Federal Register, Volume 79 Issue 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 2014)

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 812-814]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00040]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-549-830]

Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe From Thailand: 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 (``Department'') preliminarily
determines that welded stainless pressure pipe (``WSPP'') from Thailand
is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than
fair value (``LTFV''), as provided in section 733(b) of the Tariff Act
of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). The period of investigation
(``POI'') is April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013. The estimated
weighted-average dumping margin of sales at LTFV is 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: Brandon Farlander or Trisha Tran, AD/
CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0182 or (202) 482-4852, 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 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 investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Export prices have been calculated in
accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal value (``NV'') has been
calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act.
For a full description of the methodology underlying our
conclusions, see ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination of Antidumping Duty Investigation: Welded Stainless
Pressure

[[Page 813]]

Pipe from Thailand,'' (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum'') 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 determination and hereby adopted by this notice.
The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made
available to the public via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping
and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA
ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is available to registered users at https://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Department's
Central Records Unit, located at room 7046 of the main Department of
Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary
Decision Memorandum can be found on the Internet at http://www.trade.gov/enforcement/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum
and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are
identical in content.

Preliminary Determination

The preliminary weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted-
average
Exporter/manufacturer dumping
margin
(percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ametai Co., Ltd./Thareus Co., Ltd........................... 7.16
Thai-German Products Public Company Limited................. 10.92
All Others.................................................. 7.22
------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Others Rate

The ``All Others'' rate is derived exclusive of all de minimis or
zero margins and margins based entirely on adverse facts available.
Specifically, this rate of 7.22 percent is based on a weighted average
using each company's publicly ranged values for U.S. exports of subject
merchandise.\2\ Because we cannot apply our normal methodology of
calculating a weighted-average margin due to requests to protect
business-proprietary information, we find this rate to be the best
proxy of the actual weighted-average margin determined for these
respondents. See, e.g., Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From India:
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, Partial
Rescission, and Final No Shipment Determination, 76 FR 41205, 41205
(July 13, 2011).
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\2\ See Memorandum from Brandon Farlander, International Trade
Compliance Analyst, AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, to the File,
``Welded Stainless Steel Pressure Pipe from Thailand: Calculation of
the Preliminary Margin for the All Other's Rate'' (December 30,
2013).
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Disclosure and Public Comment

We will disclose the calculations performed to parties in this
proceeding 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 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.\3\ 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. All documents must be filed
electronically using IA ACCESS. 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 Standard Time, within
30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\4\ Requests
should contain 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 and location
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 19 CFR 351.309.
\4\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures

Pursuant to requests from respondents, 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.\5\
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\5\ See also 19 CFR 351.210(e).
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Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we are directing
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend liquidation of
all entries of WSPP from Thailand 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), we will instruct CBP to require a
cash deposit \6\ equal to the weighted-average amount by which the NV
exceeds Export price, as indicated in the chart above. This suspension
of liquidation 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.
Because the preliminary determination in this proceeding is
affirmative, section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires that the ITC 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 WSPP from Thailand before the later of
120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days
after our final determination. Because we are postponing the deadline
for our final determination to 135 days from the date of the
publication of this preliminary determination, as discussed above, the
ITC will make its final determination no later than 45 days after our
final determination.
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

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. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
2. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
3. Scope of the Investigation

[[Page 814]]

4. Scope Comments
5. Affiliation and Single Entity
6. Fair Value Comparisons
7. Product Comparisons
8. Determination of Comparison Method
9. Export Price
10. Normal Value
a. Home Market Viability
b. Affiliated Party Transactions and Arm's-Length Test
c. Level of Trade
d. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Home Market Prices
e. Cost of Production
i. Calculation of COP
ii. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
iii. Results of COP Test
f. Price-to-CV Comparison
g. Constructed Value
11. Currency Conversion
12. Verification

[FR Doc. 2014-00040 Filed 1-6-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P