2016-17940. Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the United Kingdom: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that certain cold-rolled steel flat products (cold-rolled steel) from the United Kingdom is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015. The final dumping margins of sales at LTFV are listed below in the “Final Determination” section of this notice.

DATES:

Effective July 29, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On March 7, 2016, the Department published the Preliminary Determination of this antidumping duty (AD) investigation.^[1] The following events occurred since the Preliminary Determination was issued.

In March 2016, the Department received supplemental cost responses from Tata Steel UK Ltd. (TSUK), one of the mandatory respondents in this investigation.^[2]

In June 2016, AK Steel (one of the petitioners),^[3] Caparo Precision Strip, Ltd. (Caparo), and TSUK submitted case briefs ^[4] and rebuttal briefs.^[5] A hearing was held on June 21, 2016.

Scope of the Investigation

The product covered by this investigation is cold-rolled steel from the United Kingdom. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see the “Scope of the Investigation,” in Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

In accordance with the Preliminary Scope Determination,^[6] the Department set aside a period of time for parties to address scope issues in case briefs or other written comments on scope issues.

For a summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the records of the cold-rolled steel investigations, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely received, see the Final Scope Decision Memorandum.^[7] The Final Scope Decision Memorandum is incorporated by, and hereby adopted by, this notice.

Analysis of Comments Received

All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, which is hereby adopted by this notice.^[8] A list of the issues raised is attached to this notice as Appendix II. The Issues and 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 it is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B-8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/​frn/​index.html. The signed and electronic versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Verification

As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), in March and April 2016, the Department verified the sales and cost data reported by the mandatory respondents, pursuant to section 782(i) of the Act. We used standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original source documents provided by the respondents.^[9]

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations for Caparo and TSUK. For a discussion of these changes, see the “Margin Calculations” and “Comparisons to Fair Value” sections of the Issues and Decision Memorandum. We have also revised the all-others rate.

All-Others Rate

Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated all-others rate shall be 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 margins determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. Therefore, we calculated the all-others rate based on a weighted average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents using each company's publicly-ranged values for the merchandise under consideration.^[10]

Final Determination

The Department determines that the final weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

Exporter/producer	Weighted-average margin (percent)
Caparo Precision Strip, Ltd./Liberty Performance Steels Ltd.11	5.40
Tata Steel UK Ltd	25.56
All-Others	22.92

Disclosure

We intend to disclose the calculations performed to interested parties within five days of the public announcement of this final determination in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, the Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of cold-rolled steel from the United Kingdom, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after March 7, 2016, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination of this investigation in the Federal Register.

Further, pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, CBP shall require a cash deposit equal to the estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price, as follows: (1) For the exporters/producers listed in the table above, the cash deposit rates will be equal to the dumping margin which the Department determined in this final determination; (2) if the exporter is not a firm identified in this investigation but the producer is, the rate will be the rate established for the producer of the subject merchandise; (3) the rate for all other producers or exporters will be 22.92 percent, as discussed in the “All Others Rate” section, above. These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this proceeding is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of cold-rolled steel from the United Kingdom no later than 45 days after our final determination. If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will be terminated and all cash deposits will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction by the Department, antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of liquidation.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to an administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 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 violation subject to sanction.

This determination and this notice are issued and published pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

Dated: July 20, 2016.

Paul Piquado,

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

The products covered by this investigation 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 this investigation 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 investigation 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 this investigation unless specifically excluded. The following products are outside of and/or specifically excluded from the scope of this investigation:

• Ball bearing steels;^[12]

• Tool steels;^[13]

• Silico-manganese steel;^[14]

• 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.^[15]

• 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.^[16]

The products subject to this investigation are currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item numbers: 7209.15.0000, 7209.16.0030, 7209.16.0060, 7209.16.0070, 7209.16.0091, 7209.17.0030, 7209.17.0060, 7209.17.0070, 7209.17.0091, 7209.18.1530, 7209.18.1560, 7209.18.2510, 7209.18.2520, 7209.18.2580, 7209.18.6020, 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 investigation 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 investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Scope of the Investigation

IV. Margin Calculations

V. Comparisons to Fair Value

VI. Discussion of Issues

Comment 1: Level of Trade (TSUK)

Comment 2: Home-Market Freight Revenue (TSUK)

Comment 3: CEP Credit Expense (TSUK)

Comment 4: Home-Market Credit Expense (Caparo)

Comment 5: Quality Codes (Caparo)

Comment 6: Date of Sale (Caparo)

Comment 7: Successor-in-Interest (Caparo)

Comment 8: Restructuring and Impairment Costs (TSUK)

Comment 9: Raw Materials Costs (TSUK)

Comment 10: Energy Costs (TSUK)

Comment 11: Verification Corrections (TSUK)

Comment 12: Verification Corrections (Caparo)

VII. Recommendation

Footnotes

1.  See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the United Kingdom: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional Measures, 81 FR 11744 (March 7, 2016) (Preliminary Determination).

2.  See Letter from TSUK, “Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: TSUK's Section D Second Supplemental Questionnaire Response” (March 11, 2016).

3.  AK Steel Corporation (AK Steel), ArcelorMittal USA LLC, Nucor Corporation, Steel Dynamics, Inc., and United States Steel Corporation (collectively, the petitioners).

4.  See Letter from the petitioners, “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From The United Kingdom/Petitioner's Case Brief” (June 8, 2016); Letter from Caparo, “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: Case Brief of Caparo Precision Strip, Ltd.” (June 8, 2016); and Letter from TSUK, “Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: Case Brief of Tata Steel UK Ltd. and Tata Steel International (Americas) Inc.” (June 8, 2016).

5.  See Letter from the petitioners, “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products From The United Kingdom/Petitioner's Rebuttal Brief” (June 13, 2016); Letter from Caparo, “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: Caparo Precision Strip, Ltd. Rebuttal Brief” (June 13, 2016); and Letter from TSUK, “Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: Rebuttal Brief of Tata Steel UK Ltd. and Tata Steel International (Americas) Inc.” (June 13, 2016).

6.  See Memorandum to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Products From Brazil, the People's Republic of China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determinations” dated February 29, 2016 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).

7.  See Memorandum to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Products from Brazil, the People's Republic of China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom: “Final Scope Comments Decision Memorandum,” dated May 16, 2016 (Final Scope Decision Memorandum).

8.  See Memorandum to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations “Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom” (July 20, 2016) (Issues and Decision Memorandum).

9.  See Memorandum to the File entitled “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: Home-Market and Export-Price Sales Verification of Caparo Precision Strip, Ltd.,” dated April 1, 2016, Memorandum to the File entitled “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: Home-Market and Export-Price Sales Verification of Tata Steel UK Ltd.,” dated April 4, 2016, Memorandum to the File entitled “Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: Constructed-Export-Price Sales Verification of Tata Steel UK Ltd.,” dated May 4, 2016, Memorandum to the File entitled “Certain Cold-Ro11ed Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom: Constructed-Export-Price Sales Verification of Caparo Precision Strip, Ltd.,” dated May 5, 2016, Memorandum to the File entitled “Verification of the Cost Response of Caparo Precision Strip, Ltd., in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom,” dated May 31, 2016, and Memorandum to the File entitled “Verification of the Cost Response of Tata Steel UK Ltd. in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Flat Products from the United Kingdom,” dated May 31, 2016.

10.  We followed our normal practice, which is, with two respondents, we calculate (A) a weighted-average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents; (B) a simple average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents; and (C) a weighted-average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents using each company's publicly-ranged values for the merchandise under consideration. We then compare (B) and (C) to (A) and select the rate closest to (A) as the most appropriate rate for all other companies. See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof From France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 (September 1, 2010).

11.  We determined that Liberty Performance Steels Ltd. is the successor-in-interest to Caparo Precision Strip, Ltd. See Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 7.

12.  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.

13.  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.

14.  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.

15.  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 (Dep't of Commerce, 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.”

16.  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 (Dep't of Commerce, Dec. 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.”