[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 213 (Monday, November 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76173-76174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24481]



[[Page 76173]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-878]


Stainless Steel Flanges From India: Preliminary Results of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of 
Review; 2021

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily finds 
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and 
exporters of stainless steel flanges from India during the period of 
review, January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021. Additionally, 
Commerce is rescinding the review with respect to one company. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable November 6, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eliza DeLong, 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) 482-3878.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On October 5, 2018, Commerce published the countervailing duty 
order on stainless steel flanges from India.\1\ On December 5, 2022, 
Commerce published a notice of initiation of an administrative review 
of the Order.\2\ On May 30, 2023, Commerce extended the time period for 
issuing these preliminary results by 120 days, in accordance with 
section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), 
to no later than October 31, 2023.\3\
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    \1\ See Stainless Steel Flanges from India: Countervailing Duty 
Order, 83 FR 50336 (October 5, 2018) (Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 87 FR 74404 (December 5, 2022), as corrected 
by Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Reviews, 88 FR 7060 (February 2, 2023).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated May 
30, 2023.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\4\ 
A list of 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 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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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review: Stainless 
Steel Flanges from India; 2021,'' 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 stainless steel flanges 
from India. 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)(1)(A) of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, we preliminarily find that there is a subsidy, i.e., a 
financial contribution that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, 
and the subsidy is specific.\5\ For a full description of the 
methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \5\ 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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Company 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) of the Act 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 
net subsidy rates for the selected mandatory respondents, excluding 
rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
available.\6\ We preliminarily determine that Chandan Steel Limited 
(Chandan) and Pradeep Metals Limited (Pradeep) received countervailable 
subsidies that are above de minimis and are not based entirely on facts 
available. Therefore, we preliminarily determine to apply the weighted 
average of the net subsidy rates calculated for Chandan and Pradeep 
using publicly-ranged sales data submitted by those respondents to the 
non-selected company.\7\ The company for which a review was requested, 
and which was not selected as a mandatory respondents or found to be 
cross-owned with a mandatory respondent, is BFN Forgings Private 
Limited.
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    \6\ See, e.g., Certain Pasta from Italy: Final Results of the 
13th (2008) Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 37386, 
37387 (June 29, 2010).
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Calculation of Subsidy Rate for Non-
Selected Companies Under Review,'' dated concurrently with this 
memorandum.
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Partial Rescission of Administrative Review

    Commerce's practice is to rescind an administrative review of a 
countervailing duty order, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), when the 
interested party that requested a review withdraws the request within 
90 days of publication of notice of initiation of the requested review. 
On March 3, 2023, we received a withdrawal request for Hilton Metal 
Forging Limited (Hilton).\8\ Because no other party besides Hilton 
requested a review, we are rescinding this review pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(1) with respect to Hilton. For this company, Commerce 
intends to assess duties at rates equal to the cash deposits of 
estimated countervailing duties required at the time of entry, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, during the POR, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(2).
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    \8\ See Hilton's Letter, ``AD/CVD Review Request,'' dated March 
3, 2023.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    For the period January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021, we 
preliminarily find that the following net subsidy rates exist:

[[Page 76174]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Subsidy
                                                                 rate
                     Producer/exporter                         (percent
                                                             ad valorem)
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Chandan Steel Limited......................................         2.60
Pradeep Metals Limited.....................................         4.04
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        Review-Specific Average Rate Applicable to the Following
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BFN Forgings Private Limited...............................         2.82
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We will disclose to parties to this proceeding the calculations 
performed for these preliminary results within five days of the date of 
publication of these preliminary results in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b).\9\
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case 
briefs no later than 30 days after the date of publication of this 
notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, 
may be filed not later than five days after the date for filing case 
briefs.\10\ Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
proceeding 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.\11\ Case and rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS 
\12\ and must be served on interested parties. Executive summaries 
should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes. Note that 
Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the 
service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).\13\
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii) and 351.309(d)(1).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \12\ See generally 19 CFR 351.303.
    \13\ See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other 
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final 
Rule, 88 FR 67069 (September 29, 2023)
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must do so within 
30 days of publication of these preliminary results by submitting a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance using Enforcement and Compliance's ACCESS system.\14\ 
Requests should contain the party's name, address, and telephone 
number, the number of participants, and a list of the issues to be 
discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised 
in the respective case and rebuttal briefs.\15\ 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. 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.
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
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Assessment Rates

    Consistent with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, upon issuance of 
the final results, Commerce shall determine, and U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, countervailing duties on all 
appropriate entries in accordance with the final results of this 
review. If the assessment rate calculated in the final results is zero 
or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate all appropriate 
entries without regard to countervailing duties. For the company for 
which this review is rescinded (i.e., Hilton), Commerce will instruct 
CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at a 
rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties 
required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for 
consumption, during the period January 1, 2021, through December 31, 
2021, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(l)(i).
    Commerce intends 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)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties in the amounts shown for each of the 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, except where the rate calculated 
in the final results is zero or de minimis, no cash deposit will be 
required. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP to continue 
to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties at the most 
recent company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company, 
as appropriate. These cash deposit instructions, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.

Final Results of Review

    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act, 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 their comments, within 120 days after 
publication of these preliminary results.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This administrative review and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.213.

    Dated: October 31, 2023.
Lisa W. Wang,
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. Period of Review
V. Rate for Non-Examined Companies
VI. Subsidies Valuation Information
VII. Benchmarks and Interest Rates
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2023-24481 Filed 11-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P