[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