[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 158 (Thursday, August 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56000-56002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17700]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-872]


Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From India: Preliminary Results of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2021

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that Norma (India) Ltd. (Norma) and R.N. Gupta & Co. Ltd. 
(RNG) received countervailable subsidies during the period of review 
(POR), January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021. Interested parties 
are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable August 17, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James R. Hepburn or Preston N. Cox, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1882 or (202) 
482-5041, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On August 24, 2017, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
countervailing duty order on finished carbon steel flanges from 
India.\1\ On August 2, 2022, Commerce published a notice of opportunity 
to request an administrative review of the Order.\2\ On August 31, 
2022, Weldbend Corporation and Boltex Manufacturing Co., L.P. 
(collectively, the petitioners), requested a review of 41 producers 
and/or exporters of subject merchandise.\3\ Further, between August 18 
and 31, 2022, Commerce received multiple requests, from Indian 
producers or exporters of flanges for an administrative review of the 
Order with respect to themselves.\4\ On October 11,

[[Page 56001]]

2022, Commerce published a notice of initiation of an administrative 
review of the Order.\5\ On November 3, 2022, Commerce selected Norma 
and RNG as mandatory respondents in this administrative review.\6\ On 
April 25, 2023, Commerce extended the time period for issuing these 
preliminary results to August 31, 2021, in accordance with section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).\7\
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    \1\ See Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India: Countervailing 
Duty Order, 82 FR 40138 (August 24, 2017) (Order).
    \2\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review and Join Annual Inquiry Service List, 87 FR 47187, 47188 
(August 2, 2022).
    \3\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated August 31, 2022.
    \4\ See Munish Forge Private Limited's Letter, ``Request for 
Counter Vailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated August 18, 2022; 
see also Balkrishna Steel Forge Prv. Ltd.'s Letter, ``Request for 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Balkrishna Steel Forge 
Pvt. Ltd. for the Period of January 01, 2021 to December 31, 2021,'' 
dated August 29, 2022; Cetus Engineering Private Limited's Letter, 
``Request for Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Cetus 
Engineering Private Limited (``Cetus'') for the Period of January 
01, 2021 to December 31, 2021,'' dated August 29, 2022; Jai Auto 
Private Limited's Letter, ``Request for Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review of Jai Auto Pvt. Ltd for the Period of January 
01, 2021 to December 31, 2021,'' dated August 27, 2022; Norma's 
Letter, ``Request for Countervailing Duty Administrative Review for 
Norma (India) Limited, USK Export Private Limited, Umashanker 
Khandelwal and Co. and Bansidhar Chiranjilal.,'' dated August 29, 
2022; RNG's Letter, ``Request for Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Review,'' dated August 29, 2022; and Bebitz Flanges Works Private 
Limited's Letter, ``Request for an Administrative Review,'' dated 
August 31, 2022.
    \5\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 87 FR 61278, 61286 (October 11, 2022).
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated November 3, 
2022.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated April 
25, 2023.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\8\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as Appendix I 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 https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the 2021 Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty 
Order on Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the Order is finished carbon steel 
flanges. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(l)(A) of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be 
countervailable, we preliminarily determine that there is a subsidy, 
i.e., a government-provided financial contribution that gives rise to a 
benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\9\ For a 
full description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, 
including our reliance 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; see also section 771(5)(E) of the Act 
regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding 
specificity.
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Companies Not Selected for Individual Review

    The Act and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the 
subsidy rate to be applied to companies not selected for individual 
examination where Commerce limits its examination in an administrative 
review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act. However, Commerce 
normally determines the rates for non-selected companies in reviews in 
a manner that is consistent with section 705(c)(5) of the Act, which 
provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in an 
investigation. Section 777A(e)(2) of the Act provides that ``the 
individual countervailable subsidy rates determined under subparagraph 
(A) shall be used to determine the all-others rate under section 
705(c)(5) {of the Act{time} .'' Section 705(c)(5)(A) states that for 
companies not investigated, in general, we will determine an all-others 
rate by weight averaging the countervailable subsidy rates established 
for each of the companies individually investigated, excluding zero and 
de minimis rates or any rates based solely on the facts available. 
Accordingly, to determine the rate for companies not selected for 
individual examination, Commerce's practice is to weight average the 
countervailable subsidy rates for the selected mandatory respondents, 
excluding rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
available.
    We preliminarily find that the rates for Norma and RNG were above 
de minimis and not based entirely on facts available. However, because 
publicly ranged sales values for all mandatory respondents are not on 
the record of this review, for these preliminary results, we are unable 
to weight average the subsidy rates of Norma and RNG to derive a rate 
for companies not selected for individual review. Therefore, we 
calculated a simple average of the subsidy rates calculated for Norma 
and RNG for application to the companies not selected for individual 
review. The companies for which a review was requested and that were 
not selected as mandatory respondents or found to be cross-owned with a 
mandatory respondent are listed in Appendix II.

Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that the 
following net countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period 
January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021:
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    \10\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-owned with 
Norma (India) Ltd.: USK Export Private Limited; Uma Shanker 
Khandelwal and Co.; and Bansidhar Chiranjilal. This rate applies to 
all cross-owned companies.
    \11\ See Appendix II for a list of companies not selected for 
individual examination.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Subsidy
                                                                rate
                     Producer/exporter                      (percent  ad
                                                              valorem)
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Norma (India) Ltd.\10\....................................         2.98
R.N. Gupta & Co. Ltd......................................         3.20
Non-Selected Companies Under Review \11\..................         3.09
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure and Public Comment

    We will disclose to parties to this proceeding the calculations 
performed in reaching the preliminary results within five days of the 
date of publication of these preliminary results.\12\ Interested 
parties may submit case briefs no later than seven days after the date 
on which the verification reports are issued in this review.\13\ 
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be filed 
no later than seven days after the deadline date for filing case 
briefs.\14\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who 
submit arguments are requested to submit with the argument: (1) a 
statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a 
table of authorities.
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1); 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).
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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, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
using Enforcement and Compliance's ACCESS system within 30 days of the 
publication of this notice. Requests should contain: (1) the party's 
name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants and 
whether any participant is a foreign national; and (3) a list of the 
issues to be discussed. Issues addressed during the hearing will be 
limited to those raised in the respective case and rebuttal briefs.\15\ 
If a request for a hearing is made, parties will be notified of the 
scheduled date and time. Parties should confirm the date and time of 
the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
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    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).

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[[Page 56002]]

    Parties are reminded that all briefs and hearing requests must be 
filed electronically using ACCESS and received successfully in their 
entirety by 5:00 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.\16\
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    \16\ See Temporary Rule.
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    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2), Commerce intends to issue the final 
results of this administrative review, including the results of our 
analysis of the issues raised by the parties in any written briefs, no 
later than 120 days after the date of publication of these preliminary 
results.

Assessment Rates

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we are preliminarily 
assigning subsidy rates in the amounts shown above for the producers/
exporters shown above. Upon completion of the administrative review, 
consistent with section 751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2), 
Commerce shall determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
shall assess, countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered 
by this review. We intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP no 
earlier than 35 days after the 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

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(1) 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 company listed above on shipments of subject merchandise entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of final results of this administrative review. For all 
non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP to continue to collect cash 
deposits of estimated countervailing duties at its most recent company-
specific or the non-selected companies rate, as appropriate. These cash 
deposit instructions, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(3) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify information relied upon in arriving at the final results of this 
administrative review.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results of review are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.213 and 351,221(b)(4).

    Dated: August 10, 2023.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Subsidies Valuation
V. Benchmark Interest Rates and Discount Rates
VI. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
VII. Analysis of Programs
VIII. Rate for Non-Examined Companies
IX. Recommendation

Appendix II--Companies Not Selected for Individual Examination

1. Adinath International
2. Allena Group
3. Alloyed Steel
4. Balkrishna Steel Forge Pvt. Ltd.
5. Bebitz Flanges Works Private Limited
6. C. D. Industries
7. Cetus Engineering Private Limited
8. CHW Forge
9. CHW Forge Pvt. Ltd.
10. Citizen Metal Depot
11. Corum Flange
12. DN Forge Industries
13. Echjay Forgings Limited
14. Falcon Valves and Flanges Private Limited
15. Heubach International
16. Hindon Forge Pvt. Ltd.
17. Jai Auto Pvt. Ltd.
18. Kinnari Steel Corporation
19. M F Rings and Bearing Races Ltd.
20. Mascot Metal Manufacturers
21. Munish Forge Private Limited
22. OM Exports
23. Punjab Steel Works (PSW)
24. R.D. Forge
25. Raaj Sagar Steel
26. Ravi Ratan Metal Industries
27. Rolex Fittings India Pvt. Ltd.
28. Rollwell Forge Engineering Components and Flanges
29. Rollwell Forge Pvt. Ltd.
30. SHM (ShinHeung Machinery)
31. Siddhagiri Metal & Tubes
32. Sizer India
33. Steel Shape India
34. Sudhir Forgings Pvt. Ltd.
35. Tirupati Forge
36. Umashanker Khandelwal Forging Limited

[FR Doc. 2023-17700 Filed 8-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P