88 FR 134 pgs. 45138-45140 - Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof From the People's Republic of China: Antidumping Duty Order
Type: NOTICEVolume: 88Number: 134Pages: 45138 - 45140
Pages: 45138, 45139, 45140Docket number: [A-570-145]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2023-14892 Filed 7-13-23; 8:45 am]
Agency: Commerce Department
Sub Agency: International Trade Administration
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-145]
Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof From the People's Republic of China: 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 the People's Republic of China (China).
DATES:
Applicable July 14, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Drew Jackson or Zachary Shaykin, AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4406 or (202) 482-2638, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), On May 30, 2023, Commerce published in the Federal Register its affirmative final determination in the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of freight rail couplers from China. 1 On July 3, 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 freight rail couplers from China, and that critical circumstances do not exist with respect to dumped imports of freight rail couplers from China. 2
Footnotes:
1 ? See Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof from the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 88 FR 34485 (May 30, 2023) ( Final Determination ).
2 ? See ITC's Letter, Notification of ITC Final Determinations, dated July 3, 2023.
Scope of the Order
The products covered by this order are freight rail couplers from China. For a complete description of the scope of this order, see the appendix to this notice.
Antidumping Duty Order
On July 3, 2023, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(1) of the Act by reason of imports of freight rail couplers from China. 3 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 China are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from China, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment of antidumping duties.
Footnotes:
3 ? Id.
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 China. Antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of freight rail couplers from China, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after March 13, 2023, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register . 4
Footnotes:
4 ? See Certain Freight Rail Couplers and Parts Thereof from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 88 FR 15372 (March 13, 2023) ( Preliminary Determination ).
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
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 China. These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.
Commerce will also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins indicated in the tables 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 subject merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the rates listed below. Commerce determined that all exporters of Chinese freight rail couplers are part of the China-wide entity. 5 Accordingly, the China-wide entity rate listed below applies to all exporters.
Footnotes:
5 ? See Final Determination.
Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margins
The estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:
Footnotes:
6 ?The estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed in the Preliminary Determination did not reflect an adjustment for export subsidies found in the companion countervailing duty investigation of freight rail couplers from China. Commerce will instruct CBP to refund the difference between the unadjusted estimated weighted-average dumping margin collected as cash deposits ( i.e., 169.90 percent) after the publication of the Preliminary Determination and the estimated weighted-average dumping margin adjusted for export subsidy offset(s) ( i.e., 139.49).
| Exporter/producer | Estimated weighted- average dumping margin (percent) | Estimated weighted- average dumping margin adjusted for export subsidy offset(s) (percent)? 6 |
|---|---|---|
| China-Wide Entity | 169.90 | 139.49 |
Critical Circumstances
With respect to the ITC's negative critical circumstances determination on imports of freight rail couplers, Commerce intends to instruct CBP to lift suspension and to refund any cash deposits made to secure the payment of estimated antidumping duties with respect to entries of the subject merchandise from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after December 13, 2022 ( i.e., 90 days prior to the date of the publication of the Preliminary Determination ), but before March 13, 2023 ( i.e., the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination ).
Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service Lists
[top] On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the final rule titled " Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws" in the
Footnotes:
7 ? See Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws, 86 FR 52300 (September 20, 2021) ( Final Rule ).
8 ? See Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions, 86 FR 53205 (September 27, 2021) ( Procedural Guidance ).
9 ? Id.
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."? 10
Footnotes:
10 ?This segment will be combined with the ACCESS Segment Specific Information (SSI) field which will display the month in which the notice of the order or suspended investigation was published in the Federal Register , also known as the anniversary month. For example, for an order under case number A-000-000 that was published in the Federal Register in January, the relevant segment and SSI combination will appear in ACCESS as "AISL-January Anniversary." Note that there will be only one annual inquiry service list segment per case number, and the anniversary month will be pre-populated in ACCESS.
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."? 11 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 for those orders for which they qualify as an interested party. 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.
Footnotes:
11 ? See Final Rule, 86 FR at 52335.
Notification to Interested Parties
This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to freight rail couplers from China pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of antidumping duty orders currently in effect at https://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
This antidumping duty order is published in accordance with section 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).
Dated: July 7, 2023.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
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 nonsubject parts, whether assembled or unassembled, whether mounted or unmounted, or if joined with nonsubject merchandise, such as other nonsubject 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 nonsubject 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)).
[top] 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 nonsubject 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.
[FR Doc. 2023-14892 Filed 7-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P