Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar From Turkey: Final Negative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 54965-54967 [2014-21986]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 178 (Monday, September 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54965-54967]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21986]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-489-818]


Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar From Turkey: Final Negative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Determination 
of Critical Circumstances

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
imports of steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) from Turkey are not 
being, or are not likely to be, sold in the United States at less than 
fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act). The final weighted-average dumping margins 
are listed in the ``Final Determination'' section of this notice. The 
Department also finds that critical circumstances do not exist for 
Turkey with regard to the two mandatory respondents, Habas Sinai ve 
Tibbi Gazlar Istihsal Endustrisi A.S. (Habas) and Icdas Celik Enerji 
Tersane ve Ulasim Sanayi A.S. (Icdas), but do exist for all other 
producers and exporters of subject merchandise.

DATES: Effective Date: September 15, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jolanta Lawska (Icdas) or George 
McMahon (Habas), AD/CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement and 
Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-8362 or (202) 482-1167, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On April 24, 2014, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register.\1\ In the Preliminary 
Determination, we postponed the final determination until no later than 
135 days after the publication of the Preliminary Determination in 
accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii) and (e) and invited parties to comment on our 
Preliminary Determination. We received case and rebuttal briefs from 
the Petitioners,\2\ Habas, and Icdas. We also received a case brief 
from the interested party Colakoglu Metalurji, A.S. and the Turkish 
Steel Exporter's Association. On July 31, 2014, we conducted a public 
hearing in this investigation.
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    \1\ See Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar From Turkey: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, and 
Postponement of Final Determination, 79 FR 22804 (April 24, 2014) 
(Preliminary Determination).
    \2\ Petitioners are the Rebar Trade Action Coalition and its 
members: Nucor Corporation, Gerdau Ameristeel U.S. Inc., Commercial 
Metals Company, Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, Inc., and Byer Steel 
Corporation.
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Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013.

Scope Comments

    On June 19, 2014, the Petitioners submitted a request that the 
Department amend the scope of this investigation to exclude certain 
types of deformed steel wire by inserting the sentence below 
immediately before the last sentence of the current scope language:

    Also excluded from the scope is deformed steel wire meeting ASTM 
A1064/A1064M with no bar markings (e.g., mill mark, size or grade) 
and without being subject to an elongation test.

We solicited comments on the scope of the investigation from interested 
parties in the Initiation Notice \3\ and case briefs. Based on the fact 
that no other interested party submitted comments regarding the 
Petitioners' request to amend the scope language, we incorporated this 
amendment in the ``Scope of the Investigation'' section below.
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    \3\ See Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar From Mexico and Turkey: 
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations, 78 FR 60827 (October 
2, 2013) (Initiation Notice).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise subject to this investigation is steel concrete 
reinforcing bar imported in either straight length or coil form (rebar) 
regardless of metallurgy, length, diameter, or grade. The subject 
merchandise is classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) primarily under item numbers 7213.10.0000, 
7214.20.0000, and 7228.30.8010.
    The subject merchandise may also enter under other HTSUS numbers 
including 7215.90.1000, 7215.90.5000, 7221.00.0015, 7221.00.0030, 
7221.00.0045, 7222.11.0001, 7222.11.0057, 7222.11.0059, 7222.30.0001, 
7227.20.0080, 7227.90.6085, 7228.20.1000, and 7228.60.6000. 
Specifically excluded are plain rounds (i.e., non-deformed or smooth 
rebar). Also excluded from the scope is deformed steel wire meeting 
ASTM A1064/A1064M with no bar markings (e.g., mill mark, size or grade) 
and without being subject to an elongation test. HTSUS numbers are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes; however, the written 
description of the scope remains dispositive.

Analysis of the Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case briefs by parties to this 
investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\4\ A 
list of the issues which parties raised and to which we responded is in 
the Issues and Decision Memorandum and attached to this notice as an 
Appendix. 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 (IA 
ACCESS). IA ACCESS is available to registered users at https://iaaccess.trade.gov and it is available to all parties in the Central 
Records Unit (CRU), room 7046 of the main Department of Commerce 
building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly on the internet at https://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Issues and Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \4\ See the memorandum from Deputy Assistant Secretary Christian 
Marsh to Assistant Secretary Paul Piquado titled ``Issues and 
Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination in the Less than 
Fair Value Investigation of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from 
Turkey'' dated concurrently with this notice and hereby adopted by 
this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received, pre-verification 
corrections, and our findings at verifications, we made certain changes 
to the margin calculations for Habas and Icdas.\5\
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    \5\ For a discussion of these changes, see Memorandum to Neal 
Halper titled, ``Cost of Production and Constructed Value 
Calculation Adjustments for the Final Determination--Habas,'' dated 
concurrently with this notice and Memorandum to the File titled, 
``Final Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel 
Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Turkey--Analysis Memorandum for 
Habas,'' dated concurrently with this notice; see also Memorandum to 
Neal Halper titled ``Cost of Production and Constructed Value 
Calculation Adjustments for the Final Determination--Icdas,'' dated 
concurrently with this notice and Memorandum to the File titled, 
``Final Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel 
Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Turkey--Analysis Memorandum for 
Icdas,'' dated concurrently with this notice; see also Memorandum to 
the File, titled ``Final Determination in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Turkey--Sales 
Analysis Memorandum for Habas,'' (Sales Analysis Memorandum for 
Habas), dated concurrently with this notice; see also Memorandum to 
the File, titled ``Final Determination in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Turkey--Sales 
Analysis Memorandum for Icdas,'' (Sales Analysis Memorandum for 
Icdas), dated concurrently with this notice.

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[[Page 54966]]

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we conducted sales and 
cost verifications of the questionnaire responses submitted by Habas 
and Icdas. We used standard verification procedures, including 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, as well as 
original source documents provided by both companies.

Final Determination of Critical Circumstances

    On December 4, 2013, Petitioners filed a timely critical 
circumstances allegation pursuant to section 733(e)(l) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.206(c)(l), alleging that critical circumstances exist with 
respect to imports of the merchandise under consideration. Based on our 
analysis, pursuant to 735(a)(3), we find that critical circumstances do 
not exist for Habas and Icdas, but do exist for all other producers and 
exporters. The finding for producers and exporters subject to the all 
others rate is moot because the antidumping duty margins for Habas and 
Icdas are de minimis. Thus, we will not instruct U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) to retroactively suspend entries for producers 
and exporters subject to the all others rate.
    For a full description of the methodology and results of our 
analysis, see the Critical Circumstances Section of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.

Final Determination

    We determine that the estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Estimated
                                                              weighted-
                                                               average
                    Producer or exporter                       dumping
                                                                margin
                                                              (percent)
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Habas Sinai ve Tibbi Gazlar Istihsal Endustrisi A.S.                0.00
 (Habas)...................................................
Icdas Celik Enerji Tersane ve Ulasim Sanayi A.S. (Icdas)...         0.00
All Others.................................................         0.00
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    Consistent with section 735(c)(1) of the Act, the Department has 
not determined an estimated all-others rate because it has not made an 
affirmative final determination of sales at LTFV.

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).

Suspension of Liquidation

    Because the estimated weighted-average dumping margins for the 
examined companies are de minimis, we are not directing CBP to suspend 
liquidation of entries of rebar from Turkey. As noted above, for this 
final determination, the Department found that critical circumstances 
exist with respect to the ``all other'' producers and/or exporters. The 
finding for ``all others'' is moot because the final determination of 
dumping is negative. Thus, we will not instruct CBP to retroactively 
suspend entries for firms subject to the all others rate. Further, we 
will instruct CBP to liquidate without regard to antidumping duties 
those entries that were suspended on or after January 24, 2014, which 
is 90 days prior to the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register.\6\
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    \6\ In the Preliminary Determination, in accordance with section 
733(d)(2) of the Act, we directed CBP to suspend liquidation of all 
entries of rebar from Turkey from companies with above de minimis 
margins, as described in the Scope of the Investigation section that 
are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after April 24, 2014 (the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination notice in the Federal Register), and to require a cash 
deposit for such entries in the amounts indicated in the Preliminary 
Determination. Because we preliminarily determined that critical 
circumstances existed with regard to imports of rebar produced or 
exported by Turkish firms other than Habas and Icdas, we directed 
CBP to apply the suspension of liquidation to any unliquidated 
entries of rebar from Turkey that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after January 24, 2014, which is 90 
days prior to the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register.
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    In the final determination of the companion countervailing duty 
investigation on rebar from Turkey, the Department determined that the 
all other companies received a benefit from export subsidies.\7\ The 
antidumping duty margins for Habas and Icdas are de minimis and no cash 
deposits will be collected. Therefore, no adjustment is required for 
export subsidies pursuant to sections 735(c)(1) and 772(c)(1)(C) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.210(d).\8\ These instructions suspending liquidation 
will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \7\ See Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from the Republic of 
Turkey: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and 
Final Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, dated 
concurrently with this notice.
    \8\ Consistent with the Department's practice, where the product 
under investigation is also subject to a concurrent countervailing 
duty investigation, we instruct CBP to require a cash deposit or 
posting of a bond equal to the amount by which the normal value 
exceeds the export price or constructed export price, as indicated 
in the estimated margin section above, less the amount of the 
countervailing duty determined to constitute an export subsidy. See, 
e.g., 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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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission of our final determination.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely written notification of 
the 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.
    We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(l) of the Act.

    Dated: September 8, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. List of Comments
III. Background
IV. Critical Circumstances
V. Scope Comments
VI. Scope of the Investigation
VII. Margin Calculations
VIII. Discussion of the Issues

[[Page 54967]]

    1. Whether the Department Should Deny Respondents' Duty Drawback 
Adjustments
    2. Whether Exempted Duties Should be Added to Costs Regardless 
of Whether the Department Grants the Duty Drawback Adjustment
    3. Whether the Department Should Revise Habas and Icdas' Home 
Market (HM) Control Numbers (CONNUMs) for the Yield Strength Product 
Characteristic (MSYSTRH)
    4. Whether the Department Should Include Rebar Type (REBARTYPEH/
U) as a Product Characteristic Forming Part of the Control Number 
(CONNUM)
    5. Whether HM Sales of Foreign Grade Rebar Are Outside the 
Ordinary Course of Trade
    6. Whether Critical Circumstances Exist for All Others
    7. Date of Sale for Habas' U.S. Market
    8. Whether the Department Should Utilize Habas' Revised Mill 
Scale Offset in the Cost Calculations
    9. Whether the Department Should Disallow Habas' Offsets Related 
to Prior Fiscal Years
    10. Date of Sale for Icdas' U.S. Market
    11. Differential Pricing Analysis
    12. Denial of Offsets for Non-Dumped Sales When Using the 
Average-to-Transaction Method
    13. Whether the Department Should Account for Certain COP 
Differences not Reported by Icdas
    14. Whether the Department Should Adjust Icdas' TOTCOM for 
Unreconciled COM Differences
    15. Whether the Department Should Adjust the Cost Calculation of 
Rebar To Reflect the Production of Short-Length Rebar
    16. Whether Icdas Correctly Reported The Byproduct Offset Amount 
for Scrap and Related Materials
    17. Whether the Department Should Include Insurance Proceeds in 
Calculating Icdas' G&A Expenses
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2014-21986 Filed 9-12-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P