Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Flat Products From the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2018-2019

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily finds that the sole producer/exporter subject to this review did not make sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value during the period of review (POR), October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019. We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES:

Applicable February 18, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Andre Gziryan, AD/CVD Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482- 2201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On December 11, 2019, Commerce initiated the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain hot-rolled steel flat products (hot-rolled steel) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) in accordance with section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). This review covers one producer/exporter of subject merchandise, Hyundai Steel Company (Hyundai). On April 24, 2020, Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines for administrative reviews by 50 days, resulting in a revised deadline for these preliminary results. On July 21, 2020, Commerce tolled all deadlines again in administrative reviews by an additional 60 days. Additionally, Commerce exercised its discretion to extend the deadline for the preliminary results until February 17, 2021.

Scope of the Order

The products covered by this Order are certain hot-rolled, flat-rolled steel products. For a full description of the scope, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 751(a) of the Act. Export price and constructed export price are calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal value is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act.

For a full description of the methodology underlying these preliminary results, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made available to the public 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 Preliminary Decision Memorandum is available at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. A list of the topics included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as an appendix to this notice.

Preliminary Results of Review

We preliminarily determine that the following weighted-average dumping margin exists for the period October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019:

Disclosure and Public Comment

We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties within five days after public announcement of the preliminary results. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than seven days after the date for filing case briefs. Commerce modified certain of its requirements for serving documents containing business proprietary information until further notice. Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities. Case and rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS11 and must be served on interested parties.12 Executive summaries should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes.

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via ACCESS. Requests should contain: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised in the respective case briefs. An electronically filed hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.

Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative review, including the results of its analysis of the issues raised in any written briefs, not later than 120 days after the date of publication of this notice, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(1).

Assessment Rates

Upon completion of the final results, Commerce shall determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. If Hyundai's weighted-average dumping margin is above de minimis in the final results of this review, we will calculate an importer-specific assessment rate on the basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for each importer's examined sales and the total entered value of those same sales in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1). If Hyundai's weighted-average dumping margin or an importer-specific assessment rate is zero or de minimis in the final results of review, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties. The final results of this administrative review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by the final results of this review and for future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable.

For entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by Hyundai for which it did not know that the merchandise was destined to the United States, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.

Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results of this review in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within 90 days of publication).

Cash Deposit Requirements

The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register of the notice of final results of administrative review for all shipments of hot-rolled steel from Korea entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for Hyundai will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margin established in the final results of this administrative review; (2) for merchandise exported by a company not covered in this review but covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published in the completed segment for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review or the original investigation but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be the rate established in the completed segment for the most recent period for the producer of the merchandise; (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will continue to be 6.05 percent, the all-others rate established in the less-than-fair-value investigation. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this POR. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of doubled antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Scope of the Order

IV. Affiliation

V. Discussion of the Methodology

VI. Currency Conversion

VII. Recommendation