Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From Taiwan: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry on the Antidumping Duty Order
| Published date | 10 July 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 32864 |
| Record Number | 2019-14695 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Commerce Department,International Trade Administration |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32864-32867]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14695]
[[Page 32864]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-583-856]
Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From Taiwan:
Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry on
the Antidumping Duty Order
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines
that imports of certain corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE),
produced in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) using hot-
rolled steel (HRS) and/or cold-rolled steel (CRS) flat products
manufactured in Taiwan, are circumventing the antidumping duty (AD)
order on CORE from Taiwan.
DATES: Applicable July 10, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shanah Lee and Peter Zukowski, 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) 482-6386 and (202) 482-0189,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Certain domestic interested parties, ArcelorMittal USA LLC,
California Steel Industries, Nucor Corporation, Steel Dynamics, Inc.,
and United States Steel Corporation (collectively, the petitioners)
filed an allegation \1\ that imports of CORE from Vietnam made from HRS
and/or CRS sourced from Taiwan and exported to the United States as
CORE from Vietnam are circumventing the Taiwan CORE Order.\2\ In their
allegation, the petitioners requested that Commerce initiate an anti-
circumvention inquiry pursuant to section 781(b) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.225(h), to determine whether
the importation of the Taiwanese-origin HRS and/or CRS substrate for
completing into CORE in Vietnam and subsequent sale of that CORE to the
United States constitutes circumvention of the Taiwan CORE Order.
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\1\ See Petitioners' letter, ``Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel
Products from Taiwan: Request for Circumvention Ruling,'' dated June
12, 2018.
\2\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from India,
Italy, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea and
Taiwan: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Determination for
India and Taiwan, and Antidumping Duty Orders, 81 FR 48390 (July 25,
2016) (Taiwan CORE Order).
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On August 2, 2018, Commerce published the notice of initiation of
anti-circumvention inquiry on imports of CORE from Vietnam.\3\ For a
complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this
inquiry, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\4\ A list of topics
included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix
I 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 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.
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\3\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from the
Republic of Korea and Taiwan: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention
Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders, 83
FR 37785 (August 2, 2018) (Initiation Notice).
\4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination in the Anti-Circumvention Inquiry of Certain
Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from Taiwan,'' dated concurrently
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision
Memorandum).
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Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by
the partial federal government closure from December 22, 2018 through
the resumption of operations on January 29, 2019.\5\ If the new
deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with Commerce's
practice, the deadline will become the next business day.
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\5\ See Memorandum to the Record from 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, ``Deadlines
Affected by the Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated
January 29, 2019. All deadlines in this segment have been extended
by 40 days.
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Scope of the Order
The products covered by this order are certain 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. For a complete description of the
scope of the order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiry
This anti-circumvention inquiry covers CORE produced in Vietnam
from HRS and/or CRS substrate input manufactured in Taiwan and
subsequently exported from Vietnam to the United States (merchandise
under consideration). This preliminary ruling applies to all shipments
of merchandise under consideration on or after the date of initiation
of this inquiry. Importers and exporters of CORE produced in Vietnam
using: (1) HRS manufactured in Vietnam or third countries, (2) CRS
manufactured in Vietnam using HRS produced in Vietnam or third
countries, or (3) CRS manufactured in third countries, must certify
that the HRS and/or CRS processed into CORE in Vietnam did not
originate in Taiwan, as provided for in the certifications attached to
the Federal Register notice. Otherwise, their merchandise may be
subject to antidumping duties if Commerce makes an affirmative final
determination in this inquiry.
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this anti-circumvention inquiry in
accordance with section 781(b) of the Act. Because Vietnam is a non-
market economy country, within the meaning of section 771(18) of the
Act,\6\ Commerce has calculated the value of certain processing and
merchandise using factors of production and market-economy values, as
discussed in section 773(c) of the Act. For a full description of the
methodology underlying Commerce's preliminary determination, see the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\6\ See, e.g., Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Preliminary Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review, 81 FR 24797 (October 14, 2016)
(unchanged in Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam: Final Results Antidumping Administrative
Review; 2014-2015, 82 FR 18611 (April 20, 2017)).
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Preliminary Finding
As detailed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, we
preliminarily determine that CORE produced in Vietnam from HRS and/or
CRS sourced from Taiwan is circumventing the Taiwan CORE Order. We
therefore preliminarily determine that it is appropriate to include
this merchandise within the Taiwan CORE Order and to instruct U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend any
[[Page 32865]]
entries of CORE from Vietnam produced from HRS and/or CRS from Taiwan.
Suspension of Liquidation
As stated above, Commerce has made a preliminary affirmative
finding of circumvention of the Taiwan CORE Order by exports to the
United States of CORE produced by any Vietnamese company from
Taiwanese-origin HRS and/or CRS inputs. In accordance with 19 CFR
351.225(l)(2), Commerce will direct CBP to suspend liquidation and to
require a cash deposit of estimated duties on unliquidated entries of
CORE produced in Vietnam, as appropriate, that were entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after August 2, 2018,
the date of initiation of the anti-circumvention inquiry. The
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until
further notice.
CORE produced in Vietnam from HRS and/or CRS that is not of
Taiwanese-origin is not subject to this inquiry. Therefore, cash
deposits are not required for such merchandise. However, CORE produced
in Vietnam from HRS and/or CRS from China is subject to the AD/CVD
orders on CORE from China,\7\ and CORE produced in Vietnam from HRS
and/or CRS from Korea has preliminarily been found to be circumventing
the AD/CVD orders on CORE from Korea.\8\ Imports of such merchandise
are also subject to certification requirements and cash deposits may be
required. If an importer imports CORE from Vietnam and claims that the
CORE was not produced from HRS and/or CRS substrate manufactured in
Taiwan, in order not to be subject to cash deposit requirements, the
importer and exporter are required to meet the certification and
documentation requirements described in Appendix II. Exporters of CORE
produced from non-Taiwanese-origin HRS and/or CRS substrate must
prepare and maintain an Exporter Certification and documentation
supporting the Certification (see Appendix IV). In addition, importers
of such CORE must prepare and maintain an Importer Certification (see
Appendix III) as well as documentation supporting the Importer
Certification. Besides the Importer Certification, the importer must
also maintain a copy of the Exporter Certification (see Appendix IV)
and relevant supporting documentation from the exporter of CORE who did
not use the Taiwanese-origin HRS and/or CRS substrate.
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\7\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Products from the People's
Republic of China: Affirmative Final Determination of Circumvention
of the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders, 83 FR 23895
(May 23, 2018) (CORE China Circumvention Final).
\8\ See Federal Register notice, ``Certain Corrosion-Resistant
Steel Products from Republic of Korea: Affirmative Preliminary
Determination of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry on the Antidumping Duty
and Countervailing Duty Orders,'' and accompanying Preliminary
Decision Memorandum, dated concurrently with this notice.
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In the situation where no certification is provided for an entry,
and AD/CVD orders from three countries (China, Korea, or Taiwan)
potentially apply to that entry, Commerce intends to instruct CBP to
suspend the entry and collect cash deposits at the CORE China
Circumvention Final rates (i.e., the AD rate established for the China-
wide entity (199.43 percent) and the CVD rate established for the China
all-others rate (39.05 percent)).\9\ This is to prevent evasion, given
that the CORE China Circumvention Final rates are higher than the AD
and CVD rates established for CORE from Korea and Taiwan. In the
situation where a certification is provided for the AD/CVD orders on
CORE from China (stating that the merchandise was not produced from HRS
and/or CRS from China), but no other certification is provided, then
Commerce intends to instruct CBP to suspend the entry and collect cash
deposits at the AD and CVD all-others rates (i.e., 8.31 percent and
1.19 percent, respectively) applicable to the AD/CVD orders on CORE
from Korea.\10\ This is to prevent evasion, given that the AD and CVD
rates established for CORE from Korea are higher than the AD rate
established for CORE from Taiwan.
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\9\ See CORE China Circumvention Final, 83 FR at 23896.
\10\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Flat Products from
India, Italy, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea,
and Taiwan: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Duty Determination
for India and Taiwan, and Antidumping Duty Orders, 81 FR 48390 (July
25, 2016). The ``all-others rate'' was subsequently amended as the
result to litigation. See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products
from the Republic of Korea: Notice of Court Decision Not in Harmony
with Final Determination of Investigation and Notice of Amended
Final Results, 83 FR 39054 (August 8, 2018). See also Certain
Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from India, Italy, Republic of
Korea, and the People's Republic of China: Countervailing Duty
Order, 81 FR 48387 (July 25, 2016) (collectively, Korea CORE
Orders).
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Verification
As provided in 19 CFR 351.307, Commerce intends to verify
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 final verification report is
issued in this anti-circumvention inquiry, unless the Secretary alters
the time limit. 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 anti-
circumvention inquiry 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.
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\11\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general
filing requirements).
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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
Commerce, consistent with section 781(e) of the Act, has notified
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of this preliminary
determination to include the merchandise subject to this anti-
circumvention inquiry within the Taiwan CORE Order. Pursuant to section
781(e) of the Act, the ITC may request consultations concerning
Commerce's proposed inclusion of the merchandise under consideration.
If, after consultations, the ITC believes that a significant injury
issue is presented by the proposed inclusion, it will have 60 days from
the date of notification by Commerce to provide written advice.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
section 781(b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.225(f).
[[Page 32866]]
Dated: June 28, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiry
V. Period of Inquiry
VI. Surrogate Countries and Methodology for Valuing Inputs from
Taiwan and Processing in Vietnam
VII. Statutory Framework
VIII. Use of Facts of Available with An Adverse Inference
IX. Statutory Analysis
X. Country-Wide Determination
XI. Certification for Not Using Taiwanese-Origin HRS and/or CRS
XII. Recommendation
Appendix II
Certification Requirements
If an importer imports certain corrosion-resistant steel
products (CORE) from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) and
claims that the CORE was not produced from hot-rolled steel and/or
cold-rolled steel substrate (substrate) manufactured in Taiwan, the
importer is required to complete and maintain the importer
certification attached hereto as Appendix III and all supporting
documentation. Where the importer uses a broker to facilitate the
entry process, it should obtain the entry number from the broker.
Agents of the importer, such as brokers, however, are not permitted
to make this certification on behalf of the importer.
The exporter is required to complete and maintain the exporter
certification, attached as Appendix IV, and is further required to
provide the importer a copy of that certification and all supporting
documentation.
For shipments and/or entries on or after August 2, 2018 through
July 18, 2019 for which certifications are required, importers and
exporters should complete the required certification within 30 days
of the publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
Accordingly, where appropriate, the relevant bullet in the
certification should be edited to reflect that the certification was
completed within the time frame specified above. For example, the
bullet in the importer certification that reads: ``This
certification was completed at or prior to the time of Entry,''
could be edited as follows: ``The imports referenced herein entered
before July 19, 2019. This certification was completed on mm/dd/
yyyy, within 30 days of the Federal Register notice publication of
the preliminary determination of circumvention.'' Similarly, the
bullet in the exporter certification that reads, ``This
certification was completed at or prior to the time of shipment,''
could be edited as follows: ``The shipments/products referenced
herein shipped before July 19, 2019. This certification was
completed on mm/dd/yyyy, within 30 days of the Federal Register
notice publication of the preliminary determination of
circumvention.'' For such entries/shipments, importers and exporters
each have the option to complete a blanket certification covering
multiple entries/shipments, individual certifications for each
entry/shipment, or a combination thereof.
For shipments and/or entries on or after July 19, 2019, for
which certifications are required, importers should complete the
required certification at or prior to the date of Entry and
exporters should complete the required certification and provide it
to the importer at or prior to the date of shipment.
The importer and Vietnamese exporter are also required to
maintain sufficient documentation supporting their certifications.
The importer will not be required to submit the certifications or
supporting documentation to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
as part of the entry process at this time. However, the importer and
the exporter will be required to present the certifications and
supporting documentation, to Commerce and/or CBP, as applicable,
upon request by the respective agency. Additionally, the claims made
in the certifications and any supporting documentation are subject
to verification by Commerce and/or CBP. The importer and exporter
are required to maintain the certifications and supporting
documentation for the later of (1) a period of five years from the
date of entry or (2) a period of three years after the conclusion of
any litigation in United States courts regarding such entries.
In the situation where no certification is provided for an
entry, and AD/CVD orders from three countries (China, Korea, or
Taiwan) potentially apply to that entry, Commerce intends to
instruct CBP to suspend the entry and collect cash deposits at the
CORE China Circumvention Final rates (i.e., the AD rate established
for the China-wide entity (199.43 percent) and the CVD rate
established for China all-others rate (39.05 percent)).\12\ In the
situation where a certification is provided for the AD/CVD orders on
CORE from China (stating that the merchandise was not produced from
HRS and/or CRS from China), but no other certification is provided,
then Commerce intends to instruct CBP to suspend the entry and
collect cash deposits at the AD and CVD all-others rates (i.e., 8.31
percent and 1.19 percent, respectively) applicable to the AD/CVD
orders on CORE from Korea.
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\12\ See CORE China Circumvention Final, 83 FR at 23896.
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Appendix III
Importer Certification
I hereby certify that:
My name is {INSERT COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME HERE{time}
and I am an official of {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY{time} ;
I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding
the importation into the Customs territory of the United States of
the corrosion-resistant steel products produced in Vietnam that
entered under entry number(s) {INSERT ENTRY NUMBER(S){time} and are
covered by this certification. ``Direct personal knowledge'' refers
to facts the certifying party is expected to have in its own
records. For example, the importer should have ``direct personal
knowledge'' of the importation of the product (e.g., the name of the
exporter) in its records;
I have personal knowledge of the facts regarding the
production of the imported products covered by this certification.
``Personal knowledge'' includes facts obtained from another party,
(e.g., correspondence received by the importer (or exporter) from
the producer regarding the source of the input used to produce the
imported products);
These corrosion-resistant steel products produced in
Vietnam do not contain hot-rolled steel and/or cold-rolled steel
substrate produced in Taiwan:
I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING
COMPANY{time} is required to maintain a copy of this certification
and sufficient documentation supporting this certification (i.e.,
documents maintained in the normal course of business, or documents
obtained by the certifying party, for example, mill certificates,
productions records, invoices, etc.) for the later of (1) a period
of five years from the date of entry or (2) a period of three years
after the conclusion of any litigation in the United States courts
regarding such entries;
I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING
COMPANY{time} is required to provide this certification and
supporting records, upon request, to U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) and/or the Department of Commerce (Commerce);
I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING
COMPANY{time} is required to maintain a copy of the exporter's
certification for the later of (1) a period of five years from the
date of entry or (2) a period of three years after the conclusion of
any litigation in United States courts regarding such entries;
I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING
COMPANY{time} is required to maintain and provide a copy of the
exporter's certification and supporting records, upon request, to
CBP and/or Commerce;
I understand that the claims made herein, and the
substantiating documentation, are subject to verification by CBP
and/or Commerce;
I understand that failure to maintain the required
certification and/or failure to substantiate the claims made herein
will result in:
[cir] Suspension of liquidation of all unliquidated entries (and
entries for which liquidation has not become final) for which these
requirements were not met and
[cir] the requirement that the importer post applicable
antidumping duty (AD) cash deposits equal to the rates as determined
by Commerce;
I understand that agents of the importer, such as
brokers, are not permitted to make this certification;
This certification was completed at or prior to the
time of Entry; and
I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited
to, 18 U.S.C. 1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who
knowingly and willfully make material false statements to the U.S.
government.
[[Page 32867]]
Signature--------------------------------------------------------------
NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL
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TITLE
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DATE
Appendix IV
Exporter Certification
I hereby certify that:
My name is {INSERT COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME HERE{time}
and I am an official of {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY{time} ;
I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding
the production and exportation of the corrosion-resistant steel
products that were sold to the United States under invoice number(s)
INSERT INVOICE NUMBER(S). ``Direct personal knowledge'' refers to
facts the certifying party is expected to have in its own books and
records. For example, an exporter should have ``direct personal
knowledge'' of the producer's identity and location.
These corrosion-resistant steel products produced in
Vietnam do not contain hot-rolled steel and/or cold-rolled steel
substrate produced in Taiwan:
I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING
COMPANY{time} is required to maintain a copy of this certification
and sufficient documentation supporting this certification (i.e.,
documents maintained in the normal course of business, or documents
obtained by the certifying party, for example, mill certificates,
productions records, invoices, etc.) for the later of (1) a period
of five years from the date of entry or (2) a period of three years
after the conclusion of any litigation in the United States courts
regarding such entries;
I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING
COMPANY{time} must provide this Exporter Certification to the U.S.
importer by the time of shipment;
I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING
COMPANY{time} is required to provide a copy of this certification
and supporting records, upon request, to U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) and/or the Department of Commerce (Commerce);
I understand that the claims made herein, and the
substantiating documentation are subject to verification by CBP and/
or Commerce;
I understand that failure to maintain the required
certification and/or failure to substantiate the claims made herein
will result in:
[cir] Suspension of all unliquidated entries (and entries for
which liquidation has not become final) for which these requirements
were not met and
[cir] the requirement that the importer post applicable
antidumping duty (AD) cash deposits equal to the rates as determined
by Commerce;
This certification was completed at or prior to the
time of shipment;
I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited
to, 18 U.S.C. 1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who
knowingly and willfully make material false statements to the U.S.
government.
Signature--------------------------------------------------------------
NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL
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TITLE
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DATE
[FR Doc. 2019-14695 Filed 7-9-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
