2023-07041. Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the Republic of Korea: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2020-2021

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that certain cold-rolled steel flat products (cold-rolled steel) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) were not sold in the United States at less than normal value during the period of review (POR) September 1, 2020, through August 31, 2021.

DATES:

Applicable April 5, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Preston Cox or Fred Baker, AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone] or (202) 482–2924, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On September 20, 2016, Commerce published in the Federal Register the antidumping duty order on cold-rolled steel from Korea.^[1] On October 7, 2022, Commerce published the Preliminary Results of this administrative review in the Federal Register .^[2] This administrative review covers four producers and/or exporters of the subject merchandise.^[3] Commerce selected Hyundai and POSCO/PIC (collectively, POSCO/PIC) ^[4] for individual examination.^[5] On January 18, 2023, we extended the deadline for these final results to no later than April 5, 2023.^[6] During November 2022 and January 2023, Commerce conducted on-site sales verifications of the questionnaire responses submitted by Hyundai and POSCO/PIC.^[7] Following the verifications, Commerce invited interested parties to submit case and rebuttal briefs.^[8] We received no comments from interested parties. Accordingly, no decision memorandum accompanies this Federal Register notice. Commerce conducted this administrative review in accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).

Scope of the Order

The merchandise covered by the Order is cold-rolled steel. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see Appendix.

Verification

Pursuant to 782(i)(3) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.307(b)(1)(v), we conducted verification of the questionnaire responses submitted by Hyundai and POSCO/PIC.^[9]

Changes Since the Preliminary Results

Based on a review of the record, including the results of verification, Commerce made certain changes to the preliminary weighted-average dumping margin calculation for POSCO/PIC. For detailed information, see POSCO/PIC's Final Analysis Memorandum.^[10]

Rate for Non-Selected Respondent

The Act and Commerce's regulations do not address the establishment of a rate to be applied to companies not selected for individual examination when Commerce limits its examination in an administrative review pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. Generally, Commerce looks to section 735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in a market economy investigation, for guidance when calculating the rate for companies which were not selected for individual examination in an administrative review. 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}.”

For these final results, we have calculated weighted-average dumping margins for Hyundai and POSCO/PIC that are zero or de minimis, and we have not calculated any margins which are not zero, de minimis, or determined entirely on the basis of facts available. Therefore, consistent with our practice, we are applying to Dongbu, the company not selected for individual examination in this review, a margin of zero percent.^[11]

Final Results of Administrative Review

For these final results, we determine that the following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period September 1, 2020, through August 31, 2021:

Producer/exporter	Weighted- average dumping margin (percent)
Hyundai Steel Company	0.00
POSCO/POSCO International Corporation	0.00
KG Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd 12	0.00

Disclosure

Commerce intends to disclose the calculations performed for POSCO/PIC for these final results to parties in this proceeding within five days of the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register , in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Because we have made no changes from the Preliminary Results to the weighted-average dumping margin calculation for Hyundai, there are no calculations to disclose for the final results.

Assessment Rates

Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), Commerce has determined, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries of subject merchandise in accordance with the final results of this review. Because we calculated weighted-average dumping margins for Hyundai and POSCO/PIC which are zero or de minimis in the final results of this review, we intend to instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties. For Dongbu, the company that was not selected for individual examination in this review, we will instruct CBP to liquidate entries at the rate established in these final results of review ( i.e., to liquidate entries without regard to antidumping duties).

For entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by the above-referenced respondents for which they did not know its merchandise was destined for the United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at the all-others rate in the less-than-fair-value investigation if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.^[13]

Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results of this review in the Federal Register . If a timely summons is filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade, 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). The final results of this administrative review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise under review and for future cash deposits of estimated antidumping duties, where applicable.

Cash Deposit Requirements

The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register of these final results of administrative review for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for companies subject to this review will be equal to the zero margin established in the final results of this administrative review; (2) for merchandise exported by a company not covered in this review but covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published in the completed segment for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the less-than-fair-value investigation, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be the rate established in 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 20.33 percent, the all-others rate established in the less-than-fair-value investigation.^[14] These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice serves as a final 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.

Administrative Protective Order

This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to an administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3), which continues to govern business proprietary information in this segment of the proceeding. Timely written notification of the return or destruction of APO materials, or conversion to judicial protective order, is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

These final 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)(5).

Dated: March 29, 2023.

Abdelali Elouaradia,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Order

The products covered by the Order are certain cold-rolled (cold-reduced), flat-rolled steel products, whether or not annealed, painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or other non-metallic substances. The products covered do not include those that are clad, plated, or coated with metal. The products covered include coils that have a width or other lateral measurement (“width”) of 12.7 mm or greater, regardless of form of coil ( e.g., in successively superimposed layers, spirally oscillating, etc.). The products covered also include products not in coils ( e.g., in straight lengths) of a thickness less than 4.75 mm and a width that is 12.7 mm or greater and that measures at least 10 times the thickness. The products covered also include products not in coils ( e.g., in straight lengths) of a thickness of 4.75 mm or more and a width exceeding 150 mm and measuring at least twice the thickness. The products described above may be rectangular, square, circular, or other shape and include products of either rectangular or non-rectangular cross-section where such cross-section is achieved subsequent to the rolling process, i.e., products which have been “worked after rolling” ( e.g., products which have been beveled or rounded at the edges). For purposes of the width and thickness requirements referenced above:

(1) where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions set forth above, and

(2) where the width and thickness vary for a specific product ( e.g., the thickness of certain products with non-rectangular cross-section, the width of certain products with non-rectangular shape, etc.), the measurement at its greatest width or thickness applies.

Steel products included in the scope of the Order are products in which: (1) iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other contained elements; (2) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight; and (3) none of the elements listed below exceeds the quantity, by weight, respectively indicated:

• 2.50 percent of manganese, or
• 3.30 percent of silicon, or
• 1.50 percent of copper, or
• 1.50 percent of aluminum, or
• 1.25 percent of chromium, or
• 0.30 percent of cobalt, or
• 0.40 percent of lead, or
• 2.00 percent of nickel, or
• 0.30 percent of tungsten (also called wolfram), or
• 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
• 0.10 percent of niobium (also called columbium), or
• 0.30 percent of vanadium, or
• 0.30 percent of zirconium

Unless specifically excluded, products are included in this scope regardless of levels of boron and titanium.

For example, specifically included in this scope are vacuum degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-free (IF)) steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, motor lamination steels, Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS), and Ultra High Strength Steels (UHSS). IF steels are recognized as low carbon steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as titanium and/or niobium added to stabilize carbon and nitrogen elements. HSLA steels are recognized as steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as chromium, copper, niobium, titanium, vanadium, and molybdenum. Motor lamination steels contain micro-alloying levels of elements such as silicon and aluminum. AHSS and UHSS are considered high tensile strength and high elongation steels, although AHSS and UHSS are covered whether or not they are high tensile strength or high elongation steels.

Subject merchandise includes cold-rolled steel that has been further processed in a third country, including but not limited to annealing, tempering, painting, varnishing, trimming, cutting, punching, and/or slitting, or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the Order if performed in the country of manufacture of the cold-rolled steel.

All products that meet the written physical description, and in which the chemistry quantities do not exceed any one of the noted element levels listed above, are within the scope of the order unless specifically excluded. The following products are outside of and/or specifically excluded from the scope of the Order:

• Ball bearing steels; ^[15]

• Tool steels; ^[16]

• Silico-manganese steel; ^[17]

• Grain-oriented electrical steels (GOES) as defined in the final determination of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel from Germany, Japan, and Poland.^[18]

• Non-Oriented Electrical Steels (NOES), as defined in the antidumping orders issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce in Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the People's Republic of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan.^[19]

The products subject to the Order are currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item numbers: 7209.15.0000, 7209.16.0030, 7209.16.0040, 7209.16.0045, 7209.16.0060, 7209.16.0070, 7209.16.0091, 7209.17.0030, 7209.17.0040, 7209.17.0045, 7209.17.0060, 7209.17.0070, 7209.17.0091, 7209.18.1530, 7209.18.1560, 7209.18.2510, 7209.18.2520, 7209.18.2580, 7209.18.2585, 7209.18.6020, 7209.18.6090, 7209.25.0000, 7209.26.0000, 7209.27.0000, 7209.28.0000, 7209.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7211.23.1500, 7211.23.2000, 7211.23.3000, 7211.23.4500, 7211.23.6030, 7211.23.6060, 7211.23.6090, 7211.29.2030, 7211.29.2090, 7211.29.4500, 7211.29.6030, 7211.29.6080, 7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7225.50.6000, 7225.50.8080, 7225.99.0090, 7226.92.5000, 7226.92.7050, and 7226.92.8050.

The products subject to the Order may also enter under the following HTSUS numbers: 7210.90.9000, 7212.50.0000, 7215.10.0010, 7215.10.0080, 7215.50.0016, 7215.50.0018, 7215.50.0020, 7215.50.0061, 7215.50.0063, 7215.50.0065, 7215.50.0090, 7215.90.5000, 7217.10.1000, 7217.10.2000, 7217.10.3000, 7217.10.7000, 7217.90.1000, 7217.90.5030, 7217.90.5060, 7217.90.5090, 7225.19.0000, 7226.19.1000, 7226.19.9000, 7226.99.0180, 7228.50.5015, 7228.50.5040, 7228.50.5070, 7228.60.8000, and 7229.90.1000.

The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the order is dispositive.

Footnotes

1.   See Certain Cold Rolled Steel Flat Products from Brazil, India, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Determinations for Brazil and the United Kingdom and Antidumping Duty Orders,81 FR 64432 (September 20, 2016) ( Order).

2.   See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2020–2021,87 FR 60989 (October 7, 2022) ( Preliminary Results), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).

3.   See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews,86 FR 61121 (November 5, 2021). The four companies included in this review are Hyundai Steel Company (Hyundai), KG Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. (Dongbu), POSCO, and POSCO International Corporation (PIC).

4.  Commerce continues to treat POSCO and POSCO International Corporation as a collapsed single entity for the final results of this administrative review. See Preliminary Results PDM at 1.

5.   See Preliminary Results PDM at 2.

6.   See Memorandum, “Extension of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021–2021,” dated January 18, 2023.

7.   See Memoranda, “Sales Verification Report for Hyundai Steel Company,” dated March 6, 2023; “Sales Verification Report for POSCO and POSCO International Corporation,” dated March 6, 2023; “Constructed Export Price Sales Verification Report for Hyundai Steel America,” dated March 6, 2023; and “Sales Verification Report for POSCO International America Corporation, POSCO America Corporation, and POSCO America Alabama Processing Center Co., Ltd.,” dated March 6, 2023.

8.   See Memorandum, “Briefing Schedule,” dated March 8, 2023.

9.   See Memoranda, “Sales Verification Report for Hyundai Steel Company,” dated March 6, 2023; “Sales Verification Report for POSCO and POSCO International Corporation,” dated March 6, 2023; “Constructed Export Price Sales Verification Report for Hyundai Steel America,” dated March 6, 2023; and “Sales Verification Report for POSCO International America Corporation, POSCO America Corporation, and POSCO America Alabama Processing Center Co., Ltd.,” dated March 6, 2023.

10.   See Memorandum, “Final Analysis Memorandum for POSCO/PIC,” dated concurrently with this notice (POSCO/PIC's Final Analysis Memorandum).

11.   See Albemarle Corp. v. United States, 821 F.3d 1345 (Fed. Cir. 2016).

12.  This company is the only non-examined company in this review.

13.   See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties,68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).

14.   See Order, 81 FR at 64434.

15.  Ball bearing steels are defined as steels which contain, in addition to iron, each of the following elements by weight in the amount specified: (i) not less than 0.95 nor more than 1.13 percent of carbon; (ii) not less than 0.22 nor more than 0.48 percent of manganese; (iii) none, or not more than 0.03 percent of sulfur; (iv) none, or not more than 0.03 percent of phosphorus; (v) not less than 0.18 nor more than 0.37 percent of silicon; (vi) not less than 1.25 nor more than 1.65 percent of chromium; (vii) none, or not more than 0.28 percent of nickel; (viii) none, or not more than 0.38 percent of copper; and (ix) none, or not more than 0.09 percent of molybdenum.

16.  Tool steels are defined as steels which contain the following combinations of elements in the quantity by weight respectively indicated: (i) more than 1.2 percent carbon and more than 10.5 percent chromium; or (ii) not less than 0.3 percent carbon and 1.25 percent or more but less than 10.5 percent chromium; or (iii) not less than 0.85 percent carbon and 1 percent to 1.8 percent, inclusive, manganese; or (iv) 0.9 percent to 1.2 percent, inclusive, chromium and 0.9 percent to 1.4 percent, inclusive, molybdenum; or (v) not less than 0.5 percent carbon and not less than 3.5 percent molybdenum; or (vi) not less than 0.5 percent carbon and not less than 5.5 percent tungsten.

17.  Silico-manganese steel is defined as steels containing by weight: (i) not more than 0.7 percent of carbon; (ii) 0.5 percent or more but not more than 1.9 percent of manganese, and (iii) 0.6 percent or more but not more than 2.3 percent of silicon.

18.   See Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel from Germany, Japan, and Poland: Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Certain Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances,79 FR 42501, 42503 (July 22, 2014). This determination defines grain-oriented electrical steel as “a flat-rolled alloy steel product containing by weight at least 0.6 percent but not more than 6 percent of silicon, not more than 0.08 percent of carbon, not more than 1.0 percent of aluminum, and no other element in an amount that would give the steel the characteristics of another alloy steel, in coils or in straight lengths.”

19.   See Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from the People's Republic of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan: Antidumping Duty Orders,79 FR 71741, 71741–42 (December 3, 2014). The orders define NOES as “cold-rolled, flat-rolled, alloy steel products, whether or not in coils, regardless of width, having an actual thickness of 0.20 mm or more, in which the core loss is substantially equal in any direction of magnetization in the plane of the material. The term `substantially equal' means that the cross grain direction of core loss is no more than 1.5 times the straight grain direction ( i.e., the rolling direction) of core loss. NOES has a magnetic permeability that does not exceed 1.65 Tesla when tested at a field of 800 A/m (equivalent to 10 Oersteds) along ( i.e., parallel to) the rolling direction of the sheet ( i.e., B800 value). NOES contains by weight more than 1.00 percent of silicon but less than 3.5 percent of silicon, not more than 0.08 percent of carbon, and not more than 1.5 percent of aluminum. NOES has a surface oxide coating, to which an insulation coating may be applied.”