.
Additionally, because an interested party (i.e., Asian Ispat FZ LLC.)
did not cooperate to the best of its ability in responding to
Commerce's
[[Page 41958]]
requests for information, we have based parts of our determination on
the facts available, with adverse inferences, pursuant to sections
776(a) and (b) of the Act. See Preliminary Decision Memorandum for a
full description of the methodology. We have continued to apply this
methodology for our final determination.
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\5\ See Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Aluminum Foil
from the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary
Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value and Postponement of
Final Determination, 82 FR 50858, 50861 (November 2, 2017), and
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum at ``China's Status as
a Non-Market Economy,'' unchanged in Certain Aluminum Foil from the
People's Republic of China: Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value, 83 FR 9282 (March 5, 2018).
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Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in
these inquiries are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A
list of the issues raised is attached to this notice as Appendix I.
Based on our analysis of the comments received from interested
parties and our findings at verification, we made no revisions to the
Preliminary Determination with regard to our analysis under the anti-
circumvention factors of section 781(b) of the Act. Additionally, based
on our analysis of the comments received from interested parties, we
have made certain changes to the language in the certifications to
provide guidance on who should complete the exporter certification, and
to improve the identification of parties involved in the sale.\6\
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\6\ See Comment 5 of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Circumvention
We determine that exports to the United States of CORE completed in
the UAE from HRS and/or CRS substrate manufactured in China are
circumventing the China CORE Orders. We therefore find it appropriate
to determine that merchandise subject to these inquiries should be
considered to be within the scope of the China CORE Orders, and to
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to
suspend liquidation of any entries of CORE completed in the UAE using
HRS and/or CRS substrate manufactured in China.
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
As stated above, Commerce has made an affirmative determination of
circumvention of the China CORE Orders by exports to the United States
of CORE completed in the UAE using Chinese-origin HRS and/or CRS
substrate. In accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(1)(3), Commerce will
direct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation and to require a cash
deposit of estimated duties on unliquidated entries of CORE completed
in the UAE using Chinese-origin HRS and/or CRS substrate that were
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after
August 12, 2019, the date of initiation of these anti-circumvention
inquiries.
The suspension of liquidation and cash deposit instructions will
remain in effect until further notice.
CORE produced in the UAE from HRS or CRS substrate that is not of
Chinese-origin is not subject to these inquiries. However, imports of
such merchandise are subject to certification requirements, and cash
deposits may be required if the certification requirements are not
satisfied. Accordingly, if an importer imports CORE produced in the UAE
and claims that the CORE was produced from non-Chinese HRS or CRS
substrate, in order not to be subject to AD and/or CVD requirements,
the importer and exporter are required to meet the certification and
documentation requirements described in Appendices II, III, and IV. The
party that made the sale to the United States should fill out the
exporter certification.
In order to prevent evasion, Commerce will instruct CBP that in the
situation where parties have not maintained the requisite certification
regarding the origin of the substrate for an entry, CBP should suspend
the entry and collect cash deposits at the AD rate established for the
China-wide entity (199.43 percent) and the CVD rate established for all
other Chinese producers and/or exporters (39.05 percent) pursuant to
the China CORE Orders.\7\
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\7\ See China CORE Orders, 81 FR at 48389 and 48393.
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Further, for this final determination, we continue to determine
that the following company is not eligible for the certification
process: Asian Ispat FZ LLC. \8\ Accordingly, importers of CORE from
the UAE produced and/or exported by this ineligible company are
similarly ineligible for the certification process with regard to
imports of CORE produced by or sourced from this company. Additionally,
exporters are not eligible to certify shipments of merchandise produced
by the above-listed company. Accordingly, CBP shall suspend the entry
and collect cash deposits for entries of merchandise produced and/or
exported by Asian Ispat FZ LLC at the AD rate established for the
China-wide entity (199.43 percent) and the CVD rate established for all
other Chinese producers and/or exporters (39.05 percent) pursuant to
the China CORE Orders.
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\8\ See Preliminary Determination, 85 FR at 8842, and
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 28.
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Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order
This notice will serve as the only reminder to all parties subject
to administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility
concerning the destruction of proprietary information disclosed under
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written
notification of return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to
judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with
the regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
section 781(b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.225(f).
Dated: July 6, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Orders
IV. Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiries
V. Statutory Framework
VI. Statutory Analysis
VII. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Whether the Order on Chinese CORE Has Been
Circumvented
Comment 2: Application of NME Methodology
Comment 3: HTS Classification of Cold-Rolled Steel
Comment 4: Whether UIS Should Be Subject to the Certification
Process
Comment 5: Whether the Certifications Should Be Modified to
Include Duferco's Situation
Comment 6: Clarification of Response Reported in Verification
Report
VIII. Recommendation
Appendix II
Certification Requirements
If an importer imports certain corrosion-resistant steel
products (CORE) from the United Arab Emirates and claims that the
CORE was not produced from hot-rolled steel and/or cold-rolled steel
substrate (substrate) manufactured in the People's Republic of China
(China), the importer is required to complete and maintain the
importer certification attached hereto as Appendix III and all
supporting documentation. Where the importer uses a broker to
facilitate the entry process, it should obtain the entry summary
number from the broker. Agents of the importer, such as brokers,
however, are not permitted to make this certification on behalf of
the importer.
The exporter of such merchandise is required to complete and
maintain the exporter certification, attached as Appendix
[[Page 41959]]
IV, and is further required to provide the importer a copy of that
certification and all supporting documentation. The party that made
the sale to the United States should fill out the exporter
certification.
For any such certifications completed on the date of publication
of this final determination through 20 days after the date of
publication, exporters and importers should use the certifications
attached to the Preliminary Determination. For any such
certifications completed on or after 21 days after the date of
publication of this final determination, exporters and importers
should use the certifications contained below that have changed from
the certifications issued with the Preliminary Determination.
For entries on or after the date of publication of this notice
in the Federal Register, for which certifications are required,
importers should complete the required certification at or prior to
the date of entry summary, and exporters should complete the
required certification and provide it to the importer at or prior to
the date of shipment. For all such entries made within the first 20
days after publication of this notice, exporters and importers
should use the certifications attached to the Preliminary
Determination. For all entries made on or after 21 days after
publication of this notice, exporters and importers should use the
certifications contained below that have changed from the
certifications issued with the Preliminary Determination.
The importer and exporter are also required to maintain
sufficient documentation supporting their certifications. The
importer will not be required to submit the certifications or
supporting documentation to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
as part of the entry process at this time. However, the importer and
the exporter will be required to present the certifications and
supporting documentation to Commerce and/or CBP, as applicable, upon
request by the respective agency. Additionally, the claims made in
the certifications and any supporting documentation are subject to
verification by Commerce and/or CBP. The importer and exporter are
required to maintain the certifications and supporting documentation
for the later of: (1) A period of five years from the date of entry
or (2) a period of three years after the conclusion of any
litigation in United States courts regarding such entries.
In the situation where no certification is maintained for an
entry, and AD/CVD orders from China potentially apply to that entry,
Commerce intends to instruct CBP to suspend the entry and collect
cash deposits at the applicable rates from the China CORE Orders
(i.e., the AD rate established for the China-wide entity (199.43
percent) and the CVD rate established for all other Chinese
producers and/or exporters (39.05 percent)).\9\
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\9\ See China CORE Orders, 81 FR at 48389 and 48393.
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Appendix III
Importer Certification
I hereby certify that:
(A) My name is {IMPORTING COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME{time} and I
am an official of {NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} , located at
{ADRESS OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} .
(B) I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding the
importation into the Customs territory of the United States of the
corrosion resistant steel products produced in the United Arab
Emirates that entered under entry number(s), identified below, and
which are covered by this certification. ``Direct personal
knowledge'' refers to facts the certifying party is expected to have
in its own records. For example, the importer should have direct
personal knowledge of the importation of the product (e.g., the name
of the exporter) in its records.
(C) If the importer is acting on behalf of the first U.S.
customer, complete this paragraph, if not put ``NA'' at the end of
this paragraph: The corrosion resistant steel products covered by
this certification were imported by {NAME OF IMPORTING
COMPANY{time} on behalf of {NAME OF U.S. CUSTOMER{time} , located
at {ADDRESS OF U.S. CUSTOMER{time} .
(D) The corrosion resistant steel products covered by this
certification were shipped to {NAME OF PARTY TO WHOM MERCHANDISE WAS
FIRST SHIPPED IN THE UNITED STATES{time} , located at {ADDRESS OF
SHIPMENT{time} .
(E) I have personal knowledge of the facts regarding the
production of the corrosion resistant steel products identified
below. ``Personal knowledge'' includes facts obtained from another
party (e.g., correspondence received by the importer (or exporter)
from the producer regarding the country of manufacture of the
imported products).
(F) The corrosion resistant steel products covered by this
certification were not manufactured using hot-rolled steel and/or
cold-rolled steel substrate produced in China.
(G) This certification applies to the following entries (repeat
this block as many times as necessary):
Entry Summary #:
Entry Summary Line Item #:
Foreign Seller:
Foreign Seller's address:
Foreign Seller's Invoice #:
Foreign Seller's Invoice Line Item #:
Producer:
Producer's Address:
(H) I understand that {NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} is
required to maintain a copy of this certification and sufficient
documentation supporting this certification (i.e., documents
maintained in the normal course of business, or documents obtained
by the certifying party, for example, mill certificates, production
records, invoices, etc.) for the later of: (1) A period of five
years from the date of entry or (2) a period of three years after
the conclusion of any litigation in the United States courts
regarding such entries.
(I) I understand that {NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} is
required to provide this certification and supporting records, upon
request, to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and/or the
Department of Commerce (Commerce).
(J) I understand that {NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} is
required to maintain a copy of the exporter's certification
(attesting to the production and/or export of the imported
merchandise identified above), and any supporting records provided
by the exporter to the importer, for the later of: (1) A period of
five years from the date of entry or (2) a period of three years
after the conclusion of any litigation in United States courts
regarding such entries.
(K) I understand that {NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} is
required, upon request, to provide a copy of the exporter's
certification and any supporting records provided by the exporter to
the importer, to CBP and/or Commerce.
(L) I understand that the claims made herein, and the
substantiating documentation, are subject to verification by CBP
and/or Commerce.
(M) I understand that failure to maintain the required
certifications, and/or failure to substantiate the claims made
herein, and/or failure to allow CBP and/or Commerce to verify the
claims made herein, may result in a de facto determination that all
entries to which this certification applies are within the scope of
the antidumping/countervailing duty order on corrosion resistant
steel products from China. I understand that such finding will
result in:
(i) Suspension of liquidation of all unliquidated entries (and
entries for which liquidation has not become final) for which these
requirements were not met;
(ii) the requirement that the importer post applicable
antidumping duty and/or countervailing duty cash deposits (as
appropriate) equal to the rates determined by Commerce; and
(iii) the revocation of {NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} 's
privilege to certify future imports of corrosion resistant steel
products from the United Arab Emirates as not manufactured using
hot-rolled steel and/or cold-rolled steel substrate from China.
(N) I understand that agents of the importer, such as brokers,
are not permitted to make this certification.
(O) This certification was completed at or prior to the date of
entry summary.
(P) I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited to, 18
U.S.C. 1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who knowingly
and willfully make material false statements to the U.S. government.
Signature--------------------------------------------------------------
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NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL
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TITLE
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DATE
Appendix IV
Exporter Certification
Special Instructions: The party that made the sale to the United
States should fill out the exporter certification.
I hereby certify that:
(A) My name is {COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME{time} and I am an
official of {NAME OF COMPANY{time} , located at {ADDRESS{time} ;
(B) I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding the
production and exportation of the corrosion resistant steel products
identified below. ``Direct personal
[[Page 41960]]
knowledge'' refers to facts the certifying party is expected to have
in its own books and records. For example, an exporter should have
direct personal knowledge of the producer's identity and location.
(C) The corrosion resistant steel products produced in the
United Arab Emirates and covered by this certification were not
manufactured using hot-rolled steel and/or cold-rolled steel
substrate produced in China.
(D) This certification applies to the following sales to {NAME
OF U.S. CUSTOMER{time} , located at {ADDRESS OF U.S.
CUSTOMER{time} . (repeat this block as many times as necessary):
Foreign Seller's Invoice # to U.S. Customer:
Foreign Seller's Invoice to U.S. Customer Line item #:
Producer Name:
Producer's Address:
Producer's Invoice # to Foreign Seller: (If the foreign seller and
the producer are the same party, put NA here.)
(E) The corrosion resistant steel products covered by this
certification were shipped to {NAME OF U.S. PARTY TO WHOM
MERCHANDISE WAS SHIPPED{time} , located at {U.S. ADDRESS TO WHICH
MERCHANDISE WAS SHIPPED{time} .
(F) I understand that {NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY{time} is
required to maintain a copy of this certification and sufficient
documentation supporting this certification (i.e., documents
maintained in the normal course of business, or documents obtained
by the certifying party, for example, mill certificates, production
records, invoices, etc.) for the later of: (1) A period of five
years from the date of entry or (2) a period of three years after
the conclusion of any litigation in the United States courts
regarding such entries.
(G) I understand that {NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY{time} must
provide a copy of this Exporter Certification to the U.S. importer
by the date of shipment;
(H) I understand that {NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY{time} is
required to provide a copy of this certification and supporting
records, upon request, to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
and/or the Department of Commerce (Commerce).
(I) I understand that the claims made herein, and the
substantiating documentation, are subject to verification by CBP
and/or Commerce.
(J) I understand that failure to maintain the required
certification, and/or failure to substantiate the claims made
herein, and/or failure to allow CBP and/or Commerce to verify the
claims made herein, may result in a de facto determination that all
sales to which this certification applies are within the scope of
the antidumping/countervailing duty order on corrosion resistant
steel products from China. I understand that such finding will
result in:
(i) suspension of all unliquidated entries (and entries for
which liquidation has not become final) for which these requirements
were not met; and
(ii) the requirement that the importer post applicable
antidumping duty and/or countervailing duty cash deposits (as
appropriate) equal to the rates as determined by Commerce; and
(iii) the revocation of {NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY{time} 's
privilege to certify future exports of corrosion resistant steel
products from the United Arab Emirates as not manufactured using
hot-rolled steel and/or cold-rolled steel substrate from China.
(K) This certification was completed at or prior to the date of
shipment.
(L) I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited to, 18
U.S.C. 1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who knowingly
and willfully make material false statements to the U.S. government.
Signature--------------------------------------------------------------
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NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL
TITLE
DATE
[FR Doc. 2020-15078 Filed 7-10-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P