[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 28, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33560-33561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15619]
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[A-588-835]
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Oil Country
Tubular Goods From Japan
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 28, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Beck or Stuart Schaag, Office of
Antidumping Investigations, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC, 20230; telephone (202) 482-
3646 or (202) 482-0192, respectively.
Final Determination
The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that oil
country tubular goods (OCTG) from Japan are being, or are likely to be,
sold in the United States at less than fair value, as provided in
section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) (19 U.S.C.
1673d). The estimated margins are shown in the Suspension of
Liquidation section of this notice.
Scope of the Investigation
For purposes of this investigation, OCTG are hollow steel products
of circular cross-section, including oil well casing, tubing, and drill
pipe, of iron (other than cast iron) or steel (both carbon and alloy),
whether seamless or welded, whether or not conforming to American
Petroleum Institute (API) or non-API specifications, whether finished
or unfinished (including green tubes and limited service OCTG
products). This scope does not cover casing, tubing, or drill pipe
containing 10.5 percent or more of chromium. The OCTG subject to this
investigation are currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item numbers:
7304.20.10.10, 7304.20.10.20, 7304.20.10.30, 7304.20.10.40,
7304.20.10.50, 7304.20.10.60, 7304.20.10.80, 7304.20.20.10,
7304.20.20.20, 7304.20.20.30, 7304.20.20.40, 7304.20.20.50,
7304.20.20.60, 7304.20.20.80, 7304.20.30.10, 7304.20.30.20,
7304.20.30.30, 7304.20.30.40, 7304.20.30.50, 7304.20.30.60,
7304.20.30.80, 7304.20.40.10, 7304.20.40.20, 7304.20.40.30,
7304.20.40.40, 7304.20.40.50, 7304.20.40.60, 7304.20.40.80,
7304.20.50.15, 7304.20.50.30, 7304.20.50.45, 7304.20.50.60,
7304.20.50.75, 7304.20.60.15, 7304.20.60.30, 7304.20.60.45,
7304.20.60.60, 7304.20.60.75, 7304.20.70.00, 7304.20.80.30,
7304.20.80.45, 7304.20.80.60, 7305.20.20.00, 7305.20.40.00,
7305.20.60.00, 7305.20.80.00, 7306.20.10.30, 7306.20.10.90,
7306.20.20.00, 7306.20.30.00, 7306.20.40.00, 7306.20.60.10,
7306.20.60.50, 7306.20.80.10, and 7306.20.80.50.
After the publication of the preliminary determination, we found
that HTSUS item numbers 7304.20.10.00, 7304.20.20.00, 7304.20.30.00,
7304.20.40.00, 7304.20.50.10, 7304.20.50.50, 7304.20.60.10,
7304.20.60.50, and 7304.20.80.00 were no longer valid HTSUS item
numbers. Accordingly, these numbers have been deleted from the scope
definition.
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and
customs purposes, our written description of the scope of this
investigation is dispositive.
Period of Investigation
The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 1994, through June
30, 1994.
Case History
There has been no activity in this investigation since the
preliminary determination (60 FR 6506, February 2, 1995).
Applicable Statute and Regulations
Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Statute and to the
[[Page 33561]] Department's regulations are in reference to the
provisions as they existed on December 31, 1994.
Best Information Available
In accordance with section 776(c) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1677e(c)),
we have determined that the use of best information available (BIA) is
appropriate for both Nippon Steel Corp. and Sumitomo Metal Industries,
Ltd. Given that neither of the named companies responded to the
Department's questionnaire, we find that no respondents have cooperated
in this investigation.
In determining what to use as BIA, the Department follows a two-
tiered methodology, whereby the Department normally assigns lower
margins to those respondents who cooperate in an investigation, and
margins based on more adverse assumptions for those respondents who do
not cooperate in an investigation. If a respondent is non-cooperative,
that respondent's final margin for the relevant class or kind of
merchandise is the higher of either (1) the highest margin in the
petition, or (2) the highest calculated margin of any respondent (see
Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts
Thereof From the Federal Republic of Germany: Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value (54 FR 18992, 19033, May 3, 1989)). The
Department's two-tier methodology for assigning BIA conditioned on the
degree of respondents' cooperation has been upheld by the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit. (See Allied Signal Aerospace Co. v.
United States, 996 F.2d 1185 (Fed. Cir. 1993); see also Krupp Stahl, AG
et al. v. United States, 822 F. Supp. 789 (CIT 1993).)
In this investigation, the two respondents refused to cooperate by
failing to respond to the Department's questionnaire. Therefore, in
accordance with our standard practice, the Department has assigned the
highest margin in the petition to both respondents. The assigned BIA
margin is the same margin that was assigned for the preliminary
determination.
Fair Value Comparisons
To arrive at the BIA margin referred to above, we compared United
States price (USP) to foreign market value (FMV) as reported in the
petition. See Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigation of Oil
Country Tubular Goods Pipe from Argentina, Austria, Italy, Japan,
Korea, Mexico, and Spain (59 FR 37962, July 26, 1994).
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(1) of the Act 19 U.S.C.
1673b(d)(1), we directed the Customs Service to suspend liquidation of
all entries of OCTG from Japan, as defined in the ``Scope of
Investigation'' section of this notice, that are entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption on or after February 2, 1995.
Pursuant to the results of this final determination, we will
instruct the Customs Service to require a cash deposit or posting of a
bond equal to the estimated final dumping margin, as shown below, for
entries of OCTG from Japan that are entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption from the date of publication of this notice
in the Federal Register. The suspension of liquidation will remain in
effect until further notice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted-
average
Manufacturer/producer/exporter margin
percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nippon Steel Corporation................................... 44.20
Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd............................. 44.20
All Others................................................. 44.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the
ITC of our determination. The ITC will make its determination whether
these imports materially injure, or threaten injury to, a U.S. industry
within 45 days of the publication of this notice. If the ITC determines
that material injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the
proceeding will be terminated and all securities posted as a result of
the suspension of liquidation will be refunded or cancelled. However,
if the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Department will
issue an antidumping duty order.
Notification to Interested Parties
This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to
administrative protective order (APO) in this investigation of their
responsibility covering the return or destruction of proprietary
information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 353.34(d).
Failure to comply is a violation of the APO.
This determination is published pursuant to section 735(d) of the
Act (19 U.S.C. 1673d(d)) and 19 CFR 353.20(a)(4).
Dated: June 19, 1995.
Paul L. Joffe,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 95-15619 Filed 6-27-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P