[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10493-10495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04106]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-533-857]
Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From India: Preliminary
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative
Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part, 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 certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from India are
being, or are 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 is July 1, 2012,
through June 30, 2013. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins
of sales at LTFV are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section
of this notice. We invite interested parties to comment on this
preliminary determination. The final determination will be issued 135
days after publication of this preliminary determination in the Federal
Register.
DATES: Effective Date: February 25, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Halle, AD/CVD Operations, Office
VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0176.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain oil
country tubular goods (OCTG), which are hollow steel products of
circular cross-section, including oil well casing and tubing, of iron
(other than cast iron) or steel (both carbon and alloy), whether
seamless or welded, regardless of end finish (e.g., whether or not
plain end, threaded, or threaded and coupled) whether or not conforming
to American Petroleum Institute (API) or non-API specifications,
whether finished (including limited service OCTG products) or
unfinished (including green tubes and limited service OCTG products),
whether or not thread protectors are attached. The scope of the
investigation also covers OCTG coupling stock. For a complete
description of the scope of the investigation, see Appendix I to this
notice.
Scope Comments
On August 12, 2013, WSP Pipe Co., Ltd. (the sole mandatory
respondent in the concurrent LTFV investigation of OCTG from Thailand)
submitted scope comments to the Department regarding ``pierced
billets'' and asked that the Department determine that such merchandise
was outside of the scope of this and other OCTG investigations. The
petitioners \1\ filed rebuttal comments on August 22, 2013. We made no
modifications to the scope of the investigations. For more information,
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\2\
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\1\ Boomerang Tube, Energex Tube, a division of JMC Steel Group,
Maverick Tube Corporation, Northwest Pipe Company, Tejas Tubular
Products, TMK IPSCO, United States Steel Corporation, Vallourec
Star, L.P., and Welded Tube USA Inc. (collectively, the
petitioners).
\2\ See Memorandum to Paul Piquado, ``Decision Memorandum for
the Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from India,''
dated concurrently with this determination and hereby adopted by
this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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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.\3\ 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.\4\ The revised deadline for the preliminary determination
of this investigation is now February 14, 2014.\5\
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\3\ 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).
\4\ See Notice of Clarification: Application of ``Next Business
Day'' Rule for Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to
the Tariff Act of 1930, as Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
\5\ Due to the closure of the Federal Government on February 13,
2014, the Department completed this determination on the next
business day (i.e., February 14, 2014). Id.
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[[Page 10494]]
Methodology
The Department conducted this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Export price (EP) and constructed export price
(CEP) are calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal
value (NV) is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act.
For a full description of the methodology underlying our
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 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 at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the
electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are
identical in content.
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in
Part
On December 18, 2013, petitioners filed a timely critical
circumstances allegation, pursuant to section 773(e)(1) of the Act and
19 CFR 351.206(c)(1), alleging that critical circumstances exist with
respect to imports of the merchandise under consideration.\6\ Based on
our analysis, we preliminarily find that critical circumstances exist
for Jindal SAW, but not for GVN Fuels Limited (GVN) or for all other
producers and exporters.\7\
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\6\ See Letter from petitioners, ``Amendment to Petition for the
Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties: Oil Country
Tubular Goods from India,'' December 18, 2013.
\7\ For a full description of the methodology and results of our
analysis, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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Preliminary Determination
The Department preliminarily determines that the following
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted-
average
Exporter or producer dumping
margin
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Jindal SAW Ltd............................................. 55.29
GVN Fuels Limited, Maharashtra Seamless Limited and Jindal 0.0
Pipe Limited..............................................
All Others................................................. 55.29
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Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated ``all
others'' rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the
weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the or producers or
exporters individually examined, excluding rates that are zero, de
minimis or determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. Since we
calculated a weighted-average dumping margin for only one of the
mandatory respondents (Jindal SAW) that was not zero, de minimis or
determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, we assigned to all
other producers and exporters the rate calculated for Jindal SAW.
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.\8\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2),
parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding
are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the
issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and, (3) a table of
authorities.
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\8\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing, or to participate in a hearing 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
request must be received successfully in its entirety by IA ACCESS, by
5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, within 30 days after the date of
publication of this notice.\9\ 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 date 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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\9\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we will direct
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all
entries of OCTG from India 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, except for Jindal SAW and GVN, as described below.
Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation
shall apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of (a)
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of
liquidation was first ordered, or (b) the date on which notice of
initiation of the investigation was published. As discussed above, we
preliminarily find that critical circumstances exist for imports
produced or exported by Jindal SAW. For Jindal SAW, in accordance with
section 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, suspension of liquidation of OCTG from
India, as described in the ``Scope of the Investigation'' section,
shall apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date which is
90 days before the publication of this notice, the date suspension of
liquidation is first ordered. Because we find critical circumstances do
not exist for all other producers and exporters, we will begin
suspension of liquidation for such firms on the date of publication of
this notice in the Federal Register. Further, because we reached a
negative preliminary determination for GVN, we will not instruct CBP to
suspend liquidation of entries for this company.
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to
require a cash deposit \10\ equal to the preliminary weighted-average
amount by which NV exceeds U.S. price, as indicated in the chart above,
as follows: (1) The rate for Jindal SAW will be the weighted-average
dumping margin we determine in this preliminary determination; (2) if
the exporter is not a firm identified in this investigation, but the
producer is, then the rate will be the rate established for the
producer of the subject merchandise; (3) the rate for
[[Page 10495]]
all other producers or exporters will be 55.29 percent. There will be
no cash deposit requirement for GVN, since, as noted above, there will
be no suspension of liquidation. These suspension of liquidation
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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\10\ 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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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
Pursuant to a request from Jindal SAW, a respondent in this
investigation, we are postponing the final determination. 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.\11\ Further, Jindal SAW requested to
extend the application of the provisional measures prescribed under
section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), from a four-month
period to a six-month period. Suspension of liquidation will be
extended accordingly.
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\11\ See also 19 CFR 351.210(e).
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we notified the ITC
of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. If our
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 our final determination whether these imports are
materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
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: February 14, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by the investigation is certain oil
country tubular goods (OCTG), which are hollow steel products of
circular cross-section, including oil well casing and tubing, of
iron (other than cast iron) or steel (both carbon and alloy),
whether seamless or welded, regardless of end finish (e.g., whether
or not plain end, threaded, or threaded and coupled) whether or not
conforming to American Petroleum Institute (API) or non-API
specifications, whether finished (including limited service OCTG
products) or unfinished (including green tubes and limited service
OCTG products), whether or not thread protectors are attached. The
scope of the investigation also covers OCTG coupling stock.
Excluded from the scope of the investigation are: Casing or
tubing containing 10.5 percent or more by weight of chromium; drill
pipe; unattached couplings; and unattached thread protectors.
The merchandise subject to the investigation is currently
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) under item numbers: 7304.29.10.10, 7304.29.10.20,
7304.29.10.30, 7304.29.10.40, 7304.29.10.50, 7304.29.10.60,
7304.29.10.80, 7304.29.20.10, 7304.29.20.20, 7304.29.20.30,
7304.29.20.40, 7304.29.20.50, 7304.29.20.60, 7304.29.20.80,
7304.29.31.10, 7304.29.31.20, 7304.29.31.30, 7304.29.31.40,
7304.29.31.50, 7304.29.31.60, 7304.29.31.80, 7304.29.41.10,
7304.29.41.20, 7304.29.41.30, 7304.29.41.40, 7304.29.41.50,
7304.29.41.60, 7304.29.41.80, 7304.29.50.15, 7304.29.50.30,
7304.29.50.45, 7304.29.50.60, 7304.29.50.75, 7304.29.61.15,
7304.29.61.30, 7304.29.61.45, 7304.29.61.60, 7304.29.61.75,
7305.20.20.00, 7305.20.40.00, 7305.20.60.00, 7305.20.80.00,
7306.29.10.30, 7306.29.10.90, 7306.29.20.00, 7306.29.31.00,
7306.29.41.00, 7306.29.60.10, 7306.29.60.50, 7306.29.81.10, and
7306.29.81.50.
The merchandise subject to the investigation may also enter
under the following HTSUS item numbers: 7304.39.00.24,
7304.39.00.28, 7304.39.00.32, 7304.39.00.36, 7304.39.00.40,
7304.39.00.44, 7304.39.00.48, 7304.39.00.52, 7304.39.00.56,
7304.39.00.62, 7304.39.00.68, 7304.39.00.72, 7304.39.00.76,
7304.39.00.80, 7304.59.60.00, 7304.59.80.15, 7304.59.80.20,
7304.59.80.25, 7304.59.80.30, 7304.59.80.35, 7304.59.80.40,
7304.59.80.45, 7304.59.80.50, 7304.59.80.55, 7304.59.80.60,
7304.59.80.65, 7304.59.80.70, 7304.59.80.80, 7305.31.40.00,
7305.31.60.90, 7306.30.50.55, 7306.30.50.90, 7306.50.50.50, and
7306.50.50.70.
The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and
customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the
investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Period of Investigation
4. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
5. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional
Measures
6. Scope of the Investigation
7. Scope Comments
8. Affiliation and Single Entity
9. Discussion of the Methodology
a. Fair Value Comparison
b. Product Comparisons
c. Determination of Comparison Method
d. U.S. Price
e. Normal Value
10. Currency Conversion
11. Critical Circumstances
12. Verification
13. Conclusion
[FR Doc. 2014-04106 Filed 2-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P