[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65586-65588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17858]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-580-879]


Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From the Republic of 
Korea: Preliminary Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Review; 2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of certain corrosion-resistant steel products 
(CORE) from the Republic of Korea (Korea). The period of review (POR) 
is January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. Additionally, Commerce 
intends to rescind the review with respect to two companies.

DATES: Applicable August 12, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Subler or Rachel Accorsi, 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 or (202) 
482-3149, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In July 2023, Commerce received requests for an administrative 
review of the countervailing duty order on CORE

[[Page 65587]]

from Korea.\1\ On September 11, 2023, Commerce published a notice of 
initiation of an administrative review of the Order.\2\ Commerce 
selected KG Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. (KG Dongbu Steel) and Hyundai Steel 
Company as mandatory respondents.\3\ On February 29, 2024, Commerce 
extended the deadline for the preliminary results of this review until 
July 30, 2024.\4\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines 
in this administrative proceeding by seven days.\5\ The deadline for 
the preliminary results is now August 6, 2024.
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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 Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 62322 (September 11, 2023) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated October 20, 
2023 (Respondent Selection Memorandum).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated 
February 29, 2024.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\6\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as an 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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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty 
Order on Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products 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 merchandise covered by the Order is certain corrosion-resistant 
steel products. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Intent To Rescind Administrative Review, in Part

    Based on our analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
data, we preliminarily determine that two companies (POSCO 
International and SeAH Steel Corporation) had no reviewable shipments, 
sales, or entries of subject merchandise during the POR. Absent any 
comments to the contrary from interested parties, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(3), we intend to rescind the administrative review of these 
companies in the final results of review.\7\
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    \7\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at section ``Preliminary 
Intent to Rescind Administrative Review, in Part.''
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this 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 from 
an authority that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that 
the subsidy is specific.\8\ For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \8\ 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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Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review

    The statute and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the 
countervailing duty rates to be applied to companies not selected for 
individual examination where Commerce limits its examination in an 
administrative review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act. 
However, Commerce normally determines the rates for non-selected 
companies in reviews in a manner that is consistent with section 
705(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the 
all-others rate in an investigation. Section 777A(e)(2) of the Act 
provides that ``the individual countervailable subsidy rates determined 
under subparagraph (A) shall be used to determine the all-others rate 
under section 705(c)(5) {of the Act{time} .'' Section 705(c)(5)(A) of 
the Act states that for companies not investigated, in general, we will 
determine an all-others rate by weight-averaging the countervailable 
subsidy rates established for each of the companies individually 
investigated, excluding zero and de minimis rates or any rates based 
solely on the facts available.
    Because the rates for KG Dongbu Steel and Hyundai Steel are above 
de minimis and not based entirely on facts available, we applied a 
subsidy rate to the non-selected companies under review based on a 
weighted average of the subsidy rates calculated for these mandatory 
respondents using the publicly ranged sales data they submitted on the 
record.

Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the net 
countervailable subsidy rates for the period January 1, 2022, through 
December 31, 2022 to be:
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    \9\ We treated Hyundai Steel, Hyundai Steel Company, and Hyundai 
Steel Co., Ltd. as minor variations of the same name at respondent 
selection. See Respondent Selection Memorandum at Attachment; see 
also Initiation Notice, 88 FR at 62333.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                            (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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KG Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd.; KG Steel Corporation.........            5.49
Hyundai Steel Company \9\...............................            0.80
POSCO...................................................            2.68
POSCO Coated & Color Steel Co., Ltd.....................            2.68
POSCO Steeleon Co., Ltd.................................            2.68
SeAH Coated Metal Corporation...........................            2.68
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to 
interested parties for these preliminary results 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).
    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.\10\ A timeline for 
the submission of case briefs and written comments will be notified to 
interested parties 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.\11\ Interested parties that 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.\12\
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii); see also 19 CFR 351.303 for 
general filing requirements.
    \11\ 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 Procedures).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 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

[[Page 65588]]

instead request that interested parties provide at the beginning of 
their briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their 
briefs.\13\ Further, we request that interested parties limit their 
public executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not 
including citations. We intend to use the public 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 public 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).\14\
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    \13\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \14\ See APO and Service 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.
    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 and 19 CFR 
351.213(h).

Assessment Rate

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily 
assigned subsidy rates in the amounts shown above for the producers/
exporters shown above. Upon completion of the administrative review, 
consistent with section 751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2), 
Commerce shall determine, and CBP shall assess, countervailing duties 
on all appropriate entries covered by this review.
    For the companies for which this review is rescinded, we 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)(l)(i). We intend to issue 
assessment instructions to CBP for these companies no earlier than 35 
days after the date of publication of the final results of this review 
in the Federal Register.
    For the companies remaining in the review, we will instruct CBP to 
assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at the subsidy 
rates calculated in the final results of this review. We intend 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).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    In accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends, 
upon publication of the final results, to instruct CBP to collect cash 
deposits of estimated countervailing duties in the amounts shown for 
each of the respective companies listed above on shipments of subject 
merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the date of publication of the final results of this 
administrative review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP 
to continue to collect cash deposits at the most recent company-
specific or all others rate applicable to the company. These cash 
deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results are issued and published pursuant to 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: August 5, 2024.
Scot Fullerton,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Operations.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Preliminary Intent To Rescind Administrative Review, in Part
IV. Scope of the Order
V. Diversification of Korea's Economy
VI. Subsidies Valuation Information
VII. Analysis of Programs
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-17858 Filed 8-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P