[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 78 (Monday, April 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29305-29306]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08458]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-858]


Brass Rod From Mexico: 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 
imports of brass rod from Mexico are being, or are 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: Frank Schmitt or Jacob Waddell, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4880 or (202) 482-1369, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 1, 2023, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
Preliminary Determination in the LTFV investigation of brass rod from 
Mexico, in which it also postponed the final determination until April 
15, 2024.\1\ We invited interested parties to comment on the 
Preliminary Determination.\2\
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    \1\ See Brass Rod from Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of 
Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 88 FR 
83913 (December 1, 2023) (Preliminary Determination), and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Preliminary Determination, 88 FR at 83913.
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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.\3\ The Issues and Decisions 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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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value in the 
Investigation of Brass Rod from Mexico,'' 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 Mexico. 
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 for parties to address 
scope issues in scope-specific case and rebuttal briefs.\4\ We did not 
receive timely comments from any interested parties on the Preliminary 
Scope Decision 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.\5\
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' 
dated September 25, 2023 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \5\ See Brass Rod from India: Final Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination, 88 FR 87407 (December 18, 2023).
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Verification

    Commerce verified the sales and cost information submitted by 
Industrias Unidas S.A. de C.V. (IUSA) 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 IUSA.\6\`
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    \6\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of Sales Response of 
Industrias Unidas S.A. de C.V.,'' dated February 15, 2024; 
``Verification of the Constructed Export Price Sales Response of 
Industrias Unidas S.A. de C.V.,'' dated February 15, 2024; and 
``Verification of the Cost Response of Industrias S.A. de C.V.,'' 
dated February 16, 2024.
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Analysis of Comments Received

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

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    We made certain changes to the margin calculations for IUSA 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 assigned a rate to ALEAMEX S.A. de 
C.V. based entirely on facts available. Therefore, the only rate that 
is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available 
is the rate calculated for IUSA. Consequently, Commerce assigned the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin calculated for IUSA to all 
other producers and exporters of the merchandise under consideration, 
pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                      Exporter/producer                         dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
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Industrias Unidas S.A. de C.V...............................        6.51
ALEAMEX S.A. de C.V.........................................       29.43
All Others..................................................        6.51
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

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

[[Page 29306]]

interested parties 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 the Federal Register, in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise, as described in 
Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after December 1, 2023, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. 
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), upon publication of this notice, we will instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit equal for estimated antidumping duties for such 
entities as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents 
listed in the table above is the company-specific estimated weighted-
average dumping margin 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 is the company-specific 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed for the producer of 
the subject merchandise in the table above; and (3) the cash deposit 
rate for all other producers and exporters is the all-others estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin listed in the table above.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce 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 this investigation 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 
investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

Topic 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. Application of Facts Available and AFA
VII. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Date of Sale in the Comparison Market
    Comment 2: Freight Expenses in the U.S. Market
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-08458 Filed 4-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P