[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8407-8408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02423]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-428-848]


Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks From the Federal Republic of 
Germany: Preliminary Results and Partial Recission of the 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to BGH 
Edelstahl Siegen GmbH (BGH), a producer and exporter of forged steel 
fluid end blocks (fluid end blocks) from the Federal Republic of 
Germany (Germany). The period of review (POR) is January 1, 2022, 
through December 31, 2022.

DATES: Applicable February 7, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Subler or Rachel Accorsi, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6241 or (202) 
482-3149, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 31, 2023, we received a timely request for an 
administrative review from the petitioner \1\ and BGH.\2\ On March 14, 
2023, Commerce published a notice of initiation of an administrative 
review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on fluid end blocks from 
Germany.\3\ On April 20, 2023, we selected BGH and Schmiedewerke 
Gr[ouml]ditz GmbH (SWG) as mandatory respondents in this administrative 
review.\4\ On September 27, 2023, Commerce extended the deadline for 
the preliminary results of this review until January 31, 2024.\5\
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    \1\ The petitioner is the FEB Fair Trade Coalition, which is 
comprised of the Ellwood City Forge Company, Ellwood Quality Steels 
Company, Ellwood National Steel Company, and A. Finkl & Sons.
    \2\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request for Administrative Review 
of Countervailing Duty Order,'' dated January 31, 2023; see also 
BGH's Letter, ``Request for Administrative Review,'' dated January 
31, 2023.
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 15642 (March 14, 2023); see also 
Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from the People's Republic of China, 
the Federal Republic of Germany, India, and Italy: Countervailing 
Duty Orders, and Amended Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination for the People's Republic of China, 86 FR 7535 
(January 29, 2021) (Order).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated April 20, 
2023.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated 
September 27, 2023.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\6\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as an appendix to 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 is available to 
registered users at https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete 
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results and Partial Rescission of the Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review; 2022: Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks from the 
Federal Republic of Germany,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the Order are fluid end blocks from 
Germany. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part

    On April 28, 2023, the petitioner timely withdrew its requests for 
an administrative review with respect to Schmiedewerke Gr[ouml]ditz 
GmbH (SWG), voestalpine Bohler Welding Group GmbH (VBG), Buderus 
Edelstahl GmbH (Buderus), Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH 
(Edelstahlwerke), and Saarschmiede GmbH FreiformSchmiede (SSF).\7\ On 
May 3, 2023, Commerce notified interested parties that it had suspended 
the questionnaire response deadlines for SWG based on the petitioners' 
timely withdrawal of its requests for an administrative review with 
respect to all companies except for BGH.\8\ As no other party requested 
a review of the above-referenced five companies, in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.213(d)(1), we are rescinding this administrative review with 
respect to SWG, VBG, Buderus, Edelstahlwerke, and SSF. For additional 
information regarding this determination, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \7\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitioners' Withdrawal of 
Request for 2022 Administrative Review for Certain Entities,'' dated 
April 28, 2023.
    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Suspension of Questionnaire Response 
Deadline,'' dated May 3, 2023.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this CVD administrative review in accordance 
with section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act). For each of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, 
Commerce preliminarily 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.\9\ For a full 
description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \9\ 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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Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the 
following net countervailable subsidy rate for the POR January 1, 2022, 
through December 31, 2022:

[[Page 8408]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Subsidy
                                                                 rate
                          Company                            (percent ad
                                                               valorem)
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BGH Edelstahl Siegen GmbH\10\..............................         2.54
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Disclosure and Public Comment
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    \10\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce found the following companies to be cross-owned with BGH 
Edelstahl Siegen GmbH: Boschgotthardsh[uuml]tte O. Breyer GmbH, BGH 
Edelstahlwerke GmbH, RPS Rohstoff-, Press- und Schneidbetrieb Siegen 
GmbH, and SRG Schrott und Recycling GmbH.
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    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to 
interested parties for these preliminary results within five days of 
any public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within 
five days of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.224(b).
    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.\11\ A timeline for 
the submission of case briefs and written comments will be notified to 
interested parties at a later date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after 
the date for filing case briefs.\12\ Interested parties who submit case 
briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table 
of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\13\
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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii); see also 19 CFR 351.303 for 
general filing requirements.
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective 
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 
2023) (APO and Service Final Rule).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an 
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In this review, we instead request that 
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, 
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\14\ Further, 
we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of 
each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We 
intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment 
summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will 
accompany the final results in this administrative review. We request 
that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the 
executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain 
of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 
351.303(f).\15\
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    \14\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \15\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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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. 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 briefs. An electronically filed 
hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by 
Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time 
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(3) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.

Final Results

    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2), Commerce intends to issue the final 
results of this administrative review, including the results of its 
analysis of the issues raised by the parties in any written briefs, no 
later than 120 days after the date of publication of these preliminary 
results.

Assessment Rate

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we preliminarily 
assigned a subsidy rate in the amount shown above for BGH. Upon 
completion of the administrative review, consistent with section 
751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2), Commerce shall 
determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, 
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered by this 
review.
    For the companies in which this review is rescinded, we will 
instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries 
at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties 
required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for 
consumption, during the period January 1, 2022, through December 31, 
2022, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(l)(i). We intend to issue 
assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date 
of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    For BGH, we intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP no 
earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results 
of this review in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at 
the U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will 
direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties 
to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within 
90 days of publication).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    In accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends, 
upon publication of the final results, to instruct CBP to collect cash 
deposits of estimated countervailing duties in the amount shown for BGH 
(and its cross-owned affiliates) listed above on shipments of subject 
merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the date of publication of the final results of this 
administrative review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP 
to continue to collect cash deposits at the most recent company-
specific, or all others rate (i.e., 6.29 percent),\16\ applicable to 
the company. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.
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    \16\ See Order, 86 FR at 7536.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results are issued and published pursuant to 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: January 31, 2024.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Partial Recission of Review
IV. Scope of the Order
V. Subsidies Valuation Information
VI. Interest Rate Benchmarks
VII. Analysis of Programs
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-02423 Filed 2-6-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P