2011-6554. Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From India: Preliminary Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

DATES:

Effective Date: March 21, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kristen Johnson, AD/CVD Operations, Office 3, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Ave., NW., Room 4014, Washington, DC 20230, telephone: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On December 1, 2010, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published a notice of opportunity to request an administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India. See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation; Opportunity To Request Administrative Review, 75 FR 74682 (December 1, 2010). On January 3, 2011, we received from United States Steel Corporation, a domestic producer of subject merchandise, a request that the Department conduct an administrative review of Ispat Industries Limited (Ispat), for the review period January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010.

On January 28, 2011, the Department published the notice of initiation of the administrative review of the CVD order covering Ispat for the period January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 76 FR 5137 (January 28, 2011). On February 4, 2011, Ispat notified the Department that it had no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the period of review (POR).^[1]

Scope of the Order

The products covered under this order are certain hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon steel flat products of a rectangular shape, of a width of 0.5 inch or greater, neither clad, plated, nor coated with metal and whether or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or other non-metallic substances, in coils (whether or not in successively superimposed layers), regardless of thickness, and in straight lengths, of a thickness of less than 4.75 mm and of a width measuring at least 10 times the thickness. Universal mill plate (i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces or in a closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm, but not exceeding 1250 mm, and of a thickness of not less than 4 mm, not in coils and without patterns in relief) of a thickness not less than 4.0 mm is not included within the scope of this order.

Specifically included within the scope of this order are vacuum degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-free (IF)) steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, and the substrate for motor lamination steels. IF steels are recognized as low carbon steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as titanium or niobium (also commonly referred to as columbium), or both, added to stabilize carbon and nitrogen elements. HSLA steels are recognized as steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as chromium, copper, niobium, vanadium, and molybdenum. The substrate for motor lamination steels contains micro-alloying levels of elements such as silicon and aluminum.

Steel products to be included in the scope of this order, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), are products in which: (i) Iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other contained elements; (ii) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight; and (iii) none of the elements listed below exceeds the quantity, by weight, respectively indicated:

1.80 percent of manganese, or

2.25 percent of silicon, or

1.00 percent of copper, or

0.50 percent of aluminum, or

1.25 percent of chromium, or

0.30 percent of cobalt, or

0.40 percent of lead, or

1.25 percent of nickel, or

0.30 percent of tungsten, or

0.10 percent of molybdenum, or

0.10 percent of niobium, or

0.15 percent of vanadium, or

0.15 percent of zirconium.

All products that meet the physical and chemical description provided above are within the scope of this order unless otherwise excluded. The following products, by way of example, are outside or specifically excluded from the scope of this order:

• Alloy hot-rolled steel products in which at least one of the chemical elements exceeds those listed above (including, e.g., ASTM specifications A543, A387, A514, A517, A506).
• SAE/AISI grades of series 2300 and higher.
• Ball bearings steels, as defined in the HTUS.
• Tool steels, as defined in the HTUS.
• Silico-manganese (as defined in the HTUS) or silicon electrical steel with a silicon level exceeding 2.25 percent.
• ASTM specifications A710 and A736.
• USS Abrasion-resistant steels (USS AR 400, USS AR 500).
• All products (proprietary or otherwise) based on an alloy ASTM specification (sample specifications: ASTM A506, A507).
• Non-rectangular shapes, not in coils, which are the result of having been processed by cutting or stamping and which have assumed the character of articles or products classified outside chapter 72 of the HTUS.

The merchandise subject to this order are classified in the HTUS at subheadings: 7208.10.15.00, 7208.10.30.00, 7208.10.60.00, 7208.25.30.00, 7208.25.60.00, 7208.26.00.30, 7208.26.00.60, 7208.27.00.30, 7208.27.00.60, 7208.36.00.30, 7208.36.00.60, 7208.37.00.30, 7208.37.00.60, 7208.38.00.15, 7208.38.00.30, 7208.38.00.90, 7208.39.00.15, 7208.39.00.30, 7208.39.00.90, 7208.40.60.30, 7208.40.60.60, 7208.53.00.00, 7208.54.00.00, 7208.90.00.00, 7211.14.00.90, 7211.19.15.00, 7211.19.20.00, 7211.19.30.00, 7211.19.45.00, 7211.19.60.00, 7211.19.75.30, 7211.19.75.60, and 7211.19.75.90. Certain hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon-quality steel covered by this order, including: vacuum degassed fully stabilized; high strength low alloy; and the substrate for motor lamination steel may also enter under the following tariff numbers: 7225.11.00.00, 7225.19.00.00, 7225.30.30.50, 7225.30.70.00, 7225.40.70.00, 7225.99.00.90, 7226.11.10.00, 7226.11.90.30, 7226.11.90.60, 7226.19.10.00, 7226.19.90.00, 7226.91.50.00, 7226.91.70.00, 7226.91.80.00, and 7226.99.00.00. Subject merchandise may also enter under 7210.70.30.00, 7210.90.90.00, 7211.14.00.30, 7212.40.10.00, 7212.40.50.00, and 7212.50.00.00. Although the HTUS subheadings are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes, the Department's written description of the merchandise subject to this proceeding is dispositive.

Intent To Rescind the 2010 Administrative Review

Ispat submitted a letter to the Department on February 4, 2011, certifying that it had no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. The petitioner did not comment on Ispat's claim of no shipments.

On February 7, 2011, we conducted an internal customs data query.^[2] We also issued a “no shipments inquiry” message to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which posted the message on February 16, 2011.^[3] The customs data query indicates that Ispat had no entries of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. We did not receive any information from CBP contrary to Ispat's claim of no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR.

Based on our analysis of the shipment data, we preliminarily determine that Ispat did not ship subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), and consistent with our practice,^[4] we preliminarily determine to rescind the review for Ispat. Since Ispat was the only producer/exporter for which a review was requested and initiated, we also preliminarily determine to rescind the administrative review of the CVD order covering the period January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010.

Public Comment

The Department is setting aside a period for interested parties to raise issues regarding the preliminary determination to rescind the administrative review for Ispat. The Department encourages all interested parties to submit such comments within 20 calendar days of the publication of this notice. Comments should be addressed to Import Administration's APO/Dockets Unit, Room 1870, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230. The period for public comment is intended to provide the Department with ample opportunity to consider all issues prior to the issuance of the notice to rescind the administrative review.

We are issuing this notice in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and 19 CFR 351.213(d)(4) of the Department's regulations.

Dated: March 15, 2011.

Christian Marsh,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations.

Footnotes

1.  This public document is available on the public file in the Department's Central Record Unit (CRU) located in room 7046 of the main Commerce building.

2.  See Memorandum to the File from Kristen Johnson, Case Analyst, IA Operations, Office 3, regarding “Customs Data Query Results,” (February 8, 2011). A public version of this memorandum is available on the public file in the CRU.

3.  See Message number 1047301, available at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.

4.  See, e.g., Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe and Tube from Turkey: Notice of Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, In Part, 74 FR 47921 (September 18, 2009).