Notice2026-08956
Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof From India: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures
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
May 6, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain freight rail couplers and parts thereof (freight rail couplers) 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 July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24517-24520]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08956]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-533-940]
Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof 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 freight rail couplers and parts thereof
(freight rail couplers) 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 July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025. Interested
parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES: Applicable May 6, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eliza DeLong or Colin Thrasher AD/CVD
Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3878 or (202) 482-3004,
respectively.
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 August 18,
2025.\1\
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\1\ See Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof from the
Czech Republic and India: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigations, 90 FR 40059 (August 18, 2025) (Initiation Notice).
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Due to a lapse in appropriations and Federal Government shutdown,
on November 14, 2025, Commerce tolled all deadlines in administrative
proceedings by 47 days.\2\ Additionally, due to a backlog of documents
that were electronically filed via Enforcement and Compliances'
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service
System (ACCESS) during the Federal Government Shutdown, November 24,
2025, Commerce tolled all deadlines in administrative proceedings by an
[[Page 24518]]
additional 21 days.\3\ On February 23, 2026, Commerce postponed the
preliminary determination of this investigation and the revised
deadline is now April 27, 2026. \4\
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\2\ See Memorandum, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of the
Federal Government,'' dated November 14, 2025.
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of all Case Deadlines,'' dated
November 24, 2025.
\4\ See Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof from the
Czech Republic and India: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations
in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 91 FR 8423 (February 23,
2026).
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\5\ 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 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/frnotices">https://access.trade.gov/frnotices</a>.
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\5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Certain
Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof 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 freight rail
couplers 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,\6\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\7\ Certain interested
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in
the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product coverage comments
and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for this preliminary
determination, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments
timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\8\
Commerce is preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared
in the Initiation Notice. See the revised scope in Appendix I to this
notice.
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\6\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\7\ See Initiation Notice.
\8\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations of
Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof from the Czech
Republic and India and Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain
Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof from India: Preliminary
Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated February 26, 2026 (Preliminary
Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Normal value for both
Texmaco Rail and Engineering Limited (Texmaco) and Kharagpur Metal
Reforming Industries Pvt Ltd is calculated using constructed value in
accordance with section 773 of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to
section 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce has preliminarily relied
upon facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences to assign
preliminary dumping margins to two companies that failed to respond to
Commerce's quantity and value questionnaire (i.e., Bhilai Engineering
Corporation Ltd. and Jupiter Wagons Ltd.). 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.
In this investigation, Commerce calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping margins for Texmaco and Kharagpur that are not zero, de
minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available. Commerce
calculated the all-others rate using a weighted average of the
publicly-ranged estimated weighted-average dumping margins calculated
for the examined respondents.\9\
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\9\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally
calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average
dumping margins calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a
simple average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins
calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a weighted-average
of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the
examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S. sales
values for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then
compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) as
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters.
See, e.g., 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, 53662
(September 1, 2010), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum
at Comment 1. In this investigation, Commerce based the all-others
rate on the publicly-ranged sales data of the mandatory respondents.
For a complete analysis of the data, see Memorandum, ``Preliminary
Calculation of All-Others Rate,'' dated concurrently with this
determination.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily 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
(percent) subsidy offset(s)) (percent)
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Bhilai Engineering Corporation Ltd...................... * 71.01 71.01
Jupiter Wagons Ltd...................................... * 71.01 71.01
Kharagpur Metal Reforming Industries Pvt Ltd............ 4.68 0.93
Texmaco Rail and Engineering Limited.................... 7.63 4.14
All Others.............................................. 5.32 1.63
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* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposit Requirements
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. 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
[[Page 24519]]
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; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and
exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average
dumping margin.
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).
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.\10\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or
rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents
listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\11\
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\10\ 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).
\11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2)(iii) and (d)(2)(iii), we
request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their
briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their
briefs.\12\ 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).\13\
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\12\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\13\ 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, whether any participant is a foreign national, and 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. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
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 February 3, 2026, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), Texmaco
requested that Commerce postpone the final determination and that
provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six
months.\14\ 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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\14\ See Texmaco's Letter, ``Request to Postpone the Deadline
for Final Determination,'' dated February 3, 2026.
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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. 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.
[[Page 24520]]
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: April 27, 2026.
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 certain freight railcar
couplers (also known as ``fits'' or ``assemblies'') and parts
thereof. Freight rail couplers are composed of two main parts,
namely knuckles and coupler bodies but may also include other items
(e.g., coupler locks, lock lift assemblies, knuckle pins, knuckle
throwers, and rotors). The parts covered by this investigation
include: (1) E coupler bodies; (2) E/F coupler bodies; (3) F coupler
bodies; (4) E knuckles; and (5) F knuckles; as set forth by the
Association of American Railroads (AAR). The freight rail coupler
parts are included within the scope of this investigation when
imported individually. Coupler locks, lock lift assemblies, knuckle
pins, knuckle throwers, and rotors are covered merchandise when
imported in an assembly but are not covered by the scope when
imported separately.
Subject freight rail couplers and parts are included within the
scope whether finished or unfinished, whether imported individually
or with other subject or nonsubject parts, whether assembled or
unassembled, whether mounted or unmounted, or if joined with
nonsubject merchandise, such as other nonsubject parts or a
completed railcar. Finishing includes, but is not limited to, arc
washing, welding, grinding, shot blasting, heat treatment,
machining, and assembly of various parts. When a subject coupler or
subject parts are mounted on or to other nonsubject merchandise,
such as a railcar, only the coupler or subject parts are covered by
the scope.
The finished products covered by the scope of this investigation
meet or exceed the AAR specifications of M-211, ``Foundry and
Product Approval Requirements for the Manufacture of Couplers,
Coupler Yokes, Knuckles, Follower Blocks, and Coupler Parts,'' and/
or AAR M-215 ``Coupling Systems,'' or other equivalent domestic or
international standards (including any revisions to the
standard(s)).
The country of origin for subject couplers and parts thereof,
whether fully assembled, unfinished or finished, or attached to a
railcar, is the country where the subject coupler parts were cast or
forged. Subject merchandise includes coupler parts as defined above
that have been further processed or further assembled, including
those coupler parts attached to a railcar in third countries.
Further processing includes, but is not limited to, arc washing,
welding, grinding, shot blasting, heat treatment, painting, coating,
priming, machining, and assembly of various parts. The inclusion,
attachment, joining, or assembly of nonsubject parts with subject
parts or couplers either in the country of manufacture of the in-
scope product or in a third country does not remove the subject
parts or couplers from the scope.
The couplers that are the subject of this investigation are
currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS) statistical reporting number 8607.30.1010,
8607.30.1050, and 8607.30.1090. Subject merchandise attached to
finished railcars may also enter under HTSUS statistical reporting
numbers 7326.90.8688, 8606.10.0000, 8606.91.0000, 8606.92.0000,
8606.99.0130, or under subheading 8606.99.0160. Subject merchandise
may also be imported under HTSUS statistical reporting number
7325.99.5000. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience
and customs purposes only; the written description of the scope of
this investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
V. Particular Market Situation
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
VII. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in the
Companion Countervailing Duty Investigation
VIII. Currency Conversion
IX. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2026-08956 Filed 5-5-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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