[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15825-15827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04622]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-580-837]


Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate From the 
Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that certain exporters/producers of certain cut-to-length 
plate (CTL plate) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) received 
countervailable subsidies during the period of review (POR) January 1, 
2022, through December 31, 2022. We invite interested parties to 
comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable March 5, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristen Johnson or Laura Griffith, AD/
CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4793 or (202) 
482-6430, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 10, 2000, Commerce published in the Federal Register 
the countervailing duty (CVD) order on CTL plate from Korea.\1\ On 
April 11, 2023, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
initiation of the CVD administrative review of the Order for the period 
of January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022.\2\ On June 14, 2023, Commerce 
selected Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd. (DSM) and Hyundai Steel Company 
(Hyundai Steel), as the mandatory respondents in this administrative 
review.\3\
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    \1\ See Notice of Amended Final Determinations: Certain Cut-to-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from India and the Republic of 
Korea; and Notice of Countervailing Duty Orders: Certain Cut-To-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from France, India, Indonesia, 
Italy, and the Republic of Korea, 65 FR 6587 (February 10, 2000) 
(Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 21609 (April 11, 2023).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated June 14, 
2023.
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    On September 22, 2023, Commerce extended the deadline for issuance 
of the preliminary results of this review by 120 days until February 
28, 2024, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2).\4\
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results,'' dated September 22, 2023.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included in the 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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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty 
Order on Certain Cut-To-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from the 
Republic of Korea; 2022,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The product covered by this Order is certain cut-to-length carbon-
quality steel plate. For a complete description of the scope of the 
Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Partial Rescission of Administrative Review

    On July 10, 2023, the domestic interested parties \6\ timely 
withdrew

[[Page 15826]]

their request for an administrative review of BDP International and 
Sung Jin Steel Co., Ltd. No other party requested a review of these 
companies. Accordingly, we are rescinding this review, in part, with 
respect to BDP International and Sung Jin Steel Co., Ltd., pursuant to 
19 CFR 351.213(d)(1). For further information, see ``Partial Rescission 
of Administrative Review'' in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \6\ The domestic interested parties are Nucor Corporation 
(Nucor), SSAB Enterprises, LLC, and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this CVD administrative review in accordance 
with section 751(a)(l)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act). For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, we 
preliminarily determine that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial 
contribution by an ``authority'' that confers a benefit to the 
recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\7\ For a full description 
of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.
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    \7\ 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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Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the 
following net countervailable subsidy rates for the period January 1, 
2022, through December 31, 2022:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Net
                                                         countervailable
                        Company                           subsidy rate
                                                            (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd...........................              1.93
Hyundai Steel Company \8\.............................              2.21
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assessment Rate
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    \8\ Commerce preliminarily finds Hyundai Green Power to be 
cross-owned with Hyundai Steel. See the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum at 7.
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    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), Commerce has 
preliminarily assigned subsidy rates as indicated above. 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 covered by 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 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).
    For the companies for which this review is rescinded, 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, 2022, through December 31, 
2022, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce intends to 
issue rescission instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the 
date of publication of the notice of rescission in the Federal 
Register.

Cash Deposit Rate

    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 amount indicated above with regard to shipments of 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of 
this review. 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.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties within 
five days after public announcement of the preliminary results.\9\ 
Interested parties will be notified of the timeline for the submission 
of case briefs and written comments at a later date. 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\ 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.\11\
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \10\ 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, Service, and Other Procedures).
    \11\ 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 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.\12\ 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 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).\13\
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    \12\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \13\ See APO, Service, and Other Procedures.
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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 p.m. Eastern Time 
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.

Final Results

    Unless the deadline is extended, we intend to issue the final 
results of this administrative review, which will include the results 
of our analysis of the issues raised in the case briefs, within 120 
days of publication of these preliminary results in the Federal 
Register, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Verification

    On July 20, 2023, Nucor requested that Commerce conduct 
verification in this review of DSM, Hyundai Steel, and the Government 
of Korea.\14\ Accordingly, as provided in section 782(i)(3) of the Act, 
Commerce intends to verify certain of the information relied upon for 
its final results.
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    \14\ See Nucor's Letter, ``Request for Verification,'' dated 
July 20, 2023.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results and notice are issued and published in 
accordance

[[Page 15827]]

with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.213 
and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    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. Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
IV. Scope of the Order
V. Diversification of Korea's Economy
VI. Subsidies Valuation Information
VII. Benchmarks and Discount Rates
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-04622 Filed 3-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P