[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67774-67775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22161]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Notice of Proposed Measure and Opportunity for Public Comment 
Pursuant to Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974: Circular Welded Non-
Alloy Steel Pipe From the People's Republic of China

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of proposed measure; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has 
determined, pursuant to section 421(b)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
amended (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2451(b)(1)), that circular welded 
non-alloy steel pipe \1\ from the People's Republic of China (China) 
are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities 
or under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause market 
disruption to the domestic producers of like or directly competitive 
products. Pursuant to section 421(h)(1) of the Trade Act, the United 
States Trade Representative (USTR) is publishing notice of proposed 
restrictions with respect to imports of the subject circular welded 
non-alloy steel pipe from China. USTR invites domestic producers, 
importers, exporters, and other interested parties to submit their 
views and evidence on the appropriateness of the proposed restrictions 
and whether they would be in the public interest. USTR also invites 
interested parties to participate in a public hearing (if requested).
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    \1\ For purposes of its investigation, the ITC considered 
circular welded non-alloy steel pipe to include certain welded 
carbon quality steel pipes and tubes, of circular cross-section, 
with an outside diameter of 0.372 inches (9.45 mm) or more, but not 
more than 16 inches (406.4 mm), regardless of wall thickness, 
surface finish (black, galvanized, or painted), end finish (plain 
end, beveled end, grooved, threaded, or threaded and coupled), or 
industry specification (ASTM, proprietary, or other), generally 
known as standard pipe and structural pipe (and they may also be 
referred to as structural or mechanical tubing). The term carbon 
quality steel may include certain low alloy steel imported as other 
alloy steel pipes and tubes. Products not included in this 
investigation are mechanical tubing (whether or not cold-drawn) 
provided for in HTS subheading 7306.30.50, tube and pipe hollows for 
redrawing provided for in HTS 7306.30.5035, or finished electrical 
conduit provided for in HTS 7306.30.5028. API line pipe used in oil 
or gas applications requiring API certifications is also not 
included in this investigation. Similarly, pipe produced to the API 
specifications for oil country tubular goods use are not included in 
this investigation. The subject imported products are currently 
provided for in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTS) subheadings 7306.30.10 and 7306.30.50. Specifically, the 
various HTS statistical reporting numbers under which the subject 
standard pipe has been provided for since January 1, 1992, are as 
follows: 7306.30.1000, 7306.30.5025, 7306.30.5032, 7306.30.5040, 
7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5085, and 7306.30.5090.

DATES: Requests for USTR to hold a public hearing are due by November 
16, 2005. Written comments and requests to testify at any public 
hearing are due by November 18, 2005. If a request for USTR to hold a 
public hearing is received, the hearing will be held on November 29, 
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2005.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected]. 
Submissions by facsimile: Sandy McKinzy, USTR, at (202) 395-9672.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
public comments and holding of a public hearing, contact Sandy McKinzy, 
USTR, telephone (202) 395-9483, facsimile (202) 395-9672. Other 
questions regarding the subject of this notice should be addressed to 
Terrence J. McCartin, Office of China Affairs, USTR, telephone (202) 
395-3900, or Stephen Kho, Office of General Counsel, USTR, telephone 
(202) 395-7305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. The ITC Investigation and Section 421

    Following receipt of a petition filed on August 2, 2005, on behalf 
of Allied Tube and Conduit Corp., IPSCO Tubulars, Inc., Maruichi 
American Corp., Maverick Tube Corp., Sharon Tube Co., Western Tube 
Conduit Corp., Wheatland Tube Co., and the United Steelworkers of 
America, AFL-CIO, the ITC instituted investigation No. TA-421-6, under 
section 421 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2451) to determine whether the 
subject circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from China are being 
imported into the United States in such increased quantities or under 
such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause market disruption to 
the domestic producers of like or directly competitive products. The 
ITC made an affirmative market disruption determination on October 3, 
2005, and transmitted a report on its determination, as well as its 
remedy proposals, to USTR on October 21, 2005. The views of the ITC, 
including its remedy proposals, and the ITC staff report are available 
on the ITC's Web site (http://hotdocs.usitc.gov/docs/pubs/701_731/pub3807.PDF) and are contained in USITC Publication 3807 (October 
2005), entitled ``Circular Welded Non-alloy Steel Pipe from China''. A 
copy of that publication can be obtained from the ITC by faxing a 
request to (202) 205-2104 or calling (202) 205-1809.
    Following an affirmative determination by the ITC, and pursuant to 
section 421(h) of the Trade Act, USTR is required to make a 
recommendation to the President concerning what action, if any, to take 
to remedy the market disruption. Within 15 days after receipt of USTR's 
recommendation, the President is required to provide import relief 
unless the President determines that provision of such relief is not in 
the national economic interest of the United States or, in 
extraordinary cases, that the taking of action would cause serious harm 
to the national security of the United States. (Section 421(k).) Prior 
to making a recommendation, USTR is required to publish notice of any 
proposed measures and of the opportunity to comment.

2. Proposed Measure and Opportunity for Comment

    Two of the four ITC commissioners entitled to vote on remedy 
recommended that the President impose an annual quota of 160,000 short 
tons on imports of circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from China for 
a period of three years. The other two ITC commissioners recommended 
that the President impose a tariff-rate quota on imports of the subject 
circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from China for a three-year period 
as follows: a 25 percent tariff, in addition to the current rate of 
duty, on imports exceeding 267,468 short tons in the first year, with 
this quota level increasing by 5 percent in the second year and 10 
percent in the third year. All four ITC commissioners further 
recommended that, if applications are filed, the President direct the 
U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Labor to provide 
expedited consideration of trade adjustment assistance for firms and/or 
workers affected by the subject

[[Page 67775]]

imports. USTR proposes these remedies for further consideration by 
domestic producers, importers, exporters, and other interested parties, 
and invites any of these parties to submit their views and evidence on 
the appropriateness of the proposed remedies and whether they would be 
in the public interest. In addition, USTR invites comments on other 
possible actions, including: imposition of a tariff-rate quota on the 
subject imports from China, with an in-quota volume, out-of-quota 
tariff rate, and/or periods different from the ITC recommendation; 
imposition of an additional duty on imports of the subject imports from 
China; imposition of a quota on the subject imports from China, with a 
different quota level; an import monitoring mechanism; or no import 
relief (pursuant to a determination under section 421(k) of the Trade 
Act regarding the national economic interest or national security). In 
commenting on possible actions, interested parties are requested to 
address: (i) The short- and long-term effects that implementation of 
the proposed actions are likely to have on the domestic circular welded 
non-alloy steel pipe industry, other domestic industries, and 
downstream consumers, and (ii) the short- and long-term effects that 
not taking the proposed actions are likely to have on the domestic 
circular welded non-alloy steel pipe industry, its workers, and other 
domestic industries or communities.
    An interested party may request that USTR hold a public hearing, 
which request must be received by November 16, 2005. Written comments, 
as well as requests to testify at any public hearing, must be received 
by November 18, 2005, and should be submitted in accordance with the 
instructions below. Parties that have requested to testify at any 
public hearing will be informed if a hearing is to be held. In 
addition, information on any public hearing may be obtained by 
contacting Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395-9483. If a public hearing is 
requested, it will be held on November 29, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. in Rooms 
1 and 2, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC. Requests to testify must 
include the following information: (1) Name, address, telephone number, 
fax number, and firm or affiliation of the person wishing to testify; 
and (2) a brief summary of the comments to be presented.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR 
strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in response 
to this notice.
    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``Circular Welded Non-alloy Steel Pipe'' followed by (as 
appropriate) ``Written Comments'', ``Request for Public Hearing'', or 
``Request to Testify''. Documents should be submitted as either 
WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting documentation 
submitted as spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel files. 
For any document containing business confidential information submitted 
electronically, the file name of the business confidential version 
should begin with the characters ``BC-'', and the file name of the 
public version should begin with the characters ``P-''. The ``P-'' or 
``BC-'' should be followed by the name of the submitter. Persons who 
make submissions by e-mail should not provide separate cover letters; 
information that might appear in a cover letter should be included in 
the submission itself. To the extent possible, any attachments to the 
submission should be included in the same file as the submission 
itself, and not as separate files.
    Written comments submitted in response to this request will be 
placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, 
except business confidential information exempt from public inspection 
in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Business confidential information 
submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly marked 
``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of each page, including any cover 
letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a nonconfidential 
summary of the confidential information. All public documents and 
nonconfidential summaries will be available for public inspection in 
the USTR Reading Room. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public, by 
appointment only, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday. An appointment to review the file must be scheduled at 
least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling (202) 395-6186.

David Weller,
Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for China Affairs.
[FR Doc. 05-22161 Filed 11-7-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3910-W6-P