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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 198 (Friday, October 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82566-82569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23565]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-580-882]

Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the Republic of 
Korea: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of 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 were provided to producers 
and exporters of certain cold-rolled steel flat products (cold-rolled 
steel) from the Republic of Korea (Korea). The period of review (POR) 
is January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. In addition, Commerce is 
rescinding the review, in part, with respect to 45 companies. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable October 11, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samuel Evans, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office IX, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2420.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On November 15, 2023, based on timely requests for review, Commerce 
initiated this administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) 
order on

[[Page 82567]]

cold-rolled steel from Korea.\1\ On December 18, 2023, Commerce 
selected Hyundai Steel Company (Hyundai Steel) and POSCO/POSCO 
International Corporation (POSCO) as the mandatory respondents in this 
review.\2\ On May 9, 2024, Commerce extended the deadline for the 
preliminary results of this review.\3\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce 
tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceedings by seven 
days.\4\ The deadline for the preliminary results is now October 4, 
2024.
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    \1\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 78308 (November 15, 2023).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated December 18, 
2023.
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of 2022 Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated 
May 9, 2024.
    \4\ 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.\5\ 
A list of topics discussed 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 http://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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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022: 
Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the Republic of 
Korea,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order 6
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    \6\ See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Brazil, 
India, and the Republic of Korea: Amended Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Countervailing Duty Order (the 
Republic of Korea) and Countervailing Duty Orders (Brazil and 
India), 81 FR 64436 (September 20, 2016) (Order).
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    The merchandise covered by the Order is cold-rolled steel from 
Korea. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Partial Rescission of Administrative Review

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if a party who requested 
the review withdraws the request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation of the requested review in the 
Federal Register. On February 13, 2024, the petitioners withdrew their 
requests for review by the 90-day withdrawal deadline for the companies 
identified in Appendix II.\7\ Because the petitioners timely withdrew 
their requests for a review of these companies, and no other party 
requested a review of them, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), 
Commerce is rescinding this review, in part, with respect to these 
companies.
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    \7\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Partial Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated February 13, 2024, at 1-3.
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    Furthermore, 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.\8\ 
Normally, upon completion of an administrative review, the suspended 
entries are liquidated at the antidumping duty assessment rate 
calculated for the review period.\9\ Therefore, for an administrative 
review of a company to be conducted, there must be a suspended entry 
that Commerce can instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
liquidate at the antidumping duty assessment rate calculated for the 
POR.\10\
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    \8\ See, e.g., Dioctyl Terephthalate from the Republic of Korea: 
Rescission of Antidumping Administrative Review; 2021-2022, 88 FR 
24758 (April 24, 2023); see also Certain Carbon and Alloy Steel Cut-
to Length Plate from the Federal Republic of Germany: Recission of 
Antidumping Administrative Review; 2020-2021, 88 FR 4157 (January 
24, 2023).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).
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    On December 20, 2023, we notified parties, and invited comment, of 
our intent to rescind this administrative review with respect to 
certain companies because there were no suspended entries of subject 
merchandise produced or exported by these companies during the POR.\11\ 
No party commented on the Intent to Rescind Memorandum. Therefore, in 
the absence of any suspended entries of subject merchandise from the 
three companies identified in Appendix II, we are rescinding the 
administrative review for the three companies in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(3).
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    \11\ See Memorandum, ``Notice of Intent to Rescind Review, In 
Part,'' dated December 20, 2023 (Intent to Rescind Memorandum).
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(l)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each 
of the subsidy programs found 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.\12\ For a full description of the 
methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \12\ 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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Rate for Non-Examined Company

    The Act and Commerce's regulations do not address the establishment 
of a rate to apply to companies not selected for individual examination 
when Commerce limits its examination in an administrative review 
pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act. Generally, Commerce looks to 
section 705(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for 
calculating the all-others rate in a CVD investigation, for guidance 
when determining the rate for companies which were not selected for 
individual examination in an administrative review. Section 777A(e)(2) 
of the Act provides that ``the individual countervailable subsidy rates 
determined under subparagraph (A) shall be used to determine the all-
others rate under section 705(c)(5) {of the Act{time} .'' Section 
705(c)(5)(A) of the Act states that for companies not investigated, in 
general, we will determine an all-others rate by weight averaging the 
countervailable subsidy rates established for each of the companies 
individually investigated, excluding zero and de minimis rates or any 
rates based entirely on facts available.
    Accordingly, to determine the rate for companies not selected for 
individual examination, Commerce's practice is to weight average the 
net subsidy rates for the selected mandatory respondents, excluding 
rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
available.\13\ In this administrative review, Commerce calculated 
preliminary individual estimated countervailable subsidy rates for 
Hyundai Steel and POSCO that are not zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts otherwise available. Therefore, Commerce 
preliminarily calculated the rate assigned to KG Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. 
using a weighted average of the individual estimated subsidy rates 
calculated for the examined respondents using each company's public 
ranged

[[Page 82568]]

values for the merchandise under consideration.\14\
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    \13\ See, e.g., Certain Pasta from Italy: Final Results of the 
13th (2008) Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 37386, 
37387 (June 29, 2010).
    \14\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally 
calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates 
calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average of the 
estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents; and 
(C) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for 
the examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S. 
sale values for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then 
compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) as 
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. 
See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, 
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances 
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53662 
(September 1, 2010), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum 
at Comment 1. As complete publicly ranged sales data were available, 
Commerce based the review-specific rate on the publicly ranged sales 
data of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of the 
data, see Memorandum, ``Calculation of Subsidy Rate for Company Not 
Selected for Individual Examination,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the net 
countervailable subsidy rates for the period January 1, 2022, through 
December 31, 2022, to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                            (percent ad
                                                             valorem)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSCO/POSCO International Corporation \15\..............            1.48
Hyundai Steel Company \16\..............................            2.21
KG Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd................................            1.73
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
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 the Federal Register in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
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    \15\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-owned with 
POSCO: POSCO Chemical Co., Ltd., POSCO M-Tech, Pohang Scrap 
Recycling Distribution Center Co., Ltd., POSCO Nippon Steel RHF 
Joint Venture Co., Ltd., POSCO Holdings, and POSCO Mobility 
Solutions. We note that POSCO has an affiliated trading company 
through which it exported certain subject merchandise, POSCO 
International Corporation (POSCO International). POSCO International 
was not selected as a mandatory respondent but was examined in the 
context of POSCO and POSCO International's subsidies are accounted 
for in POSCO's total subsidy rate.
    \16\ As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-owned with 
Hyundai Steel: Hyundai Green Power Co., Ltd. and Hyundai ITC Co., 
Ltd.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case 
briefs to Commerce no later than 30 days after the date of publication 
of this notice. 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.\17\ 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.\18\
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    \17\ 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 Procedures).
    \18\ See 19 351.309(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.\19\ 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).\20\
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    \19\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \20\ See APO and Service Procedures.
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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 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. Oral presentations at the 
hearing will be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If a request 
for a hearing is made, Commerce will inform parties of the scheduled 
date for the hearing.\21\
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    \21\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    Unless the deadline in extended, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h), we intend 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 in 
the Federal Register.

Assessment Rates

    Consistent with section 751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(2), upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall 
determine, and CBP shall assess, countervailing duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review. 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).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties in the amount indicated above with regard to shipments of 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of 
this review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP to 
continue to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties at 
the most recent company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the 
company, as appropriate. These cash deposit instructions, when imposed, 
shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these preliminary results in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: October 4, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the 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. Subsidies Valuation Information
V. Benchmarks and Interest Rates
VI. Analysis of Programs
VII. Recommendation

[[Page 82569]]

Appendix II

Rescission Based on Withdrawal of Review Requests

1. AJU Steel Co., Ltd.
2. Amerisource Korea
3. Amerisource International
4. BC Trade
5. Busung Steel Co., Ltd.
6. Cenit Co., Ltd.
7. Daewoo Logistics Corp.
8. Dai Yang Metal Co., Ltd.
9. DK GNS Co., Ltd.
10. Dongbu Incheon Steel Co., Ltd.
11. Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd.
12. Dong Jin Machinery
13. Dongkuk Industries Co., Ltd.
14. Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd.
15. Eunsan Shipping and Air Cargo Co., Ltd.
16. Euro Line Global Co., Ltd.
17. Golden State Corp.
18. GS Global Corp.
19. Hanawell Co., Ltd.
20. Hankum Co., Ltd.
21. Hyosung TNC Corp.
22. Hyuk San Profile Co., Ltd.
23. Iljin NTS Co., Ltd.
24. Iljin Steel Corp.
25. Jeen Pung Industrial Co., Ltd.
26. JS Steel Co., Ltd.
27. JT Solution
28. Kolon Global Corporation.
29. Nauri Logistics Co., Ltd.
30. Okaya (Korea) Co., Ltd.
31. PL Special Steel Co., Ltd.
32. Samsung C&T Corp.
33. Samsung STS Co., Ltd.
34. SeAH Steel Corp.
35. SM Automotive Ltd.
36. SK Networks Co., Ltd.
37. Taihan Electric Wire Co., Ltd.
38. TGS Pipe Co., Ltd.
39. TI Automotive Ltd.
40. Topco Global Co., Ltd.
41. Xeno Energy
42. Young Steel Co., Ltd.

Rescission Based on No Suspended Entries

43. Hyundai Group;
44. POSCO C&C Co., Ltd.;
45. POSCO Daewoo Corp.

 [FR Doc. 2024-23565 Filed 10-10-24; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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