[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 43 (Monday, March 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13289-13291]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04724]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-351-855]


Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From Brazil: Final Negative 
Countervailing Duty Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
countervailable subsidies are not being provided to producers and 
exporters of common alloy aluminum sheet (aluminum sheet) from the 
Brazil.

DATES: Applicable March 8, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Hall-Eastman or Samuel 
Brummitt, AD/CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1468 
or (202) 482-7851, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 14, 2020, Commerce published its Preliminary 
Determination.\1\ On December 22, 2020, Commerce released its Post-
Preliminary Decision.\2\ In addition to the Government of Brazil, the 
mandatory respondents in this investigation are Companhia Brasileiro de 
Aluminio (CBA) and Novelis do Brasil Ltda. (Novelis Brasil). In the 
Preliminary Determination, and in accordance with section 705(a)(1) of 
the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), 
Commerce aligned the final countervailable duty (CVD) determination 
with the final antidumping duty determination.\3\
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    \1\ See Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Brazil: Preliminary 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final 
Determination with Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 85 FR 49634 
(August 14, 2020) (Preliminary Determination), and accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Countervailing Duty Investigation of 
Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Brazil: Post-Preliminary Decision 
Memo,'' dated December 22, 2020 (Post-Preliminary Decision).
    \3\ See Preliminary Determination, 85 FR at 49634.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\4\ 
The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made 
available to the public via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). 
ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov. In 
addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can 
be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. 
The signed and electronic versions of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Negative Determination of the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Brazil,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum).
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2019, through 
December 31, 2019.

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are aluminum sheet from 
Brazil. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation Commerce received scope 
comments from interested parties. Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum to address these comments.\5\ We received comments

[[Page 13290]]

from interested parties on the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, 
which we address in the Final Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ Commerce is 
not modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Preliminary 
Determination. See Appendix I for the final scope of the investigation.
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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determinations,'' dated October 6, 2020 (Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Bahrain, 
Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, 
Korea, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, 
and Turkey: Scope Comments Final Decision Memorandum,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Final Scope 
Decision Memorandum).
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Verification

    Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verification of the 
information relied upon in making its final determination in this 
investigation. However, we took additional steps in lieu of an on-site 
verification to verify the information relied upon in making this final 
determination, in accordance with section 782(i) of the Act.\7\
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    \7\ See Commerce's Letters, ``Questionnaire in Lieu of 
Verification for Companhia Brasileira de Alumino;'' and 
``Questionnaire in Lieu of Verification for Novelis do Brasil 
Ltda.'' dated December 2, 2020; see also CBA's Letter, ``Common 
Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Brazil: Questionnaire in Lieu of 
Verification,'' dated December 10, 2020; and Novelis Brasil's 
Letter, ``Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Brazil: Novelis do Brasil 
Response to Questionnaire In Lieu of Verification,'' dated December 
9, 2020.
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Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received

    The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in 
the case and rebuttal briefs that were submitted by parties in this 
investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For 
a list of the issues raised by interested parties and addressed in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum, see Appendix II to this notice.

Methodology

    Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section 
701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, 
Commerce determines that there is a subsidy, i.e. , a financial 
contribution by 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 final determination, see the Issues 
and 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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    In making this final determination, Commerce relied, in part, on 
facts available pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act. Additionally, as 
discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, because one or more 
respondents did not act to the best of their ability in responding to 
our requests for information, we drew adverse inferences, where 
appropriate, in selecting from among the facts otherwise available, 
pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act. For further information, see the 
section ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences'' in 
the accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our review and analysis of the comments received from 
parties, we made certain changes to the subsidy rate calculations for 
CBA. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.

Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated countervailable 
subsidy rates exist:

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                  Company                    Subsidy rate  (ad valorem)
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Companhia Brasileiro de Aluminio.\9\        0.22 percent (de minimis)
Novelis do Brasil Ltda \10\...............  0.75 percent (de minimis).
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    Commerce has not calculated an all-others rate because it has not 
reached an affirmative final determination.
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    \9\ Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-owned 
with CBA: Votorantim S.A. and its holding company; Votorantim 
Comercializadora de Energia Ltda.; CBA Machadinho 
Gera[ccedil][atilde]o de Energia Ltda.; and CBA Energia 
Participa[ccedil][otilde]es S.A.
    \10\ Commerce has found the following company to be cross-owned 
with Novelis: Novelis Inc.
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Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
and analysis performed in this final determination within five days of 
any public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within 
five days of the date of the publication of this notice in proceeding 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Suspension of Liquidation

    As a result of our Preliminary Determination, and pursuant to 
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, we instructed U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of 
subject merchandise as described in the scope of the investigation 
section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on August 
14, 2020, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in 
the Federal Register. In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, we 
issued instructions to CBP to discontinue the suspension of liquidation 
of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, on or 
after December 12, 2020, but to continue the suspension of liquidation 
of all entries from August 14, 2020, through December 11, 2020 for CBA 
and all producers/exporters not individually examined. Because Commerce 
has made a final negative determination of countervailing subsidies 
with regard to the subject merchandise, Commerce will direct CBP to 
refund or cancel all estimated duties deposited or securities posted as 
a result of the suspension of liquidation.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission of our final determination. As our final 
determination is negative, this proceeding is terminated in accordance 
with section 735(c)(2) of the Act.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to 
Administrative Protective Order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 
written notification of the return/destruction of APO materials or 
conversion to judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to 
comply with the regulations and terms of an APO is a violation which is 
subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: March 1, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are common alloy 
aluminum sheet, which is a flat-rolled aluminum product having a 
thickness of 6.3 mm or less, but greater than 0.2 mm, in coils or 
cut-to-length, regardless of width. Common alloy sheet within the 
scope of this investigation includes both not clad aluminum sheet, 
as well as multi-alloy,

[[Page 13291]]

clad aluminum sheet. With respect to not clad aluminum sheet, common 
alloy sheet is manufactured from a 1XXX-, 3XXX-, or 5XXX-series 
alloy as designated by the Aluminum Association. With respect to 
multi-alloy, clad aluminum sheet, common alloy sheet is produced 
from a 3XXX-series core, to which cladding layers are applied to 
either one or both sides of the core. The use of a proprietary alloy 
or non-proprietary alloy that is not specifically registered by the 
Aluminum Association as a discrete 1XXX-, 3XXX-, or 5XXX-series 
alloy, but that otherwise has a chemistry that is consistent with 
these designations, does not remove an otherwise in-scope product 
from the scope.
    Common alloy sheet may be made to ASTM specification B209-14 but 
can also be made to other specifications. Regardless of 
specification, however, all common alloy sheet meeting the scope 
description is included in the scope. Subject merchandise includes 
common alloy sheet that has been further processed in a third 
country, including but not limited to annealing, tempering, 
painting, varnishing, trimming, cutting, punching, and/or slitting, 
or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of this investigation if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the common alloy sheet.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation is aluminum can 
stock, which is suitable for use in the manufacture of aluminum 
beverage cans, lids of such cans, or tabs used to open such cans. 
Aluminum can stock is produced to gauges that range from 0.200 mm to 
0.292 mm, and has an H-19, H-41, H-48, H-39, or H-391 temper. In 
addition, aluminum can stock has a lubricant applied to the flat 
surfaces of the can stock to facilitate its movement through 
machines used in the manufacture of beverage cans. Aluminum can 
stock is properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) subheadings 7606.12.3045 and 7606.12.3055.
    Where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is 
within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual 
measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions 
set for the above.
    Common alloy sheet is currently classifiable under HTSUS 
subheadings 7606.11.3060, 7606.11.6000, 7606.12.3096, 7606.12.6000, 
7606.91.3095, 7606.91.6095, 7606.92.3035, and 7606.92.6095. Further, 
merchandise that falls within the scope of this investigation may 
also be entered into the United States under HTSUS subheadings 
7606.11.3030, 7606.12.3015, 7606.12.3025, 7606.12.3035, 
7606.12.3091, 7606.91.3055, 7606.91.6055, 7606.92.3025, 
7606.92.6055, 7607.11.9090. Although the HTSUS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Application of Adverse Facts Available (AFA) Concerning the 
Specificity of the Ex-Tarifario and Lei do Bem Programs
V. Subsidies Valuation
VI. Analysis of Programs
VII. Analysis of Comments
    Comment 1: Whether Commerce Applied Appropriate Negligibility 
and De Minimis Thresholds
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce Correctly Analyzed Benefit for the 
Integrated Drawback Program
    Comment 3: Whether the Integrated Drawback Program Provides 
Excessive Remission
    Comment 4: Whether Furnas' Sales of Electricity to Companhia 
Brasileiro de Aluminio (CBA) are a Countervailable Subsidy
    Comment 5: Whether the Ex-Tarifario Program Provides a Financial 
Contribution and Is Specific
    Comment 6: Whether Commerce Was Correct To Apply Adverse Facts 
Available (AFA) To Find the Lei do Bem Program De Facto Specific
    Comment 7: Whether the BNDES Finame Program Is Specific
    Comment 8: Whether the Espirito Santo ICMS Reduction Program Is 
Specific or Tied to Non-Subject Merchandise
VIII. Recommendation

 [FR Doc. 2021-04724 Filed 3-5-21; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P