90 FR 63 pgs. 14630-14633 - Overhead Door Counterbalance Torsion Springs From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination
Type: NOTICEVolume: 90Number: 63Pages: 14630 - 14633
Pages: 14630, 14631, 14632, 14633Docket number: [C-570-187]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2025-05758 Filed 4-2-25; 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
[C-570-187]
Overhead Door Counterbalance Torsion Springs From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination
AGENCY:
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of overhead door counterbalance torsion springs (overhead door springs) from the People's Republic of China (China). The period of investigation is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES:
Applicable April 3, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bob Palmer or Laurel Smalley, AD/CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-9068 or (202) 482-3456, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce published the notice of initiation of this investigation on November 25, 2024. 1 On January 2, 2025, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this investigation until March 28, 2025. 2 For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 3 A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. 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 https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
Footnotes:
1 ? See Overhead Door Counterbalance Torsion Springs from the People's Republic of China and India: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 89 FR 92901 (November 25, 2024) ( Initiation Notice ).
2 ? See Overhead Door Counterbalance Torsion Springs from India and the People's Republic of China: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Countervailing Duty Investigations, 90 FR 84 (January 2, 2025).
3 ? See Memorandum, "Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Affirmative Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Overhead Door Counterbalance Torsion Springs from the People's Republic of China," dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is overhead door springs from China. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations, 4 the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage, ( i.e., scope). 5 Certain interested parties commented on the scope of this investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice.
Footnotes:
4 ? See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
5 ? See Initiation Notice.
[top] For a summary of the product coverage comments submitted to the record for this preliminary determination, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum. 6
Footnotes:
6 ? See Memorandum, "Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations of Overhead Door Counterbalance Torsion Springs from the People's Republic of China and India: Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum," dated concurrently with this preliminary determination. (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an "authority" that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific. 7
Footnotes:
7 ? See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
Commerce notes that, in making these findings, it relied, in part, on facts available and, because it finds that one or more respondents did not act to the best of their ability to respond to Commerce's requests for information, it drew an adverse inference where appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise available. 8 For further information, see the "Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences" section in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Footnotes:
8 ? See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
Alignment
As noted in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, in accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the final CVD determination in this investigation with the final determination in the companion less-than-fair-value (LTFV) of overhead door springs from China based on a request made by the petitioners. 9 Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the final LTFV determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than August 11, 2025, unless postponed.
Footnotes:
9 ? See Petitioners' Letter, "Petitioners' Request to Align Final Countervailing Duty Determinations With the Companion Antidumping Duty Final Determinations," dated March 4, 2025. The petitioners in this investigation are IDC Group, Inc., Iowa Spring Manufacturing, Inc., and Service Spring Corp.
All-Others Rate
Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates established for those companies individually examined, excluding any zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely under section 776 of the Act.
Commerce preliminarily assigned rates based entirely on facts available for Foshan Nanhai Xulong Spring Factory (Xulong Spring). Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, de minimis or based entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate calculated for Tianjin Wangxia Spring Co. Ltd. (Tianjin Wangxia). Consequently, the rate calculated for Tianjin Wangxia is also assigned as the rate for all other producers and exporters.
Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist:
Footnotes:
10 ?As discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce has found the following companies to be cross-owned with Tianjin Wangxia: Tianjin Gangzhen Auto Parts Co., Ltd. and Tianjin Ok Garage Door Parts Co., Ltd.
| Company | Subsidy rate (percent ad valorem ) |
|---|---|
| Tianjin Wangxia Spring Co., Ltd. 10 | 50.78 |
| Foshan Nanhai Xulong Spring Factory | *?143.33 |
| Beled Co., Ltd./Beled (Shenzhen) Commerce Co., Ltd | *?143.33 |
| Chi Hardware Corp. Ltd | 50.78 |
| Hangzhou Fuxing Spring Co., Ltd | 50.78 |
| Hebei Meirui Metals & Minerals Co., Ltd | 50.78 |
| Jiaxing Taike Springs Co., Ltd | *?143.33 |
| Kowloon Metal Spring Factory | *?143.33 |
| MFG Direct (Ningbo) Limited | 50.78 |
| Ningbo I Promise Import Export | *?143.33 |
| Ningbo Well Lift Door Co. Ltd | 50.78 |
| Wuxi Jiupie Information Technology Co., Ltd | 50.78 |
| Wuxi Kop Door Technology Co. Ltd | 50.78 |
| Xiamen Globe Truth (GT) Industries | *?143.33 |
| All Others | 50.78 |
| *?Rate is based on an adverse facts available inference | |
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise as described in the scope of the investigation section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register . Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the rates indicated above.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public announcement, within five days of the date of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR 351.224(g) following the preliminary determination. Instead, Commerce will address such allegations in the final determination together with issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.
Public Comment
All interested parties are invited to comment on Commerce's Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum in scope case and scope rebuttal briefs. The deadline for interested parties to submit scope case briefs is 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on April 30, 2025. Scope rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the scope case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline for the scope case briefs, i.e., 5 p.m. ET on May 5, 2025. Such comments must be filed via ACCESS on the records of the China and India CVD investigations and the concurrent LTFV investigations of overhead door springs from China and India.
[top] Case briefs or other written comments, excluding scope comments, may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in this investigation. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the date for filing case briefs. 11 Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing
Footnotes:
11 ? See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 2023) ( APO and Service Final Rule ).
12 ? See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes. In this investigation, we instead request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs. 13 Further, we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will accompany the final determination in this investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f). 14
Footnotes:
13 ?We use the term "issue" here to describe an argument that Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
14 ? See APO and Service Final Rule.
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of participants, (2) whether any participant is a foreign national, and (3) a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a date and time to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination whether imports of overhead door springs from China are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: March 28, 2025.
Christopher Abbott,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is helically-wound, overhead door counterbalance torsion steel springs (overhead door counterbalance torsion springs) and any cones, plugs or other similar fittings for mounting and creating torque in the spring (herein collectively referred to as cones) attached to or entered with and invoiced with the subject overhead door counterbalance torsion springs. Overhead door counterbalance torsion springs are helical steel springs with tightly wound coils that store and release mechanical energy by winding and unwinding along the spring's axis by an angle, using torque to create a lifting force in the counterbalance assembly typically used to raise and lower overhead doors, including garage doors, industrial rolling doors, warehouse doors, trailer doors, and other overhead doors, gates, grates, or similar devices. The merchandise covered by this investigation covers all overhead door counterbalance torsion springs with a coil inside diameter of 15.8 millimeters (mm) or more but not exceeding 304.8 mm (measured across the diameter from inner edge to inner edge); a wire diameter of 2.5 mm to 20.4 mm; a length of 127 mm or more; and regardless of the following characteristics:
• wire type (including, but not limited to, oil-tempered wire, hard-drawn wire, music wire, galvanized or other coated wire);
• wire cross-sectional shape ( e.g., round, square, or other shapes);
• coating ( e.g., uncoated, oil- or water-based coatings, lubricant coatings, zinc, aluminum, zinc-aluminum, paint or plastic coating, etc. );
• winding orientation (left-hand or right-hand wind direction);
• end type (including, but not limited to, looped, double looped, clipped, long length, mini warehouse, Barcol, Crawford, Kinnear, Wagner, rolling steel or barrel ends); and
• whether the overhead door counterbalance torsion springs are fitted with hardware, including but not limited to fasteners, clips, and cones (winding or stationary cones).
For purposes of the diameters referenced above, where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions set forth above.
The steel torsion springs included in the scope of this investigation are produced from steel in which: (1) iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other contained elements; and (2) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight.
Subject merchandise includes cones attached to or entered with and invoiced with the subject overhead door counterbalance torsion springs. Such cones, which are typically cast aluminum, aluminum alloy or steel (but may be made from other materials) are made to mount the subject springs to the overhead door counterbalance system and create and maintain torque in the spring. Cones or other similar fittings that are not attached to the subject springs or are not entered with and invoiced with the subject springs are not included within the scope unless entered as parts of kits as described below.
Subject merchandise also includes all subject overhead door counterbalance torsion springs and cones or other similar fittings for mounting and tensioning the spring entered as a part of overhead door kits, overhead door mounting or assembly kits, or as a part of a spring-operated motor assembly or as a part of a spring winder assembly kit for torsion springs. When counterbalance torsion springs and cones or other similar fittings for attaching and tensioning the torsion spring are entered as a part of such kits, only the counterbalance spring and cones or other similar fittings in the kit are within scope.
Subject merchandise also includes overhead door counterbalance torsion springs that have been further processed in a third country, including but not limited to cutting to length, attachment of hardware, cones or end-fittings, inclusion in garage door kits or garage door mounting or assembly kits, or any other processing that would not remove the merchandise from the scope of this investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope overhead door counterbalance torsion springs.
All products that meet the written physical description are within the scope of this investigation unless specifically excluded. The following products are specifically excluded from the scope of this investigation:
• leaf springs (slender arc-shaped length of spring steel of a rectangular cross-section);
• disc springs (conical springs consisting of a convex disc with the outer edge working against the center of the disc);
• extension springs (close-wound round helical wire springs that store and release energy by resisting the external pulling forces applied to the spring's ends in the direction of its length);
• compression springs (helical coiled springs with open wound active coils (such open winding is also known as pitch) that are designed to compress under load or force); and
• spiral springs (torsion springs wound as concentric spirals such as a clock spring or mainspring).
[top] The products subject to this investigation are currently classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 7320.20.5020, 7320.20.5045, and 7320.20.5060. They may also be classified under HTSUS subheading 8412.90.9085 if entered as parts of spring-operated motors. They may also be classified
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Injury Test
V. Analysis of China's Financial System
VI. Diversification of China's Economy
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Interest Rates and Benchmarks
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-05758 Filed 4-2-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P