Notice of Request for Public Comments by the Titanium Sponge Working Group

Citation85 FR 79464
Record Number2020-27119
Published date10 December 2020
SectionNotices
CourtIndustry And Security Bureau
79464
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Notices
See United Farm Workers v. Perdue, No.
20–cv–01452–DAD–JLT (E.D. Cal. Oct.
28, 2020). Pursuant to the court’s order,
NASS issues this notice of
reinstatement. The reinstated survey
will be based on July and October
reference weeks and completion of the
survey and report is expected to require
nine weeks following the Federal
Register publication of this notice. If the
court’s order is modified or dissolved in
the future, NASS will publish a
subsequent notice informing the public
of that development as well as NASS’s
intentions regarding this information
collection.
Authority: These data are collected
under authority of 7 U.S.C. 2204(a).
Individually identifiable data collected
under this authority are governed by
Section 1770 of the Food Security Act
of 1985, 7 U.S.C. 2276, which requires
USDA to afford strict confidentiality to
non-aggregated data provided by
respondents.
Signed at Washington, DC, December 4,
2020.
Kevin L. Barnes,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020–27109 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–20–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[B–53–2020]
Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 82—Mobile,
Alabama Authorization of Production
Activity; Aker Solutions, Inc. (Subsea
Oil and Gas Systems), Mobile,
Alabama
On August 7, 2020, Aker Solutions,
Inc., submitted a notification of
proposed production activity to the FTZ
Board for its facility within FTZ 82, in
Mobile, Alabama.
The notification was processed in
accordance with the regulations of the
FTZ Board (15 CFR part 400), including
notice in the Federal Register inviting
public comment (85 FR 50802, August
18, 2020). On December 7, 2020, the
applicant was notified of the FTZ
Board’s decision that no further review
of the activity is warranted at this time.
The production activity described in the
notification was authorized, subject to
the FTZ Act and the FTZ Board’s
regulations, including Section 400.14.
Dated: December 7, 2020.
Andrew McGilvray,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–27139 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Industry and Security
[Docket No. 201120–0309]
RIN 0694–XC067
Notice of Request for Public
Comments by the Titanium Sponge
Working Group
AGENCY
: Bureau of Industry and
Security, Commerce.
ACTION
: Notice of request for public
comments.
SUMMARY
: In March of 2019, the
Secretary initiated an investigation
under Section 232 of the Trade
Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, to
determine the effects on the national
security from imports of titanium
sponge. In February of 2020, the
President issued a memorandum
concurring with the Secretary’s findings
that titanium sponge imports threatened
to impair U.S. national security. The
President’s concurrence also agreed that
actions to adjust imports under Section
232, such as tariffs, should not be taken
at this time and established an
interagency working group. The work of
the Titanium Sponge Working Group
has proceeded in exploring measures to
ensure access to titanium sponge in the
United States for use for national
defense and in critical industries during
an emergency, and at this time the
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is
seeking public comments to better
inform the deliberations of the working
group.
DATES
: The due date for filing original
comments is January 11, 2021. The due
date for rebuttal comments is January
25, 2021. Rebuttal comments may only
address issues raised in the original
comment it is filed under, which was
filed on or before January 11, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: Submissions: All written
comments on the notice must be
addressed to the Titanium Sponge
Working Group and filed through the
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov. To submit
comments via http://
www.regulations.gov, enter docket
number BIS–2020–0037 on the home
page and click ‘‘search.’’ The site will
provide a search results page listing all
documents associated with this docket.
Find a reference to this notice and click
on the link entitled ‘‘Comment Now!’’
(For further information on using http://
www.regulations.gov, please consult the
resources provided on the website by
clicking on ‘‘How to Use This Site.’’)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
TSWG@bis.doc.gov; Titanium Sponge
232 Project Line 202–482–3110. Email is
the preferred method of contact, and
will facilitate a more timely response by
BIS.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
Background
On March 4, 2019, in response to a
petition, the Secretary initiated an
investigation under Section 232 of the
Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as
amended (19 U.S.C. 1862), to determine
the effects on the national security from
imports of titanium sponge. This
petition led the Bureau of Industry and
Security (BIS) to publish a Notice of
Request for Public Comments on Section
232 National Security Investigation of
Imports of Titanium Sponge on March
8, 2019 (84 FR 8503). The March 8, 2019
notice requested comments specific to
the status of the titanium sponge
industrial base in the United States.
While the comments received were
pertinent, several developments have
occurred since the end of that notice
period that warrant this notice of
request for additional comments.
On November 29, 2019, the Secretary
transmitted to the President a report on
the Section 232 investigation in which
he found that titanium sponge imports
threatened to impair the national
security, and stated that there is a risk
of the United States being completely
dependent on imports of titanium
sponge and could therefore lack surge
capacity required to support defense
and critical industries needs in an
extended national emergency. On
February 27, 2020, the President issued
a memorandum regarding the Section
232 investigation into whether imports
of titanium sponge threatened to impair
the national security. The President
concurred with the Secretary’s finding
that imports of titanium sponge
threatened to impair U.S. national
security, and also agreed with the
Secretary’s recommendation that he not
take actions to adjust imports under
Section 232 at that time. Instead, the
President directed the Secretaries of
Commerce and Defense to form a
working group, along with other
executive departments and agencies that
they deemed appropriate, to develop
recommended actions.
The Titanium Sponge Working Group
(TSWG), established at the President’s
direction, consists of the following
permanent members: The Departments
of Commerce, Defense, Interior, and
State, which are joined by rotating
members from other U.S. Government
agencies as needed. The goal of the
TSWG is to reach interagency agreement
on measures needed to ensure access to
titanium sponge in the United States for
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79465
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Notices
use for national defense and critical
industries in an emergency. The TSWG
will submit to the President a report
detailing agreed upon recommendations
to ensure U.S. access to titanium sponge
for national defense and critical
industries purposes, in addition to
detailing the current and projected U.S.
industrial requirements.
The establishment of the TSWG and
the required report, along with the
impact of the ongoing COVID–19
pandemic on U.S. access to titanium
sponge, merit a comment period to
solicit information to assist the
interagency working group in its
deliberations regarding imports of
titanium sponge. The Department of
Commerce (Department) has determined
that although there is significant
governmental expertise on the TSWG,
receiving public input in this area
would further the understanding of the
TSWG members as they develop
potential solutions to address the issue
of imports of titanium sponge.
Although the President established
the working group after he concurred
with the Secretary that imports of
titanium sponge threatened to impair
the national security, the solicitation of
comments to assist in the TSWG
deliberations is distinct from the
Department’s prior Section 232 titanium
sponge investigation. However, the
Section 232 investigation and the TSWG
both deal with the importance of access
to titanium sponge for national defense
and critical industries purposes.
Therefore, BIS is handling the
solicitation of comments similarly to
how BIS has previously solicited
comments for Section 232
investigations. The TSWG will consider
the public comments when preparing
interagency recommendations to the
President for further consideration.
Written Comments
Interested parties are invited to
submit written comments, data,
analyses, or information pertinent to the
task of the TSWG to the Department’s
Office of Technology Evaluation no later
than January 11, 2021. An original
comment will not be considered if: (1)
It is received no later than January 11,
2021; (2) and/or includes rebuttal
language pertaining to a different
comment. Rebuttal comments may be
submitted in response to issues raised in
original comments received on or before
January 11, 2021 may be filed no later
than January 25, 2021. Rebuttal
comments may only address issues
raised in the original comment it is filed
under, which was filed on or before
January 11, 2021. Rebuttal comments
that address new or different issues
other than the issues raised in the
original comment it was filed under will
not be considered. A rebuttal comment
will not be considered if: (1) It is
received no later than January 25, 2021;
(2) and/or includes language that is
partially original and partially in
response to an original comment.
The Department is particularly
interested in comments and information
directed to the following criteria:
(i) Potential measures to ensure access
to titanium sponge in the United States
for use for national defense and critical
industries in an emergency, including,
but not limited to, U.S. Government or
industry investment in any portion of
the U.S. titanium supply chain
(including ore, sponge, semi-finished,
and finished titanium products),
stockpiling, multilateral negotiations,
trade actions, and industrial base
analyses.
(ii) Potential measures to increase
access to titanium sponge in the United
States for use for national defense and
critical industries, and to support
domestic production capacity for the
production of titanium sponge to meet
national defense requirements,
including, but not limited to, U.S.
Government or industry investment in
any portion of the U.S. titanium supply
chain (including ore, sponge, semi-
finished, and finished titanium
products), stockpiling, multilateral
negotiations, trade actions, and
industrial base analyses.
(iii) The structure of the global
titanium sponge supply chain,
including upstream (ore and other
feedstock) and downstream (semi-
finished and finished titanium products,
increased usage of scrap) production
steps, especially as the structure may
impact recommendations targeting
alternative parts of the titanium sponge
supply chain in order to ensure and/or
increase access to titanium sponge in
the United States;
(iv) Pandemic-related impacts on the
supply and demand of titanium sponge
and other titanium products in the
United States and abroad (such as the
decline in aerospace demand, prospects
for recovery, maintaining essential
workforce, or the recent idling of U.S.
sponge operations);
(v) The role of non-U.S. titanium
sponge production and distribution in
ensuring and/or increasing access to
titanium sponge and domestic titanium
sponge capacity in the United States,
including prospects for partnerships or
joint ventures between U.S. and non-
U.S. sponge producers, trade actions
(e.g., modification of current global
tariff/quota structures on titanium
products), or non-U.S. investment in
U.S. production capacity. Additionally,
the impact of U.S.-reliance on single or
sole source supplies of titanium sponge
from non-U.S. sources; and
(vi) Prospects and risks of brownfield
or greenfield investments in any step of
the titanium supply chain, including
upstream ore extraction and processing,
intermediate titanium sponge
production, or other downstream
titanium production steps; and
(vii) How great of a threat is
cybercrime or malicious cyber activity
to organizations in the titanium sponge
supply chain? In addressing this
question, commenters are encouraged to
provide specific examples of how
malicious cyber activity such as
ransomware, distributed denial of
service (DDoS) attacks, or malware have
undermined or threatened production in
the U.S. and/or the reliability of U.S.
supply chain for titanium sponge.
Additionally, what actions or policies
are recommended to strengthen the
titanium sponge and related sectors’
ability to prevent, detect, and recover
from malicious cyber activity? In
addressing this question, to what extent,
if any, does dependence on foreign
suppliers increase organizations’
exposure to cybercrime/impacts or
create any additional burdens because
of the complexities involved with
dealing with different countries’ laws on
cyber issues?
Requirements for Written Comments
The http://www.regulations.gov
website allows users to provide
comments by filling in a ‘‘Type
Comment’’ field, or by attaching a
document using an ‘‘Upload File’’ field.
The Department prefers that comments
be provided in an attached document.
The Department prefers submissions in
Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat
(.pdf). If the submission is in an
application format other than Microsoft
Word or Adobe Acrobat, please indicate
the name of the application in the
‘‘Type Comment’’ field. Please do not
attach separate cover letters to
electronic submissions; rather, include
any information that might appear in a
cover letter within the comments.
Similarly, to the extent possible please
include any exhibits, annexes, or other
attachments in the same file, so that the
submission consists of one instead of
multiple files. Comments will be placed
in the docket and open to public
inspection, except information
determined to be confidential.
Comments may be viewed on http://
www.regulations.gov by entering docket
number BIS–2020–0037 in the search
field on the home page.
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79466
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Notices
1
See Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India:
Countervailing Duty Order, 82 FR 40138 (August
24, 2017) (Order).
2
See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order,
Finding, or Suspended Investigation; Opportunity
to Request Administrative Review, 84 FR 37834
(August 2, 2019).
3
See Petitioners’ Letter, ‘‘Finished Carbon Steel
Flanges from India: Request for Administrative
Review,’’ dated September 3, 2019 (Petitioners’
Review Request).
4
We note that Norma requested a review of itself
and its affiliates USK Export Private Limited (USK);
Uma Shanker Khandelwal and Co. (UMA); and
Bansidhar Chiranjilal (BCL).
5
See Norma’s Letter, ‘‘Finished Carbon Steel
Flanges from India: Request for an Administrative
Review,’’ dated August 29, 2019; see also RNG’s
Letter, ‘‘Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India:
Request for Countervailing Duty Administrative
Review,’’ August 30, 2019; Jai Auto Pvt. Ltd.’s
Letter, ‘‘Request for Review of Countervailing Duty
Administrative Review of Finished Carbon Steel
Flanges from India,’’ dated August 30, 2019; and
Bebitz Flanges Works Private Limited’s Letter,
‘‘Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India:
Requests for Administrative Review,’’ dated
September 3, 2019.
6
See Initiation of Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 84 FR
53411, 53421–53422 (October 7, 2019).
7
See Memorandum, ‘‘Countervailing Duty
Administrative Review of Finished Carbon Steel
Flanges from India: Respondent Selection,’’ dated
November 4, 2019.
8
See Memorandum, ‘‘Tolling of Deadlines for
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews in Response to Operational
Adjustments Due to COVID–19,’’ dated April 24,
2020.
9
See Memorandum, ‘‘Finished Carbon Steel
Flanges from India: Extension of Deadline for
Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty
Administrative Review; 1/1/2018–12/31/2018,’’
dated June 19, 2020.
10
See Memorandum, ‘‘Tolling of Deadlines for
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews,’’ dated July 21, 2020.
11
See Memorandum, ‘‘Decision Memorandum for
the Preliminary Results of the Countervailing Duty
Administrative Review of Finished Carbon Steel
Flanges from India,’’ dated concurrently with, and
hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary
Decision Memorandum).
All filers should name their files
using the name of the person or entity
submitting the comments.
Communications from agencies of the
United States Government will not be
made available for public inspection.
Material submitted by members of the
public that is properly marked as
business confidential information with a
valid statutory basis for confidentiality,
and which is accepted as such by the
Department will not be disclosed
publicly. Guidance on submitting
business confidential information is as
follows: Anyone submitting business
confidential information should clearly
identify the business confidential
portion at the time of submission,
include a statement justifying
nondisclosure and referring to the
specific legal authority claimed with the
submission, and provide a non-
confidential version of the submission
which will be placed in the public file
on http://www.regulations.gov. For
comments submitted electronically
containing business confidential
information, the file name of the
business confidential version should
begin with the characters ‘‘BC’’. Any
page containing business confidential
information must be clearly marked
‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ on the
top of that page. The non-confidential
version must be clearly marked
‘‘PUBLIC’’. The file name of the non-
confidential version should begin with
the character ‘‘P’’. The ‘‘BC’’ and ‘‘P’’
should be followed by the name of the
person or entity submitting the
comments or rebuttal comments.
Matthew S. Borman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020–27119 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–33–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C–533–872]
Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From
India: Preliminary Results of
Countervailing Duty Administrative
Review and Intent To Rescind, in Part;
2018
AGENCY
: Enforcement and Compliance,
International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY
: The Department of Commerce
(Commerce) preliminarily determines
that Norma (India) Ltd. (Norma) and
R.N. Gupta & Co. Ltd (RNG) received
countervailable subsidies during the
period of review (POR), January 1, 2018
through December 31, 2018. In addition,
we are announcing our intent to rescind
this review with respect to two
companies. Interested parties are invited
to comment on these preliminary
results.
DATES
: Applicable December 10, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
: John
McGowan or Tyler Weinhold, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and
Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone:
(202) 482–3019 or (202) 482–1121,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
Background
On August 24, 2017, Commerce
published in the Federal Register the
countervailing duty (CVD) order on
finished carbon steel flanges (steel
flanges) from India.
1
On August 2, 2019,
Commerce published a notice of
opportunity to request an administrative
review of the Order.
2
On September 3,
2019, Weldbend Corporation and Boltex
Mfg. Co., L.P., (the petitioners),
requested a review of 37 producers and/
or exporters of subject merchandise.
3
Further, from August 29, 2019 through
September 3, 2019, Norma,
4
RNG, Jai
Auto Pvt. Ltd., and Bebitz Flanges
Works Private Limited, foreign
producers or exporters of subject
merchandise, each requested a review of
the Order with respect to themselves.
5
On October 7, 2019, Commerce
published a notice of initiation of an
administrative review of the Order.
6
Based on our examination of the
Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
data, on November 6, 2019, we selected
Norma and RNG, the two largest
producers and/or exporters, as
mandatory respondents.
7
On April 24, 2020, Commerce tolled
all deadlines in administrative reviews
by 50 days, thereby extending the
deadline for these preliminary results
until June 22, 2020.
8
Further, on June
19, 2020, Commerce extended the time
period for issuing these preliminary
results by 109 days, in accordance with
section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, to
October 8, 2020.
9
On July 21, 2020,
Commerce again tolled all deadlines in
administrative reviews by 60 days,
thereby extending the deadline for these
results until December 7, 2020.
10
For a
complete description of the events that
followed the initiation of this review,
see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.
11
A list of topics
discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum is included at 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 http://
access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete
version of the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum can be accessed directly
at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/.
The signed and electronic versions of
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
are identical in content.
Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by the
Order is steel flanges. For a complete
description of the scope of the Order,
see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.
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