3118 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 15 / Tuesday, January 23, 2018 / Notices 

1See Stainless Steel Flanges from India and the 

People’s Republic of China: Initiation of 

Countervailing Duty Investigations, 82 FR 42654 

(September 11, 2017) (Initiation Notice). 

2See Stainless Steel Flanges from India and the 

People’s Republic of China: Postponement of 

Preliminary Determination of Countervailing Duty 

Investigations, 82 FR 49786 (October 27, 2017). 

3See Memorandum, ‘‘Decision Memorandum for 

the Preliminary Determination of the 

Countervailing Duty Investigation of Stainless Steel 

Flanges from India,’’ dated concurrently with, and 

hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum). 

4See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 

Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997). 

5See Initiation Notice. 

6See 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. 

7See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. 

the entire span between the longitudinal 

edges of the ribbon for the entire length of 

the ribbon; (4) ribbon formed into a bow 

without a tab or other means for attaching the 

bow to an object using adhesives, where the 

bow has: (a) An outer layer that is either 

flocked or made of fabric, and (b) a flexible 

metal wire at the base that is suitable for 

attaching the bow to a Christmas tree or other 

object by twist-tying; (5) elastic ribbons, 

meaning ribbons that elongate when 

stretched and return to their original 

dimension when the stretching load is 

removed; (6) ribbons affixed as a decorative 

detail to non-subject merchandise, such as a 

gift bag, gift box, gift tin, greeting card or 

plush toy, or affixed (including by tying) as 

a decorative detail to packaging containing 

non subject merchandise; (7) ribbons that are 

(a) affixed to non-subject merchandise as a 

working component of such non-subject 

merchandise, such as where the ribbon 

comprises a book marker, bag cinch, or part 

of an identity card holder, or (b) affixed 

(including by tying) to non-subject 

merchandise as a working component that 

holds or packages such non-subject 

merchandise or attaches packaging or 

labeling to such non-subject merchandise, 

such as a ‘‘belly band’’ around a pair of 

pajamas, a pair of socks or a blanket; (8) 

imitation raffia made of plastics having a 

thickness not more than one (1) mil when 

measured in an unfolded/untwisted state; 

and (9) ribbons in the form of bows having 

a diameter of less than seven-eighths (7⁄8) of 

an inch, or having a diameter of more than 

16 inches, based on actual measurement. For 

purposes of this exclusion, the diameter of a 

bow is equal to the diameter of the smallest 

circular ring through which the bow will 

pass without compressing the bow. 

Further, excluded from the scope of the 

antidumping duty order are any products 

covered by the existing antidumping duty 

order on polyethylene terephthalate film, 

sheet, and strip (PET Film) from the People’s 

Republic of China (China). See Polyethylene 

Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip from 

Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and 

the United Arab Emirates: Antidumping Duty 

Orders and Amended Final Determination of 

Sales at Less Than Fair Value for the United 

Arab Emirates, 73 FR 66595 (November 10, 

2008). 

Merchandise covered by this investigation 

is currently classified in the Harmonized 

Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 

under subheadings 3920.20.0015 and 

3926.40.0010. Merchandise covered by this 

investigation also may enter under 

subheadings 3920.10.0000; 3920.20.0055; 

3920.30.0000; 3920.43.5000; 3920.49.0000; 

3920.62.0050; 3920.62.0090; 3920.69.0000; 

3921.90.1100; 3921.90.1500; 3921.90.1910; 

3921.90.1950; 3921.90.4010; 3921.90.4090; 

3926.90.9996; 5404.90.0000; 9505.90.4000; 

4601.99.9000; 4602.90.0000; 5609.00.3000; 

5609.00.4000; and 6307.90.9889. These 

HTSUS subheadings are provided for 

convenience and customs purposes; the 

written description of the scope of this 

investigation is dispositive. 

[FR Doc. 2018–01147 Filed 1–22–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–533–878] 

Stainless Steel Flanges From India: 

Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing 

Duty Determination, Preliminary 

Affirmative and Alignment of Final 

Determination With Final Antidumping 

Duty Determination 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(Commerce) preliminarily determines 

that countervailable subsidies are being 

provided to producers and exporters of 

stainless steel flanges from India. The 

period of investigation is January 1, 

2016, through December 31, 2016. 

DATES: Applicable January 23, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ryan Mullen or Chelsey Simonovich, 

AD/CVD Operations, Office V, 

Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482–5260 or 

(202) 482–2000, respectively. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This preliminary determination is 

made in accordance with section 703(b) 

of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 

(the Act). Commerce published the 

notice of initiation of this investigation 

on September 11, 2017.1 On October 27, 

2017, Commerce postponed the 

preliminary determination of this 

investigation and the revised deadline is 

now January 16, 2018.2 For a complete 

description of the events that followed 

the initiation of this investigation, see 

the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum.3 A list of topics 

discussed in the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum is included as Appendix 

II 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, 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 at http://enforcement.trade.gov/ 

frn/. The signed and electronic versions 

of the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum are identical in content. 

Scope of the Investigation 

The products covered by this 

investigation are stainless steel flanges 

from India. For a complete description 

of the scope of this investigation, see 

Appendix I. 

Scope Comments 

In accordance with the preamble to 

Commerce’s regulations,4 the Initiation 

Notice set aside a period of time for 

parties to raise issues regarding product 

coverage, (i.e. , scope).5 No interested 

party commented on the scope of the 

investigation as it appeared in the 

Initiation Notice. 

Methodology 

Commerce is conducting this 

investigation in accordance with section 

701 of 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.6

In making these findings, we relied, in 

part, on facts available and, because it 

finds that one or more respondents did 

not act to the best of their ability to 

respond to Commerce’s requests for 

information, it drew an adverse 

inference where appropriate in selecting 

from among the facts otherwise 

available.7 For further information, see 

‘‘Use of Facts Otherwise Available and 

Adverse Inferences’’ in the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum. 

Preliminary Affirmative Determination 

of Critical Circumstances 

In accordance with section 703(e)(1) 

of the Act, Commerce preliminarily 

determines that critical circumstances 

exist with respect to imports of stainless 

steel flanges from India for Bebitz 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 15 / Tuesday, January 23, 2018 / Notices 3119 

8See Letter to the Secretary from the Petitioners, 

re: Petitioners’’’ Request to Align the Countervailing 

Duty Final Determination with the Antidumping 

Duty Final Determination, dated December 18, 

2017. 

9As discussed in the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum, Commerce has found the following 

companies to be cross-owned with Bebitz Flanges 

Works: Viraj Profiles Limited. 

10As discussed in the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum, Commerce has found the following 

companies to be cross-owned with Echjay Forgings 

Private Limited: Echjay Forging Industries Private 

Limited. 

11See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 

(for general filing requirements). 

Flanges Works, Echjay Forgings Private 

Limited, and all other exporters or 

producers not individually examined. 

For a full description of the 

methodology and results of Commerce’s 

analysis, see the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum. 

Alignment 

As noted in the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum, in accordance with 

section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the 

final countervailing duty (CVD) 

determination in this investigation with 

the final determination in the 

companion antidumping duty (AD) 

investigation of stainless steel flanges 

from India based on a request made by 

the petitioners.8 Consequently, the final 

CVD determination will be issued on 

the same date as the final AD 

determination, which is currently 

scheduled to be issued no later than 

May 28, 2018, unless postponed. 

All-Others Rate 

Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of 

the Act provide that in the preliminary 

determination, Commerce shall 

determine an estimated all-others rate 

for companies not individually 

examined. This rate shall be an amount 

equal to the weighted average of the 

estimated subsidy rates established for 

those companies individually 

examined, excluding any zero and de 

minimis rates and any rates based 

entirely under section 776 of the Act. In 

this investigation, Commerce 

preliminarily assigned a rate based 

entirely on facts available to Bebitz 

Flanges Works. Therefore, the only rate 

that is not zero, de minimis or based 

entirely on facts otherwise available is 

the rate calculated for Echjay Forgings 

Private Limited. Consequently, the rate 

calculated for Echjay Forgings Private 

Limited is also assigned as the rate for 

all-other producers and exporters. 

Preliminary Determination 

Commerce preliminarily determines 

that the following estimated 

countervailable subsidy rates exist: 

Company Subsidy rate 

(percent) 

Bebitz Flanges Works 9 ........ 239.61 

Echjay Forgings Private Limited 10 ................................. 5.00 

All-Others .............................. 5.00 

Suspension of Liquidation 

In accordance with section 

703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, 

Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 

liquidation of entries of subject 

merchandise as described in the scope 

of the investigation section entered, or 

withdrawn from warehouse, for 

consumption on or after the date of 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register. Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 

351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP 

to require a cash deposit equal to the 

rates indicated above. 

Section 703(e)(2) of the Act provides 

that, given an affirmative determination 

of critical circumstances, any 

suspension of liquidation shall apply to 

unliquidated entries of merchandise 

entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 

for consumption on or after the later of 

(a) the date which is 90 days before the 

date on which the suspension of 

liquidation was first ordered, or (b) the 

date on which notice of initiation of the 

investigation was published. Commerce 

preliminarily finds that critical 

circumstances exist for imports of 

subject merchandise produced and/or 

exported by Bebitz Flanges Works, 

Echjay Forgings Private Limited, and 

all-other producers and exporters. In 

accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of 

the Act, the suspension of liquidation 

shall apply to unliquidated entries of 

merchandise from the exporters/ 

producers identified in this paragraph 

that were entered, or withdrawn from 

warehouse, for consumption on or after 

the date which is 90 days before the 

publication of this notice. 

Disclosure 

Commerce intends to disclose its 

calculations and analysis performed to 

interested parties in this preliminary 

determination within five days of its 

public announcement, or if there is no 

public announcement, within five days 

of the date of this notice in accordance 

with 19 CFR 351.224(b). 

Verification 

As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the 

Act, Commerce intends to verify the 

information relied upon in making its 

final determination. 

Public Comment 

Case briefs or other written comments 

may be submitted to the Assistant 

Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance no later than seven days 

after the date on which the last 

verification report is issued in this 

investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to 

issues raised in case briefs, may be 

submitted no later than five days after 

the deadline date for case briefs.11

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 

(d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or 

rebuttal briefs in this investigation 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. 

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), 

interested parties who wish to request a 

hearing, limited to issues raised in the 

case and rebuttal briefs, must submit a 

written request to the Assistant 

Secretary for Enforcement and 

Compliance, U.S. Department of 

Commerce within 30 days after the date 

of publication of this notice. Requests 

should contain the party’s name, 

address, and telephone number, the 

number of participants, whether any 

participant is a foreign national, and a 

list of the issues to be discussed. If a 

request for a hearing is made, Commerce 

intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. 

Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20230, at a time and date to be 

determined. Parties should confirm by 

telephone the date, time, and location of 

the hearing two days before the 

scheduled date. 

International Trade Commission 

Notification 

In accordance with section 703(f) of 

the Act, Commerce will notify the 

International Trade Commission (ITC) of 

its determination. If the final 

determination is affirmative, the ITC 

will determine before the later of 120 

days after the date of this preliminary 

determination or 45 days after the final 

determination. 

Notification to Interested Parties 

This determination is issued and 

published pursuant to sections 703(f) 

and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 

351.205(c). 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
3120 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 15 / Tuesday, January 23, 2018 / Notices 

1See Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber from the 

People’s Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative 

Countervailing Duty Determination, 82 FR 51396 

(November 6, 2017) (Preliminary Determination) 

and accompanying Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum (Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum). 

2See Commerce Memorandum, ‘‘Issues and 

Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination 

in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Fine 

Denier Polyester Staple Fiber from the People’s 

Republic of China,’’ dated concurrently with this 

determination and hereby adopted by this notice 

(Issues and Decision Memorandum). 

3See Commerce Memorandum, ‘‘Fine Denier 

Polyester Staple Fiber from the People’s Republic 

of China, India, Republic of Korea, and Taiwan: 

Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the 

Preliminary Determinations,’’ dated December 8 31, 

2017 (Preliminary Scope Memorandum); see also 

See Commerce Memorandum, ‘‘Due Dates for Case 

and Rebuttal Briefs Regarding the Scope,’’ dated 

December 11, 2017. 

4See Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber from 

India and the People’s Republic of China: Initiation 

of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 82 FR 29029 

(June 27, 2017) (Initiation Notice). 

Dated: January 16, 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 I—Scope of the Investigation 

The products covered by this investigation 

are certain forged stainless steel flanges, 

whether unfinished, semi-finished, or 

finished (certain forged stainless steel 

flanges). Certain forged stainless steel flanges 

are generally manufactured to, but not 

limited to, the material specification of 

ASTM/ASME A/SA182 or comparable 

domestic or foreign specifications. Certain 

forged stainless steel flanges are made in 

various grades such as, but not limited to, 

304, 304L, 316, and 316L (or combinations 

thereof). The term ‘‘stainless steel’’ used in 

this scope refers to an alloy steel containing, 

by actual weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon 

and 10.5 percent or more of chromium, with 

or without other elements. 

Unfinished stainless steel flanges possess 

the approximate shape of finished stainless 

steel flanges and have not yet been machined 

to final specification after the initial forging 

or like operations. These machining 

processes may include, but are not limited to, 

boring, facing, spot facing, drilling, tapering, 

threading, beveling, heating, or compressing. 

Semi-finished stainless steel flanges are 

unfinished stainless steel flanges that have 

undergone some machining processes. 

The scope includes six general types of 

flanges. They are: (1) Weld neck, generally 

used in butt-weld line connection; (2) 

threaded, generally used for threaded line 

connections; (3) slip-on, generally used to 

slide over pipe; (4) lap joint, generally used 

with stub-ends/butt-weld line connections; 

(5) socket weld, generally used to fit pipe 

into a machine recession; and (6) blind, 

generally used to seal off a line. The sizes 

and descriptions of the flanges within the 

scope include all pressure classes of ASME 

B16.5 and range from one-half inch to 

twenty-four inches nominal pipe size. 

Specifically excluded from the scope of this 

investigation are cast stainless steel flanges. 

Cast stainless steel flanges generally are 

manufactured to specification ASTM A351. 

The country of origin for certain forged 

stainless steel flanges, whether unfinished, 

semi-finished, or finished is the country 

where the flange was forged. Subject 

merchandise includes stainless steel flanges 

as defined above that have been further 

processed in a third country. The processing 

includes, but is not limited to, boring, facing, 

spot facing, drilling, tapering, threading, 

beveling, heating, or compressing, and/or any 

other processing that would not otherwise 

remove the merchandise from the scope of 

the investigation if performed in the country 

of manufacture of the stainless steel flanges. 

Merchandise subject to the investigation is 

typically imported under headings 

7307.21.1000 and 7307.21.5000 of the 

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

States (HTS). While HTS subheadings and 

ASTM specifications are provided for 

convenience and customs purposes, the 

written description of the scope is 

dispositive. 

Appendix II—List of Topics Discussed 

in the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Background 

III. Alignment 

IV. Scope Comments 

V. Scope of the Investigation 

VI. Injury Test 

VII. Preliminary Determination of Critical 

Circumstances 

VIII. Subsidies Valuation 

IX. Benchmarks and Discount Rates 

X. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and 

Adverse Inferences 

XI. Analysis of Programs 

XII. Calculation of the All-Others Rate 

XIII. ITC Notification 

XIV. Disclosure and Public Comment 

XV. Verification 

XVI. Conclusion 

[FR Doc. 2018–01146 Filed 1–22–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–570–061] 

Countervailing Duty Investigation of 

Fine Denier Polyester Staple Fiber 

From the People’s Republic of China: 

Final Affirmative Determination 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(Commerce) determines that 

countervailable subsidies are being 

provided to producers and exporters of 

fine denier polyester staple fiber (fine 

denier PSF) from the People’s Republic 

of China (China). The period of 

investigation is January 1, 2016, through 

December 31, 2016. For information on 

the estimated subsidy rates, see the 

‘‘Final Determination and Suspension of 

Liquidation’’ section of this notice. 

DATES: Applicable January 23, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Yasmin Bordas or Davina Friedmann, 

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) 482–3813 or 

(202) 482–0698, respectively. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Commerce published the Preliminary 

Determination on November 6, 2017.1 A 

summary of the events that occurred 

since Commerce published the 

Preliminary Determination, as well as a 

full discussion of the issues raised by 

parties for this final determination, may 

be found in the Issues and Decision 

Memorandum 2 issued concurrently 

with this notice. The Issues and 

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, 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 Issues and 

Decision Memorandum can be accessed 

directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/ 

frn/. The signed Issues and Decision 

Memorandum and the electronic 

version are identical in content. 

Scope Comments 

In accordance with the Preliminary 

Scope Memorandum, Commerce 

provided parties an opportunity to 

provide comments on all issues 

regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).3

Certain interested parties commented on 

the scope of the investigation as it 

appeared in the Initiation Notice.4 As a 

result, the scope of this investigation 

was modified for the preliminary 

determination. No further changes to the 

scope of the investigation were made to 

this final determination. For a summary 

of the product coverage comments and 

rebuttal responses submitted to the 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES