[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65598-65601]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17910]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-113]


Certain Collated Steel Staples From the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of the Countervailing 
Duty Administrative Review; 2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies were provided to Tianjin 
Hweschun Fasteners Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Tianjin Hweschun) a 
producer and exporter of certain collated steel staples (collated 
staples) from the People's Republic of China (China) during the period 
of review (POR) from January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. 
Additionally, Commerce is rescinding the review with respect to 122 
companies. Interested parties are invited to comment on these 
preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable August 12, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Palmer and Brandon James, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade

[[Page 65599]]

Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-9068 and (202) 482-7472, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On July 20, 2020, Commerce published the countervailing duty (CVD) 
order on collated staples from China.\1\ On September 11, 2023, 
Commerce published in the Federal Register a notice of initiation of an 
administrative review of the Order on 123 producers/exporters.\2\ On 
March 6, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary results until July 
30, 2024, in accordance with section 751(a)(3)(A) of Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2).\3\ On July 22, 
2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative 
proceeding by seven days.\4\ The current deadline for the preliminary 
results is now August 6, 2024.
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    \1\ See Certain Collated Steel Staples from the People's 
Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Order, 85 FR 43813 (July 20, 
2020) (Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 62322 (September 11, 2023) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022,'' dated 
March 6, 2024.
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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    For a description of the events that occurred since the initiation 
of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\ A list of 
topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as 
Appendix I 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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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results and Partial Rescission of the Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review of Certain Collated Steel Staples from the 
People's Republic of China; 2022,'' dated concurrently with, and 
hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The product covered by the Order is collated staples from China. 
For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission of Administrative Review, In Part

    On September 22, 2023, Kyocera Senco Industrial Tools, Inc. (the 
petitioner) withdrew its request for review with respect to 118 
companies.\6\ On October 4, 2023, Vina Hardwares Joint Stock Company 
withdrew its request for review.\7\ On December 11, 2023, Shanghai 
Yueda Nail Co., Ltd. and Tianjin Hweschun withdrew their requests for 
review.\8\ On December 11, 2023, Black & Decker (US) Inc. withdrew its 
request for review for products manufactured by YF Technology 
Corporation (Thailand) Ltd., and/or exported by YF Technology 
Corporation Limited.\9\ The only company requested for review and for 
which not all review requests have been withdrawn is Tianjin 
Hweschun.\10\ Because we received timely withdrawals of request for 
review for these 122 companies, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), we 
are rescinding the administrative review of these companies. We have 
included a list of these 122 companies in Appendix II of this notice.
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    \6\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated September 22, 2023 (Petitioner's 
Withdrawal Request).
    \7\ See Vina Hardwares' Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated October 4, 2023.
    \8\ See Shanghai Yueda's Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated December 11, 2023; see also Tianjin 
Hweschun's Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for Administrative 
Review,'' December 11, 2023.
    \9\ See Black and Decker's Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' December 11, 2023.
    \10\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated July 31, 2023; see also Petitioner's Withdrawal 
Request.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(A) of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, we preliminarily determine that there is a subsidy, 
i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that confers a 
benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\11\ For a 
full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary 
conclusions, including our reliance, in part, on adverse facts 
available pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\12\
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    \11\ 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.
    \12\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 5-27.
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Preliminary Results of the Review

    Commerce preliminary determines that the following net 
countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period of January 1, 2022, 
through December 31, 2022:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                        Company                            (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
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Tianjin Hweschun Fasteners Manufacturing Co., Ltd......           70.10
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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 accordance with 
19 CFR 351.224(b). Commerce also intends to issue a post-preliminary 
memorandum for certain programs after the publication of this 
notice.\13\
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    \13\ Id. for further information.
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    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.\14\ A timeline for 
the submission of case briefs and written comments will be provided 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.\15\ Interested parties who 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.\16\
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii); see also 19 CFR 351.303 for 
general filing requirements.
    \15\ 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).
    \16\ 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 instead request that 
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, 
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\17\ 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

[[Page 65600]]

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).\18\
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    \17\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \18\ See APO and Service Final Rule, 88 FR at 67077.
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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.

Final Results

    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 Rates

    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, Commerce 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). For the companies for which this review is rescinded, 
we intend to issue appropriate assessment instructions to CBP no 
earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register.
    For Tianjin Hweschun, Commerce will instruct CBP to assess 
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at the subsidy rates 
calculated in the final results of this review. For Tianjin Hweschun, 
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 
Tianjin Hweschun 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 6, 2024.
Scot Fullerton,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Operations.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Diversification of China's Economy
V. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
VI. Subsidies Valuation
VII. Inputs and Electricity Benchmarks
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation

Appendix II

List of Companies Rescinded From Review

1. Anhui Z&A Import And Export Co., Ltd.
2. Anping Haotie Metal Technology Co.
3. Changzhou Kya Trading Co., Ltd.
4. China Wind International Ltd.
5. Dezhou Hualude Hardware Products Co., Ltd.
6. Dt China (Shanghai) Ltd., Ningbo Branch
7. Eastrong International
8. Ejen Brothers Limited
9. eTeklon Co., Ltd.
10. Fastnail Products Limited
11. Five Star International Import and Export Co., Limited
12. Foshan Chan Seng Import and Export Co., Ltd.
13. Foshan Hosontool Development Hardware Co., Ltd.
14. Fourever International Limited
15. Guangdong Meite Mechanical Co., Ltd.
16. Guangdong Willing Technology
17. Guangzhou Nova Investment Development Co., Ltd.
18. H&B Promotional Limited
19. Hangzhou Great Import & Export Co., Ltd.
20. Hangzhou G-Wire Technology Co., Ltd.
21. Hangzhou Light Industrial Products, Arts & Crafts, Textiles 
Import & Export Co., Ltd.
22. Hangzhou Strong Lion New Material Co., Ltd.
23. Hangzhou Taiming Import & Export Co.
24. Hebei Cangzhou New Century Foreign Trade Co., Ltd.
25. Hebei Jinshi Industrial Metal Co., Ltd.
26. Hebei Machinery Import and Export Co., Ltd.
27. Hebei Minmetals Co., Ltd.
28. Hengtuo Metal Products Co., Ltd.
29. Hk A J Arts And Crafts Co., Ltd.
30. Hk Quanyi Coil Spring Metals Product Limited
31. Hk Ryson Industrial Development Limited
32. Hongkong Greatstar International Co.
33. HP Singapore (Private) Ltd.
34. Huanghua Baizhou Trading Co., Ltd.
35. Jiangmen Guanqiang Hardware Plastic Products Co., Ltd.
36. Jiangmen Huiying Import & Export Co.
37. Jiangmen Rui Xing Yuan Import and Export Co., Ltd.
38. Jiaxing Brothers Hardware Co., Ltd.
39. Jiaxing Success Import & Export Co.
40. Jinhua Great Tools Co., Ltd.
41. Jinhua Qual Max Trading Co., Ltd.
42. Kinglong Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
43. Linyi Flyingarrow Imp. & Exp. Co. Ltd.
44. Match Industry Limited.
45. Max Co., Ltd.
46. Milan Pacific International Limited
47. Mingguang Ruifeng Hardware Products Co., Ltd.
48. Nanjing Hongde New Material Co., Ltd.
49. Nanjing Justar Material Co., Ltd.
50. Ningbo (Yinzhou) Yongjia Electrical Tools Co., Ltd.
51. Ningbo Alldo Stationery Co., Ltd.
52. Ningbo Guangbo Import & Export Co., Ltd.
53. Ningbo Hoz Fasteners Co. Limited
54. Ningbo Huayi Import & Export Co., Ltd.
55. Ningbo Jieyou Trading Co., Ltd.
56. Ningbo Mascube Imp. & Exp. Corp.
57. Ningbo Mate Import & Export Co., Ltd.
58. Ningbo S-Chande Import & Export Co., Ltd.
59. Ningbo Sunlit International Co., Ltd.
60. Ningbo Yuanyu Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd.

[[Page 65601]]

61. Ninghai Huihui Stationery Co., Ltd.
62. Oli-Fast Fasteners (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.
63. Protech Industry Limited
64. Qingdao Jiawei Industry Co., Limited
65. Qingdao Top Metal Industrial Co., Ltd.
66. Qingdao Top Steel Industrial Co., Ltd.
67. Rayson Electrical Mfg., Ltd.
68. Rebon Building Material Co., Limited
69. Shanghai Genmes Office Products Co., Ltd.
70. Shanghai Lansi Trading Co., Ltd.
71. Shanghai Yueda Nail Co., Ltd.
72. Shanghai Yinwo Technologies Development Co., Ltd.
73. Shanghai Zehong International
74. Shanxi Pioneer Hardware Industrial
75. Shaoxing Best Nail Industrial Co., Ltd.
76. Shaoxing Feida Nail Industry Co., Ltd.
77. Shaoxing Huasheng Stationery Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
78. Shaoxing Jingke Hardware Co., Ltd.
79. Shaoxing Mingxing Nail Co., Ltd.
80. Shaoxing Qianjiang Pin Industry
81. Shaoxing Shunxing Metal Producting Co., Ltd.
82. Shaoxing Xinyi Hardware & Tools Co., Ltd.
83. Shaoxing Yiyou Stationery Co., Ltd.
84. Shenzhen Hongwencheng Technology
85. Shenzhen Jinsunway Mould Co., Ltd.
86. Shijiazhuang Shuangming Trade Co., Ltd.
87. Shouguang Hongsheng Import and Export Co., Ltd.
88. Shun Far Enterprise Co., Ltd.
89. Suntec Industries Co., Ltd.
90. Suqian Real Faith International Trade Co., Ltd.
91. Taiun Co., Ltd.
92. Taizhou Dajiang Ind. Co., Ltd.
93. Team One (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
94. Team Work Enterprises Ltd.
95. Thakral Corporation Hk Limited
96. Tianjin Angetai Import And Export
97. Tianjin Bluekin Industries Co., Ltd.
98. Tianjin D&C Technology Development
99. Tianjin High Wing International For
100. Tianjin Huayuan Metal Wire Products
101. Tianjin Huixinshangmao Co., Ltd.
102. Tianjin Jin Xin Sheng Long Metal Products Co., Ltd.
103. Tianjin Jinyifeng Hardware Co., Ltd.
104. Tsi Manufacturing LLC
105. Tung Yung International Limited
106. Um Industry Co., Ltd.
107. Unicorn (Tianjin) Fasteners Co., Ltd.
108. Vina Hardwares Joint Stock Company
109. Weifang Ye Liyuan Trading Co., Ltd.
110. Wenzhou Longhua Daily Electron Co. Ltd.
111. Wire Products Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
112. Xiamen Wanguoxing Trade Co., Ltd.
113. Yangjiang Meijia Economic & Trade Co., Ltd.
114. Yantai Doowon Metal Co., Ltd.
115. YF Technology Corporation (Thailand) Ltd.
116. YF Technology Corporation Limited
117. Yuchen Imp. and Exp. Co, Ltd.
118. Yueqing Yuena Electric Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
119. Yunfu Wintop Stone Co., Ltd.
120. Zhejiang Fairtrade ECommerce Co., Ltd.
121. Zhejiang Jiahe Bamboo Technology Co.
122. Zhejiang KYT Technology Co., Ltd.

[FR Doc. 2024-17910 Filed 8-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P