Notice2025-05302
Ferrosilicon From Brazil: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 28, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports of ferrosilicon from Brazil are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period of investigation January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 59 (Friday, March 28, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 59 (Friday, March 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14112-14114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05302]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-351-860]
Ferrosilicon From Brazil: Final Affirmative Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
imports of ferrosilicon from Brazil are being, or are likely to be,
sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV) for the period
of investigation January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
DATES: Applicable March 28, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jaron Moore or Noah Wetzel, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3640 or (202)
482-7466, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On November 6, 2024, Commerce published the Preliminary
Determination in the Federal Register.\1\ We invited interested parties
to comment on the Preliminary Determination. For a summary of the
events that followed the Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.\2\ 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 <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and
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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\1\ See Ferrosilicon from Brazil: Preliminary Affirmative
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of
Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 89 FR
88004 (November 6, 2024) (Preliminary Determination), and
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Ferrosilicon from Brazil,'' dated concurrently
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is ferrosilicon from
Brazil. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
No interested party commented on the scope of the investigation as
it appeared in the Preliminary Determination. Therefore, we made no
changes to the scope of the investigation.
Verification
Commerce conducted verification of the information relied upon in
making its final determination in this investigation, in accordance
with section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).
Specifically, Commerce conducted on-site verifications of the cost and
sales information submitted by Companhia de Ferro Ligas da Bahia S.A.
(Ferbasa) and Minasligas S.A. (Minasligas).\3\ We used standard
verification procedures, including an examination of relevant sales and
accounting records, and original source documents provided by Ferbasa
and Minasligas.
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\3\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Sales Response of
Companhia de Ferro Ligas de Bahia in the Antidumping Investigation
of Ferrosilicon from Brazil,'' dated January 31, 2025; and
``Verification of the Sales Response of Minasligas S.A. in the
Antidumping Investigation of Ferrosilicon from Brazil,'' dated
January 31, 2025.
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[[Page 14113]]
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs submitted by
interested parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues
and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice at Appendix II.
Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our verification findings, a review of the record, and the
comments received from interested parties regarding the Preliminary
Determination, we made certain changes to both Ferbasa's and
Minasligas' preliminary weighted-average dumping margin calculations.
For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision
Memorandum.
Use of Adverse Facts Available (AFA)
Commerce assigned a dumping margin to Ligas de Aluminio S.A.
(LIASA) on the basis of AFA, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the
Act in the Preliminary Determination.\4\ For this final determination,
we continue to find that the application of AFA, pursuant to sections
776(a) and (b) of the Act, is warranted with respect to LIASA. Further,
as discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, Commerce is also
relying on partial AFA with regard to certain of Ferbasa's freight
expenses.
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\4\ See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR at 88005.
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All-Others Rate
Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters
not individually examined 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
rates that are zero, de minimis margins, or determined entirely under
section 776 of the Act.
For the final determination of this investigation, Commerce
calculated an estimated weighted-average dumping margin of 0.78 percent
(i.e., de minimis) for Minasligas, an estimated weighted-average
dumping margin of 13.66 percent for Ferbasa, and has applied a rate
based on AFA of 21.78 percent to LIASA. Therefore, the only rate that
is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available
is the rate calculated for Ferbasa. Consequently, the rate calculated
for Ferbasa is also assigned as the rate for all other producers and
exporters.
Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average
dumping margins exist:
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Weighted-average
Exporter/producer dumping margin Cash deposit rate (adjusted for subsidy
(percent) offset(s)) (percent)
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Companhia de Ferro Ligas da Bahia S.A.... 13.66 13.57.
Ligas de Aluminio S.A.................... * 21.78 0.00.
Minasligas S.A........................... ** 0.78 Not Applicable.
All Others............................... 13.66 13.57.
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* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
** Rate is de minimis.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose the calculations and analysis
performed in connection with this final determination to interested
parties within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no
public announcement, within five days of the publication date of this
notice in the Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to
suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise, as described in
Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption, on or after November 6, 2024, the date of
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register.
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect
until further notice.
Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(d), upon the publication of this notice, Commerce will instruct
CBP to require a cash deposit for estimated antidumping duties for such
entries as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents
listed above (except Minasligas) will be equal to the company-specific
estimated weighted-average dumping margin determined in this final
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; and (3) the cash deposit
rate for all other producers and exporters will be equal to the all-
others estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed in the table
above.
Because the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for
Minasligas is de minimis, entries of shipments of subject merchandise
that are produced and exported by Minasligas will not be subject to
suspension of liquidation or cash deposit requirements. In such
situations, Commerce also applies the exclusion from the provisional
measures to the producer/exporter combination that was examined in the
investigation. Accordingly, Commerce will not direct CBP to suspend
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise produced and exported by
Minasligas. However, entries of subject merchandise from this company
in any other producer/exporter combination (i.e., where Minasligas is
either the producer or the exporter, but not both), or by third parties
that sourced subject merchandise from the excluded producer/exporter
combination, will be subject to suspension of liquidation at the all-
others rate.
Further, because the estimated weighted-average dumping margin is
de minimis for subject merchandise produced and exported by Minasligas,
entries of such merchandise will be excluded from the potential
antidumping duty order. Such an exclusion will not be applicable to
merchandise exported to the United States by this respondent in any
other producer/exporter combinations or by third parties that sourced
subject
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merchandise from the excluded producer/exporter combination.
To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of export
subsidies countervailed in a companion countervailing duty (CVD)
proceeding, when CVD provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly,
where Commerce has made a final affirmative determination for
countervailable export subsidies, Commerce offsets the estimated
weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate CVD rate. Commerce
has continued to adjust the cash deposit rate for export subsidies in
the companion CVD investigation by the appropriate export subsidy rate
as indicated in the above chart. However, suspension of liquidation of
provisional measures in the companion CVD case has been discontinued;
\5\ therefore, we are not instructing CBP to collect cash deposits
based upon the adjusted estimated weighted-average dumping margin for
those export subsidies at this time.
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\5\ See Ferrosilicon from Brazil: Preliminary Affirmative
Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary Affirmative Critical
Circumstances Determination, in Part, and Alignment of Final
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 89 FR 73371
(September 10, 2024); see also section 703(d) of the Act, which
states that the provisional measures may not be in effect for more
than four months, which in the companion CVD case is 120 days after
the publication of the preliminary determination, January 8, 2025
(i.e., last day provisional measures are in effect).
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U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of its final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV.
Because Commerce's final determination 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 or sales (or the likelihood of sales) for importation of
ferrosilicon from Brazil, no later than 45 days after this final
determination. If the ITC determines that such injury does not exist,
this proceeding will be terminated, all cash deposits posted will be
refunded, and suspension of liquidation will be lifted. If the ITC
determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue an
antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further
instruction by Commerce, 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, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of
Liquidation'' section above.
Administrative Protective Order (APO)
This notice will serve as a final reminder to the parties subject
to an APO of their responsibility concerning the disposition of
proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of 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
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
Dated: March 21, 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 scope of this investigation covers all forms and sizes of
ferrosilicon, regardless of grade, including ferrosilicon
briquettes. Ferrosilicon is a ferroalloy containing by weight four
percent or more iron, more than eight percent but not more than 96
percent silicon, three percent or less phosphorus, 30 percent or
less manganese, less than three percent magnesium, and 10 percent or
less of any other element. The merchandise covered also includes
product described as slag, if the product meets these
specifications.
Subject merchandise includes material matching the above
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed
in a third country, including by performing any grinding or any
other finishing, packaging, or processing that would not otherwise
remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if
performed in the country of manufacture of the ferrosilicon.
Ferrosilicon is currently classifiable under subheadings
7202.21.1000, 7202.21.5000, 7202.21.7500, 7202.21.9000,
7202.29.0010, and 7202.29.0050 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (HTSUS). While the HTSUS numbers are provided for
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the
scope remains dispositive.
Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes from the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Ferbasa's Minor Correction Sales
Comment 2: Timing of Commerce's Request for Post-Verification
Database Revisions
Comment 3: SAS Programming Changes for Minasligas
Comment 4: AFA Rate for LIASA
Comment 5: Whether Commerce Should Remove Canadian Sales from
Minasligas' U.S. Sales Database
Comment 6: Whether Commerce Should Revise General and
Administrative (G&A) Expenses Based on Verification Findings
Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Apply Partial AFA to
Minasligas for Failing to Report Cost Differences Attributable to
Certain Physical Characteristics
V. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-05302 Filed 3-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 28, 2025.
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