[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 230 (Friday, December 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83906-83908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26409]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-912]


Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders From India: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that certain non-refillable steel cylinders (cylinders) from 
India are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less 
than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 
2022, through March 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment 
on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable December 1, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benito Ballesteros, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office IX, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-7425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on May 24, 
2023.\1\ On September 13, 2023, Commerce postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation until November 24, 2023.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders from India: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 88 FR 33571 (May 
24, 2023) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders from India: 
Postponement of in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 88 FR 
62771 (September 13, 2023).
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II 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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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders from India'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

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

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ No interested party 
commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice. Therefore, Commerce is not preliminarily modifying 
the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the 
scope in Appendix I to this notice.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice, 88 FR at 33571.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export price in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Normal value (NV) is 
calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. In addition, 
Commerce has relied on facts available with an adverse inference in 
determining a weighted-average dumping margin for Bhiwadi Cylinders 
Private Limited/Sapphire (India) Private Limited (collectively, 
Bhiwadi/Sapphire) under sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying the preliminary 
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in 
the preliminary determination Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero 
and de minimis margins, and any margins 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 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.'' Commerce has 
preliminarily determined the estimated

[[Page 83907]]

weighted-average dumping margin for Bhiwadi/Sapphire under section 776 
of the Act and has preliminarily determined that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for Inox India Limited (Inox) is zero 
percent. Consequently, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, we 
calculated the all-others rate as a simple average of the alleged 
dumping margin(s) from the Petition.\6\
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    \6\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Certain Non-Refillable Cylinders 
from India--Petition from the Imposition of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duties,'' dated April 27, 2023 (Petition).
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Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period, April 1, 2022, 
through March 31, 2023:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Cash deposit rate
                                        Estimated        (adjusted for
        Exporter/producer           weighted-average        subsidy
                                     dumping margin        offset(s))
                                        (percent)          (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bhiwadi Cylinders Private                       61.00              59.36
 Limited; Sapphire (India)
 Private Limited \7\.............
Inox India Limited...............                0.00               0.00
All Others.......................           \8\ 33.62              31.93
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    Consistent with section 733(b)(3) of the Act, Commerce disregards 
zero or de minimis rates and preliminarily determines that the 
individually examined respondent with a zero or de minimis rate has not 
made sales of subject merchandise at LTFV.
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    \7\ Commerce has preliminarily determined to collapse Bhiwadi 
and Sapphire and treat these companies as a single entity. See 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \8\ See the ``All Others Rate'' section, supra; see also 
Initiation Notice, 88 FR at 33573. The margins alleged in the 
Petition were 6.24 percent and 61.00 percent.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will 
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation 
of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I, entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, as discussed below. 
Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal 
to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the estimated all-
others rate, as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents 
listed above will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-
average dumping margins determined in this preliminary determination; 
(2) if the exporter is not a respondent identified above, but the 
producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-
specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that 
producer of the subject merchandise except as explained below; and (3) 
the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be 
equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average dumping margin.
    Because the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for Inox is 
zero, entries of shipments of subject merchandise from this company 
will not be subject to suspension of liquidation or cash deposit 
requirements. In such situations, Commerce applies the exclusion to the 
provisional measures to the producer/exporter combination that was 
examined in the investigation. Accordingly, Commerce is directing CBP 
not to suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise produced 
and exported by Inox. Entries of shipments of subject merchandise from 
Inox in any other producer/exporter combination, or by third parties 
that sourced subject merchandise from the excluded producer/exporter 
combination, are subject to the provisional measures at the all-others 
rate.
    Should the final estimated weighted-average dumping margin be zero 
or de minimis for the producer/exporter combination identified above, 
entries of shipments of subject merchandise from this producer/exporter 
combination will be excluded from the potential antidumping duty order. 
Such exclusions are not applicable to merchandise exported to the 
United States by this respondent in any other producer/exporter 
combination or by third parties that sourced subject merchandise from 
the excluded producer/exporter combination.
    Commerce normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated antidumping 
duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a companion 
countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding, when CVD provisional measures are 
in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce preliminarily made an 
affirmative determination for countervailable export subsidies, 
Commerce has offset the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by 
the appropriate CVD rate. Any such adjusted cash deposit rate may be 
found in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section above.
    Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation 
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV 
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting estimated 
antidumping duty cash deposits unadjusted for countervailed export 
subsidies at the time that the provisional CVD measures expire. These 
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in 
this investigation. 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.\9\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or 
rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents 
listing

[[Page 83908]]

each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\10\
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective 
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 
2023) (APO and Service Final Rule).
    \10\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2)
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    As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an 
executive summary of their briefs that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In this investigation, we instead request 
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a 
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\11\ 
Further, we request that interested parties limit their executive 
summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including 
citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the 
comment summaries included in the Issues and Decision Memorandum that 
will accompany the final determination in this investigation. We 
request that interested parties include footnotes for relevant 
citations in the executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce 
has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the service of 
documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).\12\
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    \11\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \12\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request 
for a hearing is made, Commerce will inform parties of the time and 
date for the hearing.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. Section 351.210(e)(2) of Commerce's regulations 
requires that a request by exporters for postponement of the final 
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months 
in duration.
    On October 31, 2023, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Bhiwadi/
Sapphire requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and 
that provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six 
months.\13\ In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) the preliminary determination is 
affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter account for a significant 
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling 
reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the final 
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month 
period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, Commerce 
will make its final determination no later than 135 days after the date 
of publication of this preliminary determination.
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    \13\ See Bhiwadi/Sapphire's Letter, ``Bhiwadi's Request for 
Extension of Final Determination,'' dated October 31, 2023.
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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination. If the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will 
determine before the later of 120 days after the date of this 
preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination 
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: November 24, 2023.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain seamed 
(welded or brazed), non-refillable steel cylinders meeting the 
requirements of, or produced to meet the requirements of, U.S. 
Department of Transportation specification 39, TransportCanada 
specification 39M, or United Nations pressure receptacle standard 
ISO 11118 and otherwise meeting the description provided below (non-
refillable steel cylinders). The subject non-refillable steel 
cylinders are portable and range from 100-cubic inch (1.6 liter) 
water capacity to 1,526-cubic inch (25 liter) water capacity. 
Subject non-refillable steel cylinders may be imported with or 
without a valve and/or pressure release device and are unfilled at 
the time of importation. Non-refillable steel cylinders filled with 
pressurized air otherwise meeting the physical description above are 
covered by this investigation.
    Specifically excluded are seamless non-refillable steel 
cylinders.
    The merchandise subject to this investigation is properly 
classified under statistical reporting numbers 7311.00.0060 and 
7311.00.0090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). The merchandise may also enter under HTSUS statistical 
reporting numbers 7310.29.0030 and 7310.29.0065. Although the HTSUS 
statistical reporting numbers are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is 
dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Affiliation and Single Entity Treatment
VI. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
VII. Discussion of the Methodology
VIII. Currency Conversion
IX. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in 
Companion Countervailing Duty Investigation
X. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2023-26409 Filed 11-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P