[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15812-15814]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04619]
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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; 2022-2023
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, 2022, through
January 31, 2023. This review covers four producers/exporters of the
subject merchandise. We preliminarily determine that subject
merchandise has been sold at below normal value (NV) during this POR.
We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.
DATES: Applicable March 5, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hermes Pinilla or Jacob Keller, 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) 482-3477 or (202) 482-4849,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 21, 1995, Commerce published the antidumping duty order
on stainless steel bar from India.\1\ On April 11, 2023, based on
timely requests for administrative reviews, Commerce initiated an
administrative review of the Order,\2\ and subsequently selected Aamor
Inox Limited (Aamor) and Laxcon Steels Limited (Laxcon), as the
mandatory respondents. On October 17, 2023, we extended the preliminary
results until February 28, 2024.\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, 88 FR 21609 (April 11, 2023).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2022-2023,''
dated October 10, 2023.
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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, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2022-2023:
Stainless Steel Bar from India,'' 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.
Rate for Non-Examined Companies
The statute and Commerce's regulations do not address the
establishment of a rate to be applied to companies not selected for
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 market economy investigation, for
guidance when calculating the rate 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
investigated, excluding any zero or de minimis margins, and any margins
determined entirely on the basis of facts available. In this review, we
preliminarily calculated dumping margins for the two mandatory
respondents, Aamor and Laxcon, of 0.55 and 0.61 percent, respectively,
and we have assigned to the non-selected companies a rate of 0.57
percent, which is the weighted-average dumping margins of Aamor and
Laxcon weighted by their publicly ranged U.S. sales values.\5\
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\5\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally
calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the dumping margins calculated
for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average of the dumping
margins calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a weighted-
average of the dumping margins calculated for the examined
respondents using each company's publicly ranged U.S. sale
quantities for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then
compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) as
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters.
See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663
(September 1, 2010).
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Preliminary Results of Review
We preliminarily determine that the following estimated weighted-
average dumping margins exist for the period February 1, 2022, through
January 31, 2023:
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\6\ Collectively, these companies are known as Laxcon.
\7\ Collectively, these companies are known as Venus Group.
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Weighted-
average
Producer/exporter dumping margin
(percent)
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Laxcon Steels Limited, and its affiliates, Ocean Steels 0.61
Private Limited, Metlax International Private Limited,
Parvati Private Limited, and Mega Steels Private
Limited \6\............................................
Aamor Inox Limited...................................... 0.55
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Non-Selected Companies
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Astrabite LLP........................................... 0.57
Venus Wire Industries Pvt. Ltd., and its affiliates, 0.57
Precision Metals, Hindustan Inox Ltd., and Sieves
Manufacturers (India) Pvt. Ltd.\7\.....................
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Disclosure and Public Comment
We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties within
five days after publication of this notice.\8\ Pursuant to 19 CFR
351.309(c), interested parties may submit case briefs
[[Page 15813]]
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.\9\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs
in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each
issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\10\
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\8\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
\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 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.\11\ Further,
we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of
each issue to no more than 450 words, no 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 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).\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 must submit a written request to the Assistant
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via
ACCESS. 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. An electronically filed
hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by
Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.
Final Results of Review
Unless otherwise extended, Commerce intends to issue the final
results of this administrative review, including the results of its
analysis of issues raised in written briefs, no later than 120 days
after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register,
pursuant to 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(1).
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.\13\ 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).\14\ 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.\15\
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\13\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b).
\14\ 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).
\15\ 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 or Aamor 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
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 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
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.\16\ These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall
remain in effect until further notice.
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\16\ 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).
[[Page 15814]]
Dated: February 28, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the
non-exclusive functions and duties of the 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. Rate for Non-Examined Companies
V. Affiliation and Collapsing
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
VII. Currency Conversion
VIII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-04619 Filed 3-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P