Notice2023-26409
Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders From India: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures
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Published
December 1, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain non-refillable steel cylinders (cylinders) from India are being, or are 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 230 (Friday, December 1, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 230 (Friday, December 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83906-83908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26409]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-533-912]
Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders From India: Preliminary
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional
Measures
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that certain non-refillable steel cylinders (cylinders) from
India are being, or are 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 December 1, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benito Ballesteros, AD/CVD Operations,
Office IX, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-7425.
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 24,
2023.\1\ On September 13, 2023, Commerce postponed the preliminary
determination of this investigation until November 24, 2023.\2\
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\1\ See Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders from India:
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 88 FR 33571 (May
24, 2023) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders from India:
Postponement of in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 88 FR
62771 (September 13, 2023).
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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 <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a complete
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly
at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx</a>.
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\3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation
of Certain Non-Refillable Steel Cylinders from India'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are cylinders 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\ No interested party
commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice. Therefore, Commerce is not preliminarily modifying
the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the
scope in Appendix I to this notice.
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\4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\5\ See Initiation Notice, 88 FR at 33571.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export price in
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Normal value (NV) is
calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. In addition,
Commerce has relied on facts available with an adverse inference in
determining a weighted-average dumping margin for Bhiwadi Cylinders
Private Limited/Sapphire (India) Private Limited (collectively,
Bhiwadi/Sapphire) under sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. For a full
description of the methodology underlying the preliminary
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
All-Others Rate
Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in
the preliminary determination Commerce shall determine an estimated
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually
examined. This 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
and de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under
section 776 of the Act.
Pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, if the estimated
weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters and
producers individually examined are zero, de minimis, or determined
based entirely on facts otherwise available, Commerce may use ``any
reasonable method to establish the estimated all-others rate for
exporters and producers not individually investigated, including
averaging the estimated weighted-average dumping margins determined for
the exporters and producers individually investigated.'' Commerce has
preliminarily determined the estimated
[[Page 83907]]
weighted-average dumping margin for Bhiwadi/Sapphire under section 776
of the Act and has preliminarily determined that the estimated
weighted-average dumping margin for Inox India Limited (Inox) is zero
percent. Consequently, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, we
calculated the all-others rate as a simple average of the alleged
dumping margin(s) from the Petition.\6\
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\6\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Certain Non-Refillable Cylinders
from India--Petition from the Imposition of Antidumping and
Countervailing Duties,'' dated April 27, 2023 (Petition).
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period, April 1, 2022,
through March 31, 2023:
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Cash deposit rate
Estimated (adjusted for
Exporter/producer weighted-average subsidy
dumping margin offset(s))
(percent) (percent)
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Bhiwadi Cylinders Private 61.00 59.36
Limited; Sapphire (India)
Private Limited \7\.............
Inox India Limited............... 0.00 0.00
All Others....................... \8\ 33.62 31.93
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Consistent with section 733(b)(3) of the Act, Commerce disregards
zero or de minimis rates and preliminarily determines that the
individually examined respondent with a zero or de minimis rate has not
made sales of subject merchandise at LTFV.
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\7\ Commerce has preliminarily determined to collapse Bhiwadi
and Sapphire and treat these companies as a single entity. See
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
\8\ See the ``All Others Rate'' section, supra; see also
Initiation Notice, 88 FR at 33573. The margins alleged in the
Petition were 6.24 percent and 61.00 percent.
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Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation
of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I, entered,
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, as discussed below.
Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal
to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the estimated all-
others rate, as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents
listed above will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-
average dumping margins determined in this preliminary determination;
(2) if the exporter is not a respondent identified above, but the
producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-
specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that
producer of the subject merchandise except as explained below; and (3)
the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be
equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average dumping margin.
Because the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for Inox is
zero, entries of shipments of subject merchandise from this company
will not be subject to suspension of liquidation or cash deposit
requirements. In such situations, Commerce applies the exclusion to the
provisional measures to the producer/exporter combination that was
examined in the investigation. Accordingly, Commerce is directing CBP
not to suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise produced
and exported by Inox. Entries of shipments of subject merchandise from
Inox in any other producer/exporter combination, or by third parties
that sourced subject merchandise from the excluded producer/exporter
combination, are subject to the provisional measures at the all-others
rate.
Should the final estimated weighted-average dumping margin be zero
or de minimis for the producer/exporter combination identified above,
entries of shipments of subject merchandise from this producer/exporter
combination will be excluded from the potential antidumping duty order.
Such exclusions are not applicable to merchandise exported to the
United States by this respondent in any other producer/exporter
combination or by third parties that sourced subject merchandise from
the excluded producer/exporter combination.
Commerce normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated antidumping
duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a companion
countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding, when CVD provisional measures are
in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce preliminarily made an
affirmative determination for countervailable export subsidies,
Commerce has offset the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by
the appropriate CVD rate. Any such adjusted cash deposit rate may be
found in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section above.
Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting estimated
antidumping duty cash deposits unadjusted for countervailed export
subsidies at the time that the provisional CVD measures expire. These
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until
further notice.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis
performed to interested parties in 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. 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.\9\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or
rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents
listing
[[Page 83908]]
each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\10\
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\9\ See 19 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).
\10\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2)
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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 briefs 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.\11\
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).\12\
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\11\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\12\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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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, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request
for a hearing is made, Commerce will inform parties of the time and
date for the hearing.
Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
Section 735(a)(2) 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. Section 351.210(e)(2) of Commerce's regulations
requires that a request by exporters for postponement of the final
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months
in duration.
On October 31, 2023, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Bhiwadi/
Sapphire requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and
that provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six
months.\13\ In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19
CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) the preliminary determination is
affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter account for a significant
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling
reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the final
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month
period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, Commerce
will make its final determination no later than 135 days after the date
of publication of this preliminary determination.
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\13\ See Bhiwadi/Sapphire's Letter, ``Bhiwadi's Request for
Extension of Final Determination,'' dated October 31, 2023.
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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 before the later of 120 days after the date of this
preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination
whether these imports 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 24, 2023.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain seamed
(welded or brazed), non-refillable steel cylinders meeting the
requirements of, or produced to meet the requirements of, U.S.
Department of Transportation specification 39, TransportCanada
specification 39M, or United Nations pressure receptacle standard
ISO 11118 and otherwise meeting the description provided below (non-
refillable steel cylinders). The subject non-refillable steel
cylinders are portable and range from 100-cubic inch (1.6 liter)
water capacity to 1,526-cubic inch (25 liter) water capacity.
Subject non-refillable steel cylinders may be imported with or
without a valve and/or pressure release device and are unfilled at
the time of importation. Non-refillable steel cylinders filled with
pressurized air otherwise meeting the physical description above are
covered by this investigation.
Specifically excluded are seamless non-refillable steel
cylinders.
The merchandise subject to this investigation is properly
classified under statistical reporting numbers 7311.00.0060 and
7311.00.0090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS). The merchandise may also enter under HTSUS statistical
reporting numbers 7310.29.0030 and 7310.29.0065. Although the HTSUS
statistical reporting numbers are provided for convenience and
customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is
dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Affiliation and Single Entity Treatment
VI. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
VII. Discussion of the Methodology
VIII. Currency Conversion
IX. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in
Companion Countervailing Duty Investigation
X. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2023-26409 Filed 11-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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