Alloy and Certain Carbon Steel Threaded Rod From the People's Republic of China; Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod From the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>International Trade Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[A-570-104, C-570-105]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Alloy and Certain Carbon Steel Threaded Rod From the People's Republic of China; Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod From the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that imports of unthreaded pins of alloy steel from China are circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) order on alloy and certain carbon steel threaded rod from China and the countervailing duty (CVD) order on carbon and alloy steel threaded rod from China. We invite interested parties to comment on the preliminary determination. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Applicable March 14, 2024. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Robert Galantucci, AD/CVD Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2923. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> On July 12, 2023, pursuant to section 781(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), Commerce initiated these circumvention inquiries concerning unthreaded pins of alloy steel exported from China, which are further processed in the United States, into steel threaded rod. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> Commerce provided opportunities for interested parties to identify respondents in these inquiries  <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> and also solicited information on the quantity and value of sales, exports, or shipments of unthreaded pins from publicly-identified Chinese exporters and U.S. importers/processors. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> On October 13, 2023, Commerce selected importers Birmingham Fastener Inc./Houston Fastener Mfg. Inc. (Birmingham) and Dan Loc Group LLC (Dan Loc), and exporters Jiashan Steelfit Trading Co., Ltd. (Steelfit) and Ningbo Zhenghai Yongding Fastener Co., Ltd. (Yongding Fastener), <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> as mandatory respondents to our questionnaires. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See Alloy and Certain Carbon Steel Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China; Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Circumvention Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty Order and Countervailing Duty Order,</E> 88 FR 44277 (July 12, 2023) ( <E T="03">Initiation Notice</E> ). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">Id.,</E> 88 FR at 44279. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">Id.; see also</E> Memorandum, “Confirmation of Delivery of Antidumping Questionnaire; Comments,” dated October 4, 2023. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  Yongding Fastener exports through an affiliated trading company, <E T="03">i.e.,</E> Ningbo Ningding Import & Export Co. Ltd. <E T="03">See</E> Yongding Fastener's Letter, “Response of Ningbo Yongding to Questionnaire Dated October 16, 2023,” dated November 12, 2023, at 1. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Memorandum, “Respondent Selection,” dated October 13, 2023. </FTNT> We received responses to initial and supplemental questionnaires from Birmingham, Dan Loc, and Steelfit, as well as a response to our initial questionnaire from Yongding Fasterner. However, after initially participating in these inquiries, Yongding Fastener subsequently failed to respond to a request for additional necessary information from Commerce. For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of these inquiries, <E T="03">see</E> the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Memorandum, “Circumvention Inquiries Regarding Antidumping Duty Order on Alloy and Certain Carbon Steel Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China and Countervailing Duty Order on Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Decision Memorandum,” dated concurrently, and hereby adopted, with this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Scope of the Orders</HD> The merchandise covered by the scope of the <E T="03">AD Order</E>   <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> is alloy and certain carbon steel threaded rod from China. The merchandise covered by the scope of the <E T="03">CVD Order</E>   <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> is carbon and alloy steel threaded rod from China. For a full description of the scopes, <E T="03">see</E> the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>   <E T="03">See Alloy and Certain Carbon Steel Threaded Rod from the People's Republic of China: Antidumping Duty Order,</E> 85 FR 19929 (April 9, 2020) ( <E T="03">AD Order</E> ). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>   <E T="03">See Carbon and Alloy Steel Threaded Rod from India and the People's Republic of China: Countervailing Duty Orders,</E> 85 FR 19927 (April 9, 2020) ( <E T="03">CVD Order</E> ). We collectively refer to the <E T="03">AD Order</E> and the <E T="03">CVD Order</E> as the <E T="03">Orders.</E> </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Merchandise Subject to the Circumvention Inquiries</HD> These circumvention inquiries cover unthreaded pins of alloy steel exported from China which are further processed into alloy steel threaded rod in the United States. Unthreaded pins of alloy steel are unthreaded rod, bar, or studs, having a solid, circular cross section of any diameter, in any straight length, and are non-headed. Unthreaded pins may enter unchamfered or with their ends already chamfered. Such pins may also be referenced as “pitch diameter stud blanks” or “blanks.” Unthreaded pins of alloy steel are believed to enter under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 7318.15.5051, 7318.15.5056, 7318.15.5090, 7228.60.8000, 7318.15.2095, 7318.19.0000, and 7318.29.0000, several of which also cover alloy steel threaded rod. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Methodology</HD> Commerce made these preliminary findings of circumvention in accordance with section 781(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.226. We relied on information placed on the record by the petitioners, <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> U.S. importers/processors, and Chinese suppliers. Further, because Chinese supplier Yongding Fastener failed to cooperate in these inquiries, <E T="03">i.e.,</E> by failing to respond to a request for information and failing to participate to the best of its ability, we have used adverse inferences when selecting from among the facts otherwise available on the record, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> Also, as adverse facts available, we are treating Yongding Fasteners and Ningding I&E, its affiliated trading company, as a single entity. <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>  The petitioner is Vulcan Threaded Products Inc. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Preliminary Decision Memorandum at Section VI. </FTNT> For a complete description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, <E T="03">see</E> the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 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 <E T="03">http://access.trade.gov.</E> In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at <E T="03"> http://enforcement.trade.gov/ frn/. </E> A list of the topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached at Appendix I to this notice. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Circumvention</HD> Based on our analysis, as detailed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, we preliminarily find, pursuant to section 781(a) of the Act, that imports of unthreaded pins of alloy steel from China that are further processed in the United States into subject merchandise are circumventing the <E T="03">Orders.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Certification Requirements</HD> To administer this affirmative preliminary circumvention determination, Commerce is requiring that importers of unthreaded pins of alloy steel from China which will not be threaded into subject merchandise certify that such pins will not be further processed into subject alloy steel threaded rod. Importers will be required to submit a copy of the importer certification as part of the entry summary by uploading them into the document imaging system (or “DIS”) in ACE, and to provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and/or Commerce with the importer certification, and any supporting documentation, upon request of either agency. <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> Properly certified entries are not subject to AD/CVD duties under the <E T="03">Orders.</E> Exemption from AD/CVD duties under the <E T="03">Orders</E> is permitted only if the certification and documentation requirements specified in Appendices II and III are met. <FTNT> <SU>11</SU>  The importer certification is provided at Appendix III. </FTNT> Entries of unthreaded pins of alloy steel produced and/or exported by Yongding Fastener or Ningding I&E are not eligible for certification. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposit Requirements</HD> In accordance with 19 CFR 351.226(l)(2), we will direct CBP to continue the suspension of liquidation of previously suspended entries and to suspend liquidation of all entries of unthreaded pins of alloy steel from China that are entered, ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 28k characters. 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