2022-22106. Carbon and Alloy Steel Cut-to-Length Plate 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 POSCO and its affiliated companies (collectively, the POSCO single entity), the sole producer and/or exporter subject to this review, made sales of subject merchandise in the United States at less than normal value during the period of review (POR), May 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021.

DATES:

Applicable October 12, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jaron Moore or William Horn, AD/CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone] or [phone], respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On June 1, 2022, Commerce published the Preliminary Results of the antidumping duty administrative review of the order on carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from the Republic of Korea.^[1] We invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary Results. For a complete description of the events that occurred subsequent to the Preliminary Results, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.^[2]

Scope of the Order ^[3]

The merchandise subject to the Order is carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate. The product is currently classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 7208.40.3030, 7208.40.3060, 7208.51.0030, 7208.51.0045, 7208.51.0060, 7208.52.0000, 7211.13.0000, 7211.14.0030, 7211.14.0045, 7225.40.1110, 7225.40.1180, 7225.40.3005, 7225.40.3050, 7226.20.0000, and 7226.91.5000.

The products subject to the Order may also enter under the following HTSUS subheadings: 7208.40.6060, 7208.53.0000, 7208.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 7211.19.1500, 7211.19.2000, 7211.19.4500, 7211.19.6000, 7211.19.7590, 7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, 7214.10.000, 7214.30.0010, 7214.30.0080, 7214.91.0015, 7214.91.0060, 7214.91.0090, 7225.11.0000, 7225.19.0000, 7225.40.5110, 7225.40.5130, 7225.40.5160, 7225.40.7000, 7225.99.0010, 7225.99.0090, 7206.11.1000, 7226.11.9060, 7229.19.1000, 7226.19.9000, 7226.91.0500, 7226.91.1530, 7226.91.1560, 7226.91.2530, 7226.91.2560, 7226.91.7000, 7226.91.8000, and 7226.99.0180.

The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes only; the written product description of the scope of the Order is dispositive. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary Results.^[4]

Analysis of Comments Received

All issues raised by the POSCO single entity in its case brief ^[5] are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum and are listed in the appendix to this notice. 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. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/​public/​FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Changes Since the Preliminary Results

Based on the comments received from the POSCO single entity and record information, we made several changes to our preliminary calculation of the weighted-average dumping margin for the POSCO single entity. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Final Results of the Review

As a result of this review, we determine the following estimated weighted-average dumping margin exists for the period May 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021:

Exporter or producer	Weighted-average dumping margin (percent)
POSCO single entity 6	2.59

Disclosure

Commerce intends to disclose the calculations for these final results of review within five days of the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register , in accordance with section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) and 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Assessment Rates

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 these final results of review.^[7]

Commerce will calculate importer-specific antidumping duty assessment rates when a respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is not zero or de minimis ( i.e., less than 0.5 percent). Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), where the respondent reported the entered value of its U.S. sales, we will calculate importer-specific ad valorem duty assessment rates based on the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for the examined sales to each importer to the total entered value of those sales. Where the respondent did not report entered value, we will calculate importer-specific assessment rates on the basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for the examined sales to each importer to the total quantity of those sales, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).^[8] We will also calculate an estimated ad valorem importer-specific assessment rate with which to assess whether the per-unit assessment rate is de minimis. We will instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review when the importer-specific ad valorem assessment rate calculated in the final results of this review is not zero or de minimis. Where either the respondent's ad valorem weighted-average dumping margin is zero or de minimis, or an importer-specific ad valorem assessment rate is zero or de minimis,^[9] we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties.

Commerce's “reseller policy” will apply to entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by companies included in these final results of review for which the reviewed companies did not know that the merchandise they sold to the intermediary ( e.g., a reseller, trading company, or exporter) was destined for the United States. In such instances, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.^[10]

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).

Cash Deposit Requirements

The following deposit requirements will be effective for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for the POSCO single entity will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margin established in the final results of this administrative review ( i.e., 2.59 percent); (2) for merchandise exported by a producer or exporter 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 for the most recently completed segment of this proceeding in which the producer or exporter participated; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation, but the producer is, the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recently completed segment of the proceeding for the producer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will continue to be 7.10 percent ad valorem, the all-others rate established in the LTFV investigation.^[11] These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice also 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 the POR. 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

We are issuing and publishing this notice in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(5).

Dated: September 28, 2022.

Abdelali Elouaradia,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. The POSCO Single Entity

IV. Discussion of the Issues

Comment 1: Downstream Home Market Sales of POSCO's Affiliated Reseller and Service Centers

Comment 2: General and Administrative (G&A) Expense and Financial Expense Ratios for POSCO International Corporation (PIC)

Comment 3: Financial Expense Ratio for POSCO SPS

Comment 4: G&A Expenses Ratio for POSCO SPS

V. Recommendation

Footnotes

1.   See Carbon and Alloy Steel Cut-to-Length Plate from the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2020-2021;87 FR 33121 (June 1, 2022) ( Preliminary Results), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).

2.   See Memorandum, “Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Results in the 2020-2021 Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of Carbon and Alloy Steel Cut-to-Length Plate from the Republic of Korea,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).

3.   See Certain Carbon and Alloy Steel Cut-To-Length Plate from Austria, Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Determinations for France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan, and Antidumping Duty Orders,82 FR 24096 (May 25, 2017) ( Order).

4.   See Preliminary Results PDM at 3-7.

5.  Only the POSCO single entity filed a case brief in this review. No other party filed a case or rebuttal brief.

6.  Commerce continues to find that POSCO, POSCO International Corporation, POSCO SPS, and certain distributors and service centers ( i.e., Taechang Steel Co., Ltd. and Winsteel Co., Ltd.) are affiliated pursuant to section 771(33)(E) of the Act, and further that these companies should be treated as a single entity (collectively, the POSCO single entity) pursuant to 19 CFR 351.401(f). See Preliminary Results PDM at 1.

7.   See19 CFR 351.212(b).

8.  In these final results, Commerce applied the assessment rate calculation method adopted in Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping Proceedings: Final Modification,77 FR 8101 (February 14, 2012).

9.   See19 CFR 351.106(c)(2).

10.  For a full discussion of this practice, see Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties,68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).

11.   See Order, 82 FR at 24098.