[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 112 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26955-26957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12477]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-869]


Diffusion-Annealed, Nickel-Plated Flat-Rolled Steel Products From 
Japan: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 
2016-2017

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that sales of subject merchandise by Toyo Kohan Co., Ltd. (Toyo Kohan) 
and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metals Corporation (NSSMC) were made at 
less than normal value during the period of review (POR) May 1, 2016, 
through April 30, 2017. Interested parties are invited to comment on 
these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable June 11, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Moses Song, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5041.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 1, 2017, Commerce published a notice of opportunity to 
request an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on 
certain nickel-plated, flat-rolled steel from Japan.\1\ On May 22, 
2017, Toyo Kohan requested that Commerce conduct an administrative 
review of its sales to the United States during the POR.\2\ On May 30, 
2017, the petitioner, Thomas Steel Strip Corporation (Thomas Steel or 
the petitioner), requested that Commerce conduct administrative reviews 
of Toyo Kohan and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC).\3\ 
On July 6, 2017, in response to these timely requests, and in 
accordance with section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act) and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(1)(i), Commerce published a notice of 
initiation of an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on 
certain nickel-plated, flat-rolled steel from Japan with respect to 
both Toyo Kohan and NSSMC.\4\
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    \1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review, 82 FR 20315 (May 1, 2017).
    \2\ See Letter from Toyo Kohan to Commerce regarding ``Toyo 
Kohan's Request for Antidumping Administrative Review, Diffusion-
Annealed Nickel-Plated Flat-Rolled Steel Products from Japan,'' 
dated May 22, 2017.
    \3\ See Letter from Thomas Steel to Commerce regarding 
``Diffusion-Annealed Nickel-Plated Flat-Rolled Steel from Japan: 
Request for Third Administrative Review of Antidumping Order,'' 
dated May 30, 2017.
    \4\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 82 FR 31292, 31294 (July 6, 2017) 
(Initiation Notice).
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    Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by 
the closure of the Federal Government from January 20 through 22, 2018. 
The revised deadline for the preliminary results of this review is June 
4, 2018.\5\
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    \5\ See Memorandum for The Record from Christian Marsh, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of 
the Federal Government'' (Tolling Memorandum), dated January 23, 
2018. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been 
extended by 3 days.
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Scope of the Order

    The diffusion-annealed, nickel-plated flat-rolled steel products 
included in this order are flat-rolled, cold-reduced steel products, 
regardless of chemistry; whether or not in coils; either plated or 
coated with nickel or nickel-based alloys and subsequently annealed 
(i.e., ``diffusion-annealed''); whether or not painted, varnished or 
coated with plastics or other metallic or nonmetallic substances; and 
less than or equal to 2.0 mm in nominal thickness. For purposes of this 
order, ``nickel-based alloys'' include all nickel alloys with other 
metals in which nickel accounts for at least 80 percent of the alloy by 
volume.
    Imports of merchandise included in the scope of this order are 
classified primarily under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS) subheadings 7212.50.0000 and 7210.90.6000, but may also 
be classified under HTSUS subheadings 7210.70.6090, 7212.40.1000, 
7212.40.5000, 7219.90.0020, 7219.90.0025, 7219.90.0060, 7219.90.0080, 
7220.90.0010, 7220.90.0015, 7225.99.0090, or 7226.99.0180. The 
foregoing HTSUS subheadings are provided only for convenience and 
customs purposes. The written description of the scope of this order is 
dispositive.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(2) of the Act. For Toyo Kohan, export price is calculated in 
accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal value is calculated in 
accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full description of the 
methodology underlying our conclusions, see the memorandum from

[[Page 26956]]

James Maeder, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for AD/CVD 
Operations, performing the duties of Deputy Assistant Secretary for AD/
CVD Operations, to Gary Taverman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for AD/CVD 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, titled ``Decision 
Memorandum for Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review: Diffusion-Annealed, Nickel-Plated Flat-Rolled Steel Products 
from Japan; 2016-2017'' (Preliminary Decision Memorandum), which is 
issued concurrent with and hereby adopted by 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 to ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov and is available to all parties in the Central Records 
Unit, Room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. In 
addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can 
be accessed directly on the internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is attached as an Appendix to this notice. The signed 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic versions of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Application of Adverse Facts Available

    Pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act, we are preliminarily relying 
upon facts otherwise available to assign a weighted-average dumping 
margin to NSSMC in this review because NSSMC did not respond to our AD 
Questionnaire.\6\ Therefore, we preliminarily find that necessary 
information is not on the record of this review, and that NSSMC 
withheld information requested by Commerce, failed to provide 
information by the specified deadlines, and significantly impeded the 
conduct of the review. Further, we preliminarily determine that NSSMC 
failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its ability to comply 
with requests for information and, thus, we are preliminarily applying 
total AFA to NSSMC, in accordance with section 776(b) of the Act. For a 
full description of the methodology underlying our conclusion regarding 
the application of AFA, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \6\ See Letter from Commerce to NSSMC, regarding the antidumping 
duty questionnaire, dated July 18, 2017 (AD Questionnaire).
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Preliminary Results of Review

    We preliminarily determine that, for the period May 1, 2016, 
through April 30, 2017, the following weighted-average dumping margins 
exist for the respondents:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
                                                              average
                  Producer or exporter                    dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Toyo Kohan Co., Ltd.....................................            4.53
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation...............           77.70
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce will disclose to parties to the proceeding the 
calculations performed in connection with these preliminary results of 
review within five days after the date of publication of this 
notice.\7\ Interested parties may submit case briefs to Commerce in 
response to these preliminary results no later than 30 days after the 
publication of these preliminary results.\8\ Rebuttal briefs, the 
content of which is limited to the issues raised in the case briefs, 
must be filed within five days from the deadline date for the 
submission of case briefs.\9\
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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b)
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1) and (2).
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    Parties who submit arguments in this proceeding are requested to 
submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief 
summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities.\10\ Executive 
summaries should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes. 
Case and rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS.\11\ In order to 
be properly filed, ACCESS must successfully receive an electronically-
filed document in its entirety by 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Case and 
rebuttal briefs must be served individually on all interested 
parties.\12\
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \11\ See generally 19 CFR 351.303.
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.303(f).
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    Within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice, 
interested parties may request a public hearing on arguments raised in 
the case and rebuttal briefs.\13\ Unless Commerce specifies otherwise, 
the hearing, if requested, will be held two days after the date for 
submission of rebuttal briefs.\14\ Hearing requests should be 
electronically submitted to Commerce via ACCESS.\15\ Commerce's 
electronic records system, ACCESS, must successfully receive an 
electronically-filed document in its entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time 
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. 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 and rebuttal briefs.\16\ Parties will be 
notified of the time and location of the hearing.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d)(1).
    \15\ See generally, 19 CFR 351.303.
    \16\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    Commerce intends to publish the final results of this 
administrative review, including the results of its analysis of issues 
addressed in any case or rebuttal brief, no later than 120 days after 
publication of the preliminary results, unless extended.\17\
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    \17\ See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act; 19 CFR 351.213(h).
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Assessment Rates

    Upon completion of this administrative review, Commerce shall 
determine, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, 
antidumping duties on all appropriate entries.\18\ If a respondent's 
weighted-average dumping margin is not zero or de minimis in the final 
results of this review, we will calculate importer-specific assessment 
rates on the basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping 
calculated for an importer's examined sales and the total entered value 
of such sales in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1). If a 
respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is zero or de minimis in 
the final results of review, then we will instruct CBP to

[[Page 26957]]

liquidate that respondent's entries without regards to antidumping 
duties in accordance with the Final Modification for Reviews, i.e., 
``{w{time} here the weighted-average margin of dumping for the exporter 
is determined to be zero or de minimis, no antidumping duties will be 
assessed.'' \19\ Further, if an importer-specific assessment rate is 
zero or de minimis, then we will instruct CBP to liquidate that 
importer's entries without regards to antidumping duties.\20\ The final 
results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of 
antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by the final 
results of this review and for future deposits of estimated duties, 
where applicable.
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    \18\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
    \19\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-
Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping 
Proceedings: Final Modification, 77 FR 8101, 8102 (February 14, 
2012) (Final Modification for Reviews).
    \20\ See 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2).
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    For entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by Toyo 
Kohan for which it did not know its merchandise was destined for the 
United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at 
the all-others rate if there is no rate for intermediate company(ies) 
involved in the transaction.\21\ The all-others rate is 45.42 
percent.\22\
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    \21\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).
    \22\ See Diffusion-Annealed, Nickel-Plated Flat-Rolled Steel 
Products from Japan: Antidumping Duty Order, 79 FR 30816, 30817 (May 
29, 2014) (Order).
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    We intend to issue liquidation instructions to CBP 15 days after 
publication of the final results of this review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this administrative review for all 
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for companies 
subject to this review will be equal to the weighted-average dumping 
margin established in the final results of this administrative review 
(except, if the rate is zero or de minimis, no cash deposit will be 
required); (2) for merchandise exported by a producer or exporter not 
covered in this review but covered in a prior, completed segment of 
this proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-
specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter 
is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the less-than-
fair value investigation but the producer is, the cash deposit rate 
will be the rate established a prior, completed segment of this 
proceeding for the most recent period for the producer of the subject 
merchandise; or (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers or 
exporters will be the all-others rate of 45.42 percent established in 
the investigation.\23\ These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, 
shall remain in effect until further notice.
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    \23\ See Order, 79 FR at 30817.
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Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing this notice in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(1).

    Dated: June 4, 2018.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
    A. Application of Facts Available
    B. Use of Adverse Inference
    C. Selection and Corroboration of the Adverse Facts Available 
Rate
V. Comparisons to Normal Value
VI. Product Comparisons
VII. Discussion of Methodology
    A. Determination of Comparison Method
    B. Results of the Differential Pricing Analysis
    C. Date of Sale
    D. Export Price
    E. Normal Value
    1. Home Market Viability
    2. Level of Trade
    3. Sales to Affiliated Customers
    4. Cost of Production Analysis
    5. Cost of Production Test
    6. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Comparison Market Prices
    7. Price-to-Constructed Value Comparisons
    8. Constructed Value
    F. Currency Conversion
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-12477 Filed 6-8-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P