Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From Taiwan: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Preliminary Determination of No Shipments; 2021-2022

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) from Taiwan. We preliminarily determine that producers/exporters subject to this review did not make sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value during the period of review (POR) July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. We further preliminarily determine that Xxentria Technology Materials Company Ltd. (Xxentria) had no shipments during the POR. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES:

Applicable August 2, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Matthew Palmer or Deborah Cohen, 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) 482–1678 and (202) 482–4521, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On July 25, 2016, Commerce published the antidumping duty order on CORE from Taiwan in the Federal Register . On September 6, 2022, pursuant to section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), Commerce initiated an administrative review of the Order covering the following respondents: (1) Yieh Phui Enterprise Co., Ltd. (YP); (2) Prosperity Tieh Enterprise Co., Ltd. (Prosperity); (3) Sheng Yu Steel Co., Ltd. (SYSCO); (4) Synn Industrial Co., Ltd. (Synn); (5) China Steel Corporation (CSC); (6) Chung Hung Steel Corporation (CHSC); (7) Great Fortune Steel Co., Ltd. (Great Fortune); (8) Great Grandeul Steel Co., Ltd. (Great Grandeul); (9) Great Grandeul Steel Company Limited (Somoa) (also known as, Great Grandeul Steel Company Limited Somoa) (Great Grandeul Somoa); (10) Great Grandeul Steel Corporation (Great Grandeul Steel); and (11) Xxentria. However, pursuant to the recently-issued final judgement of the U.S. Court of International Trade (the Court) in Prosperity V, concerning the litigation of the underlying less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of the Order, Commerce intends to issue an amended final antidumping duty determination of sales at LTFV which reflects a below de minimis margin for the collapsed YP/Synn entity that results in the exclusion of YP and Synn from the Order and all subsequent segments of the proceeding, including the instant administrative review. Accordingly, we hereby provide notification of the discontinuation of the instant administrative review with respect to the respondent selected for individual examination, YP, and the non-selected respondent, Synn. As a result, Prosperity remains the sole respondent selected for individual examination in this review.

On March 7, 2023, we extended the preliminary results of this review to no later than July 28, 2023. For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as an appendix 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. In addition, the complete Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Scope of the Order

The products covered by the Order are flat-rolled steel products, either clad, plated, or coated with corrosion-resistant metals such as zinc, aluminum, or zinc-, aluminum-, nickel- or iron-based alloys, whether or not corrugated or painted, varnished, laminated, or coated with plastics or other non-metallic substances in addition to the metallic coating. The subject merchandise is currently classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 7210.30.0030, 7210.30.0060, 7210.41.0000, 7210.49.0030, 7210.49.0040, 7210.49.0045, 7210.49.0091, 7210.49.0095, 7210.61.0000, 7210.69.0000, 7210.70.6030, 7210.70.6060, 7210.70.6090, 7210.90.6000, 7210.90.9000, 7212.20.0000, 7212.30.1030, 7212.30.1090, 7212.30.3000, 7212.30.5000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, and 7212.60.0000. The products subject to the orders may also enter under the following HTSUS item numbers: 7210.90.1000, 7215.90.1000, 7215.90.3000, 7215.90.5000, 7217.20.1500, 7217.30.1530, 7217.30.1560, 7217.90.1000, 7217.90.5030, 7217.90.5060, 7217.90.5090, 7225.91.0000, 7225.92.0000, 7225.99.0090, 7226.99.0110, 7226.99.0130, 7226.99.0180, 7228.60.6000, 7228.60.8000, and 7229.90.1000. The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the Order is dispositive. For the full text of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

On October 4, 2022, Synn submitted a letter certifying that it had no exports or sales of subject merchandise into the United States during the POR. On October 5, 2022, Xxentria submitted a letter certifying that it had no exports or sales of subject merchandise into the United States during the POR. As discussed above, Synn is excluded from the Order, and this review is discontinued with respect to Synn pursuant to the final judgement of the Court in Prosperity V. Thus, no preliminary finding with respect to Synn's no-shipments certification is necessary. Currently, the record contains no information which contradicts Xxentria's claims, and therefore, we preliminarily determine that Xxentria did not have any reviewable transactions during the POR, though Commerce may revisit this finding following these preliminary results if we receive additional information from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to contradict this finding. Our final decision will also be based on an assessment of any comments received by interested parties. Consistent with Commerce's practice, we will not rescind the review with respect to Xxentria, but rather will complete the review and issue instructions to CBP based on the final results.

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and (2) of the Act. Export price is calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal value is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rate for Non-Selected Companies

For the rate for companies not selected for individual examination in an administrative review, generally, Commerce looks to section 735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in a LTFV investigation. Under section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the all-others rate is normally “an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero or de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely {on the basis of facts available}.” However, section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act provides that, where the dumping margins established for all companies selected for individual examination are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts available, Commerce may use any reasonable method to establish the estimated all-others rate for the non-selected companies.

In this administrative review, we calculated a weighted-average dumping margin of zero percent for Prosperity, the sole respondent selected for individual examination for which the administrative review continues. As such, the record does not contain a calculated weighted-average dumping margin that is not zero, de minimis, or based on adverse facts available. Therefore, we are preliminarily assigning Prosperity's zero percent margin to the non-selected respondents CSC, CHSC, Great Fortune, Great Grandeul, Great Grandeul Somoa, Great Grandeul Steel, and SYSCO. For further discussion, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Results of Review

Commerce preliminarily determines the following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022:

Disclosure and Public Comment

Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations performed for these preliminary results within five days of the date of publication of this notice.

Interested parties may submit case briefs to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance 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 no later than seven days after the date for filing case briefs. Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are requested to submit with the argument: (1) a statement of the issue, (2) a summary of the argument, and (3) a table of authorities. All briefs must be filed electronically using ACCESS. An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS. Note that Commerce has temporarily modified certain of its requirements for serving documents containing business proprietary information, until further notice.

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, using Enforcement and Compliance's ACCESS system within 30 days of publication of this notice. Requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; (3) whether any participant is a foreign national; and (4) a list of issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, we will inform parties of the scheduled date for the hearing at a time and location to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing.

Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2), Commerce will issue the final results of this administrative review, including the results of our analysis of the issues raised by the parties in their case briefs, not later than 120 days after the date of publication of this notice.

Assessment Rates

Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review. For any individually examined respondents whose weighted-average dumping margin is above de minimis ( i.e., 0.50 percent), we will calculate importer-specific ad valorem antidumping duty assessment rates based on the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for the importer's examined sales to the total entered value of those same sales in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1). We will instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review when the importer-specific assessment rate calculated in the final results of this review is above de minimis ( i.e., 0.50 percent). Where either the respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is zero or de minimis, or an importer-specific assessment rate is zero or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties. The final results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by the final results of this review where applicable.

For the companies which were not selected for individual review ( i.e., CSC, CHSC, Great Fortune, Great Grandeul, Great Grandeul Somoa, Great Grandeul Steel, and SYSCO), we will assign an assessment rate based on the cash deposit rate calculated for the company selected for mandatory review ( i.e., Prosperity). The final results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by the final results of this review and for future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable. Further, if we continue to find in the final results that Xxentria had no shipments of subject merchandise during the POR, we will instruct CBP to liquidate any suspended entries that entered under that company's antidumping duty case number at the all-others rate.

In accordance with Commerce's “automatic assessment” practice, for entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by Prosperity for which it did not know that its merchandise was destined for the United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate entries not reviewed at the all-others rate of 3.66 percent established in the LTFV investigation if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.

We intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after date of publication of the final results of this review in the Federal Register . If a timely summons is filed at the Court, 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

The following deposit requirements will be effective upon publication of the notice of final results of administrative review for all shipments of CORE from Taiwan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication provided by section 751(a)(2) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for each company listed above will be equal to the dumping margins established in the final results of this review except if the ultimate rates are de minimis within the meaning of 19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), in which case the cash deposit rates will be zero; (2) for merchandise exported by producers or exporters not covered in this administrative review but covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recently completed segment of this proceeding in which the producer or exporter participated; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the original LTFV investigation but the producer is, the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recently completed segment of the proceeding for the producer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will continue to be 3.66 percent, the all-others rate established in Amended Final Determination. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

These preliminary results of review are issued and published in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Scope of the Order

IV. Discontinuation of the Review With Respect to YP and Synn

V. Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

VI. Rate for Respondents Not Selected for Individual Examination

VII. Discussion of the Methodology

VIII. Currency Conversion

IX. Recommendation