[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 78 (Monday, April 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29298-29300]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08456]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-916]


Brass Rod From the Republic of Korea: Final Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
brass rod from the Republic of Korea (Korea) is being, or is likely to 
be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the 
period of investigation (POI) April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023.

DATES: Applicable April 22, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Krisha Hill or Drew Jackson, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4037 or (202) 482-4406, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 1, 2023, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of 
brass rod from Korea, in which it also postponed the final 
determination until April 15, 2023.\1\ We invited interested parties to 
comment on the Preliminary Determination.
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    \1\ See Brass Rod from the Republic of Korea: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 88 FR 83915 (December 1, 2023) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
(PDM) (Postponing the final determination to 135 days after the 
publication of the Preliminary Determination would place the 
deadline on Sunday April 14, 2024. Pursuant to the ``Next Business 
Day'' rule, where a deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, 
the appropriate deadline is the next business day. See Notice of 
Clarification: Application of ``Next Business Day'' Rule for 
Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 
1930, As Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005)).
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    A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues 
raised by parties for this final determination may be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\ The Issues and Decision

[[Page 29299]]

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 Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair-Value in the 
Investigation of Brass Rod from the Republic of Korea,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is brass rod from Korea. 
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During this investigation, Commerce received scope comments from 
parties. Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum to 
address these comments and set aside a period of time for parties to 
address scope issues in scope-specific case and rebuttal briefs.\3\ We 
did not receive timely comments from any interested parties on the 
Preliminary Scope Memorandum. Thus, we did not make any changes to the 
scope of the investigation from the scope published in the Preliminary 
Determination, as noted in Appendix I.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' 
dated September 25, 2023 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Verification

    Commerce verified the sales and cost information submitted by 
Booyoung Industry (BYI) and Daechang Co., Ltd. (Daechang) \4\ for use 
in our final determination, consistent with section 782(i) of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). We used standard verification 
procedures, including an examination of relevant sales and accounting 
records, and original source documents provided by BYI and Daechang.\5\
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    \4\ Commerce has treated Daechang Co., Ltd., Seowon Co. Ltd., 
and IMI Co. Ltd. as single entity in this investigation.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Verification of the Sales Response of 
Booyoung Industry in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Brass Rod 
from the Republic of Korea,'' dated February 27, 2024; Memorandum, 
``Verification of the Cost Response of Booyoung Industry (BYI) in 
the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Brass Rod from Korea,'' 
dated February 28, 2024; Memorandum, ``Verification of the Cost 
Response of Daechang Co., Ltd. in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Certain Brass Rod from the Republic of Korea,'' 
dated February 8, 2024; Memorandum, ``Verification of the Sales 
Response of Daechang Co., Ltd.'s U.S. Affiliate, Daechang Lloyds 
Inc., in the Antidumping Investigation of Brass Rod from the 
Republic of Korea,'' dated February 27, 2024; and Memorandum, 
``Verification of the Sales Response of Daechang Co. Ltd. in the 
Antidumping Investigation of Brass Rod from the Republic of Korea,'' 
dated February 27, 2024.
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by interested 
parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum. A list of the issues raised is attached to this notice as 
Appendix II.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    We made certain changes to the margin calculation for BYI and 
Daechang since the Preliminary Determination. For a discussion of these 
changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters 
not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
individually investigated exporters and producers, excluding rates that 
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act, i.e., facts otherwise available.
    In this investigation, Commerce calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping margins that are above de minimis for the mandatory 
respondents, BYI and Daechang. Commerce calculated the all-others rate 
by weight-averaging the estimated weighted-average dumping margins that 
it calculated for the individually examined respondents. Commerce 
weight-averaged these dumping margins using the publicly ranged total 
quantities of each respondent's sales of subject merchandise to the 
United States during the POI.\6\
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    \6\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally 
calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a 
simple average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a weighted-average 
of the estimated weighted-average 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 closer to (A) as 
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. See 
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), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum 
at Comment 1; see also Memorandum, ``All-Others Rate Calculation,'' 
dated concurrently with this notice.
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Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins exist:
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    \7\ IMI Co. Ltd. is referred to as ``Affiliate A'' in Daechang's 
response and the Preliminary Determination. Daechang has consented 
to the public disclosure of IMI Co. Ltd.'s identity. See Daechang's 
Letter, ``Response to the Department's December 12th Letter 
Concerning Business Proprietary Treatment of Certain Information,'' 
dated December 15, 2023 (``Nevertheless, in order to avoid the 
potential adverse consequences associated with the Department's 
treatment of certain factual submissions as ``non-conforming''-- 
notwithstanding the safeguards afforded to Daechang under 19 CFR 
351.105(c)--Daechang, under protest, consents to treat Affiliate A's 
{i.e., IMI Co. Ltd.{time}  identity as public information.'').

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Cash deposit rate
                                   Weighted-average      (adjusted for
        Exporter/producer           dumping margin     subsidy offset(s)
                                       (percent)           (percent)
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Booyoung Industry...............                9.18                7.45
Daechang Co., Ltd./Seowon Co.                   8.26                8.04
 Ltd./IMI Co. Ltd.\7\...........
All Others......................                8.48                7.90
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Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose the calculations performed in 
connection with this final 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).

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 all entries of

[[Page 29300]]

brass rod from Korea as described in the appendix, entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    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 in the table above is the company-specific cash deposit rate 
listed for the respondent in the table; (2) if the exporter is not a 
respondent identified in the table 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; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other 
producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of this final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because Commerce's final determination 
is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the 
ITC will make its final determination as to whether the domestic 
industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with 
material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the likelihood of 
sales) for importation of brass rod no later than 45 days after this 
final determination. If the ITC determines that such injury does not 
exist, this proceeding will be terminated, all cash deposits posted 
will be refunded, and suspension of liquidation will be lifted. If the 
ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue an 
antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation, as discussed in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section above.

Administrative Protective Order

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of return or destruction of APO materials or conversion to 
judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with 
the regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This final determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: April 15, 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 I

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are brass rod and bar 
(brass rod), which is defined as leaded, low-lead, and no-lead solid 
brass made from alloys such as, but not limited to the following 
alloys classified under the Unified Numbering System (UNS) as 
C27450, C27451, C27460, C34500, C35000, C35300, C35330, C36000, 
C36300, C37000, C37700, C48500, C67300, C67600, and C69300, and 
their international equivalents.
    The brass rod subject to this investigation has an actual cross-
section or outside diameter greater than 0.25 inches but less than 
or equal to 12 inches. Brass rod cross-sections may be round, 
hexagonal, square, or octagonal shapes as well as special profiles 
(e.g., angles, shapes), including hollow profiles.
    Standard leaded brass rod covered by the scope contains, by 
weight, 57.0-65.0 percent copper; 0.5-3.0 percent lead; no more than 
1.3 percent iron; and at least 15 percent zinc. No-lead or low-lead 
brass rod covered by the scope contains by weight 59.0-76.0 percent 
copper; 0-1.5 percent lead; no more than 0.35 percent iron; and at 
least 15 percent zinc. Brass rod may also include other chemical 
elements (e.g., nickel, phosphorous, silicon, tin, etc.).
    Brass rod may be in straight lengths or coils. Brass rod covered 
by these investigations may be finished or unfinished, and may or 
may not be heated, extruded, pickled, or cold-drawn. Brass rod may 
be produced in accordance with ASTM B16, ASTM B124, ASTM B981, ASTM 
B371, ASTM B453, ASTM B21, ASTM B138, and ASTM B927, but such 
conformity to an ASTM standard is not required for the merchandise 
to be included within the scope.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation is brass ingot, 
which is a casting of unwrought metal unsuitable for conversion into 
brass rod without remelting, that contains, by weight, at least 57.0 
percent copper and 15.0 percent zinc.
    The merchandise covered by this investigation is currently 
classifiable under subheadings 7407.21.9000, 7407.21.7000, and 
7407.21.1500 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). Products subject to the scope may also enter under HTSUS 
subheadings 7403.21.0000, 7407.21.3000, and 7407.21.5000. The HTSUS 
subheadings and UNS alloy designations are provided for convenience 
and customs purposes. The written description of the scope of the 
investigations is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
VI. Affiliation/Single Entity
VII. Discussion of the Issues
    Booyoung Industry (BYI) Issues
    Comment 1: Whether to Adjust BYI's Reported Costs for the Value 
of Brass Scrap Obtained as Partial Payment for Brass Rod Sales to 
Domestic Customers
    Comment 2: Whether to Apply the Cost Verification Adjustments to 
BYI's Reported Costs
    Comment 3: Whether BYI Failed to Report Accurate Home Market 
Gross Unit Prices
    Comment 4: Whether Commerce Should Apply Partial Adverse Facts 
Available to BYI's Sales Purchases of Drawn Brass Rod Products 
Purchased from an Unaffiliated Supplier
    Daechang Co., Ltd. (Daechang) Issues
    Comment 5: Whether to Exclude Selling Expenses from Daechang's 
General and Administrative Expense Ratio
    Comment 6: Whether to Limit Daechang's Freight Revenue Cap to 
Revenue Earned for Ocean Freight
    Comment 7: Whether to Revise Certain Per-Unit Packing Expenses
    Comment 8: Whether to Use the Revised Sales Databases That 
Reflect the Sales Verification Minor Corrections
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-08456 Filed 4-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P