Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products From Japan: Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 34865-34867 [2019-15405]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 139 (Friday, July 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34865-34867]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-15405]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-874]


Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products From Japan: Notice of 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review

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

SUMMARY: In response to a request from Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC), 
the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a changed-
circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty (AD) order on 
certain hot-rolled steel flat products (hot-rolled steel) from Japan 
and preliminarily finds that NSC is the successor-in-interest to Nippon 
Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) and is assigning to NSC the 
same AD cash deposit rate that Commerce has assigned to NSSMC in this 
proceeding.

DATES: Applicable July 19, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leo Ayala or Jun Jack Zhao, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3945 or (202) 482-1396, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On October 3, 2016, Commerce published in the Federal Register, the 
AD Order on certain hot-rolled steel from Japan.\1\
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    \1\ See Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Australia, 
Brazil, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, the Republic 
of Turkey, and the United Kingdom: Amended Final Affirmative 
Antidumping Determinations for Australia, the Republic of Korea, and 
the Republic of Turkey and Antidumping Duty Orders, 81 FR 67962 
(October 3, 2016) (Order).
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    On April 1, 2019, NSC requested that Commerce conduct a CCR 
pursuant to 751(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 
section 351.216 (b) of Commerce's regulations.\2\ NSC provided 
information in its request indicating that it is the successor-in-
interest to NSSMC. NSC also provided information indicating that two 
affiliated entities that Commerce had previously treated as a single 
entity with NSSMC, Nisshin Steel Co., Ltd. (Nisshin Steel), and Nippon 
Steel & Sumikin Bussan Corporation (NSSBC),\3\ had changed their trade 
names to Nippon Steel Nisshin Co., Ltd. (Nippon Nisshin) and Nippon 
Steel Trading Corporation (NSTC),\4\ respectively.\5\ NSC maintains 
that Nippon Nisshin and NSTC are currently part of the same business 
entity as NSC. NSC, therefore, requested that Commerce conduct a CCR to 
determine that NSC, Nippon Nisshin, and NSTC are affiliated companies 
that should be treated as a single entity and treated as the successor-
in-interest to NSSMC. No parties commented on this CCR request.
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    \2\ See NSC's Letter, ``Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products 
from Japan: NSC's Request for Changed Circumstances Review,'' dated 
April 1, 2019 (NSC's CCR Request).
    \3\ See Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Japan: 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value and 
Postponement of Final Determinations, 81 FR 15222 (March 22, 2016), 
and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM) at 7-8 
(finding that NSSMC and NSSBC should be treated as an affiliated 
single entity), unchanged in the Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat 
Products from Japan: Final Determination of Sales at Less than Fair 
Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 
81 FR 53409 (August 12, 2016); see also Certain Hot-Rolled Steel 
Flat Products from Japan: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Preliminary Determination of No Shipments; 
2016-2017, 83 FR 56813 (November 14, 2018) and accompanying PDM at 9 
(finding that NSSMC and Nisshin Steel should be treated as an 
affiliated single entity), unchanged in Certain Hot-Rolled Steel 
Flat Products from Japan: Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Final Determination of No Shipments; 2016-
2017, 84 FR 125 (June 28, 2019) and accompanying Issues and Decision 
Memorandum (IDM) at 20.
    \4\ See NSC's CCR Request. at Exhibit 3.
    \5\ Id. at 2, Exhibit 1, and Exhibit 3.
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this order are hot-rolled steel flat 
products from Japan. For a full description of the scope of the order, 
see the ``Scope of the Order,'' at the Appendix to this notice.

Initiation and Preliminary Results

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Act, Commerce will conduct a 
CCR upon receipt of information concerning, or a request from, an 
interested party for a review of, an AD order which shows changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order. As indicated 
in the Background section, we have received information indicating that 
NSSMC has changed its name to NSC, and that certain affiliated 
companies should be treated as a single entity and the successor-in-
interest to NSSMC. These constitute changed circumstances warranting a 
review of the AD Order. Therefore, in accordance with section 751(b)(1) 
of the Act, we are initiating a CCR based upon the information 
contained in NSC's submissions.
    Section 351.221(c)(3)(ii) of the regulations permits Commerce to 
combine the notice of initiation of a CCR and the notice of preliminary 
results if Commerce concludes that expedited action is warranted. In 
this instance, because we have on the record the information necessary 
to make a preliminary finding, we find that expedited action is 
warranted and have combined the notice of initiation and the notice of 
preliminary results.
    In making successor-in-interest determinations, Commerce examines 
several factors including, but not limited to, changes in: (1) 
Management;

[[Page 34866]]

(2) production facilities; (3) supplier relationships; and (4) customer 
base.\6\ While no single factor, or combination of factors, will 
necessarily prove dispositive, Commerce will generally consider the new 
company to be the successor to its predecessor company if the resulting 
operations are essentially the same as the predecessor company.\7\ 
Thus, if the evidence demonstrates that, with respect to the production 
and sale of the subject merchandise, the new company operates as the 
same business entity as its predecessor, Commerce will assign the new 
company the cash deposit rate of its predecessor.
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    \6\ See, e.g., Polychloroprene Rubber from Japan: Final Results 
of Changed Circumstances Review, 67 FR 58 (January 2, 2002), citing 
Brass Sheet and Strip from Canada: Notice of Final Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 57 FR 20460 (May 13, 1992).
    \7\ Id., citing Industrial Phosphoric Acid from Israel: Final 
Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 59 FR 6944, 6945 (February 
14, 1994).
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    In its April 1, 2019, submission, NSC stated that it merely changed 
its name to NSC from NSSMC, and that NSSMC is the identical company to 
NSC. In addition, NSC maintains that Nippon Nisshin and NSTC are 
currently part of the same business entity as NSC. As such, NSC states 
that its entity's management, production facilities, supplier 
relationships, and customer relationships have not changed. To support 
its claims, NSC submitted numerous documents, including: (1) A copy of 
a letter to shareholders amending the name of NSSMC to NSC and amending 
the name of Nisshin Steel, a NSSMC subsidiary, to Nippon Nisshin; \8\ 
(2) a copy of the Notice of Resolution of the 41st Annual General 
Meeting of Shareholders of NSSMC adopting the modification of NSC's 
corporate name; \9\ (3) a copy of the Notice of Resolution of the 94th 
General Meeting of Shareholders of NSSBC adopting the modification of 
NSTC's corporate name; \10\ (4) an outline of NSSMC/NSC's production 
facilities indicating no changes were made to these production 
facilities as a result of the name change; \11\ (5) an outline of 
Nisshin Steel/Nippon Nisshin's production facilities indicating no 
changes were made to these production facilities as a result of the 
name change; \12\ (6) a list of Board Directors and Audit & Supervisory 
Board Members of NSSMC/NSC, Nisshin Steel/Nippon Nisshin and NSSBC/NSC, 
before and after the effective date of each company's name change, 
indicating no changes of members; \13\ and (7) a list of the top 10 
shareholders of NSSMC/NSC, Nisshin Steel/Nippon Nisshin, and NSSBC/
NSTC, before and after the effective date of each company's name 
change, indicating no significant changes in shareholder ratios.\14\ 
Further, the respondent provided NSSMC/NSC's, Nisshin Steel/Nippon 
Nisshin's and NSSBC/NSTC's customer base \15\ and a list of each 
company's respective supplier relationships,\16\ confirming that each 
company's customer base and supply sources are unchanged from those of 
its predecessor.
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    \8\ See NSC's CCR Request at Exhibit 1.
    \9\ Id. at Exhibit 2.
    \10\ Id. at Exhibit 3.
    \11\ Id. at Exhibit 4.
    \12\ Id. at Exhibit 5. Further, we note that NSSBC/NSTC is a 
trading company with no production facilities.
    \13\ Id. at Exhibit 6.
    \14\ Id. at Exhibit 7.
    \15\ Id. at Exhibit 8.
    \16\ Id. at Exhibit 9.
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    Our analysis indicates that NSC's management, major shareholders, 
production facilities, supplier relationships, and customer base have 
not changed as a result of its name change. Similarly, our analysis 
indicates that Nippon Nisshin's management, major shareholders, 
production facilities, supplier relationships, and customer base have 
not changed, as a result of its name change. Finally, our analysis 
indicates that NSTC has not made changes to its management, major 
shareholders, supplier relationships, and customer base as a result of 
its name change. Thus, we preliminarily find that: (1) NSC is the 
successor in interest to NSSMC; (2) Nippon Nisshin is the successor in 
interest to Nisshin Steel; and (3) NSTC is the successor in interest to 
NSSBC.
    As noted above Commerce has previously determined that NSSMC, 
Nisshin Steel and NSSBC should be treated as a single entity.\17\ On 
this basis, we preliminarily find that NSC, including Nippon Nisshin 
and NSTC, should receive the same AD cash deposit rate (i.e., 4.99 
percent) \18\ with respect to the subject merchandise as NSSMC, its 
predecessor company.
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    \17\ We collapsed Nippon Steel & Sumikin Bussan Corporation with 
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation in the underlying 
investigation. See Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from 
Japan: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value 
and Postponement of Final Determination, 81 FR 15222 (March 22, 
2016) and accompanying PDM at 7-8, unchanged in the Certain Hot-
Rolled Steel Flat Products from Japan: Final Determination of Sales 
at Less than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances, 81 FR 53409 (August 12, 2016) (Final 
Determination), and accompanying IDM. We also collapsed Nisshin 
Steel with NSSMC as of March 13, 2017. See Certain Hot-Rolled Steel 
Flat Products from Japan: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Preliminary Determination of No Shipments; 
2016-2017, 83 FR 56813 (November 14, 2018), and accompanying PDM at 
9, unchanged in Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products from Japan: 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Final 
Determination of No Shipments; 2016-2017, 84 FR 31025 (June 28, 
2019) and accompanying IDM at 20.
    \18\ See Final Determination IDM at 5.
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    If these preliminary results are adopted in the final results of 
this CCR, we will instruct Customs and Border Protection to continue to 
suspend shipments of subject merchandise made by NSC at NSSMC's cash 
deposit rate.

Public Comment

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of 
publication of this notice.\19\ Any hearing, if requested, will be held 
44 days after the date of publication of this notice, or the first 
working day thereafter. Interested parties may submit case briefs and/
or written comments not later than 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs and rebuttals to written 
comments, which must be limited to issues raised in such briefs or 
comments, may be filed not later than 37 days after the date of 
publication of this notice. Parties who submit arguments are requested 
to submit with the argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief 
summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities. Consistent 
with section 351.216(e) of Commerce's regulations, we will issue the 
final results of this changed circumstances review no later than 270 
days after the date on which this review was initiated, or within 45 
days if all parties agree to our preliminary finding. We are issuing 
and publishing this finding and notice in accordance with sections 
751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and section 351.216 of Commerce's 
regulations.
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    \19\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Administrative Protection Order

    This notice is the only reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with section 351.305(a)(3) of Commerce's regulations. 
Timely written 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 terms of an APO 
is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    Commerce is issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(b)(1) and (4) and 777(i) of

[[Page 34867]]

the Act, and sections 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221(c)(3)(i).

    Dated: July 15, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the scope are certain hot-rolled, flat-
rolled steel products, with or without patterns in relief, and 
whether or not annealed, painted, varnished, or coated with plastics 
or other non-metallic substances. The products covered do not 
include those that are clad, plated, or coated with metal. The 
products covered include coils that have a width or other lateral 
measurement (``width'') of 12.7 mm or greater, regardless of 
thickness, and regardless of form of coil (e.g., in successively 
superimposed layers, spirally oscillating, etc.). The products 
covered also include products not in coils (e.g., in straight 
lengths) of a thickness of less than 4.75 mm and a width that is 
12.7 mm or greater and that measures at least 10 times the 
thickness. The products described above may be rectangular, square, 
circular, or other shape and include products of either rectangular 
or non-rectangular cross-section where such cross-section is 
achieved subsequent to the rolling process, i.e., products which 
have been ``worked after rolling'' (e.g., products which have been 
beveled or rounded at the edges). For purposes of the width and 
thickness requirements referenced above:
    (1) Where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is 
within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual 
measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions 
set forth above unless the resulting measurement makes the product 
covered by the existing antidumping \20\ or countervailing duty \21\ 
orders on Certain Cut-To-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products 
From the Republic of Korea (A-580-836; C-580-837), and
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    \20\ See Notice of Amendment of Final Determinations of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Orders: Certain Cut-To-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products from France, India, 
Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the Republic of Korea, 65 FR 6585 
(February 10, 2000).
    \21\ See Notice of Amended Final Determinations: Certain Cut-to-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from India and the Republic of 
Korea; and Notice of Countervailing Duty Orders: Certain Cut-To-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from France, India, Indonesia, 
Italy, and the Republic of Korea, 65 FR 6587 (February 10, 2000).
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    (2) where the width and thickness vary for a specific product 
(e.g., the thickness of certain products with non-rectangular cross-
section, the width of certain products with non-rectangular shape, 
etc.), the measurement at its greatest width or thickness applies.
    Steel products included in the scope are products in which: (1) 
Iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other contained 
elements; (2) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight; 
and (3) none of the elements listed below exceeds the quantity, by 
weight, respectively indicated:
     2.50 percent of manganese, or
     3.30 percent of silicon, or
     1.50 percent of copper, or
     1.50 percent of aluminum, or
     1.25 percent of chromium, or
     0.30 percent of cobalt, or
     0.40 percent of lead, or
     2.00 percent of nickel, or
     0.30 percent of tungsten, or
     0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
     0.10 percent of niobium, or
     0.30 percent of vanadium, or
     0.30 percent of zirconium.
    Unless specifically excluded, products are included in this 
scope regardless of levels of boron and titanium.
    For example, specifically included in this scope are vacuum 
degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-
free (IF)) steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, the 
substrate for motor lamination steels, Advanced High Strength Steels 
(AHSS), and Ultra High Strength Steels (UHSS). IF steels are 
recognized as low carbon steels with micro-alloying levels of 
elements such as titanium and/or niobium added to stabilize carbon 
and nitrogen elements. HSLA steels are recognized as steels with 
micro-alloying levels of elements such as chromium, copper, niobium, 
titanium, vanadium, and molybdenum. The substrate for motor 
lamination steels contains micro-alloying levels of elements such as 
silicon and aluminum. AHSS and UHSS are considered high tensile 
strength and high elongation steels, although AHSS and UHSS are 
covered whether or not they are high tensile strength or high 
elongation steels.
    Subject merchandise includes hot-rolled steel that has been 
further processed in a third country, including but not limited to 
pickling, oiling, levelling, annealing, tempering, temper rolling, 
skin passing, painting, varnishing, trimming, cutting, punching, 
and/or slitting, or any other processing that would not otherwise 
remove the merchandise from the scope if performed in the country of 
manufacture of the hot-rolled steel.
    All products that meet the written physical description, and in 
which the chemistry quantities do not exceed any one of the noted 
element levels listed above, are within the scope unless 
specifically excluded. The following products are outside of and/or 
specifically excluded from the scope:
     Universal mill plates (i.e., hot-rolled, flat-rolled 
products not in coils that have been rolled on four faces or in a 
closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm but not exceeding 1250 
mm, of a thickness not less than 4.0 mm, and without patterns in 
relief);
     Products that have been cold-rolled (cold-reduced) 
after hot-rolling; \22\
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    \22\ For purposes of this scope exclusion, rolling operations 
such as a skin pass, levelling, temper rolling or other minor 
rolling operations after the hot-rolling process for purposes of 
surface finish, flatness, shape control, or gauge control do not 
constitute cold-rolling sufficient to meet this exclusion.
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     Ball bearing steels; \23\
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    \23\ Ball bearing steels are defined as steels which contain, in 
addition to iron, each of the following elements by weight in the 
amount specified: (i) Not less than 0.95 nor more than 1.13 percent 
of carbon; (ii) not less than 0.22 nor more than 0.48 percent of 
manganese; (iii) none, or not more than 0.03 percent of sulfur; (iv) 
none, or not more than 0.03 percent of phosphorus; (v) not less than 
0.18 nor more than 0.37 percent of silicon; (vi) not less than 1.25 
nor more than 1.65 percent of chromium; (vii) none, or not more than 
0.28 percent of nickel; (viii) none, or not more than 0.38 percent 
of copper; and (ix) none, or not more than 0.09 percent of 
molybdenum.
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     Tool steels; \24\ and
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    \24\ Tool steels are defined as steels which contain the 
following combinations of elements in the quantity by weight 
respectively indicated: (i) More than 1.2 percent carbon and more 
than 10.5 percent chromium; or (ii) not less than 0.3 percent carbon 
and 1.25 percent or more but less than 10.5 percent chromium; or 
(iii) not less than 0.85 percent carbon and 1 percent to 1.8 
percent, inclusive, manganese; or (iv) 0.9 percent to 1.2 percent, 
inclusive, chromium and 0.9 percent to 1.4 percent, inclusive, 
molybdenum; or (v) not less than 0.5 percent carbon and not less 
than 3.5 percent molybdenum; or (vi) not less than 0.5 percent 
carbon and not less than 5.5 percent tungsten.
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     Silico-manganese steels; \25\
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    \25\ Silico-manganese steel is defined as steels containing by 
weight: (i) Not more than 0.7 percent of carbon; (ii) 0.5 percent or 
more but not more than 1.9 percent of manganese, and (iii) 0.6 
percent or more but not more than 2.3 percent of silicon.
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    The products subject to the scope are currently classified in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under 
item numbers: 7208.10.1500, 7208.10.3000, 7208.10.6000, 
7208.25.3000, 7208.25.6000, 7208.26.0030, 7208.26.0060, 
7208.27.0030, 7208.27.0060, 7208.36.0030, 7208.36.0060, 
7208.37.0030, 7208.37.0060, 7208.38.0015, 7208.38.0030, 
7208.38.0090, 7208.39.0015, 7208.39.0030, 7208.39.0090, 
7208.40.6030, 7208.40.6060, 7208.53.0000, 7208.54.0000, 
7208.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7211.14.0030, 7211.14.0090, 
7211.19.1500, 7211.19.2000, 7211.19.3000, 7211.19.4500, 
7211.19.6000, 7211.19.7530, 7211.19.7560, 7211.19.7590, 
7225.11.0000, 7225.19.0000, 7225.30.3050, 7225.30.7000, 
7225.40.7000, 7225.99.0090, 7226.11.1000, 7226.11.9030, 
7226.11.9060, 7226.19.1000, 7226.19.9000, 7226.91.5000, 
7226.91.7000, and 7226.91.8000. The products subject to the scope 
may also enter under the following HTSUS numbers: 7210.90.9000, 
7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, 
7214.91.0015, 7214.91.0060, 7214.91.0090, 7214.99.0060, 
7214.99.0075, 7214.99.0090, 7215.90.5000, 7226.99.0180, and 
7228.60.6000.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) purposes only. The written 
description of the scope is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2019-15405 Filed 7-18-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P