AD/CVD message 7353306 - Notice of preliminary determination of circumvention of countervailing duty order on certain cold-rolled steel products from the People s Republic of China (C-570-030) (C-552-997)

7353306
Dec 19, 2017
Active

Effective Date: Nov 04, 2016

Cite as: 82 FR 58178 • Cite date: Dec 11, 2017

Category: Countervailing • Type: Preliminary Determination • Sub type: AFF-Affirmative • Reference messages: 7271307 • Cases: C-552-997 C-570-030

1. On 12/11/2017, Commerce published in the Federal Register its notice of preliminary affirmative determination of circumvention of the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on certain cold-rolled steel products (AD and CVD CRS Orders) from the People's Republic of China (PRC) (82 FR 58178) (Preliminary Determination).

2. Scope of the countervailing duty order

The products covered by these orders are certain cold-rolled (cold-reduced), flat-rolled steel products, 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 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 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 covered also include products not in coils (e.g., in straight lengths) of a thickness of 4.75 mm or more and a width exceeding 150 mm and measuring at least twice 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, and

(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 of this order 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 (also called wolfram), or
• 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
• 0.10 percent of niobium (also called columbium), 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, 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. Motor lamination steels contain 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 cold-rolled steel 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 the order if performed in the country of manufacture of the cold-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 of this order unless specifically excluded. The following products are outside of and/or specifically excluded from the scope of this order:

· Ball bearing steels; {SEE FOOTNOTE 1}
· Tool steels; {SEE FOOTNOTE 2}
· Silico-manganese steel; {SEE FOOTNOTE 3)
· Grain-oriented electrical steels (GOES) as defined in the final determination of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel From Germany, Japan, and Poland. {SEE FOOTNOTE 4}
· Non-Oriented Electrical Steels (NOES), as defined in the antidumping orders issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce in Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From the People's Republic of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan. {SEE FOOTNOTE 5}

The products subject to this order are currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item numbers: 7209.15.0000, 7209.16.0030, 7209.16.0060, 7209.16.0070, 7209.16.0091, 7209.17.0030, 7209.17.0060, 7209.17.0070, 7209.17.0091, 7209.18.1530, 7209.18.1560, 7209.18.2510, 7209.18.2520, 7209.18.2580, 7209.18.6020, 7209.18.6090, 7209.25.0000, 7209.26.0000, 7209.27.0000, 7209.28.0000, 7209.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7211.23.1500, 7211.23.2000, 7211.23.3000, 7211.23.4500, 7211.23.6030, 7211.23.6060, 7211.23.6090, 7211.29.2030, 7211.29.2090, 7211.29.4500, 7211.29.6030, 7211.29.6080, 7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7225.50.6000, 7225.50.8080, 7225.99.0090, 7226.92.5000, 7226.92.7050, and 7226.92.8050.

The products subject to the order may also enter under the following HTSUS numbers: 7210.90.9000, 7212.50.0000, 7215.10.0010, 7215.10.0080, 7215.50.0016, 7215.50.0018, 7215.50.0020, 7215.50.0061, 7215.50.0063, 7215.50.0065, 7215.50.0090, 7215.90.5000, 7217.10.1000, 7217.10.2000, 7217.10.3000, 7217.10.7000, 7217.90.1000, 7217.90.5030, 7217.90.5060, 7217.90.5090, 7225.19.0000, 7226.19.1000, 7226.19.9000, 7226.99.0180, 7228.50.5015, 7228.50.5040, 7228.50.5070, 7228.60.8000, and 7229.90.1000.

The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the order is dispositive.

FOOTNOTE 1: 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.

FOOTNOTE 2: 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.

FOOTNOTE 3: 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.

FOOTNOTE 4: Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel From Germany, Japan, and Poland: Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Certain Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 Fed. Reg. 42,501, 42,503 (Dep't of Commerce, July 22, 2014). This determination defines grain-oriented electrical steel as “a flat-rolled alloy steel product containing by weight at least 0.6 percent but not more than 6 percent of silicon, not more than 0.08 percent of carbon, not more than 1.0 percent of aluminum, and no other element in an amount that would give the steel the characteristics of another alloy steel, in coils or in straight lengths.”

FOOTNOTE 5: Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From the People's Republic of China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan: Antidumping Duty Orders, 79 Fed. Reg. 71,741, 71,741-42 (Dep't of Commerce, Dec. 3, 2014). The orders define NOES as “cold-rolled, flat-rolled, alloy steel products, whether or not in coils, regardless of width, having an actual thickness of 0.20 mm or more, in which the core loss is substantially equal in any direction of magnetization in the plane of the material. The term ‘substantially equal' means that the cross grain direction of core loss is no more than 1.5 times the straight grain direction (i.e., the rolling direction) of core loss. NOES has a magnetic permeability that does not exceed 1.65 Tesla when tested at a field of 800 A/m (equivalent to 10 Oersteds) along (i.e., parallel to) the rolling direction of the sheet (i.e., B800 value). NOES contains by weight more than 1.00 percent of silicon but less than 3.5 percent of silicon, not more than 0.08 percent of carbon, and not more than 1.5 percent of aluminum. NOES has a surface oxide coating, to which an insulation coating may be applied.”

3. Scope of the anti-circumvention inquiry

Cold-rolled steel products produced in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) from hot-rolled steel substrate produced in the PRC.

Cold-rolled steel products produced in Vietnam using: (1) hot-rolled steel substrate manufactured in Vietnam or third countries are not covered by the scope of these anti-circumvention inquiries.

4. Suspension of Liquidation

4a. CBP shall suspend liquidation of unliquidated entries (and entries for which liquidation has not become final) of cold-rolled steel products produced in Vietnam using PRC-origin hot-rolled steel substrate that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 11/04/2016 and shall require for such entries a CVD cash deposit equal to 256.44 percent of the entered value. Separate cash deposit instructions will be issued for the companion AD CRS Order.

4b. The C-552-997 case number has been created to accommodate entries of cold-rolled steel products produced in Vietnam from PRC-origin hot-rolled steel substrate that are subject to the CVD CRS Order from the PRC. For unliquidated entries (and entries for which liquidation has not become final) of such merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the period 11/04/2016 (the date of initiation of this anticircumvention inquiry) through 12/10/2017, importers should file a Post Summary Correction with CBP, in accordance with CBP's regulations, regarding conversion of such entries from type 1 to type 3 entries and report those type 3 entries using the third-country case number C-552-997.

4c. CBP shall suspend liquidation of unliquidated entries (and entries for which liquidation has not become final) of merchandise entered under the third country case number C-552-997, until liquidation instructions are issued for such entries. Such entries should not be liquidated pursuant to the automatic liquidation instructions previously issued as message 7271307. Any such entries that are set for liquidation should be unset immediately.

4d. Further, if CBP determines that the certification and/or documentation requirements identified have not been met for any unliquidated entries (and entries for which liquidation has not become final) of cold-rolled steel products entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 11/04/2016 and produced in Vietnam for which the importer claims that the cold-rolled steel product was not produced from PRC-origin hot-rolled steel substrate, CBP shall suspend liquidation of all such unliquidated entries (and entries for which liquidation has not become final) as products of the PRC for CVD purposes, and shall require the importer to post applicable CVD cash deposits. Entries suspended under either C-570-030 or C-552-997 will be liquidated pursuant to applicable administrative reviews of the PRC CVD CRS Order or through the automatic liquidation process.

5. Certification Requirements

5a. For entries of cold-rolled steel products exported from Vietnam and entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 11/04/2016 (the date of initiation of these anticircumvention inquiries) for which the importer claims that the cold-rolled steel products were not produced from PRC-origin hot-rolled steel substrate, the importer and exporter are required to meet the certification and documentation requirements detailed in the certifications below in order for no cash deposit to be required on such entries.

Although the importer will not be required to submit the certifications or supporting documentation to CBP as part of the entry process, the importer and the exporter will be required to present the certifications and supporting documentation, to Commerce and/or CBP, as applicable, upon request by the respective agency.

The claims made in the certifications and any supporting documentation are subject to verification by Commerce and/or CBP.

5b. Note to importers: For merchandise (1) shipped and/or (2) entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the period 11/04/2016 through 12/10/2017 (the day preceding publication of the preliminary determination in the Federal Register), for which certifications are required, the certification should be completed within 30 days of the publication of the preliminary determination in the Federal Register and the relevant bullet in the certification should be edited to reflect that the certification was completed within this time frame. For such entries importers have the option to complete a blanket certification covering multiple entries, individual certifications for each entry, or a combination thereof. The importer certifications, and copies of the exporter certifications, should be maintained by the importer and provided to CBP or Commerce only upon request.

5c. Note to exporters: For merchandise (1) shipped and/or (2) entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the period 11/04/2016 through 12/10/2017, for which certifications are required, the certification should be completed within 30 days of the publication of the preliminary determination in the Federal Register and the relevant bullet in the certification should be edited to reflect that the certification was completed within this time frame. For such entries exporters have the option to complete a blanket certification covering multiple entries, individual certifications for each entry, or a combination thereof. The exporter should provide the importer with a copy of these certifications once completed. Additionally, the certifications should be maintained by the exporter and provided to CBP or Commerce only upon request.

6. Certifications

6a. IMPORTER CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that:
• My name is {INSERT COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME HERE} and I am an official of {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY};
• I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding the importation of the cold-rolled steel products produced in Vietnam that entered under entry number(s) {INSERT ENTRY NUMBER(S)} and are covered by this certification;
• I have personal knowledge of the facts regarding the production of the imported products covered by this certification;
• These cold-rolled steel products produced in Vietnam do not contain hot-rolled steel substrate produced in the People's Republic of China (PRC);
• I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY} is required to maintain a copy of this certification and sufficient documentation supporting this certification for the later of (1) a period of five years from the date of entry or (2) a period of three years after the conclusion of any litigation in the United States courts regarding such entries;
• I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY}is required to provide this certification and supporting records, upon request, to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and/or the Department of Commerce (the Department);
• I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY} is required to maintain a copy of the exporter's certification for the later of (1) a period of five years from the date of entry or (2) a period of three years after the conclusion of any litigation in United States courts regarding such entries;
• I understand that {INSERT NAME OF IMPORTING COMPANY}is required to maintain and provide a copy of the exporter's certification and supporting records, upon request, to CBP and/or the Department;
• I understand that the claims made herein, and the substantiating documentation, are subject to verification by CBP and/or the Department;
• I understand that failure to maintain the required certification and/or failure to substantiate the claims made herein will result in:
o suspension of liquidation of all unliquidated entries (and entries for which liquidation has not become final) for which these requirements were not met and
o the requirement that the importer post applicable antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cash deposits equal to the rates as determined by the Department;
• I understand that agents of the importer, such as brokers, are not permitted to make this certification;
• This certification was completed at the time of entry;
• I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited to, 18 U.S.C. §1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who knowingly and willfully make material false statements to the U.S. government.

Signature
NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL

TITLE

DATE

6b. EXPORTER CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that:
• My name is {INSERT COMPANY OFFICIAL'S NAME HERE} and I am an official of {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY};
• I have direct personal knowledge of the facts regarding the production and exportation of the cold-rolled steel products identified below;
• These cold-rolled steel products produced in Vietnam do not contain hot-rolled steel substrate produced in the People's Republic of China (PRC);
• I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY} is required to maintain a copy of this certification and sufficient documentation supporting this certification for the later of (1) a period of five years from the date of entry or (2) a period of three years after the conclusion of any litigation in the United States courts regarding such entries;
• I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY} must provide this Exporter Certification to the U.S. importer at the time of shipment;
• I understand that {INSERT NAME OF EXPORTING COMPANY} is required to provide a copy of this certification and supporting records, upon request, to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and/or the Department of Commerce (the Department);
• I understand that the claims made herein, and the substantiating documentation are subject to verification by CBP and/or the Department;
• I understand that failure to maintain the required certification and/or failure to substantiate the claims made herein will result in:
o suspension of all unliquidated entries (and entries for which liquidation has not become final) for which these requirements were not met and
o the requirement that the importer post applicable antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cash deposits equal to the rates as determined by the Department;
• This certification was completed at or prior to the time of shipment.
• I am aware that U.S. law (including, but not limited to, 18 U.S.C. §1001) imposes criminal sanctions on individuals who knowingly and willfully make material false statements to the U.S. government;

Signature
NAME OF COMPANY OFFICIAL

TITLE

DATE

7. If there are any questions by the importing public regarding this message, please contact the Call Center for the Office of AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce at (202) 482-0984. CBP ports should submit their inquiries through authorized CBP channels only. (This message was generated by OVI:VC.)

8. There are no restrictions on the release of this information.

Alexander Amdur