83 FR 9835 - Silicon Metal From Brazil: Affirmative Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 46 (March 8, 2018)

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports of silicon metal from Brazil are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016. The final margins of sales at LTFV are listed below in the ``Final Determination'' section of this notice.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 46 (Thursday, March 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9835-9838]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04668]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-351-850]


Silicon Metal From Brazil: Affirmative Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports 
of silicon metal from Brazil are being, or are likely to be, sold in 
the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of 
investigation (POI) is January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016. The 
final margins of sales at LTFV are listed below in the ``Final 
Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Applicable March 8, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Smith or Jesus Saenz, 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) 482-1766 and (202) 
482-8184, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On October 12, 2017, Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination of sales at LTFV of silicon metal from Brazil.\1\ 
Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all 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,

[[Page 9836]]

the deadline will become the next business day. The revised deadline 
for the final determination of this investigation is now February 27, 
2018.\2\
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    \1\ See Silicon Metal From Brazil: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of 
Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 82 FR 
47466 (October 12, 2017) (Preliminary Determination), and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ 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 three days.
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    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 be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\3\
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Silicon Metal 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 silicon metal from 
Brazil. For a full description of the scope of this investigation, see 
the ``Scope of the Investigation'' in Appendix I of this notice.

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 
\4\ to address these comments. Since the Preliminary Determination, 
Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (the petitioner), submitted a case brief 
and interested parties submitted rebuttal briefs concerning the limits 
to silicon content as specified in the scope.\5\
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Silicon Metal from Australia, Brazil, 
Kazakhstan, and Norway: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determinations,'' dated June 29, 2017 (Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum).
    \5\ These parties include Wacker Chemicals Norway A.S., Elkem 
AS, and the petitioner.
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    Commerce reviewed these briefs, considered the arguments therein, 
and is making no additional changes to the scope of the investigation. 
For further discussion, see Commerce's Final Scope Decision 
Memorandum.\6\ The scope in Appendix I reflects the final scope 
language.
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Silicon Metal from Australia, Brazil, 
Kazakhstan, and Norway: Final Scope Comments Decision Memorandum,'' 
dated February 27, 2018 (Final Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by parties in the investigation are addressed in either the 
Final Scope Decision Memorandum or the Issues and Decision Memorandum 
accompanying this notice. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice at 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 http://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), from October 2017 through January 2018, we conducted 
verification of the sales and cost information submitted by respondent 
Palmyra do Brasil Ind[uacute]stria e Com[eacute]rcio de Sil[iacute]cio 
Met[aacute]lico e Recursos Naturais Ltda. (Palmyra) 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 Palmyra.\7\
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    \7\ For discussion of our verification findings, see the 
following memoranda: Memorandum to the File, ``Verification of the 
Sales Response of Palmyra do Brasil Ind[uacute]stria e 
Com[eacute]rcio de Sil[iacute]cio Met[aacute]lico e Recursos 
Naturais Ltda. in the Antidumping Investigation of Silicon Metal 
from Brazil,'' dated January 19, 2018); Memorandum to the File, 
``Verification of the Sales Response of Dow Corning Corporation and 
Hemlock Semiconductors Operations LLC in the Antidumping 
Investigation of Silicon Metal from Brazil,'' dated January 17, 
2018; Memorandum to the File, ``Verification of the Cost Response of 
Palmyra do Brasil Ind[uacute]stria e Com[eacute]rcio de 
Sil[iacute]cio Met[aacute]lico e Recursos Naturais Ltda. in the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Silicon Metal from Brazil,'' dated 
January 17, 2018; and Memorandum to the File, ``Verification of the 
Cost Response of Dow Corning in the Antidumping Duty Investigation 
of Silicon Metal from Brazil,'' dated January 17, 2018.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    We made certain changes to the Preliminary Determination for 
Palmyra based on the additional questionnaire responses received after 
our Preliminary Determination, verification findings, and our review 
and analysis of interested party comments. For further discussion, see 
the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    The respondent Ligas de Aluminio S.A.--LIASA (LIASA) failed to 
participate in this investigation. Therefore, in the Preliminary 
Determination, pursuant to sections 776(a)(1), 776(a)(2)(A)-(C), and 
776(b) of the Act, Commerce assigned LIASA a rate based on adverse 
facts available (AFA). No party filed comments on our Preliminary 
Determination with respect to LIASA and there is no new information on 
the record that would cause us to revisit it. Accordingly, we continue 
to find that the application of AFA pursuant to section 776(a) and (b) 
of the Act is warranted with respect to LIASA. In applying total AFA, 
Commerce assigned to LIASA's exports of the subject merchandise the 
rate of 134.92 percent, which is the highest rate calculated in the 
petition \8\ and which has been corroborated to the extent practicable 
within the meaning of section 776(c) of the Act.
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    \8\ See Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duties: Silicon Metal from Australia, Brazil, 
Kazakhstan, and Norway, dated March 8, 2017 (the Petition), Volume 
IV at 8-9.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that, in the final 
determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for all-other 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 or producers individually examined, excluding rates that are 
zero, de minimis or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. 
As Commerce determined an estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
based entirely under section 776 of the Act for LIASA, we have 
determined the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for all other 
producers and exporters equal to the rate calculated for Palmyra.

Final Determination

    The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as 
follows:

[[Page 9837]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Estimated     Cash deposit
                                             weighted-    rate (adjusted
          Exporter or producer                average       for subsidy
                                          dumping margin    offset(s))
                                             (percent)       (percent)
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Palmyra do Brasil Ind[uacute]stria e               68.97       \9\ 68.87
 Com[eacute]rcio de Sil[iacute]cio
 Met[aacute]lico e Recursos Naturais
 Ltda. (formerly known as Dow Corning
 Sil[iacute]cio do Brasil
 Ind[uacute]stria e Com[eacute]rcio
 Ltda.).................................
Ligas de Aluminio S.A.--LIASA...........          134.92     \10\ 133.49
All-Others..............................           68.97      \11\ 68.87
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Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties its calculations 
and analysis performed in this final determination within five days of 
any public announcement in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
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    \9\ See Memorandum to the File, ``Final Cash Deposit Rates'' 
dated February 27, 2018.
    \10\ Id.
    \11\ Id.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, for this final 
determination, we will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of silicon metal from 
Brazil, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which are entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after October 12, 
2017, the date of publication in the Federal Register of the 
affirmative Preliminary Determination.
    Further, the Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit 
equal to the estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds the 
U.S. price as shown above, adjusted where appropriate, for export 
subsidies found in the final determination of the companion 
countervailing duty investigation. Consistent with our longstanding 
practice, where the product under investigation is also subject to a 
concurrent countervailing duty investigation, we instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit equal to the amount by which the normal value 
exceeds the U.S. price, less the amount of the countervailing duty 
determined to constitute any export subsidies.\12\
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    \12\ See, e.g., Welded Line Pipe From the Republic of Turkey: 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 80 FR 61362 
(October 13, 2015), and Notice of Final Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value and Negative Critical Circumstances 
Determination: Bottom Mount Combination Refrigerator-Freezers From 
the Republic of Korea, 77 FR 17413 (March 26, 2012).
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    Therefore, in the event that a countervailing duty order is issued 
and suspension of liquidation is resumed in the companion 
countervailing duty investigation on silicon metal from Brazil, the 
Department will instruct CBP to require cash deposits adjusted by the 
amount of export subsidies, as appropriate. These adjustments are 
reflected in the final column of the rate chart, above. Until such 
suspension of liquidation is resumed in the companion countervailing 
duty investigation, and so long as suspension of liquidation continues 
under this antidumping duty investigation, the cash deposit rates for 
this antidumping duty investigation will be the rates identified in the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin column in the rate chart, 
above.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the 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 silicon metal 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 and all cash 
deposits posted 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

    This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of propriety 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 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: February 27, 2018.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation covers all forms and sizes of 
silicon metal, including silicon metal powder. Silicon metal 
contains at least 85.00 percent but less than 99.99 percent silicon, 
and less than 4.00 percent iron, by actual weight. Semiconductor 
grade silicon (merchandise containing at least 99.99 percent silicon 
by actual weight and classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (HTSUS) subheading 2804.61.0000) is excluded 
from the scope of this investigation.
    Silicon metal is currently classifiable under subheadings 
2804.69.1000 and 2804.69.5000 of the HTSUS. While 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 Made Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of Methodology
V. Date of Sale
VI. Product Comparisons
VII. Constructed Export Price
VIII. Normal Value
IX. Currency Conversion
X. Adjustment for Countervailable Export Subsidies
XI. Discussion of the Issues:
    Comment 1: Proper Basis for U.S. Price
    Comment 2: Treatment of Non-Brazilian Silicon Metal in 
Calculating Further- Manufacturing Costs

[[Page 9838]]

    Comment 3: Adjustments to Dow Corning's Further-Manufacturing 
Costs
    Comment 4: Differential Pricing
    Comment 5: Treatment of Certain Sales to an Unaffiliated Toller
    Comment 6: Treatment of Downstream Sales to Affiliated Customers
    Comment 8: Minor Corrections
XII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-04668 Filed 3-7-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P