Ferrosilicon From the Republic of Kazakhstan: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination

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 April 24, 2024. On May 30, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this investigation. On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this investigation by seven days. The deadline for this preliminary determination is now September 3, 2024.

For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 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.

Scope of the Investigation

The products covered by this investigation is ferrosilicon from Kazakhstan. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations, the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage, ( i.e., scope). As noted in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, Commerce corrected a minor clerical error in the language of the scope.

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. For a full description of the methodology underlying the preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

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 countervailing duty (CVD) determination in this investigation with the final determination in the companion antidumping duty (AD) investigation of ferrosilicon from Kazakhstan based on a request made by the petitioners. Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the final AD determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than January 14, 2025, unless postponed.

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.

In this investigation, Commerce preliminarily calculated total net subsidy rates for TELF AG (TELF) and YDD Corporation LLP (YDD) that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on the facts otherwise available. Because we have calculated rates for both mandatory respondents that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on the facts otherwise available, we have preliminarily assigned an all-others rate based on the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for the mandatory respondents.

Preliminary Determination

Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist: