2023-26233. Boltless Steel Shelving Units Prepackaged for Sale From India: Preliminary Negative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that boltless steel shelving units prepackaged for sale (boltless steel shelving) from India are not being, or not likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES:

Applicable November 29, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Andrew Huston, AD/CVD Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce published the notice of initiation of this investigation on May 19, 2023.^[1] On September 14, 2023, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this investigation and the revised deadline is now November 21, 2023.^[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. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/​public/​FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Scope of the Investigation

The product covered by this investigation is boltless steel shelving from India. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce'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. For a summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for this preliminary determination, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.^[6] As discussed in the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, Commerce is preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. In the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, Commerce established deadlines for parties to submit scope case and rebuttal briefs as well as a deadline to request a hearing on issues raised in the scope briefs.

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Normal value (NV) is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying the preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Determination

For the period April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated weighted-average dumping margin exists:

Exporter/producer	Estimated weighted- average dumping margin (percent)
Triune Technofab Private Limited	0.00

Consistent with section 733(b)(3) of the Act, Commerce disregards de minimis rates. Accordingly, Commerce preliminarily determines that Triune Technofab Private Limited, the company selected as a mandatory respondent, has not made sales of subject merchandise at LTFV.

Consistent with section 733(d) of the Act, Commerce has not calculated an estimated weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters because it has not made an affirmative preliminary determination of sales at LTFV.

Suspension of Liquidation

Because Commerce has made a negative preliminary determination of sales at LTFV with regard to subject merchandise, Commerce will not direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation or to require a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties for entries of boltless steel shelving from India.

Disclosure

Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations performed in connection with this 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 this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to verify the 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 verification report is issued in this investigation.^[7] Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the date for filing case briefs.^[8] Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.^[9]

As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes. In this investigation, we instead request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.^[10] Further, we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will accompany the final determination in this investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).^[11]

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 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.

Postponement of Final Determination

Section 735(a)(2)(B) 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.

On November 3, 2023, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Edsal Manufacturing Co., Inc. (the petitioner) requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and that provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six months.^[12] In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(i), because: (1) the preliminary determination is negative; (2) the petitioner has requested the postponement of the final determination; and (3) no compelling reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the final determination. Because we have preliminarily determined that sales of subject merchandise are not being sold at less than fair value, provisional measures are not being applied to imports of subject merchandise pursuant to section 733(d) of the Act. Accordingly, Commerce's final determination will be issued no later than 135 days after the date of publication of this preliminary determination.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary determination. If the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine 75 days after the final determination whether imports of boltless steel shelving from India 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: November 21, 2023.

Abdelali Elouaradia,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

The scope of this investigation covers boltless steel shelving units prepackaged for sale, with or without decks (boltless steel shelving). The term “prepackaged for sale” means that, at a minimum, the steel vertical supports ( i.e., uprights and posts) and steel horizontal supports ( i.e., beams, braces) necessary to assemble a completed shelving unit (with or without decks) are packaged together for ultimate purchase by the end-user. The scope also includes add-on kits. Add-on kits include, but are not limited to, kits that allow the end-user to add an extension shelving unit onto an existing boltless steel shelving unit such that the extension and the original unit will share common frame elements ( e.g., two posts). The term “boltless” refers to steel shelving in which the vertical and horizontal supports forming the frame are assembled primarily without the use of nuts and bolts, or screws. The vertical and horizontal support members for boltless steel shelving are assembled by methods such as, but not limited to, fitting a rivet, punched or cut tab, or other similar connector on one support into a hole, slot or similar receptacle on another support. The supports lock together to form the frame for the shelving unit, and provide the structural integrity of the shelving unit separate from the inclusion of any decking. The incidental use of nuts and bolts, or screws to add accessories, wall anchors, tie-bars or shelf supports does not remove the product from scope. Boltless steel shelving units may also come packaged as partially assembled, such as when two upright supports are welded together with front-to-back supports, or are otherwise connected, to form an end unit for the frame. The boltless steel shelving covered by these investigations may be commonly described as rivet shelving, welded frame shelving, slot and tab shelving, and punched rivet (quasi-rivet) shelving as well as by other trade names. The term “deck” refers to the shelf that sits on or fits into the horizontal supports (beams or braces) to provide the horizontal storage surface of the shelving unit.

The scope includes all boltless steel shelving meeting the description above, regardless of: (1) vertical support or post type (including but not limited to open post, closed post and tubing); (2) horizontal support or beam/brace profile (including but not limited to Z-beam, C-beam, L-beam, step beam and cargo rack); (3) number of supports; (4) surface coating (including but not limited to paint, epoxy, powder coating, zinc and other metallic coating); (5) number of levels; (6) weight capacity; (7) shape (including but not limited to rectangular, square, and corner units); (8) decking material (including but not limited to wire decking, particle board, laminated board or no deck at all); or (9) the boltless method by which vertical and horizontal supports connect (including but not limited to keyhole and rivet, slot and tab, welded frame, punched rivet and clip).

Specifically excluded from the scope are:

• wall-mounted shelving, defined as shelving that is hung on the wall and does not stand on, or transfer load to, the floor. The addition of a wall bracket or other device to attach otherwise freestanding subject merchandise to a wall does not meet the terms of this exclusion;
• wire shelving units, which consist of shelves made from wire that incorporates both a wire deck and wire horizontal supports (taking the place of the horizontal beams and braces) into a single piece with tubular collars that slide over the posts and onto plastic sleeves snapped on the posts to create the finished shelving unit;
• bulk-packed parts or components of boltless steel shelving units; and
• made-to-order shelving systems.

Subject boltless steel shelving enters the United States through Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) statistical subheading 9403.20.0075. While the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Period of Investigation

IV. Scope Comments

V. Scope of the Investigation

VI. Discussion of the Methodology

VII. Currency Conversion

VIII. Recommendation

Footnotes

1.   See Boltless Steel Shelving Units Prepackaged for Sale from India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation,88 FR 32188 (May 19, 2023) ( Initiation Notice).

2.   See Boltless Steel Shelving Units Prepackaged for Sales from India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in Less-than-Fair-Value Investigations,88 FR 63063 (September 14, 2023).

3.   See Memorandum, “Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Negative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Boltless Steel Shelving Units Prepackaged for Sale from India,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).

4.   See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties,62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) ( Preamble).

5.   See Initiation Notice, 88 FR at 32189.

6.   See Memorandum, “Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,” dated November 13, 2023 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).

7.  Case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted in response to this preliminary LTFV determination should not include scope-related issues. See Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.

8.   See19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings,88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 2023) ( APO and Service Final Rule).

9.   See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).

10.  We use the term “issue” here to describe an argument that Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

11.   See APO and Service Final Rule.

12.   See Petitioner's Letter, “Petitioner's Request for Postponement of Final Determination,” dated November 3, 2023.