[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 247 (Monday, December 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81221-81224]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32478]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-201-822 ]
Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils From Mexico; Preliminary
Results of the Five-Year (``Sunset'') Review of Antidumping Duty Order
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On June 2, 2010, the Department of Commerce (``the
Department'') initiated the second sunset review of the antidumping
duty order on stainless steel sheet and strip (``SSSS'') in coils from
Mexico, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (``the Act'').
On the basis of the notice of intent to participate, and adequate
substantive responses filed on behalf of the domestic and respondent
interested parties, the Department is conducting a full sunset review
of the antidumping duty order on SSSS in coils from Mexico, pursuant to
section 751(e)(3)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.218(e)(2)(i).
As a result of this sunset review, the Department preliminarily
finds that revocation of the antidumping duty order with respect to
SSSS in coils from Mexico would likely lead to continuation or
recurrence of dumping at the levels listed below in the section
entitled ``Preliminary Results of Review.''
[[Page 81222]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Cordell or Angelica Mendoza, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 7, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0408 or (202) 482-3019, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On June 2, 2010, the Department published the notice of initiation
of the second sunset review of the antidumping duty order on SSSS in
coils from Mexico, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act. See
Initiation of Five-Year (``Sunset'') Review, 75 FR 30777 (June 2, 2010)
(``Notice of Initiation'').
The Department received a notice of intent to participate from the
AK Steel Corporation; Allegheny Ludlum Corporation; North American
Stainless; the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing,
Energy, Allied Industrial Service Workers International Union; United
Autoworkers (``UAW'') Local 3303; and UAW Local 4104 (``domestic
interested parties'' or ``petitioners'') within the deadline specified
in 19 CFR 351.218(d)(1)(i). The petitioners claimed interested party
status under sections 771(9)(C) and (D) of the Act stating that its
individual members are each producers in the United States of a
domestic like product or certified unions representing workers in the
domestic industry producing subject merchandise.
The Department received substantive responses to the Notice of
Initiation from the domestic interested parties within the 30-day
deadline specified in 19 CFR 351.218(d)(3)(i). The Department received
a substantive response from respondent interested parties, ThyssenKrupp
Mexinox S.A. de C.V. and Mexinox USA, Inc. (collectively,
``respondent'' or ``Mexinox''), within the applicable deadline
specified in 19 CFR 351.218(d)(3)(i).\1\
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\1\ Domestic interested and respondent parties filed substantive
responses on July 2, 2010.
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On July 6, 2010, the Department received a request from domestic
interested parties for an extension of the deadline for filing rebuttal
comments to the substantive response. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.302(b),
domestic and respondent parties were granted an extension to file
rebuttal comments to the substantive responses until July 9, 2010. On
July 9, 2010, the Department received rebuttal comments to the
substantive responses from the domestic interested parties and the
respondent.
Section 351.218(e)(1)(ii)(A) of the Department's regulations
provides that the Secretary normally will conclude that respondent
interested parties have provided adequate response to a notice of
initiation where it receives complete substantive responses from
respondent interested parties accounting on average for more than 50
percent, by volume, or value basis, if appropriate, of the total
exports of the subject merchandise to the United States over the five
calendar years preceding the year of publication of the notice of
initiation. On July 22, 2010, the Department determined that Mexinox's
and the domestic interested parties' responses constituted adequate
responses to the notice of initiation. In accordance with 19 CFR
351.218(e)(2)(i), the Department determined to conduct a full sunset
review of this antidumping duty order and notified the International
Trade Commission. See Letter to Ms. Catherine DeFilippo, Director,
Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission from
James Maeder, Director, Office 2, AD/CVD Operations, entitled
``Expedited and Full Sunset Reviews of the Antidumping Duty Orders
Initiated in June 2010,'' dated July 22, 2010.
On September 23, 2010, the Department extended the deadlines for
both the preliminary and final results of this review by 90 days. See
Certain Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils from Italy and Mexico:
Extension of Time Limits for Preliminary and Final Results of Full
Five-Year (``Sunset'') Reviews of Antidumping Duty Orders, 75 FR 57899
(September 23, 2010).
Scope of the Order
For purposes of the order, the products covered are certain
stainless steel sheet and strip in coils. Stainless steel is an alloy
steel containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5
percent or more of chromium, with or without other elements. The
subject sheet and strip is a flat-rolled product in coils that is
greater than 9.5 mm in width and less than 4.75 mm in thickness, and
that is annealed or otherwise heat treated and pickled or otherwise
descaled. The subject sheet and strip may also be further processed
(e.g., cold-rolled, polished, aluminized, coated, etc.) provided that
it maintains the specific dimensions of sheet and strip following such
processing. The merchandise subject to the order is classified in the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTS'') at
subheadings: 7219.13.0031, 7219.13.0051, 7219.13.0071, 7219.13.0081,
7219.14.0030, 7219.14.0065, 7219.14.0090, 7219.32.0005, 7219.32.0020,
7219.32.0025, 7219.32.0035, 7219.32.0036, 7219.32.0038, 7219.32.0042,
7219.32.0044, 7219.33.0005, 7219.33.0020, 7219.33.0025, 7219.33.0035,
7219.33.0036, 7219.33.0038, 7219.33.0042, 7219.33.0044, 7219.34.0005,
7219.34.0020, 7219.34.0025, 7219.34.0030, 7219.34.0035, 7219.35.0005,
7219.35.0015, 7219.35.0030, 7219.35.0035, 7219.90.0010, 7219.90.0020,
7219.90.0025, 7219.90.0060, 7219.90.0080, 7220.12.1000, 7220.12.5000,
7220.20.1010, 7220.20.1015, 7220.20.1060, 7220.20.1080, 7220.20.6005,
7220.20.6010, 7220.20.6015, 7220.20.6060, 7220.20.6080, 7220.20.7005,
7220.20.7010, 7220.20.7015, 7220.20.7060, 7220.20.7080, 7220.20.8000,
7220.20.9030, 7220.20.9060, 7220.90.0010, 7220.90.0015, 7220.90.0060,
and 7220.90.0080. Although the HTS subheadings are provided for
convenience and customs purposes, the Department's written description
of the merchandise under the order is dispositive.
Excluded from the scope of the order are the following: (1) Sheet
and strip that is not annealed or otherwise heat treated and pickled or
otherwise descaled, (2) sheet and strip that is cut to length, (3)
plate (i.e., flat-rolled stainless steel products of a thickness of
4.75 mm or more), (4) flat wire (i.e., cold-rolled sections, with a
prepared edge, rectangular in shape, of a width of not more than 9.5
mm), and (5) razor blade steel. Razor blade steel is a flat-rolled
product of stainless steel, not further worked than cold-rolled (cold-
reduced), in coils, of a width of not more than 23 mm and a thickness
of 0.266 mm or less, containing, by weight, 12.5 to 14.5 percent
chromium, and certified at the time of entry to be used in the
manufacture of razor blades. See Chapter 72 of the HTS, ``Additional
U.S. Note'' 1(d). Flapper valve steel is also excluded from the scope
of the order. This product is defined as stainless steel strip in coils
containing, by weight, between 0.37 and 0.43 percent carbon, between
1.15 and 1.35 percent molybdenum, and between 0.20 and 0.80 percent
manganese. This steel also contains, by weight, phosphorus of 0.025
percent or less, silicon of between 0.20 and 0.50 percent, and sulfur
of 0.020 percent or less. The product is manufactured by means of
vacuum arc remelting, with inclusion controls for sulphide of no more
than 0.04 percent
[[Page 81223]]
and for oxide of no more than 0.05 percent. Flapper valve steel has a
tensile strength of between 210 and 300 ksi, yield strength of between
170 and 270 ksi, plus or minus 8 ksi, and a hardness (Hv) of between
460 and 590. Flapper valve steel is most commonly used to produce
specialty flapper valves in compressors. Also excluded is a product
referred to as suspension foil, a specialty steel product used in the
manufacture of suspension assemblies for computer disk drives.
Suspension foil is described as 302/304 grade or 202 grade stainless
steel of a thickness between 14 and 127 microns, with a thickness
tolerance of plus-or-minus 2.01 microns, and surface glossiness of 200
to 700 percent Gs. Suspension foil must be supplied in coil widths of
not more than 407 mm, and with a mass of 225 kg or less. Roll marks may
only be visible on one side, with no scratches of measurable depth. The
material must exhibit residual stresses of 2 mm maximum deflection, and
flatness of 1.6 mm over 685 mm length. Certain stainless steel foil for
automotive catalytic converters is also excluded from the scope of the
order. This stainless steel strip in coils is a specialty foil with a
thickness of between 20 and 110 microns used to produce a metallic
substrate with a honeycomb structure for use in automotive catalytic
converters. The steel contains, by weight, carbon of no more than 0.030
percent, silicon of no more than 1.0 percent, manganese of no more than
1.0 percent, chromium of between 19 and 22 percent, aluminum of no less
than 5.0 percent, phosphorus of no more than 0.045 percent, sulfur of
no more than 0.03 percent, lanthanum of less than 0.002 or greater than
0.05 percent, and total rare earth elements of more than 0.06 percent,
with the balance iron. Permanent magnet iron-chromium-cobalt alloy
stainless strip is also excluded from the scope of the order. This
ductile stainless steel strip contains, by weight, 26 to 30 percent
chromium, and 7 to 10 percent cobalt, with the remainder of iron, in
widths 228.6 mm or less, and a thickness between 0.127 and 1.270 mm. It
exhibits magnetic remanence between 9,000 and 12,000 gauss, and a
coercivity of between 50 and 300 oersteds. This product is most
commonly used in electronic sensors and is currently available under
proprietary trade names such as ``Arnokrome III.'' \2\
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\2\ ``Arnokrome III'' is a trademark of the Arnold Engineering
Company.
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Certain electrical resistance alloy steel is also excluded from the
scope of the order. This product is defined as a non-magnetic stainless
steel manufactured to American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM)
specification B344 and containing, by weight, 36 percent nickel, 18
percent chromium, and 46 percent iron, and is most notable for its
resistance to high temperature corrosion. It has a melting point of
1390 degrees Celsius and displays a creep rupture limit of 4 kilograms
per square millimeter at 1000 degrees Celsius. This steel is most
commonly used in the production of heating ribbons for circuit breakers
and industrial furnaces, and in rheostats for railway locomotives. The
product is currently available under proprietary trade names such as
``Gilphy 36.'' \3\
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\3\ ``Gilphy 36'' is a trademark of Imphy, S.A.
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Certain martensitic precipitation-hardenable stainless steel is
also excluded from the scope of the order. This high-strength, ductile
stainless steel product is designated under the Unified Numbering
System (UNS) as S45500-grade steel, and contains, by weight, 11 to 13
percent chromium, and 7 to 10 percent nickel. Carbon, manganese,
silicon and molybdenum each comprise, by weight, 0.05 percent or less,
with phosphorus and sulfur each comprising, by weight, 0.03 percent or
less. This steel has copper, niobium, and titanium added to achieve
aging, and will exhibit yield strengths as high as 1700 Mpa and
ultimate tensile strengths as high as 1750 Mpa after aging, with
elongation percentages of 3 percent or less in 50 mm. It is generally
provided in thicknesses between 0.635 and 0.787 mm, and in widths of
25.4 mm. This product is most commonly used in the manufacture of
television tubes and is currently available under proprietary trade
names such as ``Durphynox 17.'' \4\
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\4\ ``Durphynox 17'' is a trademark of Imphy, S.A.
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Finally, three specialty stainless steels typically used in certain
industrial blades and surgical and medical instruments are also
excluded from the scope of the order. These include stainless steel
strip in coils used in the production of textile cutting tools (e.g.,
carpet knives).\5\ This steel is similar to AISI grade 420 but
containing, by weight, 0.5 to 0.7 percent of molybdenum. The steel also
contains, by weight, carbon of between 1.0 and 1.1 percent, sulfur of
0.020 percent or less, and includes between 0.20 and 0.30 percent
copper and between 0.20 and 0.50 percent cobalt. This steel is sold
under proprietary names such as ``GIN4 Mo.'' The second excluded
stainless steel strip in coils is similar to AISI 420-J2 and contains,
by weight, carbon of between 0.62 and 0.70 percent, silicon of between
0.20 and 0.50 percent, manganese of between 0.45 and 0.80 percent,
phosphorus of no more than 0.025 percent and sulfur of no more than
0.020 percent. This steel has a carbide density on average of 100
carbide particles per 100 square microns. An example of this product is
``GIN5'' steel. The third specialty steel has a chemical composition
similar to AISI 420 F, with carbon of between 0.37 and 0.43 percent,
molybdenum of between 1.15 and 1.35 percent, but lower manganese of
between 0.20 and 0.80 percent, phosphorus of no more than 0.025
percent, silicon of between 0.20 and 0.50 percent, and sulfur of no
more than 0.020 percent. This product is supplied with a hardness of
more than Hv 500 guaranteed after customer processing, and is supplied
as, for example, ``GIN6''.\6\ Also excluded from the order is a
permanent magnet iron-chromium-cobalt stainless steel strip containing,
by weight, 13 percent chromium, 6 percent cobalt, 71 percent iron, 6
percent nickel and 4 percent molybdenum. The product is supplied in
widths up to 1.27 cm (12.7 mm), inclusive, with a thickness between 45
and 75 microns, inclusive. This product exhibits magnetic remanence
between 400 and 780 nWb, and coercivity of between 60 and 100 oersteds.
This product is currently supplied under the trade name ``SemiVac 90.''
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\5\ This list of uses is illustrative and provided for
descriptive purposes only.\\
\6\ ``GIN4 Mo,'' ``GIN5,'' and ``GIN6'' are the proprietary
grades of Hitachi Metals America, Ltd.
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Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in this review are addressed in the ``Issues and
Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of the Full Five-Year
(``Sunset'') Review of the Antidumping Duty Order on Stainless Steel
Sheet and Strip in Coils from Mexico,'' from Christian Marsh, Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations,
to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration (``Decision Memorandum''), which is hereby adopted by,
and issued concurrently with, this notice. The issues discussed in the
Decision Memorandum include the likelihood of continuation or
recurrence of dumping and the magnitude of the margins likely to
prevail if the order was revoked. Parties can find a complete
discussion of all issues raised in this review and the corresponding
recommendations in this public memorandum which is on file in the
Central Records Unit, room 7046 of the main Department building. In
[[Page 81224]]
addition, a complete version of the Decision Memorandum can be accessed
directly on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn. The paper copy and
electronic version of the Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
Preliminary Results of Review
The Department preliminarily determines that revocation of the
antidumping duty order on SSSS in coils from Mexico is likely to lead
to continuation or recurrence of dumping at the following weighted-
average margins:
Mexinox--30.69 percent.
All Other's--30.69 percent.
Public Comments and Hearing
Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of
publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.310(c).
Consistent with 19 CFR 351.310(d)(1), any hearing, if requested, will
generally be held two days after the scheduled date for submission of
rebuttal briefs, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(d). Interested
parties may submit case briefs no later than 50 days after the date of
publication of these preliminary results of review, in accordance with
19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i). Rebuttal briefs, which must be limited to
issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days
after the time limit for filing the case brief, unless the Secretary
alters this time limit. See 19 CFR 351.309(d). The Department will
issue a notice of final results of this sunset review, which will
include the results of its analysis of issues raised in any such
briefs, no later than April 28, 2011.
This five-year (``sunset'') review and notice are in accordance
with sections 751(c), 752, and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: December 20, 2010.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-32478 Filed 12-23-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P