[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 212 (Monday, November 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65184-65186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26076]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-552-819]


Certain Steel Nails From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment 
of Final Countervailing Duty Determination With Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of certain steel nails (nails) from the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam). The period of investigation is 
January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective Date: November 3, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sergio Balbontin or Thomas Schauer, 
AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
6478 and (202) 482-0410, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 25, 2014, the Department initiated 
this countervailing duty (CVD) investigation.\1\ On the same day, the 
Department also initiated an antidumping duty (AD) investigation of 
nails from Vietnam.\2\ On August 7, in response to a request from the 
Petitioner, Mid Continent Steel & Wire, Inc., the Department postponed 
the preliminary determinations in the CVD investigations.
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    \1\ See Certain Steel Nails From India, the Republic of Korea, 
Malaysia, the Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 79 FR 36014 (June 25, 2014).
    \2\ See Certain Steel Nails From India, the Republic of Korea, 
Malaysia, the Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigations, 79 FR 36019 (June 25, 2014).
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Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination

    In accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), and based on Petitioner's 
request, we are aligning the final CVD determination in this 
investigation with the final determination in the companion AD 
investigation of nails from Vietnam. 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 
March 2, 2015, unless postponed.

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain steel nails. 
For a complete description of the scope of the investigation, see 
Appendix 1 to this notice.

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this CVD investigation in accordance 
with section 701 of the Act. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\3\ The Preliminary

[[Page 65185]]

Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically 
via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (IA ACCESS). IA ACCESS is 
available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is 
available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, room 7046 of the 
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version 
of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the 
Internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic versions of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \3\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, 
regarding ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in 
the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Steel Nails from 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated a CVD rate for each individually investigated producer/
exporter of the subject merchandise.

Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation

    We preliminarily determine the countervailable subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Company                            Subsidy rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Region Industries Co., Ltd.............  8.35 percent.
United Nail Products Co., Ltd..........  0.17 percent (de minimis).
All Others.............................  8.35 percent.
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    In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (2) of the Act, we are 
directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation of 
all entries of nails from Vietnam that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of the publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register, and to require a cash deposit for 
such entries of merchandise in the amounts indicated above. For United 
Nail Products Co., Ltd., we are not ordering suspension of liquidation 
or the collection the cash deposits, because its countervailing duty 
rate is de minimis.
    In accordance with sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, for 
companies not investigated, we apply an ``all-others'' rate, which is 
normally calculated by weighting the subsidy rates of the individual 
companies selected as respondents by those companies' exports of the 
subject merchandise to the United States. The ``all-others'' rate does 
not include zero and de minimis rates or any rates based solely on the 
facts available. In this investigation, because we have only one rate 
that we can use to calculate the ``all-others'' rate (i.e., the rate 
for Region Industries Co., Ltd.), we have assigned that rate to ``all-
others.''

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with this preliminary 
determination within five days of its public announcement.\4\ 
Interested parties may submit case and rebuttal briefs,\5\ and request 
a hearing.\6\ For a schedule of the deadlines for filing case briefs, 
rebuttal briefs, and hearing requests, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \4\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c) and (d).
    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.510.
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    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: October 27, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix 1

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain steel 
nails having a nominal shaft length not exceeding 12 inches.\7\ 
Certain steel nails include, but are not limited to, nails made from 
round wire and nails that are cut from flat-rolled steel. Certain 
steel nails may be of one piece construction or constructed of two 
or more pieces. Certain steel nails may be produced from any type of 
steel, and may have any type of surface finish, head type, shank, 
point type and shaft diameter. Finishes include, but are not limited 
to, coating in vinyl, zinc (galvanized, including but not limited to 
electroplating or hot dipping one or more times), phosphate, cement, 
and paint. Certain steel nails may have one or more surface 
finishes. Head styles include, but are not limited to, flat, 
projection, cupped, oval, brad, headless, double, countersunk, and 
sinker. Shank styles include, but are not limited to, smooth, 
barbed, screw threaded, ring shank and fluted. Screw-threaded nails 
subject to this proceeding are driven using direct force and not by 
turning the nail using a tool that engages with the head. Point 
styles include, but are not limited to, diamond, needle, chisel and 
blunt or no point. Certain steel nails may be sold in bulk, or they 
may be collated in any manner using any material. If packaged in 
combination with one or more non-subject articles, certain steel 
nails remain subject merchandise if the total number of nails of all 
types, in aggregate regardless of size, is equal to or greater than 
25.
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    \7\ The shaft length of certain steel nails with flat heads or 
parallel shoulders under the head shall be measured from under the 
head or shoulder to the tip of the point. The shaft length of all 
other certain steel nails shall be measured overall.
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    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are certain steel 
nails packaged in combination with one or more non-subject articles, 
if the total number of nails of all types, in aggregate regardless 
of size, is less than 25.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are steel 
nails that meet the specifications of Type I, Style 20 nails as 
identified in Tables 29 through 33 of ASTM Standard F1667 (2013 
revision).
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are nails 
suitable for use in powder-actuated hand tools, whether or not 
threaded, which are currently classified under Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 7317.00.20.00 and 
7317.00.30.00.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are nails 
having a case hardness greater than or equal to 50 on the Rockwell 
Hardness C scale (HRC), a carbon content greater than or equal to 
0.5 percent, a round head, a secondary reduced-diameter raised head 
section, a centered shank, and a smooth symmetrical point, suitable 
for use in gas-actuated hand tools.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are 
corrugated nails. A corrugated nail is made up of a small strip of 
corrugated steel with sharp points on one side.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are thumb 
tacks, which are currently classified under HTSUS 7317.00.10.00.
    Certain steel nails subject to this investigation are currently 
classified under HTSUS subheadings 7317.00.55.02, 7317.00.55.03, 
7317.00.55.05, 7317.00.55.07, 7317.00.55.08, 7317.00.55.11, 
7317.00.55.18, 7317.00.55.19, 7317.00.55.20, 7317.00.55.30, 
7317.00.55.40, 7317.00.55.50, 7317.00.55.60, 7317.00.55.70, 
7317.00.55.80, 7317.00.55.90, 7317.00.65.30, 7317.00.65.60 and 
7317.00.75.00. Certain steel nails subject to this investigation 
also may be classified under HTSUS subheading 8206.00.00.00.
    While the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this 
investigation is dispositive.

Appendix 2

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination
IV. Scope Comments
V. Scope of the Investigation
VI. Injury Test
VII. Application of Countervailing Duty Law to Imports From Vietnam
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Analysis of Programs
X. United States International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
XI. Disclosure and Public Comment
XII. Verification

[[Page 65186]]

XIII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2014-26076 Filed 10-31-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P