[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 91 (Monday, May 12, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25889-25891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-12388]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-588-835]


Oil Country Tubular Goods From Japan; Notice of Partial 
Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of partial rescission and preliminary results of 
antidumping duty administrative review.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on oil country 
tubular goods from Japan. This review was initiated in response to 
requests by importers, Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (H&P) and Caprock Pipe 
and Supply (Caprock), for a review of NKK Corporation of Japan (NKK) 
and HEBRA AS (HEBRA), respectively. Although we initiated a review of 
both NKK and HEBRA, we are rescinding the review with respect to HEBRA 
because Caprock timely withdrew its request for review. This review 
covers one producer/exporter and entries of drill pipe during the 
period August 11, 1995 through July 31, 1996, and entries of oil 
country tubular goods (OCTG) other than drill pipe during the period 
February 2, 1995 through July 31, 1996.
    Because NKK did not submit a complete response to our 
questionnaire, we have preliminarily determined that facts available 
will be used. Interested parties who submit comments are requested to 
submit with each comment a statement of the issue and a brief summary 
of the comment.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 12, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Bezirganian or John Kugelman, 
AD/CVD Enforcement Group III--Office 8, Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone 
(202) 482-1395 or 482-0649, respectively.

Applicable Statute

    Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute refer to 
the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective date of the 
amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Act), by the Uruguay 
Round Agreements Act. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all 
citations to the Department's regulations are to the current 
regulations, as amended by the intermim regulations published in the 
Federal Register on May 11, 1995 (60 FR 25130).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Review

    The merchandise covered by this order is oil country tubular goods 
(OCTG), hollow steel products of circular cross-section, including only 
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 order are 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, 7304.29.30.10, 7304.29.30.20, 
7304.29.30.30, 7304.29.30.40, 7304.29.30.50, 7304.29.30.60, 
7304.29.30.80, 7304.29.40.10, 7304.29.40.20, 7304.29.40.30, 
7304.29.40.40, 7304.29.40.50, 7304.29.40.60, 7304.29.40.80, 
7304.29.50.15, 7304.29.50.30, 7304.29.50.45, 7304.29.50.60, 
7304.29.50.75, 7304.29.60.15, 7304.29.60.30, 7304.29.60.45, 
7304.29.60.60, 7304.29.60.75, 7304.21.30.00, 7304.21.60.30, 
7304.21.60.45, 7304.21.60.60, 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.
    Please note that many of these HTS numbers have changed since the 
less-than-fair value (LTFV) investigation. Although the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
scope of this proceeding is dispositive.

Background

    In its final determination of sales at LTFV on OCTG from Japan, 60 
FR 33560 (June 28, 1995), the Department determined that the two 
respondents, Nippon Steel Corp. and Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd., 
refused to cooperate by failing to respond to the Department's 
questionnaire. Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 776(b) of the Act and 
its standard practice, the Department assigned the highest margin in 
the petition, 44.20 percent, to both respondents, and assigned the same 
rate to all others.
    On August 2, 1995, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) notified the Department 
of its final determination in this investigation. In its determination 
the ITC found two like products, (1) drill pipe, and (2) OCTG other 
than drill pipe (i.e., casing and tubing). The ITC determined that 
imports of drill pipe from Japan threatened material injury to a U.S. 
industry. However, the ITC did not determine that, but for the 
suspension of liquidation of entries of drill pipe from Japan, the 
domestic industry would have been materially injured, pursuant to 
section 735(b)(4)(B) of the Act.
    When the ITC finds threat of material injury, and makes a negative 
``but for'' finding, the ``Special Rule'' provision of section 
736(b)(2) of the Act applies. Therefore, all unliquidated entries of 
drill pipe from Japan, entered or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption, on or after the date on which the ITC published its notice 
of final determination of threat of material injury in the Federal 
Register, are liable for the assessment of antidumping duties.
    On August 11, 1995, we published an antidumping duty order on the 
subject merchandise (60 FR 41058). Pursuant to section 736(b)(2) of the 
Act, the Department directed the U.S. Customs Service to terminate the 
suspension of liquidation for entries of drill pipe imported from Japan 
and entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for

[[Page 25890]]

consumption, before August 10, 1995, the date on which the ITC 
published its notice of final determination of threat of material 
injury in the Federal Register, and to release any bond or other 
security, and to refund any cash deposit, posted to secure the payment 
of estimated antidumping duties with respect to entries of the 
merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, 
before that date. The Department also directed the U.S. Customs Service 
to suspend liquidation for drill pipe from Japan with respect to 
shipments entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after August 10, 1995. Regarding OCTG other than drill pipe, because 
the ITC determined that imports of such merchandise were materially 
injuring a U.S. industry, in accordance with section 736(a) of the Act, 
the Department directed the U.S. Customs Service to continue to suspend 
liquidation of such shipments entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after February 2, 1995, the date on which the 
Department published its LTFV preliminary determination notice in the 
Federal Register (60 FR 6506). The Department also directed the U.S. 
Customs Service to require for all entries of OCTG from Japan falling 
under the scope of the order, effective August 11, 1995, a cash deposit 
equal to the margin rate determined in the investigation.
    On August 12, 1996, we published a notice of opportunity to request 
an administrative review (61 FR 41768), covering the period February 2, 
1995 through July 31, 1996 for OCTG other than drill pipe, and the 
period August 11, 1995 through July 31, 1996 for drill pipe. On August 
28, 1996, H&P, an importer of drill pipe, requested an administrative 
review of sales of subject merchandise produced by NKK and imported, or 
withdrawn from a foreign trade zone, by H&P during the review period 
for drill pipe (August 11, 1995, through July 31, 1996). On August 29, 
1996, Caprock, an importer of used OCTG, requested an administrative 
review of OCTG produced by all Japanese manufacturers. On September 4, 
1996, Caprock clarified that the company to be reviewed was actually 
HEBRA (which Caprock identified as a Norwegian export company), rather 
than all Japanese manufacturers.
    The Department published a notice of initiation of an 
administrative review covering HEBRA and NKK on September 17, 1996 (61 
FR 48882).
    On September 19, 1996, we sent a questionnaire to NKK and HEBRA. On 
November 14, 1996, HEBRA submitted a letter stating that it would not 
submit a response to the Department's questionnaire, and Caprock 
submitted a letter withdrawing its request for a review.

Use of Facts Otherwise Available

    NKK indicated that it did not sell or ship subject merchandise to 
the United States during the period of review (POR). Information on the 
record of this review, however, indicates that there were entries 
during the POR of subject merchandise produced by NKK. Pursuant to 
Sec. 751(a)(2) of the Act, these entries are subject to review, 
regardless of NKK's assertions regarding sale and shipment dates. NKK 
twice failed to answer the questions in the Department's questionnaire, 
so the Department must base the margin upon facts available.
    Where the Department must base the entire dumping margin for a 
respondent in an administrative review on facts otherwise available 
because that respondent failed to cooperate, section 776(b) of the Act 
authorizes the use of an inference adverse to the interests of that 
respondent in choosing the facts available. Section 776(b) of the Act 
also authorizes the Department to use as adverse facts available 
information derived from the petition, the final determination, a 
previous administrative review, or other information placed on the 
record. Section 776(c) of the Act provides that the Department shall, 
to the extent practicable, corroborate secondary information from 
independent sources reasonably at its disposal. The Statement of 
Administrative Action (SAA) provides that ``corroborate'' means simply 
that the Department will satisfy itself that the secondary information 
to be used has probative value. (See H.R. Doc. 316, Vol. 1, 103d Cong., 
2d sess. 870 (1994).)
    Consistent with Section 776(b) of the Act, we have assigned to NKK 
a rate equal to the highest rate for any company for the same class or 
kind of merchandise from the same country from this or any prior 
segment of the proceeding, or from the petition. In this instance, we 
have used the highest rate in the petition, the rate adopted by the 
Department in the investigation underlying this order.
    In accordance with section 776(c) of the Act, to corroborate 
secondary information the Department will, to the extent practicable, 
examine the reliability and relevance of the information to be used--in 
this case, the highest rate from the petition. That rate was based upon 
the difference between U.S. price of a representative OCTG product sold 
by one Japanese company and constructed value for that product. Our 
review of the information in the original petition pertaining to the 
price of the product and to the major inputs (e.g., iron ore, coke, 
scrap) and processes (ironmaking, steelmaking, and bloom and pipe 
production) used for the production of the final merchandise did not 
indicate that the analysis of the OCTG market in the petition is no 
longer appropriate to use as a basis for facts available. Furthermore, 
nothing on the record of this review supports a determination that the 
highest margin rate from the petition in the underlying investigation 
does not represent reliable and relevant information for purposes of 
adverse facts available. Therefore, in this proceeding, the highest 
margin from the petition is the most appropriate information on which 
to base a margin for this uncooperative respondent.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of the review, we preliminarily determine that the 
following weighted-average dumping margin exists:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Weighted- 
                                                               average  
               Manufacturer/producer/exporter                   margin  
                                                              percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NKK........................................................        44.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parties to this proceeding may request disclosure within five days 
of publication of this notice and any interested party may request a 
hearing within 10 days of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will 
be held 44 days after the date of publication, or the first working day 
thereafter. Interested parties may submit case briefs and/or written 
comments no later than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal 
briefs and rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues raised in 
such briefs or comments, may be filed no later than 37 days after the 
date of publication of this notice. The Department will publish a 
notice of the final results of the administrative review, including its 
analysis of issues raised in any written comments or at a hearing, not 
later than 120 days after the date of publication of this notice.

Cash Deposit

    The following deposit requirements will be effective upon 
completion of the final results of this administrative review for all 
shipments of OCTG from Japan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption, on or after the publication date of the final results of 
this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Act 
and 19 CFR 353.22: (1) the cash deposit

[[Page 25891]]

rate for NKK will be the rate established in the final results of this 
administrative review; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated 
companies not listed above, the cash deposit rate will continue to be 
the company-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if 
the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or 
the original LTFV investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash 
deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recent period 
for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate 
for all other manufacturers or exporters will be 44.20 percent, the 
``all others'' rate established in the LTFV investigation. These 
deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
publication of the final results of the next administrative review.
    This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 353.26 to file a certificate regarding the 
reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the 
relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this 
requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    These administrative reviews and notice are in accordance with 
section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR 353.22.

    Dated: May 5, 1997.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 97-12388 Filed 5-9-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P