[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 125 (Friday, June 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53953-53955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14198]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-821-838]


Ferrosilicon From the Russian Federation: Preliminary 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) preliminarily 
determines that ferrosilicon from the Russian Federation (Russia) is 
being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair 
value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2023, 
through December 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on 
this preliminary determination.

DATES: Applicable June 28, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacob Saude, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0981.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on April 24, 
2024.\1\ For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\2\ A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II 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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    \1\ See Ferrosilicon From Brazil, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, and the 
Russian Federation: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 89 FR 31137 (April 24, 2024) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of 
Ferrosilicon from the Russian Federation,'' dated concurrently with, 
and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

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

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\3\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\4\ No interested party 
commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice. Commerce is not preliminarily modifying the scope 
language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice.
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 31137-38.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to sections 776(a) and 
(b) of the Act, Commerce preliminarily has relied upon facts otherwise 
available, with adverse inferences, for the Russia-wide entity. For a 
full description of the methodology underlying Commerce's preliminary 
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Combination Rates

    In the Initiation Notice,\5\ Commerce stated that it would 
calculate producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that 
are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin 
05.1 describes this practice.\6\ In this case, because no respondent 
applied for a separate rate, producer/exporter combination rates were 
not calculated.
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    \5\ Id. at 31141.
    \6\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1, 
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination 
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy 
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on 
Commerce's website at https://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Preliminary Determination

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Estimated weighted-
               Producer/exporter                   average dumping margin      Cash deposit rate  (adjusted for
                                                          (percent)              subsidy offsets)  (percent)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russia-wide Entity.............................                     283.27                               283.27
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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 subject merchandise as described in the scope of the investigation 
section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register, 
as discussed below. 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 weighted average amount by which normal value 
exceeds U.S. price, as indicated in the chart above as follows: (1) for 
all combinations of Russian producers/exporters of merchandise under 
consideration that have not established eligibility for their own 
separate rates, the cash deposit rate will be equal to the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin established for the Russia-wide entity; 
and (2) for all third-county exporters of merchandise under 
consideration not listed in the table above, the cash deposit rate is 
the cash deposit rate applicable to the Russia producer/exporter 
combination (or the Russia-wide entity) that supplied that third-
country exporter.
    To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of domestic 
subsidy pass-through and export subsidies determined in a companion 
countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding when CVD provisional measures are 
in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce has made a preliminary 
affirmative determination for domestic subsidy pass-through or export 
subsidies, Commerce has offset the calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping

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margin by the appropriate rate(s). As discussed in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum, we have made no adjustment for domestic subsidy 
pass-through. As further explained in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum, as an extension of our adverse facts available (AFA) 
finding for the China-wide entity, the appropriate export subsidy 
adjustment is the lowest amount of export subsidies found for any 
respondent in the companion CVD investigation, which is zero.
    Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation 
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV 
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting cash 
deposits at a rate equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margins calculated in this preliminary determination unadjusted for the 
passed-through domestic subsidies or for export subsidies at the time 
the CVD provisional measures expire.
    These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.

Disclosure

    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with a preliminary determination within five 
days of its public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, 
within five days of the date of publication of the notice of 
preliminary determination in the Federal Register, in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because Commerce preliminarily applied 
total AFA to the Russia-wide entity in this investigation, in 
accordance with section 776 of the Act, and the applied AFA rate is 
based solely on the petition, there are no calculations to disclose.

Verification

    Because the mandatory respondents in this investigation did not 
provide information requested by Commerce and Commerce preliminarily 
determines each of the mandatory respondents to have been 
uncooperative, verification will not be conducted.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 30 
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination.\7\ 
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.\8\ Interested parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs in 
this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each 
issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\9\
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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 for 
general filing requirements.
    \8\ 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).
    \9\ 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 investigation, we instead request 
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a 
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\10\ 
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 determination in this investigation. 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).\11\
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    \10\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \11\ See APO and Service Final Rule, 88 FR at 67080.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants and whether any participant is a foreign national, and a 
list of the issues to be discussed. Oral presentations at the hearing 
will be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If a request for a 
hearing is made, parties will be notified of the time and date for the 
hearing.\12\ Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and 
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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Final Determination

    Section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1) provide that 
Commerce will issue the final determination within 75 days after the 
date of its preliminary determination. Accordingly, Commerce will make 
its final determination no later than 75 days after the signature date 
of this preliminary determination.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination of sales at LTFV. If the final determination is 
affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after 
the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final 
determination whether imports of the subject merchandise are materially 
injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: June 21, 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 scope of this investigation covers all forms and sizes of 
ferrosilicon, regardless of grade, including ferrosilicon 
briquettes. Ferrosilicon is a ferroalloy containing by weight four 
percent or more iron, more than eight percent but not more than 96 
percent silicon, three percent or less phosphorus, 30 percent or 
less manganese, less than three percent magnesium, and 10 percent or 
less any other element. The merchandise covered also includes 
product described as slag, if the product meets these 
specifications.
    Subject merchandise includes material matching the above 
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed 
in a third country, including by performing any grinding or any 
other finishing, packaging, or processing that would not otherwise 
remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if 
performed in the country of manufacture of the ferrosilicon.
    Ferrosilicon is currently classifiable under subheadings 
7202.21.1000, 7202.21.5000, 7202.21.7500, 7202.21.9000, 
7202.29.0010, and 7202.29.0050 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS). While the HTSUS numbers are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
scope remains dispositive.

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Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-14198 Filed 6-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P