Certain Collated Steel Staples From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies were provided to Tianjin Hweschun Fasteners Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Tianjin H...
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies were provided to Tianjin Hweschun Fasteners Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Tianjin Hweschun) a producer and exporter of certain collated steel staples (collated staples) from the People's Republic of China (China) during the period of review (POR) from January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. Additionally, Commerce is rescinding the review with respect to 122 companies. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.
DATES:
Applicable August 12, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bob Palmer and Brandon James, AD/CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
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Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-9068 and (202) 482-7472, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 20, 2020, Commerce published the countervailing duty (CVD) order on collated staples from China.[1]
On September 11, 2023, Commerce published in the
Federal Register
a notice of initiation of an administrative review of the
Order
on 123 producers/exporters.[2]
On March 6, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary results until July 30, 2024, in accordance with section 751(a)(3)(A) of Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(2).[3]
On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven days.[4]
The current deadline for the preliminary results is now August 6, 2024.
For a description of the events that occurred since the initiation of this review,
see
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.[5]
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix I 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
https://access.trade.gov.
In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at
https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
Scope of the Order
The product covered by the
Order
is collated staples from China. For a complete description of the scope of the
Order, see
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Rescission of Administrative Review, In Part
On September 22, 2023, Kyocera Senco Industrial Tools, Inc. (the petitioner) withdrew its request for review with respect to 118 companies.[6]
On October 4, 2023, Vina Hardwares Joint Stock Company withdrew its request for review.[7]
On December 11, 2023, Shanghai Yueda Nail Co., Ltd. and Tianjin Hweschun withdrew their requests for review.[8]
On December 11, 2023, Black & Decker (US) Inc. withdrew its request for review for products manufactured by YF Technology Corporation (Thailand) Ltd., and/or exported by YF Technology Corporation Limited.[9]
The only company requested for review and for which not all review requests have been withdrawn is Tianjin Hweschun.[10]
Because we received timely withdrawals of request for review for these 122 companies, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), we are rescinding the administrative review of these companies. We have included a list of these 122 companies in Appendix II of this notice.
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, we preliminarily determine that there is a subsidy,
i.e.,
a financial contribution by an “authority” that confers a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.[11]
For a full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary conclusions, including our reliance, in part, on adverse facts available pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act,
see
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.[12]
Preliminary Results of the Review
Commerce preliminary determines that the following net countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period of January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022:
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to interested parties for these preliminary results 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). Commerce also intends to issue a post-preliminary memorandum for certain programs after the publication of this notice.[13]
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.[14]
A timeline for the submission of case briefs and written comments will be provided to interested parties at a later date. 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.[15]
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.[16]
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 review, we instead request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.[17]
Further, we request that interested parties limit their public executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We intend to use
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the public executive summaries as the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will accompany the final results in this administrative review. We request that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the public 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).[18]
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via ACCESS. Requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised in the respective case briefs. An electronically filed hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.
Final Results
Unless the deadline is extended, we intend to issue the final results of this administrative review, which will include the results of our analysis of the issues raised in the case briefs, within 120 days of publication of these preliminary results in the
Federal Register,
pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h).
Assessment Rates
Upon completion of the administrative review, consistent with section 751(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(2), Commerce shall determine, and CBP shall assess, countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review. For the companies for which this review is rescinded, Commerce will instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, during the period January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(l)(i). For the companies for which this review is rescinded, we intend to issue appropriate assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of this notice in the
Federal Register
.
For Tianjin Hweschun, Commerce will instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at the subsidy rates calculated in the final results of this review. For Tianjin Hweschun, we intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results of this review in the
Federal Register
. If a timely summons is filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (
i.e.,
within 90 days of publication).
Cash Deposit Requirements
In accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends, upon publication of the final results, to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties in the amounts shown for Tianjin Hweschun listed above on shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of this administrative review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP to continue to collect cash deposits at the most recent company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.
Notification to Interested Parties
These preliminary results are issued and published pursuant to sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).
Dated: August 6, 2024.
Scot Fullerton,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations.
Appendix I
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the
Order
IV. Diversification of China's Economy
V. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse Inferences
VI. Subsidies Valuation
VII. Inputs and Electricity Benchmarks
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation
Appendix II
List of Companies Rescinded From Review
1. Anhui Z&A Import And Export Co., Ltd.
2. Anping Haotie Metal Technology Co.
3. Changzhou Kya Trading Co., Ltd.
4. China Wind International Ltd.
5. Dezhou Hualude Hardware Products Co., Ltd.
6. Dt China (Shanghai) Ltd., Ningbo Branch
7. Eastrong International
8. Ejen Brothers Limited
9. eTeklon Co., Ltd.
10. Fastnail Products Limited
11. Five Star International Import and Export Co., Limited
12. Foshan Chan Seng Import and Export Co., Ltd.
13. Foshan Hosontool Development Hardware Co., Ltd.
14. Fourever International Limited
15. Guangdong Meite Mechanical Co., Ltd.
16. Guangdong Willing Technology
17. Guangzhou Nova Investment Development Co., Ltd.
5.
See
Memorandum, “Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Certain Collated Steel Staples from the People's Republic of China; 2022,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
8.
See
Shanghai Yueda's Letter, “Withdrawal of Request for Administrative Review,” dated December 11, 2023;
see also
Tianjin Hweschun's Letter, “Withdrawal of Request for Administrative Review,” December 11, 2023.
11.
See
sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
15.
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).
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
89 FR 65598
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Certain Collated Steel Staples From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2022,” thefederalregister.org (August 12, 2024), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2024-17910/certain-collated-steel-staples-from-the-people-s-republic-of-china-preliminary-results-and-partial-rescission-of-the-cou.