[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 806-808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00036]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-552-816]
Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe From the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and
Postponement of Final Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, formerly Import Administration,
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') preliminarily
determines that welded stainless pressure pipe from the socialist
republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam'') is being, or is likely to be, sold in
the United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''), as provided in
section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). The
weighted-average dumping margins are shown in the ``Preliminary
Determination'' section of this notice. Interested parties are invited
to comment on this preliminary determination. Pursuant to requests from
respondents, we are postponing for 60 days the final determination and
extending provisional measures from a four-month period to not more
than six months. Accordingly, the final determination will be issued
not later than 135 days after publication of this preliminary
determination in the Federal Register.
DATES: Effective Date: January 7, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lilit Astvatsatrian or Robert Bolling,
AD/CVD Operations, Office 4, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW., , Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6412 or (202) 482-
3434, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is circular welded
austenitic stainless pressure pipe not greater than 14 inches in
outside diameter. For purposes of this investigation, references to
size are in
[[Page 807]]
nominal inches and include all products within tolerances allowed by
pipe specifications. This merchandise includes, but is not limited to,
the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) A-312 or ASTM A-
778 specifications, or comparable domestic or foreign specifications.
ASTM A-358 products are only included when they are produced to meet
ASTM A-312 or ASTM A-778 specifications, or comparable domestic or
foreign specifications.
Excluded from the scope are: (1) Welded stainless mechanical
tubing, meeting ASTM A-554 or comparable domestic or foreign
specifications; (2) boiler, heat exchanger, superheater, refining
furnace, feedwater heater, and condenser tubing, meeting ASTM A-249,
ASTM A-688 or comparable domestic or foreign specifications; and (3)
specialized tubing, meeting ASTM A269, ASTM A-270 or comparable
domestic or foreign specifications.
The subject imports are normally classified in subheadings
7306.40.5005, 7306.40.5040, 7306.40.5062, 7306.40.5064, and
7306.40.5085 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS). They may also enter under HTSUS subheadings 7306.40.1010,
7306.40.1015, 7306.40.5042, 7306.40.5044, 7306.40.5080, and
7306.40.5090. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and
customs purposes only; the written description of the scope of these
investigations is dispositive.
Tolling of Deadlines for Preliminary Determination
As explained in the memorandum from the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, the Department has exercised its discretion
to toll deadlines for the duration of the closure of the Federal
Government from October 1, through October 16, 2013.\1\ Therefore, all
deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been extended by 16
days. If the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance
with the Department's practice, the deadline will become the next
business day. The revised deadline for the preliminary determination of
this investigation is now December 30, 2013.
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\1\ See Memorandum for the Record from Paul Piquado, Assistant
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by
the Shutdown of the Federal Government'' (October 18, 2013).
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Methodology
The Department has conducted this antidumping duty investigation in
accordance with section 731 of the Act. Export prices and constructed
export prices have been calculated in accordance with section 772 of
the Act. Because Vietnam is a non-market economy within the meaning of
section 771(18) of the Act, normal value has been calculated in
accordance with section 773(c) of the Act.
For a full description of the methodology underlying our
conclusions, see ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary Determination of
the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe
from Vietnam'' from Abdelali Elouaradia, Director Office IV,
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations, dated concurrently with this notice (``Preliminary Decision
Memorandum'') and hereby adopted by 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 (``IA ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is
available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is
available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room 7046 of the
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version
of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the
Internet at http://www.trade.gov/ia/. The signed Preliminary Decision
Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum are identical in content.
Combination Rates
As announced in the Initiation Notice, \2\ the Department has
calculated combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for
a separate rate in this investigation. This practice is described in
Policy Bulletin 05.1.
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\2\ See Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe From Malaysia, Thailand,
and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Antidumping
Duty Investigations, 78 FR 35253 (June 12, 2013) (``Initiation
Notice'').
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Preliminary Determination
The Department preliminarily determines that the following
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted
average
Exporter Producer dumping
margin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sonha International Corporation Sonha International 17.72
Corporation.
Mejonson Industrial Vietnam Mejonson Industrial 17.72
Co., Ltd. Vietnam Co., Ltd..
Vietnam-Wide Entity............ ....................... 53.91
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Disclosure and Public Comment
The Department intends to disclose calculations performed for this
preliminary determination to the parties within five days of the date
of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance via IA ACESS \3\ no
later than seven days after the date on which the final verification
report is issued in this proceeding, and rebuttal briefs, limited to
issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days
after the deadline date for case briefs.\4\ A table of contents, list
of authorities used, and an executive summary of issues should
accompany any briefs submitted to the Department. This summary should
be limited to five pages total, including footnotes. Interested
parties, who wish to request a hearing, or to participate if one is
requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, filed
electronically using IA ACCESS, within 30 days after the date of
publication of this notice.\5\ An electronically filed document must be
received successfully in its entirety by the Department's electronic
records system, IA ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Requests should
contain
[[Page 808]]
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of
participants, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request
for a hearing is made, the Department intends to hold the hearing at
the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time to be determined. Parties should
confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two
days before the scheduled date.
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\3\ See generally 19 CFR 351.303 (for procedural rules regarding
the filing of documents in AD proceedings).
\4\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
\5\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
Pursuant to requests from Sonha, we are postponing the final
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month
period to not more than six months. Accordingly, we will make our final
determination no later than 135 days after the date of publication of
this preliminary determination, pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the
Act.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d) of the Act, the Department will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend
liquidation of all entries of welded stainless pressure pipe from
Vietnam, 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.
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to
require a cash deposit \6\ equal to the weighted-average amount by
which normal value exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) the separate-rate
weighted-average dumping margin for the exporter/producer combinations
listed in the table above will be the rate the Department has
determined in this preliminary determination; (2) for all combinations
of Vietnam exporters/producers of merchandise under consideration which
have not received their own separate-rate weighted-average dumping
margin above, the cash-deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate
established for the Vietnam-wide entity; and (3) for all non-Vietnam
exporters of merchandise under consideration which have not received
their own separate rate above, the cash deposit rate will be the cash
deposit rate applicable to the Vietnam exporter/producer combination
that supplied that non-Vietnam exporter. These cash deposit
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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\6\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042
(October 3, 2011).
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International Trade Commission (``ITC'') Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the
ITC of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV.
Section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires the ITC to make its final
determination as to whether the domestic industry in the United States
is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of
imports of welded stainless pressure pipe, or sales (or the likelihood
of sales) for importation, of the merchandise under consideration
within 45 days of our final determination.
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: December 30, 2013.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations.
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
1. Initiation
2. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
3. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
4. Scope of the Investigation
5. Scope Comments
6. Non-Market Economy Country
7. Surrogate Country
a. Economic Comparability
b. Significant Producers of Identical or Comparable Merchandise
c. Data Availability
8. Surrogate Value Comments
9. Separate Rate
a. Separate Rate Respondents
b. Dumping Margin for the Separate Rate Company
10. Date of Sale
11. Fair Value Comparisons
a. Export Price
b. Normal Value
c. Factor Valuations
d. Currency Conversion
12. Determination of Comparison Method
a. Results of DP Analysis
13. Vietnam-Wide Entity
14. Verification
[FR Doc. 2014-00036 Filed 1-6-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P