[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8409-8411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02422]



[[Page 8409]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-428-847]


Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks From Germany: Preliminary Results 
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Rescission, in Part; 2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that forged steel fluid end blocks (FEBs) from Germany were 
sold in the United States at prices below normal value during the 
period of review (POR) January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable February 7, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Hoadley, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3148.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 29, 2021, Commerce published the antidumping duty order 
on FEBs from Germany.\1\ On January 31, 2023, Commerce received 
requests for an administrative review from BGH Edelstahl Siegen GmbH 
(BGH) and the petitioners.\2\ On March 14, 2023, in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.221(c)(1)(i), Commerce initiated an administrative review of 
the Order, covering six companies, including BGH.\3\ On April 28, 2023, 
the petitioners withdrew their request for review for all companies 
except BGH.\4\ Thus, there are no outstanding review requests for any 
company other than BGH. Pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Tariff 
Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), on September 18, 2023, Commerce 
extended the deadline for the preliminary results until January 31, 
2024.\5\
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    \1\ See Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from the Federal Republic 
of Germany and Italy: Amended Final Antidumping Duty Determination 
for the Federal Republic of Germany and Antidumping Duty Orders, 86 
FR 7528 (January 29, 2021) (Order).
    \2\ See BGH's Letter, ``Request for Administrative Review,'' 
dated January 31, 2023; see also Petitioners' Letter, ``Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated January 31, 2023. The petitioners 
are: Ellwood City Forge Company, Ellwood Quality Steels Company, 
Ellwood National Steel Company, and A. Finkl & Sons.
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 15642 (March 14, 2023).
    \4\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Petitioners' Withdrawal of 
Request for 2022 Administrative Review for Certain Entities,'' dated 
April 28, 2023.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,'' dated September 
28, 2023.
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    For a detailed description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\6\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
attached as an appendix to this notice. The Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is a public document and is available 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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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and 
Rescission, in Part: Forged Steel Fluid End Block from Germany; 
2022,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this review are fluid end blocks from 
Germany, whether in finished or unfinished form, and which are 
typically used in the manufacture or service of hydraulic pumps. For a 
full description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.

Partial Rescission of Administrative Review

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if a party who requested 
the review withdraws the request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation. On April 28, 2023, we received 
a timely withdrawal request from the petitioners for their review 
requests for all companies except BGH.\7\ Because no other party 
requested a review of those companies, Commerce is rescinding this 
review with respect to the following five companies, in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.213(d)(1): Buderus Edelstahl GmbH, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke 
GmbH, Saarschmiede GmbH Freiformschmiede, Schmiedewerke Gr[ouml]ditz 
GmbH, and voestalpine B[ouml]hler Group.
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    \7\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Petitioners' Withdrawal of 
Request for 2022 Administrative Review for Certain Entities,'' dated 
April 28, 2023.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with sections 
751(a)(1)(B) and (2) of the Act. We calculated export price in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. For a full description of 
the methodology underlying these preliminary results, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    We preliminarily determine the following estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for the period January 1, 2022, through December 31, 
2022.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter or Producer                        dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BGH Edelstahl Siegen GmbH...................................       19.96
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose the calculations performed for these 
preliminary results of review to interested parties within five days of 
the date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b). Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may 
submit case briefs to Commerce 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 seven days after the 
date for filing case briefs.\8\ 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.\9\
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    \8\ 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 Final Service Rule).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 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 brief that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In this review, we instead request that 
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, 
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\10\ 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

[[Page 8410]]

summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will 
accompany the final results in this administrative review. 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).\11\
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    \10\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \11\ See APO and Final Service 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, filed electronically via 
ACCESS. An electronically filed document must be received successfully 
in its entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain: 
(1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of 
participants; (3) whether any participant is a foreign national; and 
(4) a list of issues the party intends to discuss. Issues raised in the 
hearing will be limited to those raised in the respective case and 
rebuttal briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends 
to hold the hearing at a date and time to be determined.\12\
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    All submissions should be filed using ACCESS,\13\ and must be 
served on interested parties.\14\
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.303(f).
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    Unless otherwise extended, 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 this notice, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(1).

Assessment Rates

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(1), Commerce will determine, and U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate 
entries of subject merchandise in accordance with the final results of 
this review. Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP 
no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final 
results of this administrative 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).
    If BGH's weighted-average dumping margin is not zero or de minimis 
(i.e., less than 0.50 percent) in the final results of this review, 
Commerce intends to calculate importer-specific assessment rates on the 
basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for each 
importer's examined sales to the total entered value of those sales. 
Where we do not have entered values for all U.S. sales to a particular 
importer, we will calculate an importer-specific, per-unit assessment 
rate on the basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping 
calculated for the importer's examined sales to the total quantity of 
those sales.\15\ To determine whether an importer-specific, per-unit 
assessment rate is de minimis, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2), 
we also will calculate an importer-specific ad valorem ratio based on 
estimated entered values. If BGH's weighted-average dumping margin is 
zero or de minimis or where an importer-specific ad valorem assessment 
rate is zero or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate 
appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties.\16\
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    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
    \16\ See 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2); see also Antidumping Proceeding: 
Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and Assessment 
Rate in Certain Antidumping Proceedings; Final Modification, 77 FR 
8101, 8103 (February 14, 2012).
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    In accordance with Commerce's ``automatic assessment'' practice, 
for entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by BGH for 
which it did not know that the merchandise was destined for the United 
States, we intend to instruct CBP to liquidate those entries at the 
all-others rate in the original less-than-fair-value investigation if 
there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the 
transaction.\17\
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    \17\ For a full discussion of this practice, see Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 
68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).
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    For the companies listed above for which the review is being 
rescinded, antidumping duties shall be assessed on entries at rates 
equal to the cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties required at 
the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce intends to issue 
assessment instructions to CBP for the rescinded companies no earlier 
than 35 days after the date of publication of the preliminary results 
of this administrative review in the Federal Register.''

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective for all 
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, as provided for by section 
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) the company-specific cash deposit rate for 
BGH will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margin established in 
the final results of this review (except, if that rate is de minimis 
within the meaning of 19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), then the cash deposit rate 
will be zero); (2) for producers or exporters not covered in this 
review but covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the cash 
deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published 
for the most recently-completed segment of this proceeding in which 
they were reviewed; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this 
review or a prior segment of the proceeding but the producer is, then 
the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most 
recently completed segment of this proceeding for the producer of the 
merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers or 
exporters will continue to be 4.79 percent, the all-others rate 
established in the less-than-fair-value investigation.\18\ These cash 
deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.
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    \18\ See Order, 86 FR at 7530.
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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 and/or countervailing duties 
prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this review period. 
Failure to comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's 
presumption that reimbursement of antidumping and/or countervailing 
duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping 
duties, and/or an increase in the amount of antidumping duties by the 
amount of the countervailing duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these preliminary results in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.213(h)(2) and 351.221(b)(4).


[[Page 8411]]


    Dated: January 31, 2024.
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. Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
V. Affiliations
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
VII. Currency Conversion
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-02422 Filed 2-6-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P