[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 43 (Monday, March 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13320-13322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04742]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-485-809]


Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From Romania: Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports 
of common alloy aluminum sheet (aluminum sheet) from Romania are being, 
or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV) for the period of investigation January 1, 2019, through 
December 31, 2019.

DATES: Applicable March 8, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Krisha Hill, 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) 482-4037.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On October 15, 2020, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of 
aluminum sheet from Romania.\1\ Commerce invited interested parties to 
comment on the Preliminary Determination. A summary of the events that 
occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, may be 
found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\ On November 6, 2020, 
Commerce postponed the final determination to March 1, 2021.\3\
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    \1\ See Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From Romania: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 85 FR 
65358 (October 15, 2020) (Preliminary Determination), and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From Romania,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum).
    \3\ See Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From Indonesia and Romania: 
Postponement of Final Determinations of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 85 FR 71049 (November 6, 2020).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are aluminum sheet from 
Romania. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation, Commerce received scope 
comments from interested parties. Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum to address these comments.\4\ We received comments 
from interested parties on the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, 
which we address in the Final Scope Decision Memorandum.\5\ Commerce is 
not modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Preliminary 
Determination. See Appendix I for the final scope of the investigation.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Investigations of Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Bahrain, Brazil, 
Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Republic 
of Korea, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, 
Taiwan, and Turkey: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determinations,'' dated October 6, 2020 (Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Bahrain, 
Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, 
Korea, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, 
and Turkey: Scope Comments Final Decision Memorandum,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Final Scope 
Decision Memorandum).
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the sections of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum are in Appendix II of this notice. 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 electronic versions 
of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Verification

    Because Alro, SA stated prior to the Preliminary Determination that 
it would not respond to Commerce's request for information, we did not 
conduct a verification of Alro, SA's information.

[[Page 13321]]

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    In the Preliminary Determination, Commerce found that the mandatory 
respondent, Alro, SA, failed to comply with Commerce's request for 
information, which significantly impeded the investigation. Further, 
Commerce found that Alro, SA failed to cooperate to the best of its 
ability in this investigation. Therefore, in the Preliminary 
Determination, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce 
assigned Alro, SA a rate based on adverse facts available (AFA). We 
have continued to find that the application of AFA, pursuant to 
sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act is warranted in determining Alro, 
SA's weighted-average dumping margin.
    In the Preliminary Determination, as AFA, we assigned Alro, SA, as 
an estimated weighted-average dumping margin, a dumping margin equal to 
the highest non-aberrational individual dumping margin determined for 
Alro, SA based on an average-to-transaction comparison. For the final 
determination, we have based the AFA rate for Alro, SA on the highest 
non-aberrational individual dumping margin determined for Alro, SA 
based on an average-to-average comparison.\6\ Because this rate is not 
secondary information, but rather is based on information obtained in 
the course of the investigation, Commerce need not corroborate this 
rate pursuant to section 776(c) of the Act.
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    \6\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum for details.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters 
not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated excluding rates that 
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act. Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters and 
producers individually examined are zero, de minimis or determined 
based entirely on facts otherwise available, Commerce may use any 
reasonable method to establish the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin for all other producers or exporters.
    Commerce has determined the estimated dumping margin for the sole 
respondent, Alro, SA, entirely under section 776 of the Act. 
Consequently, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, Commerce's 
normal practice under these circumstances has been to calculate the 
all-others rate as a simple average of the alleged dumping margins from 
the petition.\7\ However, there is only one dumping margin in the 
petition for this investigation. Therefore, we used that rate as the 
all-others rate.
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    \7\ See, e.g., Notice of Preliminary Determinations of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of 
Germany, 73 FR 21909, 21912 (April 23, 2008), unchanged in Notice of 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite 
from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 38986, 38987 (July 8, 
2008), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2; 
see also Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Raw Flexible Magnets from Taiwan, 73 FR 39673, 39674 (July 
10, 2008); Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 
79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from 
Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 
14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014); and Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin 
from Pakistan: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
83 FR 48281, 48282 (September 24, 2018).
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Final Determination

    Pursuant to section 735 of the Act, the final estimated dumping 
margins are as follows:
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    \8\ On April 8, 2020, Alro, SA and its affiliate Vimetco 
Management Romania, SRL, notified Commerce that ``Vimetco Group'' is 
not a legal entity but that the name reflects a collection of 
companies including Alro, SA. Additionally, Alro, SA noted that its 
name is ``Alro, SA'' rather than ``Alro, S.A.'' as stated in the 
Initiation Notice. See Alro, SA's Letter, ``Common Alloy Aluminum 
Sheets from Romania, A-385-809; Clarification of Company Names,'' 
dated April 8, 2020. Given that Vimetco Group is not a legal entity 
but refers to a group of companies in which Alro, SA is the only 
producer, seller, and exporter of aluminum sheet, we have assigned 
the dumping rate to Alro, SA.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Estimated
                                                                dumping
                      Exporter/producer                         margin
                                                               (percent)
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Alro, SA \8\................................................       37.26
All Others..................................................       12.51
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Disclosure

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b), within five days of the date 
of publication of this notice in the Federal Register, we intend to 
disclose to parties in this proceeding the calculations performed in 
this final determination.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of aluminum sheet from 
Romania, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after October 15, 
2020, the date of publication in the Federal Register of the 
affirmative Preliminary Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), we will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for such 
entries of merchandise equal to the following: (1) The cash deposit 
rate for Alro, SA will be equal to the respondent-specific estimated 
dumping margin listed for Alro, SA in the table; (2) if the exporter is 
not identified in the table above but Alro, SA is the producer, then 
the cash deposit rate will be equal to the respondent-specific 
estimated dumping margin established for Alro, SA; and (3) the cash 
deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be equal to the 
all-others estimated dumping margin listed in the table above. These 
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of this final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination 
is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the 
ITC will make its final determination as to whether the domestic 
industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with 
material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the likelihood of 
sales) for importation of aluminum sheet from Romania no later than 45 
days after this final determination. If the ITC determines that such 
injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, all cash 
deposits posted will be refunded, and suspension of liquidation will be 
lifted. If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce 
will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon 
further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of 
the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice will serve as a final reminder to the parties subject 
to administrative protective order (APO) of

[[Page 13322]]

their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary 
information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of return or 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 and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: March 1, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are common alloy 
aluminum sheet, which is a flat-rolled aluminum product having a 
thickness of 6.3 mm or less, but greater than 0.2 mm, in coils or 
cut-to-length, regardless of width. Common alloy sheet within the 
scope of this investigation includes both not clad aluminum sheet, 
as well as multi-alloy, clad aluminum sheet. With respect to not 
clad aluminum sheet, common alloy sheet is manufactured from a 1XXX-
, 3XXX-, or 5XXX-series alloy as designated by the Aluminum 
Association. With respect to multi-alloy, clad aluminum sheet, 
common alloy sheet is produced from a 3XXX-series core, to which 
cladding layers are applied to either one or both sides of the core. 
The use of a proprietary alloy or non-proprietary alloy that is not 
specifically registered by the Aluminum Association as a discrete 
1XXX-, 3XXX-, or 5XXX-series alloy, but that otherwise has a 
chemistry that is consistent with these designations, does not 
remove an otherwise in-scope product from the scope.
    Common alloy sheet may be made to ASTM specification B209-14 but 
can also be made to other specifications. Regardless of 
specification, however, all common alloy sheet meeting the scope 
description is included in the scope. Subject merchandise includes 
common alloy sheet 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 this investigation if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the common alloy sheet.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation is aluminum can 
stock, which is suitable for use in the manufacture of aluminum 
beverage cans, lids of such cans, or tabs used to open such cans. 
Aluminum can stock is produced to gauges that range from 0.200 mm to 
0.292 mm, and has an H-19, H-41, H-48, H-39, or H-391 temper. In 
addition, aluminum can stock has a lubricant applied to the flat 
surfaces of the can stock to facilitate its movement through 
machines used in the manufacture of beverage cans. Aluminum can 
stock is properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) subheadings 7606.12.3045 and 7606.12.3055.
    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 for the above.
    Common alloy sheet is currently classifiable under HTSUS 
subheadings 7606.11.3060, 7606.11.6000, 7606.12.3096, 7606.12.6000, 
7606.91.3095, 7606.91.6095, 7606.92.3035, and 7606.92.6095. Further, 
merchandise that falls within the scope of this investigation may 
also be entered into the United States under HTSUS subheadings 
7606.11.3030, 7606.12.3015, 7606.12.3025, 7606.12.3035, 
7606.12.3091, 7606.91.3055, 7606.91.6055, 7606.92.3025, 
7606.92.6055, 7607.11.9090. Although the HTSUS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Sections in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Discussion of the Issue
IV. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-04742 Filed 3-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P