[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 206 (Friday, October 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67515-67517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23449]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-063]


Cast Iron Soil Pipe Fittings From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2017-
2018

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and 
exporters of cast iron soil pipe fittings (soil pipe fittings) from the 
People's Republic of China (China). Interested parties are invited to 
comment on these preliminary results of review.

DATES: Applicable October 23, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis McClure or Joseph Dowling, AD/
CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5973 or (202) 
482-1646, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 31, 2018, Commerce published the countervailing duty 
(CVD) order on soil pipe fittings from China.\1\ Wor-Biz Industrial 
Product Co., Limited (Anhui) (Wor-Biz) \2\ and the petitioner \3\ 
requested that Commerce conduct an administrative review of the Order, 
and on October 7, 2019, Commerce published in the Federal Register a 
notice of initiation of an administrative review of the Order on 11 
producers/exporters for the period of review, December 19, 2017 through 
December 31, 2018.\4\ On April 14, 2020, Commerce partially extended 
the preliminary results deadline until July 1, 2020.\5\ On April 24, 
2020, Commerce decided to uniformly toll deadlines for all antidumping 
duty and CVD administrative reviews by 50 days.\6\ On July 21, 2020, 
Commerce tolled all deadlines in administrative reviews by an 
additional 60 days,\7\ further extending the deadline for the 
preliminary results of this review to October 19, 2020.
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    \1\ See Cast Iron Soil Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic 
of China: Countervailing Duty Order, 83 FR 44566 (August 31, 2018) 
(Order).
    \2\ On January 8, 2020, Commerce published its final 
determination in a changed circumstances review, finding that Wor-
Biz Industrial Product Co., Ltd. (Anhui) is the successor in 
interest to Wor-Biz Trading Co., Ltd. (Anhui). See Cast Iron Soil 
Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of 
Changed Circumstances Reviews, 85 FR 881 (January 8, 2020).
    \3\ See Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute's Letter, ``Cast Iron Soil 
Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic of China: Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated August 30, 2019. The petitioner in 
this review is the Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute, which is a trade 
association, whose members are all domestic producers of cast iron 
soil pipe fittings.
    \4\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 84 FR 53411, 53422 (October 7, 2019) 
(Initiation Notice).
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Cast Iron Soil Pipe Fittings from the 
People's Republic of China: Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2017-2018,'' 
dated April 14, 2020.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews in Response to 
Operational Adjustments Due to COVID-19,'' dated April 24, 2020.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews,'' dated July 21, 2020.
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Scope of the Order

    The product covered by the Order is soil pipe fittings from China. 
For a complete description of the scope of this administrative review, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\8\
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    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results in the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Cast 
Iron Soil Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic of China: 2017-
2018'' (Preliminary Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with, 
and hereby adopted by, this notice.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (Act). For each of 
the subsidy programs found countervailable, we preliminarily determine 
that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an 
``authority'' that confers a benefit to the recipient, and that the 
subsidy is specific.\9\ For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary conclusions, including our reliance, in 
part, on adverse facts available pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of 
the Act, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \9\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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    The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and

[[Page 67516]]

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/index.html. 
The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic version 
of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content. A list 
of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included 
as an Appendix to this notice.

Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review

    There are nine companies for which a review was requested, which 
were not selected as mandatory respondents or found to be cross-owned 
with a mandatory respondent. Because the rate calculated for the 
mandatory respondent, Wor-Biz, was above de minimis and not based 
entirely on facts available, we applied the subsidy rate calculated for 
Wor-Biz to these nine non-selected companies. This methodology for 
establishing the subsidy rate for the non-selected companies is 
consistent with our practice and with section 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we calculated a 
countervailable subsidy rate for the mandatory respondent Wor-Biz. We 
determined the countervailable subsidy rate for Qinshui Shunshida 
Casting Co., Ltd. based entirely on adverse facts available, in 
accordance with section 776 of the Act. We also assigned an individual 
estimated subsidy rate based on adverse facts available to entries 
produced and/or exported by Wor-Biz's unaffiliated supplier Wuhu Best 
Machines Co., Ltd., in accordance with section 776 of the Act. 
Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate calculated for Wor-
Biz. Consequently, as discussed above, the rate calculated for Wor-Biz 
is also assigned as the rate for all other producers and exporters 
subject to this review but not selected for individual examination 
(i.e., non-selected companies).
    We preliminarily find the countervailable subsidy rates for the 
mandatory and non-selected respondents under review to be as follows:
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    \10\ This rate applies to subject merchandise exported by Wor-
Biz Industrial Product Co., Ltd. (Anhui) and produced by companies 
other than Wuhu Best Machines Co., Ltd.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Subsidy
                      Producer/exporter                          rate
                                                               (percent)
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Qinshui Shunshida Casting Co., Ltd..........................      109.32
Wor-Biz Industrial Product Co., Ltd. (Anhui)................   \10\ 5.13
Wuhu Best Machines Co., Ltd.................................      109.32
Non-Selected Companies Under Review:
  Dalian Lino F.T.Z. Co., Ltd...............................        5.13
  Dalian Metal I/E Co., Ltd.................................        5.13
  Dinggin Hardware (Dalian) Co., Ltd........................        5.13
  Golden Orange International Ltd...........................        5.13
  Hebei Metals & Engineering Products Trading Co., Ltd......        5.13
  Richang Qiaoshan Trade Co., Ltd...........................        5.13
  Shanxi Zhongrui Tianyue Trading Co., Ltd..................        5.13
  Shijiazhuang Asia Casting Co., Ltd........................        5.13
  Yangcheng County Huawang Universal........................        5.13
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We will disclose to parties in this proceeding the calculations 
performed in reaching the preliminary results within five days of 
publication of these preliminary results.\11\ Interested parties may 
submit written comments (case briefs) on the preliminary results no 
later than 30 days from the date of publication of this Federal 
Register notice, and rebuttal comments (rebuttal briefs) within seven 
days after the time limit for filing case briefs.\12\ Pursuant to 19 
CFR 351.309(d)(2), rebuttal briefs must be limited to issues raised in 
the case briefs. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties 
who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this review are requested 
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 351.224(b).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii) and 351.309(d)(1).
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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 within 30 days of the date of 
publication of this notice. 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.\13\ 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 the date and time of the hearing two days before 
the scheduled date.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    Parties are reminded that briefs and hearing requests are to be 
filed electronically using ACCESS and that electronically filed 
documents must be received successfully in their entirety by 5 p.m. 
Eastern Time on the due date. Note that Commerce has temporarily 
modified certain of its requirements for serving documents containing 
business proprietary information, until further notice.\14\
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    \14\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 
10, 2020).
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    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act, we intend to issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of our analysis of the issues raised by 
the parties in their comments, within 120 days after publication of 
these preliminary results.

Assessment Rates

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily 
assigned subsidy rates in the amounts shown above for the producer/
exporters shown above. Upon completion of the administrative review, 
consistent with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(2), Commerce shall determine, and Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) shall assess, countervailing duties on all appropriate 
entries covered by this review. We intend to issue instructions 
directly to CBP 15 days after publication of the final results of this 
review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    In accordance with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce 
intends, upon publication of the final results, to instruct CBP to 
collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties in the amounts 
shown for each of the respective companies listed above on shipments of 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of 
this administrative review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will 
instruct CBP to continue to collect cash deposits at the most recent 
company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company. These 
cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.

[[Page 67517]]

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results are issued and published pursuant to 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: October 16, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Non-Selected Companies Under Review
IV. Scope of the Order
V. Diversification of China's Economy
VI. Subsidies Valuation
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
VIII. Interest Rate Benchmarks, Discount Rates, Inputs, and 
Electricity
IX. Analysis of Programs
X. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2020-23449 Filed 10-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P