[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46222-46223]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21341]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-830]


Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances 
Review: Antidumping Duty Order on Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire 
Rod From Mexico

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Department) is simultaneously 
initiating and issuing the preliminary results of a changed 
circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty order on carbon and 
certain alloy steel wire rod (wire rod) from Mexico to determine 
whether ArcelorMittal Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (AMM) is the successor-in-
interest to ArcelorMittal Las Truchas, S.A. de C.V. (AMLT). Based on 
the information on the record, we preliminarily determine that AMM is 
the successor-in-interest to AMLT. Interested parties are invited to 
comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable October 4, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Haynes, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5139.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On October 29, 2002, the Department published in the Federal 
Register the antidumping duty order on wire rod from Mexico.\1\ On May 
19, 2016, the Department published its final results of the 2013-2014 
administrative review of the Order, in which it assigned AMLT a 2.59 
percent dumping margin.\2\ On August 15, 2017, AMM, a foreign producer 
of the subject merchandise, requested that the Department initiate and 
conduct a changed circumstance review to determine that AMM is the 
successor-in-interest to AMLT for the purposes of the Order.\3\ On 
September 12, 2017, AMM filed a letter stating it conferred with 
counsel for interested parties to this proceeding, specifically, 
counsel for Nucor Corporation, counsel for Gerdau Ameristeel USA, 
Charter Steel, and Keystone Steel, and counsel for Deacero S.A.P.I. de 
C.V. and Deacero USA (a group which included domestic interested 
parties/petitioners to the Order), at which time they stated they would 
not oppose the August 15, 2017, request.\4\ AMM further requested that 
the Department initiate and conduct an expedited changed circumstances 
review.\5\
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    \1\ See Notice of Antidumping Duty Orders: Carbon and Certain 
Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, 
Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine, 67 FR 65945 (October 29, 2002) 
(Order).
    \2\ See Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire Rod From Mexico: 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 81 FR 31592 
(May 19, 2016).
    \3\ See letter from AMM, ``Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire 
Rod from Mexico: Request for Changed Circumstances Review,'' dated 
August 15, 2017 (CCR Request).
    \4\ See letter from AMM, ``Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire 
Rod from Mexico: Supplement to Request for Changed Circumstances 
Review,'' dated September 12, 2017 (CCR Supplement).
    \5\ Id.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the Order is carbon and certain alloy 
steel wire rod. The product is currently classified under the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) item numbers 
7213.91.3000, 7213.91.3010, 7213.91.3011, 7213.91.3015, 7213.91.3020, 
7213.91.3090, 7213.91.3091, 7213.91.3092, 7213.91.3093, 7213.91.4500, 
7213.91.4510, 7213.91.4590, 7213.91.6000, 7213.91.6010, 7213.91.6090, 
7213.99.0030, 7213.99.0031, 7213.99.0038, 7213.99.0090, 7227.20.0000, 
7227.20.0010, 7227.20.0020, 7227.20.0030, 7227.20.0080, 7227.20.0090, 
7227.20.0095, 7227.90.6010, 7227.90.6020, 7227.90.6030, 7227.90.6035, 
7227.90.6050, 7227.90.6051, 7227.90.6053, 7227.90.6058, 7227.90.6059, 
7227.90.6080, and 7227.90.6085 of the HTSUS. Although the HTSUS numbers 
are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written product 
description remains dispositive.\6\
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    \6\ For a complete description of the scope of the order, see 
Memorandum from James Maeder, Senior Director performing the duties 
of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Operations, to Carole Showers, Executive Director, Office of 
Policy, performing the duties of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire 
Rod from Mexico Preliminary Decision Memorandum of Changed 
Circumstances Review,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted 
by, these preliminary results (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), and the Department's regulations (19 CFR 351.216 and 
351.221(c)(3)), the Department will conduct a changed circumstances 
review upon receipt of information concerning, or a request from an 
interested party for a review of, an order which shows changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order. Generally, 
in the past, the Department has used CCRs to address the applicability 
of cash deposit rates after there have been changes in the name or 
structure of a respondent, such as a merger or spinoff (i.e., 
successor-in-interest, or successorship determinations).\7\
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    \7\ See, e.g., Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether 
or Not Assembled Into Modules, from the People's Republic of China: 
Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 81 FR 91909 (December 
19, 2016) (Solar Cells PRC 2016 CCR Final).

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[[Page 46223]]

    Specifically, AMM states that as of May 2, 2017, AMLT, which 
received its own cash deposit rate as a mandatory respondent in the 
most recently completed administrative review of the Order, entered 
into a purchase and sale agreement (Agreement) with AMM, under which 
nearly all AMLT's assets and commercial relationships were sold to 
AMM.\8\ Thus, consistent with Department practice, we find the 
information submitted by AMM demonstrates changed circumstances 
sufficient to warrant a review.\9\ Therefore, in accordance with 
section 751(b)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d), the Department is 
initiating a changed circumstances review to determine whether AMM is 
the successor-in-interest to AMLT.
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    \8\ See CCR Request at 2.
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.216(d).
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Preliminary Results

    When it concludes that expedited action is warranted, the 
Department may publish the notice of initiation and preliminary results 
of a CCR in a single notice.\10\ The Department has combined the notice 
of initiation and preliminary results in successor-in-interest cases 
when sufficient documentation has been provided supporting the request 
to make a preliminary determination.\11\ In this instance, because the 
record contains information necessary to support the request for a 
preliminary determination, we find that expedited action is warranted, 
and we are combining the notice of initiation and the notice of 
preliminary results, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii).
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii).
    \11\ See, e.g., Initiation and Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review: Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, from the 
People's Republic of China, 81 FR 76561 (November 3, 2016), 
unchanged in Solar Cells PRC 2016 CCR Final.
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    In a CCR, we generally consider a company to be the successor to 
another company for antidumping (AD) cash deposit purposes if the 
operations of the successor are not materially dissimilar from those of 
its predecessor.\12\ In making this determination, the Department 
examines a number of factors including, but not limited to, changes in: 
(1) Management; (2) production facilities; (3) suppliers; and (4) 
customer base.\13\ While no one or several of these factors will 
necessarily provide a dispositive indication of succession, the 
Department will generally consider one company to be the successor to 
another company if its resulting operation is essentially the same as 
that of its predecessor.\14\ Thus, if the evidence demonstrates that, 
with respect to the production and sale of the subject merchandise, the 
new company operates as the same business entity as the prior company, 
the Department will assign the new company the cash deposit rate of its 
predecessor.\15\
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    \12\ Id.
    \13\ See Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review: Multilayered Wood Flooring from the 
People's Republic of China, 79 FR 48117, 48118 (August 15, 2014), 
unchanged in Multilayered Wood Flooring from the People's Republic 
of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 79 FR 58740 
(September 30, 2014).
    \14\ Id.
    \15\ See Solar Cells PRC 2016 CCR Final, 81 FR at 91910.
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    In its CCR Request, AMM provided evidence demonstrating that its 
operations are not materially dissimilar from those of its predecessor, 
AMLT.\16\ Specifically, AMM and AMLT are both owned by the same parent 
company, and the record shows that the same employees and management 
control the company both before and after the acquisition.\17\ Further, 
AMM demonstrates that it simply integrated AMLT's long steel products 
production facilities into its company's assets and has not made any 
material changes to the production processes.\18\ Finally, the record 
confirms that there have not been any material changes to the company's 
suppliers,\19\ nor to the customer base,\20\ as a result of the merger. 
Based on the foregoing findings, which are explained in greater detail 
in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, the Department preliminarily 
determines that AMM is the successor-in-interest to AMLT and, as such, 
it is entitled to AMLT's AD cash deposit rate with respect to entries 
of subject merchandise. Should our final results remain the same as 
these preliminary results, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection to suspend liquidation of entries of wire rod products 
produced and/or exported by AMM at the AD cash-deposit rate applicable 
to AMLT, effective the date of publication of the final results.
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    \16\ See generally CCR Request.
    \17\ Id. at 4-5 and Exhibits B and C.
    \18\ Id. at 6-7 and Exhibit A.
    \19\ Id. at 7-8 and Exhibit A.
    \20\ Id. at 8-9.
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Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice.\21\ Rebuttal briefs, 
which must be limited to issues raised in such briefs, may be filed not 
later than seven days after the date of publication of this notice.\22\ 
Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this changed 
circumstances review are requested to submit with each argument: (1) A 
statement of the issue; and (2) a brief summary of the argument with an 
electronic version included.\23\
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    \21\ See 19 CFR 321.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \22\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1) and (2).
    \23\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of 
publication of this notice.\24\ Hearing requests should contain the 
following information: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone 
number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the 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, 
parties will be notified of the time and date for the hearing to be 
held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230 in a room to be determined.\25\
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    \24\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \25\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    All submissions, with limited exceptions, must be filed 
electronically using Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). An 
electronically filed document must be received successfully in its 
entirety by 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the due date. Documents 
excepted from the electronic submission requirements must be filed 
manually (i.e., in paper form) with the APO/Dockets Unit in Room 18022 
and stamped with the date and time of receipt by 5 p.m. ET on the due 
date.\26\
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    \26\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Electronic Filing Procedures: Administrative Protective Order 
Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011).
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    Unless extended, consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), we intend to 
issue the final results of this changed-circumstances review no later 
than 270 days after the date on which this review was initiated or 
within 45 days if all parties agree to the outcome of the review. We 
intend to issue and publish this initiation and preliminary results 
notice in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act 
and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221(c)(3) of the Department's regulations.

    Dated: September 28, 2017.
Carole Showers,
Executive Director, Office of Policy performing the duties of the 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2017-21341 Filed 10-3-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P