[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 54 (Monday, March 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15299-15300]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-6554]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-533-821]


Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From India: 
Preliminary Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

DATES: Effective Date: March 21, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristen Johnson, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office 3, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Ave., NW., 
Room 4014, Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 482-4793.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 1, 2010, the Department of Commerce (the Department) 
published a notice of opportunity to request an administrative review 
of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on certain hot-rolled carbon 
steel flat products from India. See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty 
Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation; Opportunity To Request 
Administrative Review, 75 FR 74682 (December 1, 2010). On January 3, 
2011, we received from United States Steel Corporation, a domestic 
producer of subject merchandise, a request that the Department conduct 
an administrative review of Ispat Industries Limited (Ispat), for the 
review period January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010.
    On January 28, 2011, the Department published the notice of 
initiation of the administrative review of the CVD order covering Ispat 
for the period January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010. See 
Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Reviews, 76 FR 5137 (January 28, 2011). On February 4, 2011, Ispat 
notified the Department that it had no shipments of subject merchandise 
to the United States during the period of review (POR).\1\
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    \1\ This public document is available on the public file in the 
Department's Central Record Unit (CRU) located in room 7046 of the 
main Commerce building.
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered under this order are certain hot-rolled flat-
rolled carbon steel flat products of a rectangular shape, of a width of 
0.5 inch or greater, neither clad, plated, nor coated with metal and 
whether or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or other 
non-metallic substances, in coils (whether or not in successively 
superimposed layers), regardless of thickness, and in straight lengths, 
of a thickness of less than 4.75 mm and of a width measuring at least 
10 times the thickness. Universal mill plate (i.e., flat-rolled 
products rolled on four faces or in a closed box pass, of a width 
exceeding 150 mm, but not exceeding 1250 mm, and of a thickness of not 
less than 4 mm, not in coils and without patterns in relief) of a 
thickness not less than 4.0 mm is not included within the scope of this 
order.
    Specifically included within the scope of this order are vacuum 
degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-free 
(IF)) steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, and the substrate 
for motor lamination steels. IF steels are recognized as low carbon 
steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as titanium or 
niobium (also commonly referred to as columbium), or both, added to 
stabilize carbon and nitrogen elements. HSLA steels are recognized as 
steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as chromium, copper, 
niobium, vanadium, and molybdenum. The substrate for motor lamination 
steels contains micro-alloying levels of elements such as silicon and 
aluminum.
    Steel products to be included in the scope of this order, 
regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS), are products in which: (i) Iron predominates, by 
weight, over each of the other contained elements; (ii) the carbon 
content is 2 percent or less, by weight; and (iii) none of the elements 
listed below exceeds the quantity, by weight, respectively indicated:
    1.80 percent of manganese, or
    2.25 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
    0.10 percent of molybdenum, or
    0.10 percent of niobium, or
    0.15 percent of vanadium, or
    0.15 percent of zirconium.
    All products that meet the physical and chemical description 
provided above are within the scope of this order unless otherwise 
excluded. The following products, by way of example, are outside or 
specifically excluded from the scope of this order:
    <bullet> Alloy hot-rolled steel products in which at least one of 
the chemical elements exceeds those listed above (including, e.g., ASTM 
specifications A543, A387, A514, A517, A506).
    <bullet> SAE/AISI grades of series 2300 and higher.
    <bullet> Ball bearings steels, as defined in the HTUS.
    <bullet> Tool steels, as defined in the HTUS.
    <bullet> Silico-manganese (as defined in the HTUS) or silicon 
electrical steel with a silicon level exceeding 2.25 percent.
    <bullet> ASTM specifications A710 and A736.
    <bullet> USS Abrasion-resistant steels (USS AR 400, USS AR 500).
    <bullet> All products (proprietary or otherwise) based on an alloy 
ASTM specification (sample specifications: ASTM A506, A507).
    <bullet> Non-rectangular shapes, not in coils, which are the result 
of having been processed by cutting or stamping and which have assumed 
the character of articles or products classified outside chapter 72 of 
the HTUS.
    The merchandise subject to this order are classified in the HTUS at 
subheadings: 7208.10.15.00, 7208.10.30.00, 7208.10.60.00, 
7208.25.30.00, 7208.25.60.00, 7208.26.00.30, 7208.26.00.60, 
7208.27.00.30, 7208.27.00.60, 7208.36.00.30, 7208.36.00.60, 
7208.37.00.30, 7208.37.00.60, 7208.38.00.15, 7208.38.00.30, 
7208.38.00.90, 7208.39.00.15, 7208.39.00.30, 7208.39.00.90, 
7208.40.60.30, 7208.40.60.60, 7208.53.00.00, 7208.54.00.00,

[[Page 15300]]

7208.90.00.00, 7211.14.00.90, 7211.19.15.00, 7211.19.20.00, 
7211.19.30.00, 7211.19.45.00, 7211.19.60.00, 7211.19.75.30, 
7211.19.75.60, and 7211.19.75.90. Certain hot-rolled flat-rolled 
carbon-quality steel covered by this order, including: vacuum degassed 
fully stabilized; high strength low alloy; and the substrate for motor 
lamination steel may also enter under the following tariff numbers: 
7225.11.00.00, 7225.19.00.00, 7225.30.30.50, 7225.30.70.00, 
7225.40.70.00, 7225.99.00.90, 7226.11.10.00, 7226.11.90.30, 
7226.11.90.60, 7226.19.10.00, 7226.19.90.00, 7226.91.50.00, 
7226.91.70.00, 7226.91.80.00, and 7226.99.00.00. Subject merchandise 
may also enter under 7210.70.30.00, 7210.90.90.00, 7211.14.00.30, 
7212.40.10.00, 7212.40.50.00, and 7212.50.00.00. Although the HTUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes, the 
Department's written description of the merchandise subject to this 
proceeding is dispositive.

Intent To Rescind the 2010 Administrative Review

    Ispat submitted a letter to the Department on February 4, 2011, 
certifying that it had no shipments of subject merchandise to the 
United States during the POR. The petitioner did not comment on Ispat's 
claim of no shipments.
    On February 7, 2011, we conducted an internal customs data 
query.\2\ We also issued a ``no shipments inquiry'' message to U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which posted the message on 
February 16, 2011.\3\ The customs data query indicates that Ispat had 
no entries of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. 
We did not receive any information from CBP contrary to Ispat's claim 
of no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the 
POR.
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    \2\ See Memorandum to the File from Kristen Johnson, Case 
Analyst, IA Operations, Office 3, regarding ``Customs Data Query 
Results,'' (February 8, 2011). A public version of this memorandum 
is available on the public file in the CRU.
    \3\ See Message number 1047301, available at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.
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    Based on our analysis of the shipment data, we preliminarily 
determine that Ispat did not ship subject merchandise to the United 
States during the POR. Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(3), and consistent with our practice,\4\ we preliminarily 
determine to rescind the review for Ispat. Since Ispat was the only 
producer/exporter for which a review was requested and initiated, we 
also preliminarily determine to rescind the administrative review of 
the CVD order covering the period January 1, 2010, through December 31, 
2010.
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    \4\ See, e.g., Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe and Tube from 
Turkey: Notice of Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Review, In Part, 74 FR 47921 (September 18, 2009).
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Public Comment

    The Department is setting aside a period for interested parties to 
raise issues regarding the preliminary determination to rescind the 
administrative review for Ispat. The Department encourages all 
interested parties to submit such comments within 20 calendar days of 
the publication of this notice. Comments should be addressed to Import 
Administration's APO/Dockets Unit, Room 1870, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20230. The period for public comment is intended to provide the 
Department with ample opportunity to consider all issues prior to the 
issuance of the notice to rescind the administrative review.
    We are issuing this notice in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) 
and 777(i)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(4) of the Department's regulations.

    Dated: March 15, 2011.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2011-6554 Filed 3-18-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P