83 FR 13233 - Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod From Spain: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 60 (March 28, 2018)

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that carbon and alloy steel wire rod (wire rod) from Spain is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). In addition, we determine that critical circumstances exist with respect to certain imports of the subject merchandise. The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 28, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13233-13235]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06147]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-469-816]


Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod From Spain: Final Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Final Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, in Part

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that carbon 
and alloy steel wire rod (wire rod) from Spain is being, or is likely 
to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). In 
addition, we determine that critical circumstances exist with respect 
to certain imports of the subject merchandise. The period of 
investigation (POI) is January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016.

DATES: Applicable March 28, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Davina Friedmann or Chelsey 
Simonovich, AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0698 
and (202) 482-1979, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On October 31, 2017, Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination of sales at LTFV of wire rod from Spain.\1\ On November 
7, 2017, Commerce published the postponement of the final 
determinations of LTFV investigation and extension of provisional 
measures.\2\ On December 7, 2017, Commerce published the Amended 
Preliminary Determination of sales at LTFV of wire rod from Spain.\3\ 
Commerce has exercised its discretion to toll deadlines affected by the 
closure of the Federal Government from January 20 through 22, 2018. If 
the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with 
Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the next business day. 
The revised deadline for the final determination of this investigation 
is now March 19, 2018.\4\ A summary of the events that occurred since 
Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full 
discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final 
determination, may

[[Page 13234]]

be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, which is hereby adopted 
by this notice.\5\
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    \1\ See Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Spain: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part, 82 FR 
50389 (October 31, 2017) (Preliminary Determination), and 
accompanying memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Carbon and 
Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Spain,'' dated October 24, 2017 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
    \2\ See Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Italy, the Republic 
of Korea, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom: Postponement of 
Final Determinations of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation and 
Extension of Provisional Measures, 82 FR 51613 (November 7, 2017).
    \3\ See Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Spain: Amended 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 82 FR 
57726 (December 7, 2017) (Amended Preliminary Determination).
    \4\ See Memorandum for The Record from Christian Marsh, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of 
the Federal Government'' (Tolling Memorandum), dated January 23, 
2018. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been 
extended by 3 days.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Spain,'' 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 wire rod from Spain. 
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation, Commerce received numerous 
scope comments from interested parties. Prior to the Preliminary 
Determination, Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum 
to address these comments. As a result of these comments, Commerce made 
no changes to the scope of this investigation as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice.\6\
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    \6\ For discussion of these comments, see Memorandum, ``Carbon 
and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Italy, the Republic of Korea, 
the Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, the Republic of Turkey, 
Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom: Scope 
Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination'' 
(Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum), dated August 7, 2017; see 
also Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Italy, the 
Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, the 
Republic of Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and United 
Kingdom: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 82 FR 
19207 (April 20, 2017) (Initiation Notice).
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    In September 2017, we received scope case and rebuttal briefs. On 
November 20, 2017, we issued the Final Scope Decision Memorandum in 
response to the comments received.\7\ We did not change the scope of 
this investigation.
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    \7\ For discussion of these comments, see Memorandum, ``Carbon 
and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Italy, the Republic of Korea, 
the Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, the Republic of Turkey, 
Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom: Final 
Scope Memorandum'' (Final Scope Decision Memorandum), dated November 
20, 2017.
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in 
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. 
A list of the issues raised is attached to this notice as Appendix II. 
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, 
and it is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, room B-
8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a 
complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed 
directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed and 
electronic versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical 
in content.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), in November and December 2017, we conducted verification of 
the sales and cost information submitted by Global Steel Wire S.A. 
(GSW), CELSA Atlantic S.A., and Compan[iacute]a Espa[ntilde]ola de 
Laminaci[oacute]n (collectively, CELSA) for use in our final 
determination. We used standard verification procedures, including an 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original 
source documents provided by CELSA.\8\
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    \8\ For discussion of our verification findings, see the 
following memoranda: Memorandum, ``Verification of the Cost Response 
of Global Steel Wire S.A., CELSA Atlantic S.A., and Compania 
Espanola de Laminacion in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of 
Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Spain,'' dated January 8, 2018; 
and Memorandum, ``Verification of the Sales Response of Global Steel 
Wire S.A., CELSA Atlantic S.A., and Compania Espanola de Laminacion 
in the Antidumping Investigation of Carbon Alloy Steel Wire Rod from 
Spain,'' dated January 18, 2018.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations for 
CELSA. For a discussion of these changes, see the ``Margin 
Calculations'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Adverse Facts Available

    In the Preliminary Determination, because mandatory respondent 
ArcelorMittal Espana S.A. (AME) failed to respond to Commerce's 
questionnaire, we applied adverse facts available (AFA) to AME in 
accordance with sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.308. 
We corroborated the petition dumping margin of 32.64 percent to the 
extent practicable within the meaning of section 776(c) of the Act. 
This is the sole rate identified in the petition, and, thus, we 
assigned this dumping margin to AME as AFA.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated all-
others 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 or de 
minimis margins and margins determined entirely under section 776 of 
the Act. CELSA is the only respondent for which Commerce calculated a 
company-specific margin that is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely 
on facts otherwise available. Therefore, for purposes of determining 
the ``all-others'' rate and pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the 
Act, we are using the dumping margin calculated for CELSA, as 
referenced in the ``Final Determination'' section below.

Final Determination

    The final weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:
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    \9\ No interested party commented on our preliminary 
determination that Global Steel Wire S.A., CELSA Atlantic S.A., and 
Compan[iacute]a Espa[ntilde]ola de Laminaci[oacute]n are affiliated 
within the meaning of section 771(33)(F) of the Act, and that these 
companies should be treated as a single entity pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.401(f). See Preliminary Determination, 82 FR 50389. Accordingly, 
we are continuing to find these companies affiliated and to treat 
them as a single entity for these final results.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
                                                              average
                  Exporter/manufacturer                       dumping
                                                              margins
                                                             (percent)
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Global Steel Wire S.A./CELSA Atlantic S.A./                        11.08
 Compan[iacute]a Espa[ntilde]ola de Laminaci[oacute]n
 \9\....................................................
ArcelorMittal Espana S.A................................           32.64
All-Others..............................................           11.08
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Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    In accordance with section 735(a)(3) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, 
Commerce continues to find that critical circumstances do not exist for 
CELSA and all-other companies, but do exist for AME, for the reasons 
described in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For a full description 
of the methodology and results of Commerce's critical circumstances 
analysis, see the ``Critical Circumstances'' section of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.

Disclosure

    We will disclose the calculations performed within five days of the 
date of publication of this notice to parties in this proceeding 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

[[Page 13235]]

instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of wire rod from Spain, 
which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after October 31, 2017, the date of publication of the preliminary 
determination of this investigation in the Federal Register. For 
entries made by AME, in accordance with section 735(c)(4)(A) of the 
Act, because we continue to find that critical circumstances exist, we 
will instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation of all appropriate 
entries of wire rod from Spain which were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after August 2, 2017, which is 90 days 
prior to the date of publication of the preliminary determination of 
this investigation in the Federal Register.
    Further, Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal 
to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins as shown above.

International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because 
the final determination in this proceeding 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 of wire rod from Spain sold in the United States at 
LTFV no later than 45 days after our final determination. If the ITC 
determines that material injury or threat of material injury does not 
exist, the proceeding will be terminated and all cash deposits will be 
refunded. 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.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders (APO)

    This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to APO of their 
responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 
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

    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: March 19, 2018.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain hot-
rolled products of carbon steel and alloy steel, in coils, of 
approximately round cross section, less than 19.00 mm in actual 
solid cross-sectional diameter. Specifically excluded are steel 
products possessing the above-noted physical characteristics and 
meeting the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 
definitions for (a) stainless steel; (b) tool steel; (c) high-nickel 
steel; (d) ball bearing steel; or (e) concrete reinforcing bars and 
rods. Also excluded are free cutting steel (also known as free 
machining steel) products (i.e., products that contain by weight one 
or more of the following elements: 0.1 percent of more of lead, 0.05 
percent or more of bismuth, 0.08 percent or more of sulfur, more 
than 0.04 percent of phosphorous, more than 0.05 percent of 
selenium, or more than 0.01 percent of tellurium). All products 
meeting the physical description of subject merchandise that are not 
specifically excluded are included in this scope.
    The products under investigation are currently classifiable 
under subheadings 7213.91.3011, 7213.91.3015, 7213.91.3020, 
7213.91.3093, 7213.91.4500, 7213.91.6000, 7213.99.0030, 
7227.20.0030, 7227.20.0080, 7227.90.6010, 7227.90.6020, 
7227.90.6030, and 7227.90.6035 of the HTSUS. Products entered under 
subheadings 7213.99.0090 and 7227.90.6090 of the HTSUS may also be 
included in this scope if they meet the physical description of 
subject merchandise above. Although the HTSUS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope of these proceedings is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Use of Adverse Facts Available
IV. Critical Circumstances
V. Scope of the Investigation
VI. Scope Comments
VII. Margin Calculations
VIII. Discussion of the Issues:
    Comment 1: Date of Sale and Use of Constructed Export Price
    Comment 2: Inclusion of Certain Extraordinary Expenses in GSW's 
Net General and Administrative Expenses
    Comment 3: Correction of Certain Data Errors
    Comment 4: Inclusion of Income Attributable to Certain Scrap 
Sales in GSW's Net General and Administrative Expenses
    Comment 5: Adjustment of GSW's Reported Costs To Reflect the 
Yield Loss Attributable to the Cutting Stage of the Production 
Process
    Comment 6: Whether GSW Understated its Per-Unit Costs by 
Reporting Sales Quantities
    Comment 7: Whether GSW Improperly Calculated Direct Materials 
Cost on a Product-Group Basis
    Comment 8: Inclusion of Certain Items in the Calculation of the 
CELSA Companies' General and Administrative Expense Rates
    Comment 9: AFA
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-06147 Filed 3-27-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P