Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From Germany: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 13318-13320 [2021-04731]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 43 (Monday, March 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13318-13320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04731]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-428-849]


Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From Germany: 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 common alloy aluminum sheet (aluminum sheet) from Germany are being, 
or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV) for the period of investigation January 1, 2019, through 
December 31, 2019.

DATES: Applicable March 8, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Hanna or Jonathan Hill, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0835 or (202) 482-3518, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On October 15, 2020, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary affirmative determination, and postponement of the final 
determination, in the LTFV investigation of aluminum sheet from 
Germany.\1\ Commerce invited interested parties to comment on the 
Preliminary Determination. A summary of the events that occurred since 
Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, may be found in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Germany: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 85 FR 65386 (October 15, 2020) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
(PDM).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Germany,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are common alloy 
aluminum sheet from Germany. For a complete description of the scope of 
this investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation, Commerce received scope 
comments from interested parties. Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum to address these comments.\3\ We received comments 
from interested parties on the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, 
which we address in the Final Scope Decision Memorandum.\4\ Commerce is 
not modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Preliminary 
Determination. See Appendix I for the final scope of the investigation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Bahrain, 
Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, 
Republic of Korea, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, 
Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for 
the Preliminary Determinations,'' dated October 6, 2020 (Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Bahrain, 
Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, 
Korea, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, 
and Turkey: Scope Comments Final Decision Memorandum,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Final Scope 
Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum are in Appendix II of this notice. 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. In addition, a complete 
version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at https://enforcement.trade.gov/frn. The signed and electronic versions 
of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Verification

    Commerce was unable to conduct an on-site verification of the 
information relied upon in making its final determination in this 
investigation as provided for in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act). Accordingly, in lieu of on-site 
verification, we requested additional supporting documentation and 
information after issuing the Preliminary Determination.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ See Commerce's Letter, dated November 9, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received, we made a change to 
our margin calculations for Novelis Deutschland GmbH (Novelis). For a 
discussion of this change, see the ``Changes Since the Preliminary 
Determination'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    In the Preliminary Determination, Commerce found that the mandatory 
respondent, Hydro Aluminium Rolled Products GmbH (HARP), failed to 
comply with Commerce's request for

[[Page 13319]]

information, which significantly impeded the investigation. Further, 
Commerce found that HARP failed to cooperate to the best of its ability 
in this investigation. Therefore, in the Preliminary Determination, 
pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, Commerce assigned HARP 
a rate based on adverse facts available (AFA). We have continued to 
find that the application of AFA, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) 
of the Act is warranted in determining HARP's weighted-average dumping 
margin.
    In the Preliminary Determination, as AFA, we assigned HARP, as an 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin, a dumping margin equal to 
the highest non-aberrational individual dumping margin determined for 
Novelis based on an average-to-transaction comparison. For the final 
determination, we have assigned an estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin to HARP equal to the highest non-aberrational individual dumping 
margin determined for Novelis based on an average-to-average 
comparison.\6\ Because this rate is not secondary information, but 
rather is based on information obtained in the course of the 
investigation, Commerce need not corroborate this rate pursuant to 
section 776(c) of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum for details.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters 
not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated excluding rates that 
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act.
    Commerce determined an estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
for HARP that is based entirely on facts available. Therefore, the only 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin that is not zero, de minimis, 
or based entirely on facts available, is the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin calculated for Novelis. Consequently, we have assigned 
the rate calculated for Novelis as the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for all other exporters and producers of aluminum sheet 
in Germany.

Final Determination

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Estimated
                                                               weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter or producer                        dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hydro Aluminium Rolled Products GmbH........................      242.80
Novelis Deutschland GmbH....................................   \7\ 49.40
All Others..................................................       49.40
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b), within five days of the date 
of publication of this notice in the Federal Register, we intend to 
disclose to parties in this proceeding the calculations performed in 
this final determination.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Common 
Alloy Aluminum Sheet from Germany: Final Determination Margin 
Calculation for Novelis Deutschland GmbH,'' dated concurrently with, 
and hereby adopted by, this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of aluminum sheet from 
Germany, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after October 15, 
2020, the date of publication in the Federal Register of the 
affirmative Preliminary Determination.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), we will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for such 
entries of merchandise equal to the following: (1) The cash deposit 
rates for the respondents listed in the table above will be equal to 
the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed 
for each respondent in the table; (2) if the exporter is not identified 
in the table above but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will 
be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin established for that producer of the subject merchandise; and 
(3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be 
equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for all-other 
producers and exporters, as listed in the table above.
    These suspension-of-liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of this 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 aluminum sheet no later than 45 days after 
this final determination. If the ITC determines that such injury does 
not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, all cash deposits posted 
will be refunded, and suspension of liquidation will be lifted. 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 final reminder to the 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(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 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 1, 2021.
Christian Marsh,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are common alloy 
aluminum sheet, which is a flat-rolled aluminum product having a 
thickness of 6.3 mm or less, but greater than 0.2 mm, in coils or 
cut-to-length, regardless of width. Common alloy sheet within the 
scope of this investigation includes both not clad aluminum sheet, 
as well as multi-alloy,

[[Page 13320]]

clad aluminum sheet. With respect to not clad aluminum sheet, common 
alloy sheet is manufactured from a 1XXX-, 3XXX-, or 5XXX-series 
alloy as designated by the Aluminum Association. With respect to 
multi-alloy, clad aluminum sheet, common alloy sheet is produced 
from a 3XXX-series core, to which cladding layers are applied to 
either one or both sides of the core. The use of a proprietary alloy 
or non-proprietary alloy that is not specifically registered by the 
Aluminum Association as a discrete 1XXX-, 3XXX-, or 5XXX-series 
alloy, but that otherwise has a chemistry that is consistent with 
these designations, does not remove an otherwise in-scope product 
from the scope.
    Common alloy sheet may be made to ASTM specification B209-14 but 
can also be made to other specifications. Regardless of 
specification, however, all common alloy sheet meeting the scope 
description is included in the scope. Subject merchandise includes 
common alloy sheet that has been further processed in a third 
country, including but not limited to annealing, tempering, 
painting, varnishing, trimming, cutting, punching, and/or slitting, 
or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of this investigation if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the common alloy sheet.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation is aluminum can 
stock, which is suitable for use in the manufacture of aluminum 
beverage cans, lids of such cans, or tabs used to open such cans. 
Aluminum can stock is produced to gauges that range from 0.200 mm to 
0.292 mm, and has an H-19, H-41, H-48, H-39, or H-391 temper. In 
addition, aluminum can stock has a lubricant applied to the flat 
surfaces of the can stock to facilitate its movement through 
machines used in the manufacture of beverage cans. Aluminum can 
stock is properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) subheadings 7606.12.3045 and 7606.12.3055.
    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 for the above.
    Common alloy sheet is currently classifiable under HTSUS 
subheadings 7606.11.3060, 7606.11.6000, 7606.12.3096, 7606.12.6000, 
7606.91.3095, 7606.91.6095, 7606.92.3035, and 7606.92.6095. Further, 
merchandise that falls within the scope of this investigation may 
also be entered into the United States under HTSUS subheadings 
7606.11.3030, 7606.12.3015, 7606.12.3025, 7606.12.3035, 
7606.12.3091, 7606.91.3055, 7606.91.6055, 7606.92.3025, 
7606.92.6055, 7607.11.9090. Although the HTSUS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Sections in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Application of Total Adverse Facts Available
    Comment 2: Date of Sale
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2021-04731 Filed 3-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P