Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof From Mexico: Antidumping Duty Order

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing an antidumping duty order on certain freight rail couplers and parts thereof (freight rail couplers) from Mexico.

DATES:

Applicable November 15, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jonathan Hall-Eastman, AD/CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482–1468

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), on September 21, 2023, Commerce published its affirmative final determination in the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of freight rail couplers from Mexico. On November 6, 2023, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination, pursuant to section 735(d) of the Act, that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of LTFV imports of freight rail couplers from Mexico.

Scope of the Order

The products covered by this order are freight rail couplers from Mexico. For a complete description of the scope of the order, see the appendix to this notice.

Antidumping Duty Order

On November 6, 2023, in accordance with sections 735(b)(1)(A)(i) and 735(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of imports of freight rail couplers from Mexico. Therefore, Commerce is issuing this antidumping duty order in accordance with sections 735(c)(2) and 736 of the Act. Because the ITC determined that imports of freight rail couplers from Mexico are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from Mexico, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment of antidumping duties.

Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price (or constructed export price) of the merchandise, for all relevant entries of freight rail couplers from Mexico. With the exception of entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination, as further described below, antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of freight rail couplers from Mexico, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after May 3, 2023, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits

Except as noted in the “Provisional Measures” section of this notice, in accordance with section 736 of the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation on all relevant entries of freight rail couplers from Mexico. These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.

Commerce will also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the amounts indicated below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication in the Federal Register of the notice of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination, CBP will require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties on this subject merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the cash deposit rates listed in the table below. The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed, as appropriate.

Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margins

The estimated weighted-average dumping margins for this antidumping order are as follows:

Provisional Measures

Section 733(d) of the Act states that suspension of liquidation pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four months, except where exporters representing a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise request that Commerce extend the four-month period to no more than six months. At the request of exporters that account for a significant proportion of freight rail couplers from Mexico, Commerce extended the four-month period to six months. Commerce's Preliminary Determination was published on May 3, 2023. Commerce's Final Determination was extended and was published on September 15, 2023.

The extended provisional measures period, beginning on the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination, ended on October 29, 2023. Therefore, in accordance with section 733(d) of the Act and our practice, Commerce will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, unliquidated entries of freight rail couplers from Mexico entered or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption after October 29, 2023, the final day on which the provisional measures were in effect, until and through the day preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register . Suspension of liquidation and the collection of cash deposits will resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determination in the Federal Register .

Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service Lists

On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the final rule titled “ Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws ” in the Federal Register . On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the notice titled “ Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions ” in the Federal Register . The Final Rule and Procedural Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same country of origin.

In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at https://access.trade.gov, within five business days of publication of the notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type called “AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.”

Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30 days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance, the new annual inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when the Opportunity Notice for the anniversary month of the order is published.

Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the ACCESS website at https://access.trade.gov.

Special Instructions for Petitioners and Foreign Governments

In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, “after an initial request and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry service list in the years that follow.” Accordingly, as stated above, the petitioners and foreign governments should submit their initial entry of appearance after publication of this notice in order to appear in the first annual inquiry service list. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioners and foreign governments will not need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to be included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioners and foreign governments are responsible for making amendments to their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.

Notification to Interested Parties

This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to freight rail couplers from Mexico pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of antidumping duty orders currently in effect at https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/adcvd-proceedings.

This order is published in accordance with section 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

Appendix

Scope of the Order

The scope of this order covers certain freight railcar couplers (also known as “fits” or “assemblies”) and parts thereof. Freight railcar couplers are composed of two main parts, namely knuckles and coupler bodies but may also include other items ( e.g., coupler locks, lock lift assemblies, knuckle pins, knuckle throwers, and rotors). The parts of couplers that are covered by the order include: (1) E coupler bodies, (2) E/F coupler bodies, (3) F coupler bodies, (4) E knuckles, and (5) F knuckles, as set forth by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). The freight rail coupler parts ( i.e., knuckles and coupler bodies) are included within the scope of the order when imported separately. Coupler locks, lock lift assemblies, knuckle pins, knuckle throwers, and rotors are covered merchandise when imported in an assembly but are not covered by the scope when imported separately.

Subject freight railcar couplers and parts are included within the scope whether finished or unfinished, whether imported individually or with other subject or non-subject parts, whether assembled or unassembled, whether mounted or unmounted, or if joined with non-subject merchandise, such as other non-subject parts or a completed railcar. Finishing includes, but is not limited to, arc washing, welding, grinding, shot blasting, heat treatment, machining, and assembly of various parts. When a subject coupler or subject parts are mounted on or to other non-subject merchandise, such as a railcar, only the coupler or subject parts are covered by the scope.

The finished products covered by the scope of this order meet or exceed the AAR specifications of M–211, “Foundry and Product Approval Requirements for the Manufacture of Couplers, Coupler Yokes, Knuckles, Follower Blocks, and Coupler Parts” and/or AAR M–215 “Coupling Systems,” or other equivalent domestic or international standards (including any revisions to the standard(s)).

The country of origin for subject couplers and parts thereof, whether fully assembled, unfinished or finished, or attached to a railcar, is the country where the subject coupler parts were cast or forged. Subject merchandise includes coupler parts as defined above that have been further processed or further assembled, including those coupler parts attached to a railcar in third countries. Further processing includes, but is not limited to, arc washing, welding, grinding, shot blasting, heat treatment, painting, coating, priming, machining, and assembly of various parts. The inclusion, attachment, joining, or assembly of non-subject parts with subject parts or couplers either in the country of manufacture of the in-scope product or in a third country does not remove the subject parts or couplers from the scope.

The couplers that are the subject of this order are currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) statistical reporting number 8607.30.1000. Unfinished subject merchandise may also enter under HTSUS statistical reporting number 7326.90.8688. Subject merchandise attached to finished railcars may also enter under HTSUS statistical reporting numbers 8606.10.0000, 8606.30.0000, 8606.91.0000, 8606.92.0000, 8606.99.0130, 8606.99.0160, or under subheading 9803.00.50. Subject merchandise may also be imported under HTSUS statistical reporting number 7325.99.5000. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes only; the written description of the scope of this order is dispositive.