[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74884-74887]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20751]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-871]


Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From India: Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, and Rescission, in Part; 2022-
2023

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily finds 
that producers and/or exporters subject to this administrative review 
made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value (NV) during 
the period of review (POR) August 1, 2022, through July 31, 2023. We 
are also rescinding the review with respect to

[[Page 74885]]

certain companies. Interested parties are invited to comment on these 
preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable September 13, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Baker or Theodora Mattei, 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) 482-2924 or (202) 482-4834, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 24, 2017, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
antidumping duty order on finished carbon steel flanges from India.\1\ 
On August 2, 2023, Commerce published a notice of opportunity to 
request an administrative review of the Order.\2\ On October 18, 2023, 
Commerce initiated an administrative review of the antidumping duty 
order on finished carbon steel flanges from India, in accordance with 
section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).\3\ On 
December 11, 2023, Commerce selected Norma Group \4\ and R. N. Gupta & 
Co., Ltd. (RNG) as mandatory respondents in this administrative 
review.\5\ On April 10, 2024, in accordance with section 751(a)(3)(A) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2), Commerce extended the time period 
for issuing these preliminary results until no later than August 30, 
2024.\6\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this 
administrative proceeding by seven days.\7\ The deadline for these 
preliminary results is now September 6, 2024.
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    \1\ See Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India and Italy: 
Antidumping Duty Orders, 82 FR 40136 (August 24, 2017) (Order).
    \2\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review and Join Annual Inquiry Service List, 88 FR 50840 (August 2, 
2023).
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 71829 (October 18, 2023).
    \4\ In prior segments of this proceeding, we determined that 
Norma (India) Limited, USK Exports Private Limited, Uma Shanker 
Khandelwal & Co., and Bansidhar Chiranjilal were affiliated and 
should be treated as a single entity (Norma Group). See, e.g., 
Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India: Preliminary Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final 
Determination, 82 FR 9719 (February 8, 2017), and accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum, at 4-5, unchanged in Finished 
Carbon Steel Flanges from India: Final Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value, 82 FR 29483 (June 29, 2017). In this review, 
Norma (India) Limited and its affiliated entities have affirmed that 
the factual basis on which Commerce made its prior determinations 
has not changed. See Norma Group's Letter, ``2nd Supplemental 
Response Section A, C and D of Anti-Dumping duty Original 
Questionnaire,'' dated June 26, 2024, at S2-3. Therefore, Commerce 
continues to treat these four companies as a single entity.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated December 11, 
2023 (Respondent Selection Memorandum). The Respondent Selection 
Memorandum incorrectly identified the number of companies on which 
we initiated as 41; we initiated the review on 42 companies after 
collapsing the four Norma Group companies as described above.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,'' dated April 10, 
2024.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\8\ 
A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included as Appendix I 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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    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Administrative Review of the Antidumping Duty Order 
on Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India; 2022-2023,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the Order is finished carbon steel 
flanges. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission, in Part, of Administrative Review

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), Commerce will rescind an 
administrative review when there are no entries of subject merchandise 
during the POR for which liquidation is suspended.\9\ Normally, upon 
completion of an administrative review, the suspended entries are 
liquidated at the assessment rate calculated for the review period.\10\ 
Therefore, for an administrative review of a company to be conducted, 
there must be a reviewable, suspended entry to be liquidated at the 
newly calculated assessment rate.\11\
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    \9\ See, e.g., Large Diameter Welded Pipe from Greece: 
Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2022-2023, 89 
FR 4274 (January 23, 2024).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.212(d)(3).
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    Based on our analysis of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
information, we determined that 27 companies had no entries of subject 
merchandise during the POR.\12\ On December 15, 2023, we notified 
parties that we intended to rescind this administrative review with 
respect to the 27 companies, because those companies had no reviewable, 
suspended entries of subject merchandise; and we invited parties to 
comment.\13\ No parties commented on the notification of intent to 
rescind the review, in part. Accordingly, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(3) and (d)(4), we are rescinding the administrative review 
with respect to the 27 companies (listed in Appendix III of this 
notice) that had no reviewable, suspended entries of subject 
merchandise during the POR.
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    \12\ See Appendix III (listing the 27 companies).
    \13\ See Memorandum, ``Intent to Rescind Administrative Review, 
in Part,'' dated December 15, 2023.
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    Additionally, Aditya Forge Limited (Aditya), withdrew its request 
for a review of its entries. Therefore, because Aditya was the only 
company that requested a review of Aditya's entries, and it timely 
withdrew its request, we are rescinding the review with respect to 
Aditya in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1).\14\
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    \14\ See Appendix III.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with sections 
751(a)(1)(B) and (2) of the Act. Export price is calculated in 
accordance with section 772 of the Act. NV is calculated in accordance 
with section 773 of the Act. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying these preliminary results, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.

Rate for Non-Selected Companies

    The Act and Commerce's regulations do not address the establishment 
of a rate to be applied to companies not selected for individual 
examination when Commerce limits its examination in an administrative 
review pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. Generally, Commerce 
looks to section 735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for 
calculating the all-others rate in a market economy investigation, for 
guidance when calculating the rate for companies which were not 
selected for individual examination in an administrative review. Under 
section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the all-others rate is normally ``an 
amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted average 
dumping margins established for exporters and producers individually 
investigated, excluding any

[[Page 74886]]

zero or de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely {on the 
basis of facts available{time} .''
    In this administrative review, we preliminarily calculated 
weighted-average dumping margins for Norma Group and RNG that are not 
zero, de minimis (i.e., less than 0.5 percent), or determined entirely 
on the basis of facts available. Accordingly, consistent with guidance 
in section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, Commerce is preliminarily assigning 
to the companies not individually examined a margin of 2.89 percent, 
which is the weighted average of the dumping margins calculated for 
Norma Group margin and RNG based on publicly ranged U.S. sales 
values.\15\ The companies not selected for individual examination are 
listed in Appendix II.
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    \15\ See Memorandum, ``Calculation of Margin for Respondents Not 
Selected for Individual Examination,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period August 1, 2022, 
through July 31, 2023:
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    \16\ See Appendix II for a list of companies not selected for 
individual examination.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-average
                  Producer/exporter                     dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
R. N. Gupta & Company Limited.......................                4.00
Norma (India) Limited/USK Exports Private Limited/                  1.14
 Uma Shanker Khandelwal & Co./Bansidhar Chiranjilal.
Non-Selected Companies \16\.........................                2.89
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
performed for these preliminary results within five days of the date of 
publication of this notice.\17\ Interested parties may submit case 
briefs no later than 30 days after the date of publication of this 
notice.\18\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, 
may be filed no later than seven days after the date for filing case 
briefs.\19\ 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.\20\
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    \17\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \18\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \19\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1) and (2).
    \20\ 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 briefs 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.\21\ Further, 
we request that interested parties limit their public executive summary 
of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We 
intend to use the public 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 public 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).\22\
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    \21\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \22\ See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other 
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final 
Rule, 88 FR 67069 (September 29, 2023).
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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, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
filed electronically via ACCESS, 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; 
(3) whether any participant is a foreign national; and (4) a list of 
the issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be 
limited to those raised in the respective case and rebuttal briefs.\23\ 
If a request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends to hold the 
hearing at a date and time to be determined. Parties should confirm the 
date and time of the hearing two days before the scheduled date. All 
briefs and hearing requests must be filed electronically using ACCESS 
and received successfully in their entirety by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time 
on the due date.
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    \23\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    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 our 
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 Rates

    Upon completion of this administrative review, Commerce shall 
determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, 
antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. If the weighted-average 
dumping margin for a mandatory respondent is not zero or de minimis in 
the final results of this review, we will calculate an importer-
specific assessment rate on the basis of the ratio of the total amount 
of dumping calculated for each importer's examined sales and the total 
entered value of such sales in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(1).\24\ If the weighted-average dumping margin is zero or de 
minimis in the final results of review, or if an importer-specific 
assessment rate is zero or de minimis, Commerce will instruct CBP to 
liquidate appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties.\25\ 
For entries of subject merchandise during the period of review produced 
by the respondents for which they did not know its merchandise was 
destined for the United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate 
unreviewed entries pursuant to the reseller policy, i.e., the 
assessment rate for such entries will be the all-others rate 
established in the investigation if there is no rate for the 
intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.\26\
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    \24\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-
Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping 
Proceedings: Final Modification, 77 FR 8101, 8103 (February 14, 
2012).
    \25\ Id., 77 FR at 8102-03; see also 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2).
    \26\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).
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    For the companies which were not selected for individual 
examination, we intend to assign an antidumping duty assessment rate 
equal to the weighted-average dumping margin determined for

[[Page 74887]]

the non-examined companies in the final results of review.
    For the companies for which the administrative review is rescinded, 
antidumping duties shall be assessed at a rate equal to the cash 
deposit of estimated antidumping duties required at the time of entry, 
or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i).
    Commerce intends 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). 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 
cash deposits of estimated antidumping duties, where applicable.\27\
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    \27\ See section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act.
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Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication in the Federal Register 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 
date of publication, 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 company-specific weighted-average dumping margin 
established in the final results of this administrative review; (2) for 
merchandise exported by a company not covered in this review but 
covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the cash deposit rate 
will continue to be the company-specific rate published in the 
completed segment 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, then the cash deposit 
rate will be the rate established in the most recently completed 
segment of the proceeding for the producer of the merchandise; and (4) 
the cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will 
continue to be 8.91 percent, the all-others rate established in the 
less-than-fair-value investigation.\28\ These cash deposit 
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further 
notice.
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    \28\ See Order, 82 FR at 40138.
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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)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping and/or countervailing 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 and/or countervailing 
duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping 
duties, and/or an increase in the amount of antidumping duties by the 
amount of countervailing duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results of review are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: September 6, 2024.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Rescission of Review, In Part
IV. Rates for Non-Examined Companies
V. Discussion of the Methodology
VI. Currency Conversion
VII. Recommendation

Appendix II

List of Companies Not Selected for Individual Examination

1. Balkrishna Steel Forge Pvt. Ltd.
2. C.D. Industries
3. Cetus Engineering Private Limited
4. Echjay Industries Pvt. Ltd.
5. JAI Auto Private Limited
6. Jiten Steel Industries.
7. Munish Forge Private Limited
8. R. D. Forge
9. Renin Piping Products
10. Rollwell Forge Engineering Components and Flanges
11. Rollwell Forge Pvt. Ltd.
12. Tirupati Forge Pvt. Ltd.; Tirupati Forge

Appendix III

Companies for Which Commerce Is Rescinding This Review

1. Adinath International
2. Aditya Forge Limited
3. Allena Group
4. Alloyed Steel
    5. Bebitz Flanges Works Private Limited
6. CHW Forge
7. CHW Forge Pvt. Ltd.
8. Citizen Metal Depot
9. Corum Flange
10. DN Forge Industries
11. Echjay Forgings Limited
12. Falcon Valves and Flanges Private Limited
13. Heubach International.
14. Hindon Forge Pvt. Ltd.
15. Kinnari Steel Corporation
16. M F Rings and Bearing Races Ltd
17. Mascot Metal Manufacturers
18. OM Exports
19. Punjab Steel Works
20. Raaj Sagar Steels
21. Ravi Ratan Metal Industries
22. Rolex Fittings India Pvt. Ltd
23. SHM (ShinHeung Machinery)
24. Siddhagiri Metal & Tubes
25. Sizer India
26. Steel Shape India
27. Sudhir Forgings Pvt. Ltd.
28. Umashanker Khandelwal Forging Limited

[FR Doc. 2024-20751 Filed 9-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P