[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 135 (Friday, July 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32632-32634]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15013]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-351-845]


Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products From Brazil: Preliminary 
Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2016-2017

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain hot-
rolled steel flat products from Brazil. The period of review (POR) is 
March 22, 2016, through Septemer 30, 2017. This review covers six 
producers/exporters of the subject merchandise. Commerce selected one 
mandatory respondent, Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN), for 
individual examination. We preliminarily determine that sales of 
subject merchandise have been made below normal value (NV) during the 
POR. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary 
results.

DATES: Applicable July 13, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Zukowski, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0189.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this investigation are certain hot-rolled 
steel flat products from Brazil. For a complete description of the 
scope of this order, please see the accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\1\
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    \1\ See the Memorandum, ``Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products 
from Brazil: Decision Memorandum for Preliminary Results of the 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2016-2017'' (dated 
concurrently with this Federal Register notice) (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with sections 
751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For a full 
description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    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, 
and 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 found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content. A list of the topics discussed in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum is attached as the Appendix to this notice.

Adverse Facts Available

    Pursuant to section 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce has 
preliminarily relied upon facts otherwise available with adverse 
inferences (AFA) for CSN because this respondent did not respond to 
Commerce's antidumping duty questionnaire. For a complete explanation 
of the methodology and analysis underlying the preliminary application 
of AFA, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Adjustment for Export Subsidies

    In the original investigation, we subtracted from the final dumping 
margin of 33.14 percent the portion of CSN's countervailing duty rate 
attributable to export subsidies (4.07 percent) in order to calculate 
the cash-deposit rate of 29.07 percent.\2\ Since the publication of the 
Antidumping Duty Order, we have not conducted an

[[Page 32633]]

administrative review of the countervailing duty order on Hot-Rolled 
Steel from Brazil.\3\ Therefore, the portion of the countervailing duty 
rate attributable to export subsidies currently in effect for CSN is 
4.07 percent. Further, imports from CSN during the POR were subject to 
countervailing duties to offset export subsidies of 4.07 percent or 
more. As such, we have adjusted the dumping margin to ensure that, in 
accordance with section 772(c)(1)(C) of the Act, we do not collect 
duties attributable to export subsidies twice.
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    \2\ See Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia, 
Brazil, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, the Republic 
of Turkey, and the United Kingdom: Amended Final Affirmative 
Antidumping Determinations for Australia, the Republic of Korea, and 
the Republic of Turkey and Antidumping Duty Orders, 81 FR 67962 
(October 3, 2016) (Antidumping Duty Order).
    \3\ This is the first administrative review following the 
completion of the investigation.
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Rate for Non-Selected Companies

    In accordance with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal 
Circuit's decision in Albemarle Corp. v. United States,\4\ we are 
applying to the non-selected companies the adjusted dumping margin we 
are preliminarily applying to CSN in this administrative review.\5\ 
This is the only rate determined in this review for an individual 
respondent, and thus, it is applicable to the non-selected companies 
under section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act. For a detailed discussion, see 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \4\ See Albemarle Corp. v. United States, 821 F.3d 1345 (Fed. 
Cir. 2016).
    \5\ See, e.g., Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the 
People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review; 2015-2016, 83 FR 17527 (April 20, 2018).
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Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of this review, Commerce preliminarily determines that 
for the period March 22, 2016, through Septemer 30, 2017, the following 
weighted-average dumping margins exist: \6\
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    \6\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum for more detail.

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                                     Weighted-average  Rate adjusted for
     Exporter and/or producer         dumping margin    export subsidies
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Aperam South America..............              34.28              30.21
ArcelorMittal Brasil..............              34.28              30.21
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional....              34.28              30.21
Companhia Siderurgica Suape.......              34.28              30.21
Marcegaglia do Brasil.............              34.28              30.21
Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas                    34.28              30.21
 Gerais SA........................
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Disclosure

    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with the preliminary results within five days 
of the date of publication of the notice of preliminary results in the 
Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, there 
are no calculations to disclose because, in accordance with section 776 
of the Act, we have relied on the application of AFA to CSN, the only 
mandatory respondent subject to this review, for purposes of these 
preliminary results for CSN. Because the AFA dumping margin is based 
solely on a dumping margin applied in a prior segment of this 
proceeding, there are no calculations to disclose.

Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice.\7\ Rebuttal briefs, 
limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no later than 
five days after the time limit for filing case briefs.\8\ Parties who 
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are encouraged 
to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief 
summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities.\9\ Case and 
rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS.\10\
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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(ii).
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
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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. An electronically-filed document must be received successfully 
in its entirety by ACCESS by 5 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days after 
the date of publication of this notice.\11\ Hearing 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 issues raised in the 
briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, parties will be notified of 
the time and date for the hearing to be held at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.\12\
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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \12\ [thinsp]Id.
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    Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of its analysis of arguments raised in 
any written briefs, not later than 120 days after the publication of 
these preliminary results in the Federal Register, unless otherwise 
extended.\13\
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    \13\ See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.
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Assessment Rates

    Upon completion of the administrative review, Commerce shall 
determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, 
antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered by this 
review.\14\ 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.\15\ We intend to issue instructions to CBP 15 
days after the publication date of the final results of this review.
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b).
    \15\ See section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act.
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Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective 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 each specific 
company listed above will be that established in the final results of 
this review, except if the rate is less than 0.50 percent and, 
therefore, de minimis within the meaning of 19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), in 
which case the cash deposit rate will be zero; (2) for previously 
investigated companies not participating in this review, the cash 
deposit will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the 
most recently completed segment of this proceeding in which the company 
participated; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, 
or the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV)

[[Page 32634]]

investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will be 
the rate established for the most recent segment for the manufacturer 
of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other 
manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 29.07 percent, the all-
others rate established in the LTFV investigation.\16\ These deposit 
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further 
notice.
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    \16\ See Antidumping Duty Order.
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Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) 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 the Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: July 6, 2018.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and 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 Adverse Inferences
    A. Use of Facts Available
    B. Application of Facts Available With an Adverse Inference
    C. Selection and Corroboration of Adverse Facts Available Rate
    D. Rate for Non-Selected Companies
V. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2018-15013 Filed 7-12-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P