Certain Tungsten Shot From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional Measures
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Issuing agencies
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain tungsten shot (tungsten shot) from the People's Republic of China (China) is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2024, through June 30, 2024. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 32 (Wednesday, February 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9890-9892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02800]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-178]
Certain Tungsten Shot From the People's Republic of China:
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
and 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 tungsten shot (tungsten shot) from the People's
Republic of China (China) is being, or is likely to be, sold in the
United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of
investigation (POI) is January 1, 2024, through June 30, 2024.
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination.
DATES: Applicable February 19, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caroline Carroll, 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) 482-4948.
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
initiated this investigation on August 6, 2024.\1\ On November 15,
2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this
investigation until February 12, 2025.\2\
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\1\ See Certain Tungsten Shot from the People's Republic of
China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 89 FR 65856
(August 13, 2024) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Certain Tungsten Shot from the People's Republic of
China: Postponement of Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-
Fair-Value Investigation, 89 FR 90265 (November 15, 2024).
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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 addressed 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 Tungsten Shot from the People's Republic of China,''
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is tungsten shot from
China. 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) (Preamble).
\5\ See Initiation Notice, 89 FR at 65856.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated constructed export
price in accordance with section 772(b) of the
[[Page 9891]]
Act. Because China is a non-market economy, within the meaning of
section 771(18) of the Act, Commerce has calculated normal value in
accordance with section 773(c) of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to
sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce preliminarily has relied
upon facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences, in determining
the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for the China-wide
entity. For a full description of the methodology underlying Commerce's
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Combination Rates
In the Initiation Notice,\6\ Commerce stated that it would
calculate producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that
are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin
05.1 describes this practice.\7\
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\6\ Id. at 65859.
\7\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1,
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on
Commerce's website at <a href="https://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf">https://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf</a>.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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Estimated weighted-
Producer Exporter average dumping
margin (percent)
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Zhuzhou KJ Super Materials Co., Zhuzhou KJ Super 183.31
Ltd. Materials Co.,
Ltd.
China-wide Entity............... .................. 201.32
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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 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 weighted average amount by which normal value exceeds U.S.
price, as indicated in the chart above, as follows: (1) for the
producer/exporter combination listed in the table above, the cash
deposit rate is equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin
listed for that combination in the table; (2) for all combinations of
Chinese producers/exporters of merchandise under consideration that
have not established eligibility for their own separate rate, the cash
deposit rate will be equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping
margin established for the China-wide entity; and (3) for all third-
county exporters of merchandise under consideration not listed in the
table above, the cash deposit rate is the cash deposit rate applicable
to the Chinese producer/exporter combination (or the China-wide entity)
that supplied that third-country exporter.
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. However, because Commerce preliminarily did not make an
affirmative determination for countervailable export subsidies in the
companion CVD proceeding,\8\ Commerce has not offset the estimated
weighted-average dumping margins in the table above.
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\8\ See Certain Tungsten Shot from the People's Republic of
China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty
Determination, 89 FR 104083 (December 20, 2024).
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These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect
until further notice.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations
performed in connection with this preliminary determination within five
days of its 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).
Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if
appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial
errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent
with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete
allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR
351.224(g) following the preliminary determination. Instead, Commerce
will address such allegations in the final determination together with
issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments.
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 investigation must submit: (1) a statement of
the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of
authorities.\10\
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\9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general
filing requirements).
\10\ See 19 CFR 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 brief 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
[[Page 9892]]
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 Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR
67069, 67077 (September 29, 2023).
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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:
(1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of
participants and whether any participant is a foreign national; and (3)
a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is
made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be
determined.
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. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), Commerce requires
that requests by respondents for postponement of a 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 February 7, 2025, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), KJ Super
requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and extend
provisional measures 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 accounts 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 KJ Super's Letter, ``Request to Postpone Final
Determination,'' dated February 7, 2025.
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U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of its preliminary determination of sales at LTFV. 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 imports of the subject
merchandise 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: February 12, 2025.
Christopher Abbott,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by the investigation is certain tungsten
spheres or balls, also known as shot, that are 92.6 percent or
greater tungsten by weight, not including the weight of any
additional coating. In scope shot have a diameter ranging from 1.5
millimeters (mm) to 10.0 mm. Subject shot can be referred to as
``Tungsten Super Shot.'' Merchandise is covered regardless of the
combination of compounds that comprise the non-tungsten material and
whether or not the tungsten shot is additionally coated with another
material, including but not limited to copper, nickel, iron, or
metallic alloys.
Tungsten shot subject to the investigation may be classified
under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) subheading: 9306.29.0000. Merchandise may also be entered
under HTSUS subheading 8101.99.8000. The HTSUS subheadings are
provided for convenience and customs purposes only. The written
description of the scope of the investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Discussion of the Methodology
V. Currency Conversion
VI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-02800 Filed 2-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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