[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14118-14120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04574]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-810]


Stainless Steel Bar From India: Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel 
bar from India. The period of review (POR) is February 1, 2021, through 
January 31, 2022. This review covers four producers/exporters of the 
subject merchandise. We preliminarily determine that subject 
merchandise has not been sold at less than at normal value during this 
POR. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary 
results.

DATES: Applicable March 7, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Kolberg, 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) 482-1785.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On February 21, 1995, Commerce published the antidumping duty order 
on stainless steel bar from India.\1\ On April 12, 2022, based on 
timely requests for administrative reviews, Commerce initiated an 
administrative review of the Order,\2\ and subsequently selected Laxcon 
Steels Limited (Laxcon), as the sole mandatory respondent. On October 
17, 2022, we extended the preliminary results until February 28, 
2023.\3\
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    \1\ See Antidumping Duty Orders: Stainless Steel Bar from 
Brazil, India and Japan, 60 FR 9661 (February 21, 1995) (Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 87 FR 21619 (April 12, 2022).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022,'' 
dated October 17, 2022.
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Scope of the Order

    The product covered by this Order is stainless steel bar from 
India. For a full description of the scope, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\4\
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Stainless Steel Bar from India: Decision 
Memorandum for Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review; 2021-2022,'' dated concurrently with, and 
hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum), at 
2-3.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Export 
price and constructed export price are calculated in accordance with 
section 772 of the Act. NV is calculated in accordance with section 773 
of the Act.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of the 
topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as 
the 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 can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Preliminary Results of Review

    We preliminarily determine that the following weighted-average 
dumping margins exist for the period February 1, 2021, through January 
31, 2022:

[[Page 14119]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted- average
                  Producer/exporter                      dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laxcon Steels Limited, and its affiliates, Ocean                    0.00
 Steels Private Limited, Metlax International Private
 Limited, Parvati Private Limited, and Mega Steels
 Private Limited \5\.................................
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                         Non-Selected Companies
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Venus Wire Industries Pvt. Ltd., and its affiliates,                0.00
 Precision Metals, Hindustan Inox Ltd., and Sieves
 Manufacturers (India) Pvt. Ltd.\6\..................
Bhansali Bright Bars Pvt. Ltd........................               0.00
Bhansali Inc.........................................               0.00
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Rate for Companies Not Individually Examined
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    \5\ Collectively, these companies are known as Laxcon.
    \6\ Collectively, these companies are known as Venus Group.
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    The Act and Commerce's regulations do not address the establishment 
of a weighted-average dumping margin to be applied to companies not 
selected for individual examination when Commerce limits its 
examination in an administrative review pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) 
of the Act. Generally, Commerce looks to section 735(c)(5) of the Act, 
which provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in a 
less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation, for guidance when 
calculating the weighted-average dumping margin for companies which 
were not selected for individual examination in an administrative 
review. Under section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the all-others rate is 
normally an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters and 
producers individually examined, excluding any margins that are zero, 
de minimis (i.e., less than 0.5 percent), or determined entirely on the 
basis of facts available. However, where the dumping margins for 
individually examined respondents are all zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts available, section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act provides 
that Commerce may use ``any reasonable method to establish the 
estimated all-others rate for exporters and producers not individually 
investigated, including averaging the estimated weighted average 
dumping margins determined for the exporters and producers individually 
investigated.'' In this review, we have calculated a weighted-average 
dumping margin for Laxcon, the sole mandatory respondent, that is zero. 
Consistent with section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, we are assigning to 
the three companies not selected for individual examination, Venus 
Group, Bhansali Bright Bars Pvt. Ltd., and Bhansali Inc., the zero 
percent rate calculated for the mandatory respondent, Laxcon.

Disclosure

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed for these 
preliminary results to the interested parties within five days after 
public announcement of the preliminary results in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.224(b).

Public Comment

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case 
briefs to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance not 
later than 30 days after the date of publication of this notice, unless 
Commerce alters the time limit. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than seven days after 
the date for filing case briefs.\7\ Parties who submit case briefs or 
rebuttal briefs in this administrative review 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.\8\ Note that Commerce 
has temporarily modified certain of its requirements for service of 
documents containing business proprietary information, until further 
notice.\9\
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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \9\ 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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    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, filed electronically via 
ACCESS. An electronically filed document must be received successfully 
in its entirety via ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice.\10\ Requests should 
contain: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the 
number of participants; and (3) a list of issues to be discussed. 
Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised in the 
respective case briefs. Commerce intends to issue the final results of 
this administrative review, including the results of its analysis of 
the issues raised in any written briefs, not later than 120 days after 
the date of publication of these preliminary results in the Federal 
Register, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, unless extended.
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Assessment Rate

    Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce will determine, and 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping 
duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review.\11\ If a 
respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is above de minimis in the 
final results of this review, we will calculate an importer-specific 
assessment rate based on the ratio of the total amount of dumping 
calculated for each importer's examined sales and the total entered 
value of the sales in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).\12\ If a 
respondent's weighted-average dumping margin or an importer-specific 
assessment rate is zero or de minimis in the final results of review, 
we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries without 
regard to antidumping duties in accordance with the Final Modification 
for Reviews.\13\
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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b).
    \12\ In these preliminary results, Commerce applied the 
assessment rate calculation method adopted in Antidumping 
Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and 
Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping Duty Proceedings; Final 
Modification, 77 FR 8101 (February 14, 2012) (Final Modification for 
Reviews).
    \13\ Id., 77 FR at 8103; see also 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2).
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    For entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by 
Laxcon for which they did not know their merchandise was destined for 
the United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries 
at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the

[[Page 14120]]

intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.
    The final results of this administrative review shall be the basis 
for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise 
under review and for future deposits of estimated duties, where 
applicable.
    We intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 
35 days after date of publication of the final results of this review 
in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at the U.S. Court 
of International Trade, the assessment instructions will direct CBP not 
to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties to file a 
request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within 90 days of 
publication).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements for estimated antidumping 
duties will be effective upon publication of the notice of final 
results of this review for all shipments of stainless steel bar from 
India entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the date of publication as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: 
(1) the cash deposit rate for the company listed above will be 
established in the final results of this review, except if the rate is 
less than 0.50 percent and, therefore, de minimis within the meaning of 
19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), in which case the cash deposit rate will be zero; 
(2) for merchandise exported by companies not covered in this review 
but covered in a prior segment of this proceeding, the cash deposit 
rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the 
most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this 
review, a prior review, or the LTFV investigation but the producer is, 
the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most 
recently completed segment for the producer of the merchandise; (4) the 
cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will continue to 
be the 12.45 percent, the all-others rate established in the LTFV 
investigation.\14\ These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.
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    \14\ See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Stainless Steel Bar from India, 59 FR 66915, 66921 
(December 28, 1994).
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Notification to Importers

    This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this period of review. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    Commerce is issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: February 28, 2023.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Affiliation and Collapsing
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Currency Conversion
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2023-04574 Filed 3-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P