[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 196 (Thursday, October 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47466-47469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22066]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-351-850]


Silicon Metal From Brazil: Preliminary Affirmative Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination, 
and Extension of Provisional Measures

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that silicon metal from

[[Page 47467]]

Brazil is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less 
than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 
2016, through December 31, 2016.

DATES: Applicable October 12, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert James or Jesus Saenz, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0649 or (202) 
482-8184, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The Department 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on April 4, 
2017.\1\ On August 1, 2017, the Department postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation and the revised deadline is now 
October 4, 2017.\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 included 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 https://access.trade.gov, 
and 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 the electronic versions of 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Silicon Metal from Australia, Brazil, and Norway, 82 FR 
16352 (April 4, 2017) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Silicon Metal from Australia, Brazil, and Norway: 
Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigations, 82 FR 35753 (August 1, 2017).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Silicon 
Metal from Brazil'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, 
this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is silicon metal from 
Brazil. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to the Department's regulations,\4\ 
the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice. After evaluating these comments, the Department 
preliminarily determines that modifying the scope language as it 
appeared in the Initiation Notice is not warranted. See the scope in 
Appendix I to this notice. However, the Department is inviting comment 
on one of the issues raised: The appropriate calculation methodology 
for determining the silicon content of out-of-scope products (i.e., 
silicon metal with a silicon content in excess of 99.99 percent), and, 
specifically, which impurities should be taken into account in that 
calculation. These comments are due no later than November 6, 2017, and 
rebuttal comments no later than November 13, 2017. For a summary of the 
product coverage comments submitted on the record of this proceeding, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \5\ See Initiation Notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. The Department has preliminarily relied on the 
facts otherwise available, in accordance with section 776(a)(1) of the 
Act, to determine an estimated weighted-average dumping margin for 
Palmyra do Brasil Ind[uacute]stria e Com[eacute]rcio de Sil[iacute]cio 
Met[aacute]lico e Recursos Naturais Ltda. (Palmyra do Brasil) (formerly 
known as Dow Corning Sil[iacute]cio do Brasil Ind[uacute]stria e 
Com[eacute]rcio Ltda. (Dow Corning Sil[iacute]cio)).\6\ Furthermore, 
pursuant to section 776(a) and (b) of the Act, the Department has 
preliminarily relied upon adverse facts available to determine an 
estimated weighted-aveage dumping margin for Ligas de Aluminio S.A. 
(LIASA). For a full description of the methodology underlying the 
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ On August 23, 2017 Dow Corning Sil[iacute]cio notified the 
Department that it had legally changed its name to Palmyra do 
Brasil. For further discussion of Dow Corning Sil[iacute]cio's name 
change to Palmyra do Brasil, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that 
in the preliminary determination the Department shall determine an 
estimated all-others rate for all exporters and producers not 
individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the 
weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
established for exporters and producers individually investigated, 
excluding any zero and de minimis margins, and any margins determined 
entirely under section 776 of the Act.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters and 
producers individually examined are zero, de minimis, or determined 
entirely under section 776 of the Act, then the Department may use any 
reasonable method to establish the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin for all other producers or exporters.
    The Department has preliminarily determined the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin for each of the individually examined 
respondents (i.e., Palmyra do Brasil and LIASA) entirely under section 
776 of the Act. Consequently, the only available rates for this 
preliminary determination are the dumping margins alleged in the 
Petition \7\ and are the dumping margins upon which we initiated this 
investigation. Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, the 
Department's practice under these circumstances is to calculate the 
``all-others'' rate as a simple average of the dumping margins alleged 
in the Petition.\8\ For a full

[[Page 47468]]

description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See Silicon Metal from Australia, Brazil, Kazakhstan and 
Norway: Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petition,'' dated March 
8, 2017 (the Petition).
    \8\ See, e.g. Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of 
Germany, 73 FR 21909, 21912 (April 23, 2008), unchanged in Notice of 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite 
from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 38986, 38987 (July 8, 
2008), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2; 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Raw 
Flexible Magnets From Taiwan, 73 FR 39673, 39674 (July 10, 2008); 
Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative Preliminary Determination of 
Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 79671 (December 31, 2013), 
unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod From Thailand: Final Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative Final Determination 
of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014); and 
Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Japan: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 82 FR 12796, 12797 
(March 7, 2017), unchanged in Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from 
Japan: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 82 FR 23195 (May 22, 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Estimated     Cash  deposit
                                             weighted-    rate (adjusted
                                              average        for export
            Exporter/producer                 dumping         subsidy
                                              margin        offset(s))
                                             (percent)       (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Palmyra do Brasil Ind[uacute]stria e               56.78       \9\ 56.24
 Com[eacute]rcio de Sil[iacute]cio
 Met[aacute]lico e Recursos Naturais
 Ltda. (formerly known as Dow Corning
 Sil[iacute]cio do Brasil
 Ind[uacute]stria e Com[eacute]rcio
 Ltda.).................................
Ligas de Aluminio S.A.--LIASA...........          134.92     \10\ 134.38
All-Others..............................           56.78      \11\ 56.24
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See Silicon Metal From Brazil: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of Final 
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 82 FR 37841 
(August 14, 2017), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
at 4-9; and Memorandum to the File from Jaron Moore, International 
Trade Compliance Analyst, ``Preliminary Margin Calculations--Silicon 
Metal from Brazil,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
    \10\ Id.
    \11\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, the Department 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix 
I, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register as 
discussed below. Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act 
and 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin, 
adjusted for export subsidy offset(s), as follows: (1) The cash deposit 
rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the company-
specific estimated weighted-average dumping margins determined in this 
preliminary determination; (2) if the exporter is not a respondent 
identified above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will 
be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin established for that producer of the subject merchandise; and 
(3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be 
equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for all other 
producers and exporters. These suspension of liquidation instructions 
will remain in effect until further notice.
    The Department normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated 
antidumping duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a 
companion countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding, when CVD provisional 
measures are in effect.
    Accordingly, as the Department preliminarily made an affirmative 
determination for countervailable export subsidies, the Department has 
offset the estimated weighted-average dumping margins by the 
appropriate CVD rate to determine the required cash deposit rates. The 
adjusted cash deposit rates may be found in the Preliminary 
Determination section above.
    Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation 
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV 
investigation, the Department will direct CBP to begin collecting 
estimated antidumping duty cash deposits unadjusted for countervailed 
export subsidies at the time that the provisional CVD measures expire. 
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.

Disclosure

    Normally, the Department discloses to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with a preliminary determination 
within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of the notice 
of preliminary determination in the Federal Register, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, the Department preliminarily 
determined estimated weighted-avearge dumping margins for both 
respondents that are determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. 
As these rates are based solely on margins from the Petition, there are 
no calculations to disclose.

Verification

    As explained in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, consistent 
with section 782(d), we will afford Palmyra do Brasil the opportunity 
to remedy certain deficiencies in its reported sales and further 
manufacturing cost data after issuing this preliminary determination. 
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we intend to verify this 
respondent's information if we rely upon it in making our final 
determination. We do not intend to verify LIASA as it has been found to 
have been uncooperative in this investigation.

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.\12\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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, the 
Department 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

[[Page 47469]]

location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. Section 351.210(e)(2) of the Department's regulations 
requires that a request by exporters for postponement of the final 
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months 
in duration.
    On September 6, 2017, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Palmyra do 
Brasil requested that the Department postpone the final determination 
and that provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six 
months.\13\ In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) The preliminary determination is 
affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter accounts for a significant 
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling 
reasons for denial exist, the Department is postponing the final 
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month 
period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, the 
Department will make its final determination no later than 135 days 
after the date of publication of this preliminary determination.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ See Letter from Palmyra do Brasil, ``Silicon Metal from 
Brazil/Exporter's Request for Postponement of Final Antidumping 
Determination'' dated September 6, 2017.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, the Department will 
notify the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
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 
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: October 4, 2017.
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 scope of this investigation covers all forms and sizes of 
silicon metal, including silicon metal powder. Silicon metal 
contains at least 85.00 percent but less than 99.99 percent silicon, 
and less than 4.00 percent iron, by actual weight. Semiconductor 
grade silicon (merchandise containing at least 99.99 percent silicon 
by actual weight and classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (HTSUS) subheading 2804.61.0000) is excluded 
from the scope of this investigation.
    Silicon metal is currently classifiable under subheadings 
2804.69.1000 and 2804.69.5000 of the HTSUS. While HTSUS numbers are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope remains dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Name Change for Dow Corning Silicio do Brasil Ind[uacute]stria 
e Com[eacute]rcio Ltda.
IV. Period of Investigation
V. Scope Comments
VI. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Facts 
Available
    A. Application of Facts Available
    B. Use of Adverse Inference for LIASA
    C. Preliminary Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margin Based 
on AFA
    D. Corroboration of Secondary Information
VII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-22066 Filed 10-11-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P