[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41661-41663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14962]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-872, A-580-878, A-580-881, A-580-883, A-580-887, A-580-891]


Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From the Republic of Korea, Certain 
Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From the Republic of Korea, Certain 
Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the Republic of Korea, Certain 
Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the Republic of Korea, Certain 
Carbon and Alloy Steel Cut-to-Length Plate From the Republic of Korea, 
and Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod From the Republic of Korea: Notice 
of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review

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

SUMMARY: In response to a request for a changed circumstances review 
(CCR), the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a CCR 
of the antidumping duty (AD) orders on non-oriented electrical steel, 
certain corrosion-resistant steel products, certain cold-rolled steel 
flat products, certain hot-rolled steel flat products, certain carbon 
and alloy steel cut-to-length plate, and carbon and alloy steel wire 
rod from the Republic of Korea (Korea). Additionally, Commerce 
preliminarily determines that POSCO, following a corporate 
organizational change in March 2022 (hereinafter, POSCO(II)), is the 
successor-in-interest to the pre-reorganization POSCO entity 
(hereinafter, POSCO(I)). As such, POSCO(II) is entitled to POSCO(I)'s 
AD cash deposit rates with respect to entries of subject merchandise in 
each of the above-referenced proceedings. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable July 13, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Maciuba, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0413.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 23 and 24, 2022, POSCO(II) notified Commerce of a corporate 
reorganization and requested that, if necessary, Commerce initiate CCRs 
under the relevant AD proceedings to determine that it is the 
successor-in-interest to POSCO(I) for purposes of determining AD cash 
deposits.\1\ In this request, POSCO(II) stated that, on December 10, 
2021, the board of directors of POSCO(I) initially approved a corporate 
reorganization whereby POSCO(I) would be registered as POSCO Holdings, 
and POSCO(I)'s production and sales operations for its steel business 
would be organized under a new business unit, POSCO(II), which would be 
a subsidiary of POSCO

[[Page 41662]]

Holdings.\2\ Subsequently, POSCO Holdings and POSCO(II) were registered 
on March 2, 2022.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See POSCO's Letters, ``Notification of Corporate 
Reorganization and Request for Changed Circumstances Review, If 
Deemed Necessary: Vertical Spinoff of POSCO,'' dated May 23, 2022; 
and ``Notification of Corporate Reorganization and Request for 
Changed Circumstances Review, If Deemed Necessary: Vertical Spinoff 
of POSCO,'' dated May 24, 2022 (collectively, POSCO CCR Request); 
see also POSCO's Letter, ``Clarification of Notification of 
Corporate Reorganization and Request for Changed Circumstances 
Review, If Deemed Necessary,'' dated May 25, 2022.
    \2\ See POSCO CCR Request at 3 and Attachment 1.
    \3\ Id. at 3 and Attachments 8 and 9.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    POSCO(II) states that, as a result of the reorganization, the 
operations, assets, and liabilities associated with POSCO(I)'s steel 
business are now organized under POSCO(II). Further, POSCO Holdings 
became the parent company to POSCO(II) and retains all of the other 
subsidiaries of POSCO(I) unrelated to the production and sale of steel 
products.\4\ With the reorganization, on March 2, 2022, POSCO(II) 
became a private company wholly owned by POSCO Holdings, and POSCO 
Holdings is the publicly owned stock company (i.e., the function that 
POSCO(I) had previously served).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ Id. at 4 and Attachments 10, 11, and 12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Orders

    The merchandise covered by the orders is non-oriented electrical 
steel, certain corrosion-resistant steel products, certain cold-rolled 
steel flat products, certain hot-rolled steel flat products, certain 
carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate, and carbon and alloy steel 
wire rod from Korea. For a complete description of the scope of each of 
the respective orders, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Initiation and 
Preliminary Results of the Changed Circumstances Review of the 
Antidumping Duty Orders on Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the 
Republic of Korea, Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from 
the Republic of Korea, Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from 
the Republic of Korea, Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from 
the Republic of Korea, Certain Carbon and Alloy Steel Cut-to-Length 
Plate from the Republic of Korea, and Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire 
Rod from the Republic of Korea,'' dated July 7, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221(c)(3), Commerce will conduct 
a CCR of an order upon receipt of information concerning, or a request 
from an interested party for a review of, an order which shows changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order. Commerce 
finds that the information submitted by POSCO(II) demonstrates changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant such a review. Therefore, in 
accordance with section 751(b)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d), 
Commerce is initiating CCRs based on the information contained in 
POSCO(II)'s request that Commerce determine POSCO(II) is the successor-
in-interest to POSCO(I) for purposes of the orders.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ 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 (December 3, 2014); 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); Certain Cold-
Rolled Steel Flat Products from Brazil, India, the Republic of 
Korea, and the United Kingdom: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping 
Determinations for Brazil and the United Kingdom and Antidumping 
Duty Orders, 81 FR 58475 (August 25, 2016); Certain Hot-Rolled Steel 
Flat Products from Australia, Brazil, Japan, the Republic of Korea, 
the Netherlands, the Republic of Turkey, and the United Kingdom: 
Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Determinations for Australia, 
the Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Turkey and Antidumping 
Duty Orders, 81 FR 67962 (October 3, 2016); Certain Carbon and Alloy 
Steel Cut-To-Length Plate from Austria, Belgium, France, the Federal 
Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and 
Taiwan: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Determinations for 
France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Korea and 
Taiwan, and Antidumping Duty Orders, 82 FR 24096 (May 25, 2017); 
Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Italy, the Republic of Korea, 
Spain, the Republic of Turkey, and the United Kingdom: Antidumping 
Duty Orders and Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Duty 
Determinations for Spain and the Republic of Turkey, 83 FR 23417 
(May 21, 2018).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Further, 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii) permits Commerce to combine the 
notice of initiation of a CCR and the notice of preliminary results of 
a CCR if Commerce concludes that expedited action is warranted. In this 
instance, because the record contains information necessary to make a 
preliminary finding, we find that expedited action is warranted and 
have combined the notice of initiation and the notice of preliminary 
results.

Methodology

    In determining whether one company is the successor to another, 
Commerce generally considers a company to be the successor-in-interest 
for AD cash deposit purposes if the operations of the successor are not 
materially dissimilar from those of its predecessor.\7\ In making this 
determination, Commerce examines a number of factors including, but not 
limited to, changes in: (1) Management; (2) production facilities; (3) 
suppliers; and (4) customer base.\8\ While no one or several of these 
factors will necessarily provide a dispositive indication of 
succession, if the evidence demonstrates that, with respect to the 
production and sale of the subject merchandise, the new company 
operates as the same business entity as the prior company, Commerce 
will assign the new company the cash deposit rate of its 
predecessor.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review: Multilayered Wood Flooring from the 
People's Republic of China, 79 FR 48117 (August 15, 2014), unchanged 
in Multilayered Wood Flooring from the People's Republic of China: 
Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 79 FR 58740 
(September 30, 2014).
    \8\ Id.
    \9\ See, e.g., Certain Preserved Mushrooms from India: 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed-Circumstances Review, 
67 FR 78416 (December 24, 2002), unchanged in Certain Preserved 
Mushrooms from India: Final Results of Changed-Circumstances Review, 
68 FR 6884 (February 11, 2003); and Fresh and Chilled Atlantic 
Salmon from Norway: Final Results of Changed Circumstances 
Antidumping Administrative Review, 64 FR 9979, 9980 (March 1, 1999).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Commerce's analysis of the information submitted by POSCO(II) is 
detailed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of the topics 
discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as an 
appendix to this notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a 
public document and is made available to the public 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 is available at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Preliminary Results of the Changed Circumstances Reviews

    In its CCR Request, POSCO(II) provided evidence demonstrating that 
its operations are not materially dissimilar from those of POSCO(I). 
Specifically, POSCO(II) is managed and operated by many of the same 
managers as POSCO(II), either directly as board members or members of 
POSCO(II)'s management team, or indirectly as members of POSCO 
Holdings' management team. Further, POSCO(II) has not added, or 
discontinued use of, steel production facilities as a result of the 
change in ownership and management structure. Finally, there have been 
no significant changes to the company's suppliers and customer base. 
Based on the foregoing, which is explained in greater detail in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum, we preliminarily determine that 
POSCO(II) is the successor-in-interest to POSCO(I) and, as such, that 
POSCO(II) is entitled to POSCO(I)'s AD cash deposit rate with respect 
to entries of subject merchandise.

Public Comment

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii), interested parties may 
submit case briefs not later than 14 days

[[Page 41663]]

after the date of publication of this notice.\10\ Rebuttal briefs, 
limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be filed not later than 
seven days after the due date for case briefs, in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.309(d).\11\ Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs 
in this CCR are requested to submit with each argument: (1) a statement 
of the issues; (2) a brief summary of the arguments; and (3) a table of 
authorities.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(1)(ii) to alter the time limit for the filing of case 
briefs.
    \11\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to COVID-19, 85 FR 17006, 17007 (March 26, 2020).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), any interested party may request a 
hearing within 14 days of publication of this notice.\13\ Hearing 
requests should contain the following information: (1) the party's 
name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; 
and (3) a list of the issues to be discussed. Oral presentations at the 
hearing will be limited to issues raised in the briefs. 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 the time 
of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR 
351.310(c) to alter the time limit for requesting a hearing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    All submissions must be filed electronically using ACCESS and must 
also be served on interested parties. An electronically-filed document 
must be received successfully in its entirely by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. 
Eastern Time (ET) on the due date.\14\ Note that Commerce has 
temporarily modified certain requirements for serving documents 
containing business proprietary information, until further notice.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b).
    \15\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to Covid-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 
10, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final Results

    Consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), we intend to issue the final 
results of these CCRs no later than 270 days after the date on which 
this review was initiated, or within 45 days of publication of these 
preliminary results, if all parties agree to the preliminary findings.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing this initiation and preliminary 
results notice in accordance with section 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of 
the Act, and 19 CFR 351.216(b) and 351.221(c)(3).

    Dated: July 7, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scopes of the Orders
IV. Current Cash Deposit Rates
V. Initiation and Preliminary Results of the Changed Circumstances 
Review
VI. Successor-in-Interest Determination
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2022-14962 Filed 7-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P