Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 3 / Thursday, January 5, 2012 / Notices 473 

1See Certain Steel Threaded Rod from the 

People’s Republic of China: Notice of Antidumping 

Duty Order, 74 FR 17154 (April 14, 2009) (‘‘Steel 

Threaded Rod Order’’). 

2See the Petitioner’s November 17, 2011 

submission (‘‘Circumvention Request’’) at 2. 

3See Notice of Scope Rulings, 76 FR 10558, 

10559 (February 25, 2011). 

4See S. Rep. No.71, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. 100 

(1987) (‘‘In applying this provision, the Commerce 

Department should apply practical measurements 

regarding minor alterations, so that circumvention 

can be dealt with effectively, even where such 

alterations to an article technically transform it into 

a differently designated article.’’). 

5See Circumvention Request at 16. 

6 Id. at 16–17. 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–570–932] 

Certain Steel Threaded Rod From the 

People’s Republic of China: Initiation 

of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry 

AGENCY: Import Administration, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: In response to a request from 

Vulcan Threaded Products Inc. 

(‘‘Petitioner’’), the Department of 

Commerce (the ‘‘Department’’) is 

initiating an anti-circumvention inquiry 

to determine whether certain imports 

are circumventing the antidumping duty 

order on certain steel threaded rod from 

the People’s Republic of China 

(‘‘PRC’’).1

DATES: Effective Date: January 5, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Toni 

Dach, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9, 

Import Administration, International 

Trade Administration, U.S. Department 

of Commerce, 14th Street and 

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482–1655. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 17, 2011, pursuant to 

section 781(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 

as amended (the ‘‘Act’’), and 19 CFR 

351.225(i), Petitioner submitted a 

request for the Department to initiate an 

anti-circumvention inquiry of Gem-Year 

Industrial Co., Ltd. (‘‘Gem-Year’’) to 

determine whether double-arming bolts 

(‘‘DA bolts’’), a type of steel threaded 

rod produced in the PRC containing 

more than 1.25 percent chromium, are 

circumventing the Steel Threaded Rod 

Order.2 In its request, Petitioner 

contends that Gem-Year’s higherchromium DA bolts are of the same 

class or kind as the merchandise 

covered by the Steel Threaded Rod 

Order, and the addition of small 

amounts of chromium above the 1.25 

percent threshold in the scope of the 

order is a minor alteration that 

constitutes circumvention. 

Scope of the Order 

The merchandise covered by the order 

is steel threaded rod. Steel threaded rod 

is certain threaded rod, bar, or studs, of 

carbon quality steel, having a solid, 

circular cross section, of any diameter, 

in any straight length, that have been 

forged, turned, cold-drawn, cold-rolled, 

machine straightened, or otherwise 

cold-finished, and into which threaded 

grooves have been applied. In addition, 

the steel threaded rod, bar, or studs 

subject to the order are non-headed and 

threaded along greater than 25 percent 

of their total length. A variety of finishes 

or coatings, such as plain oil finish as 

a temporary rust protectant, zinc coating 

(i.e., galvanized, whether by 

electroplating or hot-dipping), paint, 

and other similar finishes and coatings, 

may be applied to the merchandise. 

Included in the scope of the order are 

steel threaded rod, bar, or studs, 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: 

• 1.80 percent of manganese, or 

• 1.50 percent of silicon, or 

• 1.00 percent of copper, or 

• 0.50 percent of aluminum, or 

• 1.25 percent of chromium, or 

• 0.30 percent of cobalt, or 

• 0.40 percent of lead, or 

• 1.25 percent of nickel, or 

• 0.30 percent of tungsten, or 

• 0.012 percent of boron, or 

• 0.10 percent of molybdenum, or 

• 0.10 percent of niobium, or 

• 0.41 percent of titanium, or 

• 0.15 percent of vanadium, or 

• 0.15 percent of zirconium. 

Steel threaded rod is currently 

classifiable under subheading 

7318.15.5050, 7318.15.5090, and 

7318.15.2095 of the United States 

Harmonized Tariff Schedule 

(‘‘HTSUS’’). Although the HTSUS 

subheading is provided for convenience 

and customs purposes, the written 

description of the merchandise is 

dispositive. 

Excluded from the scope of the order 

are: (a) Threaded rod, bar, or studs 

which are threaded only on one or both 

ends and the threading covers 25 

percent or less of the total length; and 

(b) threaded rod, bar, or studs made to 

American Society for Testing and 

Materials (‘‘ASTM’’) A193 Grade B7, 

ASTM A193 Grade B7M, ASTM A193 

Grade B16, or ASTM A320 Grade L7. 

Prior Scope Ruling 

Among previous scope rulings 

concerning the Steel Threaded Rod 

Order, the Department on September 10, 

2010, responded to a request for a scope 

ruling by Hubbell Power Systems, Inc. 

and determined that DA bolts meeting 

the description of the scope are within 

the scope of the Steel Threaded Rod 

Order.3

Merchandise Subject to the Minor 

Alterations Antidumping 

Circumvention Inquiry 

The merchandise subject to this 

antidumping circumvention inquiry 

consists of steel threaded rod from the 

PRC produced by Gem-Year containing 

greater than 1.25 percent chromium, by 

weight, and otherwise meeting the 

requirements of the scope of the Steel 

Threaded Rod Order as listed under the 

‘‘Scope of the Order’’ section above. 

Initiation of Minor Alterations 

Antidumping Circumvention 

Proceeding 

Section 781(c)(1) of the Act provides 

that the Department may find 

circumvention of an antidumping duty 

order when products which are of the 

class or kind of merchandise subject to 

an antidumping duty order have been 

‘‘altered in form or appearance in minor 

respects * * * whether or not included 

in the same tariff classification.’’ The 

Department notes that, while the statute 

is silent as to what factors to consider 

in determining whether alterations are 

properly considered ‘‘minor,’’ the 

legislative history of this provision 

indicates there are certain factors which 

should be considered before reaching a 

circumvention determination. In 

conducting a circumvention inquiry 

under section 781(c) of the Act, the 

Department has generally relied upon 

‘‘such criteria as the overall physical 

characteristics of the merchandise, the 

expectations of the ultimate users, the 

use of the merchandise, the channels of 

marketing and the cost of any 

modification relative to the total value 

of the imported products.’’ 4

Overall Physical Characteristics 

Petitioner maintains that steel 

threaded rod with the addition of 

chromium is produced in the same 

manner and to the same specifications 

as subject steel threaded rod.5 Petitioner 

provides a declaration supporting these 

claims in its Circumvention Request.6

Expectations of the Ultimate Users 

Petitioner indicates that it is unaware 

of any instances where customers would 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
474 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 3 / Thursday, January 5, 2012 / Notices 

7 Id. at 17. 

8 Id. 

9 Id. at 19. 

10 Id. 

11 Id. 

12 Id. at 19–20. 

13 Id. at 20. 

14 Id. at 20. 

expect or request steel threaded rod 

with small amounts of chromium 

added, other than to circumvent the 

order.7 Petitioner argues that the 

applicable standard for DA bolts does 

not address the chemistry of the steel, 

focusing instead on basic dimensions, 

zinc coating, and tensile strength, none 

of which are affected by the additional 

amounts of chromium.8

Use of the Merchandise 

Petitioner states that the uses of DA 

bolts, i.e., fasteners in the utility 

industry, are typical applications of 

steel threaded rod.9

Channels of Marketing 

Petitioner states that the channels of 

marketing for the chromium-added DA 

bolts and the subject steel threaded rod 

are the same, noting that both products 

are marketed through distributors.10

Cost of Modification 

Petitioner indicates that the addition 

of small amounts of chromium involves 

minimal additional cost compared to 

the overall costs of the merchandise in 

question.11

Circumstances Under Which the 

Subject Products Entered the United 

States 

Petitioner argues that entry summary 

information indicates that the additional 

chromium was added to deliberately 

avoid antidumping duties. Petitioner 

points to documents contained in the 

entry summary for Gem-Year’s entries of 

higher-chromium DA bolts to support 

its claim that the chromium content of 

the DA bolts was manipulated in an 

attempt to circumvent the order.12

Because Gem-Year’s merchandise would 

be subject to the PRC-wide deposit rate 

of 206.00 percent, Petitioner asserts that 

Gem-Year and its customers have a 

strong financial incentive to avoid 

paying antidumping duties.13

Timing of the Entries 

Petitioner asserts that the addition of 

chromium after the issuance of the Steel 

Threaded Rod Order and the 

Department’s determination in the 

related scope request concerning DA 

bolts indicates that this addition of 

chromium is an attempt to circumvent 

the Steel Threaded Rod Order.14

Based on the information provided by 

Petitioner, the Department finds there is 

sufficient basis to initiate an 

antidumping anti-circumvention 

inquiry, pursuant to section 781(c) of 

the Act, to determine whether the 

merchandise subject to the inquiry 

(identified in the ‘‘Merchandise Subject 

to the Minor Alterations Antidumping 

Circumvention Inquiry’’ section above) 

involves a minor alteration to subject 

merchandise that is so insignificant as 

to render the resulting merchandise 

subject to the Steel Threaded Rod 

Order. 

The Department will not order the 

suspension of liquidation of entries of 

any additional merchandise at this time. 

However, in accordance with 19 CFR 

351.225(l)(2), if the Department issues a 

preliminary affirmative determination, 

we will then instruct U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection to suspend 

liquidation and require a cash deposit of 

estimated duties, at the applicable rate, 

for each unliquidated entry of the 

merchandise at issue, entered or 

withdrawn from warehouse for 

consumption on or after the date of 

initiation of the inquiry. 

The Department will, following 

consultation with interested parties, 

establish a schedule for questionnaires 

and comments on the issues. The 

Department intends to issue its final 

determination within 300 days of the 

date of publication of this initiation 

notice. 

This notice is published in 

accordance with sections 781(c) of the 

Act and 19 CFR 351.225(i). 

Dated: December 22, 2011. 

Christian Marsh, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2011–33768 Filed 1–4–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA892 

2012 Annual Determination for Sea 

Turtle Observer Requirement 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS) is providing 

notification that the agency will not 

identify additional fisheries to observe 

on the Annual Determination (AD) for 

2012, pursuant to its authority under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA). Through 

an AD, NMFS identifies fisheries 

operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and Pacific Ocean that will be 

required to take observers upon NMFS’ 

request. The purpose of observing 

identified fisheries is to learn more 

about sea turtle interactions in a given 

fishery, evaluate existing measures to 

prevent or reduce prohibited sea turtle 

takes, and to determine whether 

additional measures to implement the 

prohibition against sea turtle takes may 

be necessary. Fisheries identified in the 

2010 AD (see Table 1) remain on the AD 

and are therefore required to carry 

observers upon NMFS’ request, until 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for a listing of all Regional 

Offices. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristy Long, Office of Protected 

Resources, (301) 713–2322; Ellen Keane, 

Northeast Region, (978) 282–8476; 

Dennis Klemm, Southeast Region, (727) 

824–5312; Elizabeth Petras, Southwest 

Region, (562) 980–3238; Kim Maison, 

Pacific Islands Region, (808) 944–2257. 

Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the 

hearing impaired may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service at 1-(800) 

877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. 

Eastern time, Monday through Friday, 

excluding Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Published Materials 

Information regarding the Sea Turtle 

Observer Requirement for Fisheries (72 

FR 43176, August 3, 2007) may be 

obtained at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/ 

species/turtles/regulations.htm or from 

any NMFS Regional Office at the 

addresses listed below: 

Æ NMFS, Northeast Region, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930– 

2298; 

Æ NMFS, Southeast Region, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 

Æ NMFS, Southwest Region, 501 W. 

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, 

CA 90802–4213; or 

Æ NMFS, Pacific Islands Region, 

Protected Resources, 1601 Kapiolani 

Boulevard, Suite 1100, Honolulu, HI 

96814–4700. 

Purpose of the Sea Turtle Observer 

Requirement 

Under the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., 

NMFS has the responsibility to 

implement programs to conserve marine 

life listed as endangered or threatened. 

All sea turtles found in U.S. waters are 

listed as either endangered or 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES