[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 142 (Thursday, July 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44517-44519]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15914]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-893]


Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks From India: Preliminary Negative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that forged steel fluid end blocks (fluid end blocks) from India are 
not being, or are not likely to be, sold in the United States at less 
than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 
2018 through September 31, 2019. Interested parties are invited to 
comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable July 23, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Romani or Jacob Keller, 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) 482-0198 or (202) 482-4849, 
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 January 15, 
2020.\1\ On March 26, 2020, Commerce postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation and the revised deadline is now 
July 16, 2020.\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. 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 Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from the Federal Republic 
of Germany, India, and Italy: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 85 FR 2394 (January 15, 2020) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks From the Federal Republic 
of Germany, India and Italy: Postponement of Preliminary 
Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 85 FR 
17042 (March 26, 2020).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Forged 
Steel Fluid End Blocks from India,'' dated concurrently with, and 
hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are fluid end blocks 
from India, whether in finished or unfinished form, and which are 
typically used in the manufacture or service of hydraulic pumps. 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\ As 
discussed therein, Commerce is preliminarily modifying the scope 
language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice to exclude fluid end 
block assemblies. See the revised scope in Appendix I to this notice.
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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, ``Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from the 
Federal Republic of Germany, India, Italy, and the People's Republic 
of China: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determinations,'' dated May 18, 2020 (Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum).
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    The scope case briefs were originally due on June 25, 2020, 30 days 
after the publication of Fluid End Blocks CVD Determinations, and scope 
rebuttal briefs were originally due seven days thereafter on July 2, 
2020.\7\ However,

[[Page 44518]]

Commerce extended the deadline to submit scope case and rebuttal briefs 
to July 23, 2020, and July 30, 2020, respectively.\8\ There will be no 
further opportunity for comments on scope-related issues.\9\
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    \7\ The scope case and rebuttal briefs were due 30 and 37 days, 
respectively, after the publication of Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks 
from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of Final 
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 85 FR 31457 
(May 26, 2020); Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from Germany: 
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, and 
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination, 85 FR 31454 (May 26, 2020); Forged Steel Fluid End 
Blocks from India: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination, and Alignment of Final Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination, 85 FR 31452 (May 26, 2020); Fluid 
End Blocks from Italy: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination, and Alignment of Final Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination, 85 FR 31460 (May 26, 2020) 
(collectively, Forged Fluid End Blocks CVD Determinations). See 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum at 4. Accordingly, the 
deadline for the scope case briefs was Thursday, June 25, 2020; and 
the deadline for the scope rebuttal briefs was Thursday, July 2, 
2020.
    \8\ Scope case briefs are now due on July 23, 2020 and rebuttal 
scope case briefs are due on July 30, 2020. See Memorandum 
``Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations on Forged Steel 
Fluid End Blocks from the Federal Republic of Germany, India, Italy, 
and the People's Republic of China: Revision of Schedule for Scope 
Case Briefs,'' dated June 25, 2020.
    \9\ Parties were already permitted the opportunity to file scope 
case and rebuttal briefs. Case briefs, other written comments, and 
rebuttal briefs submitted in response to this preliminary LTFV 
determination should not include scope-related issues. See 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum at 4; see also ``Public 
Comment'' section of this notice.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Constructed export prices 
have been calculated in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. 
Normal value (NV) is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the 
Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying the 
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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    \10\ See Memorandum, ``Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from 
India--Preliminary Determination Analysis Memorandum for Bharat 
Forge Limited,'' dated concurrently with this notice.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Estimated
                                                              weighted-
                                                               average
                    Exporter or producer                       dumping
                                                                margin
                                                              (percent)
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Bharat Forge Limited.......................................   \10\ 0.00
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    Consistent with section 733(b)(3) of the Act, Commerce disregards 
de minimis rates. Accordingly, Commerce preliminarily determines that 
Bharat Forge Limited (Bharat), the only individually examined 
respondent with a zero rate, has not made sales of subject merchandise 
at LTFV.
    Further, Commerce preliminarily determines that Ultra Engineers 
(Ultra), the only other known producer or exporter of subject 
merchandise identified in the Initiation Notice,\11\ had no sales of 
in-scope merchandise to the United States during the POI. Therefore, we 
have not calculated an estimated weighted-average dumping margin for 
Ultra in this preliminary determination.\12\
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    \11\ See Initiation Notice, 85 FR at 2397.
    \12\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 5-6.
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    Consistent with section 733(d) of the Act, Commerce has not 
calculated an estimated weighted-average dumping margin for all other 
producers and exporters because it has not made an affirmative 
preliminary determination of sales at LTFV.

Suspension of Liquidation

    Because Commerce has made a negative preliminary determination of 
sales at LTFV with regard to subject merchandise, Commerce will not 
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation or to 
require a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties for entries of 
fluid end blocks from India.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this 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 this 
notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination 
concerning the estimated weighted-average dumping margin calculated for 
Bharat.
    As explained in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Ultra reports 
that it had no sales of in-scope merchandise to the United States 
during the POI.\13\ As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we 
intend to verify Ultra's claim that it did not sell the subject 
merchandise to the United States during the POI.
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    \13\ Id.
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Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments on non-scope issues may be 
submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no 
later than seven days after the date on which the last verification 
report is issued in this investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to 
issues raised in these case briefs, may be submitted no later than 
seven days after the deadline date for case briefs.\14\ Commerce has 
temporarily modified certain of its requirements for serving documents 
containing business proprietary information, until further notice.\15\ 
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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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.309; and 19 CFR 351.303 (for general filing 
requirements); see also Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service 
Requirements Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 
41363 (July 10, 2020) (Temporary Rule).
    \15\ See Temporary Rule.
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    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 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.

Postponement of Final Determination

    Section 735(a)(2)(B) 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 a 
negative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is 
made by the petitioners. On June 24, 2020, the petitioners \16\ 
requested that Commerce postpone the final determination in the event 
of a negative preliminary determination.\17\ In accordance with section 
735(a)(2)(B) of the Act, because

[[Page 44519]]

the preliminary determination is negative, and the petitioners have 
requested the postponement of the final determination, Commerce is 
postponing the final determination. Accordingly, Commerce will make its 
final determination by no later than 135 days after the date of 
publication of this preliminary determination, pursuant to section 
735(a)(2) of the Act.
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    \16\ The petitioners are FEB Fair Trade Coalition, Ellwood City 
Forge Company, Ellwood Quality Steels Company, Ellwood National 
Steel Company, and A. Finkl & Sons.
    \17\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks 
from India: Petitioner's Request to Postpone the Antidumping 
Investigation Final Determination,'' dated June 24, 2020.
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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, then 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 imports of fluid end blocks from India 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: July 16, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are forged steel 
fluid end blocks (fluid end blocks), whether in finished or 
unfinished form, and which are typically used in the manufacture or 
service of hydraulic pumps.
    The term ``forged'' is an industry term used to describe the 
grain texture of steel resulting from the application of localized 
compressive force. Illustrative forging standards include, but are 
not limited to, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) 
specifications A668 and A788.
    For purposes of this investigation, the term ``steel'' denotes 
metal containing the following chemical elements, by weight: (i) 
Iron greater than or equal to 60 percent; (ii) nickel less than or 
equal to 8.5 percent; (iii) copper less than or equal to 6 percent; 
(iv) chromium greater than or equal to 0.4 percent, but less than or 
equal to 20 percent; and (v) molybdenum greater than or equal to 
0.15 percent, but less than or equal to 3 percent. Illustrative 
steel standards include, but are not limited to, American Iron and 
Steel Institute (AISI) or Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 
grades 4130, 4135, 4140, 4320, 4330, 4340, 8630, 15-5, 17-4, F6NM, 
F22, F60, and XM25, as well as modified varieties of these grades.
    The products covered by this investigation are: (1) Cut-to-
length fluid end blocks with an actual height (measured from its 
highest point) of 8 inches (203.2 mm) to 40 inches (1,016.0 mm), an 
actual width (measured from its widest point) of 8 inches (203.2 mm) 
to 40 inches (1,016.0 mm), and an actual length (measured from its 
longest point) of 11 inches (279.4 mm) to 75 inches (1,905.0 mm); 
and (2) strings of fluid end blocks with an actual height (measured 
from its highest point) of 8 inches (203.2 mm) to 40 inches (1,016.0 
mm), an actual width (measured from its widest point) of 8 inches 
(203.2 mm) to 40 inches (1,016.0 mm), and an actual length (measured 
from its longest point) up to 360 inches (9,144.0 mm).
    The products included in the scope of this investigation have a 
tensile strength of at least 70 KSI (measured in accordance with 
ASTM A370) and a hardness of at least 140 HBW (measured in 
accordance with ASTM E10).
    A fluid end block may be imported in finished condition (i.e., 
ready for incorporation into a pump fluid end assembly without 
further finishing operations) or unfinished condition (i.e., forged 
but still requiring one or more finishing operations before it is 
ready for incorporation into a pump fluid end assembly). Such 
finishing operations may include: (1) Heat treating; (2) milling one 
or more flat surfaces; (3) contour machining to custom shapes or 
dimensions; (4) drilling or boring holes; (5) threading holes; and/
or (6) painting, varnishing, or coating.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are fluid end 
block assemblies which (1) include (a) plungers and related 
housings, adapters, gaskets, seals, and packing nuts, (b) valves and 
related seats, springs, seals, and cover nuts, and (c) a discharge 
flange and related seals, and (2) are otherwise ready to be mated 
with the ``power end'' of a hydraulic pump without the need for 
installation of any plunger, valve, or discharge flange components, 
or any other further manufacturing operations.
    The products included in the scope of this investigation may 
enter under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
subheadings 7218.91.0030, 7218.99.0030, 7224.90.0015, 7224.90.0045, 
7326.19.0010, 7326.90.8688, or 8413.91.9055. While these HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written description of the scope of the investigations is 
dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Treatment of Ultra Engineers
IV. Period of Investigation
V. Scope of Investigation
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
VII. Currency Conversion
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2020-15914 Filed 7-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P