[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42446-42447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10643]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-580-879]


Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From the Republic of 
Korea: Notice of Initiation of Countervailing Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review

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

SUMMARY: In response to a request for a changed circumstances review 
(CCR), the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a CCR 
of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on certain corrosion-resistant 
steel products (CORE) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) to determine 
whether Dongkuk Coated Metal Co., Ltd. (Dongkuk CM) is the successor-
in-interest (SII) to Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd. (Old Dongkuk Steel).

DATES: Applicable May 15, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Subler, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6241.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On July 25, 2016, Commerce published the CVD order on CORE from 
Korea in the Federal Register.\1\ On February 9, 2024, Dongkuk CM 
requested the initiation of a CCR to determine that it is the SII to 
Old Dongkuk Steel.\2\ In this request, Dongkuk CM explained that, on 
May 12, 2023, the shareholders of Old Dongkuk Steel approved a December 
9, 2022, proposal by the company's board of directors to spin off its 
cold-rolled steel division, which produced CORE and non-subject 
merchandise, and its hot-rolled steel division, which produced only 
non-subject merchandise, as separate operating companies.\3\ Further, 
the shareholders approved a proposal to position the newly established 
operating companies under a holding company, Dongkuk Holdings Co., 
Ltd., effective as of June 1, 2023.\4\
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    \1\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from India, 
Italy, Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China: 
Countervailing Duty Order, 81 FR 48387 (July 25, 2016) (Order).
    \2\ See Dongkuk CM's Letter, ``Request for Changed Circumstances 
Review and Successor-in-Interest Determination,'' dated February 9, 
2024 (Dongkuk CM's CCR Request).
    \3\ Id. at 2.
    \4\ Id.
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    On March 21, 2024, Commerce extended the deadline for determining 
whether to initiate a CCR by 45 days, until May 9, 2024.\5\
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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Initiation of 
Changed Circumstances Review,'' dated March 21, 2024.
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this Order are certain flat-rolled steel 
products, either clad, plated, or coated with corrosion-resistant 
metals such as zinc, aluminum, or zinc-, aluminum-, nickel- or iron-
based alloys, whether or not corrugated or painted, varnished, 
laminated, or coated with plastics or other non-metallic substances in 
addition to the metallic coating. The products covered include coils 
that have a width of 12.7 mm or greater, regardless of form of coil 
(e.g., in successively superimposed layers, spirally oscillating, 
etc.). The products covered also include products not in coils (e.g., 
in straight lengths) of a thickness less than 4.75 mm and a width that 
is 12.7 mm or greater and that measures at least 10 times the 
thickness. The products covered also include products not in coils 
(e.g., in straight lengths) of a thickness of 4.75 mm or more and a 
width exceeding 150 mm and measuring at least twice the thickness. The 
products described above may be rectangular, square, circular, or other 
shape and include products of either rectangular or non-rectangular 
cross-section where such cross-section is achieved subsequent to the 
rolling process, i.e., products which have been ``worked after 
rolling'' (e.g., products which have been beveled or rounded at the 
edges). For purposes of the width and thickness requirements referenced 
above:
    (1) where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is 
within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual 
measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions 
set forth above, and
    (2) where the width and thickness vary for a specific product 
(e.g., the thickness of certain products with non-rectangular cross-
section, the width of certain products with non-rectangular shape, 
etc.), the measurement at its greatest width or thickness applies.
    Steel products included in the scope of this Order are products in 
which: (1) iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other 
contained elements; (2) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by 
weight; and (3) none of the elements listed below exceeds the quantity, 
by weight, respectively indicated:

 2.50 percent of manganese, or
 3.30 percent of silicon, or
 1.50 percent of copper, or
 1.50 percent of aluminum, or
 1.25 percent of chromium, or
 0.30 percent of cobalt, or
 0.40 percent of lead, or
 2.00 percent of nickel, or
 0.30 percent of tungsten (also called wolfram), or
 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
 0.10 percent of niobium (also called columbium), or
 0.30 percent of vanadium, or
 0.30 percent of zirconium

Unless specifically excluded, products are included in this scope 
regardless of levels of boron and titanium.
    For example, specifically included in this scope are vacuum 
degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-free 
(IF)) steels and high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels. IF steels are 
recognized as low carbon steels with micro-alloying levels of elements 
such as titanium and/or niobium added to stabilize carbon and nitrogen 
elements. HSLA steels are recognized as steels with micro-alloying 
levels of elements such as chromium, copper, niobium, titanium, 
vanadium, and molybdenum.
    Furthermore, this scope also includes Advanced High Strength Steels 
(AHSS) and Ultra High Strength Steels (UHSS), both of which are 
considered high tensile strength and high elongation steels.

[[Page 42447]]

    Subject merchandise also includes corrosion-resistant steel that 
has been further processed in a third country, including but not 
limited to annealing, tempering painting, varnishing, trimming, 
cutting, punching and/or slitting or any other processing that would 
not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the Order if 
performed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope corrosion 
resistant steel.
    All products that meet the written physical description, and in 
which the chemistry quantities do not exceed any one of the noted 
element levels listed above, are within the scope of this Order unless 
specifically excluded. The following products are outside of and/or 
specifically excluded from the scope of this Order:
     Flat-rolled steel products either plated or coated with 
tin, lead, chromium, chromium oxides, both tin and lead (terne plate), 
or both chromium and chromium oxides (tin free steel), whether or not 
painted, varnished or coated with plastics or other non-metallic 
substances in addition to the metallic coating;
     Clad products in straight lengths of 4.7625 mm or more in 
composite thickness and of a width which exceeds 150 mm and measures at 
least twice the thickness; and
     Certain clad stainless flat-rolled products, which are 
three-layered corrosion-resistant flat-rolled steel products less than 
4.75 mm in composite thickness that consist of a flat-rolled steel 
product clad on both sides with stainless steel in a 20%-60%-20% ratio.
    The products subject to the Order are currently classified in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item 
numbers: 7210.30.0030, 7210.30.0060, 7210.41.0000, 7210.49.0030, 
7210.49.0040, 7210.49.0045, 7210.49.0091, 7210.49.0095, 7210.61.0000, 
7210.69.0000, 7210.70.6030, 7210.70.6060, 7210.70.6090, 7210.90.6000, 
7210.90.9000, 7212.20.0000, 7212.30.1030, 7212.30.1090, 7212.30.3000, 
7212.30.5000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, and 
7212.60.0000.\6\
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    \6\ On July 26, 2021, Commerce added two additional HTSUS 
subheadings at the request of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 
See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from the Republic of 
Korea: Final Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review: 2019, 87 FR 2759 (January 19, 2022), and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    The products subject to the Order may also enter under the 
following HTSUS item numbers: 7210.90.1000, 7215.90.1000, 7215.90.3000, 
7215.90.5000, 7217.20.1500, 7217.30.1530, 7217.30.1560, 7217.90.1000, 
7217.90.5030, 7217.90.5060, 7217.90.5090, 7225.91.0000, 7225.92.0000, 
7225.99.0090, 7226.99.0110, 7226.99.0130, 7226.99.0180, 7228.60.6000, 
7228.60.8000, and 7229.90.1000.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the 
Order is dispositive.

Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), Commerce will conduct a CCR upon receipt of a request from 
an interested party that shows changed circumstances sufficient to 
warrant a review of an order. In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(d), 
Commerce determines that Dongkuk CM's CCR Request constitutes a 
sufficient basis to conduct a CCR of the Order. Neither the Act, the 
Statement of Administrative Action Accompanying the Uruguay Round 
Agreements Act, or Commerce's regulations offer a definition of the 
term ``changed circumstances,'' nor do they explain what aspects of a 
determination may be reconsidered in light of such changed 
circumstances. Commerce has in the past conducted CCRs regarding a 
variety of issues.\7\
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    \7\ See, e.g., Aluminum Extrusions from the People's Republic of 
China: Initiation and Preliminary Results of Expedited Changed 
Circumstances Review, 83 FR 34548 (July 20, 2018) (finding 
sufficient information to initiate a CCR to recalculate certain cash 
deposit rates); see also Certain Steel Nails from Malaysia: Final 
Results of the Changed Circumstances Review, 82 FR 34476 (July 25, 
2017) (finding sufficient information and ``good cause'' to initiate 
a CCR to evaluate whether a company was properly utilizing the 
correct cash deposit rate).
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    Dongkuk CM has requested a CCR to determine whether it is the SII 
to Old Dongkuk Steel.\8\ Recognizing that it is not Commerce's general 
practice to routinely initiate CCR requests in CVD proceedings, we find 
the circumstances here to be unusual. Moreover, Dongkuk CM has provided 
a sufficient factual basis to support initiation of this CCR. 
Therefore, in accordance with section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.216(d), we are initiating a CCR based on the information 
contained in Dongkuk CM's CCR Request. Given the particular facts 
surrounding Dongkuk CM's request, we will be issuing a questionnaire to 
Dongkuk CM in this CCR that will include questions on cross-ownership.
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    \8\ In CVD CCRs involving SII determinations, Commerce follows 
the practice described in Certain Pasta from Turkey: Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 74 FR 
47225 (September 15, 2009), unchanged in Certain Pasta from Turkey: 
Final Results of Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 
74 FR 54022 (October 21, 2009).
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    In the event that Commerce determines an expedited action is 
warranted, 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii) permits Commerce to combine the 
notice of initiation of the review and the preliminary results of 
review into a single notice. However, we are not combining this notice 
of initiation with the preliminary results, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.221(c)(3)(ii), because we have determined that it is necessary to 
issue a questionnaire to Dongkuk CM and gather additional information 
regarding the company's corporate structure and ownership, and its 
cross-owned affiliates. As Dongkuk CM noted in its CCR request, Old 
Dongkuk Steel was excluded from the Order.\9\ Therefore, given the 
particular facts of this CCR request, we are soliciting comments from 
interested parties on Commerce's consideration of Dongkuk CM's CCR 
Request. We request that interested parties submit these comments 
within two weeks of the publication date of this notice. After 
examining any properly filed comments and following up with any 
supplemental questionnaires as needed, we intend to issue the 
preliminary results of this CCR.
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    \9\ See Dongkuk CM's CCR Request at 4; see also Order, 81 FR at 
48388.
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Preliminary and Final Results of the CCR

    We intend to publish in the Federal Register a notice of the 
preliminary results of this CCR in accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4) 
and (c)(3)(i). Commerce will set forth its preliminary factual and 
legal conclusions in that notice regarding Dongkuk CM's CCR Request. 
Unless extended, Commerce will issue the final results of this CCR in 
accordance with the time limits set forth in 19 CFR 351.216(e).

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing this initiation notice in accordance 
with section 751(b)(1) and 777(i) of the Act, 19 CFR 351.216(b),\10\ 
and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(1).
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    \10\ As noted above, we extended the CCR initiation deadline by 
45 days under 19 CFR 351.302(b).

    Dated: May 9, 2024.
James Maeder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2024-10643 Filed 5-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P