[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 231 (Friday, December 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69546-69550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20366]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

A-570-875


Non-Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic 
of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published its 
preliminary results of administrative review of the antidumping duty 
order on non-malleable cast iron pipe fittings (``NMP fittings'') from 
the People's Republic of China (``PRC'') on May 25,

[[Page 69547]]

2006. See Non-Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings from the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 71 FR 30116 (May 25, 2006) (``Preliminary 
Results''). The period of review (``POR'') is April 1, 2004, through 
March 31, 2005. We invited interested parties to comment on our 
preliminary results. Based on our analysis of the comments received, we 
have made changes to our calculations. The final dumping margins for 
this review are listed in the ``Final Results of Review'' section 
below.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 1, 2006

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugene Degnan, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office 8, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0414.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On April 7, 2003, the Department published in the Federal Register 
the antidumping duty order on NMP fittings from the PRC. See Notice of 
Antidumping Duty Order: Non-Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings From the 
People's Republic of China, 68 FR 16765 (April 7, 2003). On April 1, 
2005, the Department published a notice of opportunity to request an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on NMP fittings 
from the PRC for the period April 1, 2004, through March 31, 2005. See 
Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended 
Investigation: Opportunity to Request Administrative Review, 70 FR 
16799 (April 1, 2005). On April 25, 2005, Myland Industrial Co., Ltd. 
and Myland Buxin Foundry Ltd. (collectively ``Myland'') requested an 
administrative review of their sales to the United States during the 
POR of merchandise produced by Buxin and exported by Myland. On May 27, 
2005, the Department published in the Federal Register a notice of the 
initiation of the antidumping duty administrative review of NMP 
fittings from the PRC for the period April 1, 2004, through March 31, 
2005. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation in Part, 70 FR 30694 
(May 27, 2005) (``Initiation Notice'').
    The Department published the preliminary results on May 25, 2006. 
See Preliminary Results, 71 FR at 30116. We invited parties to comment 
on our preliminary results. See Preliminary Results, 71 FR at 30121. On 
June 23, 2006, Anvil International, Inc. and Ward Manufacturing 
(``Petitioners'') submitted a case brief, and on June 27, 2006, Myland 
submitted a case brief. On June 30, 2006, Petitioner submitted a 
rebuttal brief and on July 3, 2006, Myland submitted a rebuttal brief.
    On September 12, 2006, the Department published a notice in the 
Federal Register extending the time limit for the final results of 
review until October 23, 2006. See Extension of Time Limit for the 
Final Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Non-
Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic of China, 
71 FR 53661 (September 12, 2006). Additionally, on October 30, 2006, 
the Department published a notice in the Federal Register further 
extending the time limit for the preliminary results of review until 
November 10, 2006. See Non-Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings from the 
People's Republic of China: Extension of Time Limit for the Final 
Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 71 FR 63285 
(October 30, 2006). Further, on November 16, 2006, the Department 
published a notice in the Federal Register further extending the time 
limit for the preliminary results of review until November 21, 2006. 
See Non-Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic of 
China: Extension of Time Limit for the Final Results of the Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review, 71 FR 66749 (November 16, 2006). We have 
conducted this administrative review in accordance with Section 751 of 
the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''), and 19 CFR 351.213.

Scope of Order

    The products covered by the order are finished and unfinished non-
malleable cast iron pipe fittings with an inside diameter ranging from 
1/4 inch to 6 inches, whether threaded or un-threaded, regardless of 
industry or proprietary specifications. The subject fittings include 
elbows, ells, tees, crosses, and reducers as well as flanged fittings. 
These pipe fittings are also known as ``cast iron pipe fittings'' or 
``gray iron pipe fittings.'' These cast iron pipe fittings are normally 
produced to ASTM A-126 and ASME B.l6.4 specifications and are threaded 
to ASME B1.20.1 specifications. Most building codes require that these 
products are Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certified. The scope does 
not include cast iron soil pipe fittings or grooved fittings or grooved 
couplings.
    Fittings that are made out of ductile iron that have the same 
physical characteristics as the gray or cast iron fittings subject to 
the scope above or which have the same physical characteristics and are 
produced to ASME B.16.3, ASME B.16.4, or ASTM A-395 specifications, 
threaded to ASME B1.20.1 specifications and UL certified, regardless of 
metallurgical differences between gray and ductile iron, are also 
included in the scope of the order. These ductile fittings do not 
include grooved fittings or grooved couplings. Ductile cast iron 
fittings with mechanical joint ends (MJ), or push on ends (PO), or 
flanged ends and produced to the American Water Works Association 
(AWWA) specifications AWWA C110 or AWWA C153 are not included.
    Imports of subject merchandise are currently classifiable in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item 
numbers 7307.11.00.30, 7307.11.00.60, 7307.19.30.60 and 7307.19.30.85. 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes. 
The written description of the scope of this proceeding is dispositive.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the post-preliminary comments by parties in 
this review are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, dated 
November 10, 2006 (``Decision Memo''), which is hereby adopted by this 
notice. A list of the issues which parties raised and to which we 
responded in the Decision Memo is attached to this notice as an 
appendix. The Decision Memo is a public document which is on file in 
the Central Records Unit (``CRU'') in room B-099 in the main Department 
building, and is accessible on the Web at http://www.ia.ita.doc.gov/frn. The paper copy and electronic version of the memorandum are 
identical in content.

Surrogate Country

    In the Preliminary Results, we stated that we treat the PRC as a 
non-market economy (``NME'') country, and therefore, we calculated 
normal value in accordance with section 773(c) of the Act which applies 
to NME countries. Also, we stated that we had selected India as the 
appropriate surrogate country to use in this review for the following 
reasons: (1) it is a significant producer of comparable merchandise; 
and (2) provides contemporaneous publicly available data to value the 
factors of production, pursuant to section 773(c)(4) of the Act. See 
Preliminary Results. For the final results, we made no changes to our 
findings with respect to the selection of a surrogate country.

[[Page 69548]]

Separate Rates

    In proceedings involving NME countries, the Department begins with 
a rebuttable presumption that all companies within the country are 
subject to government control and, thus, should be assigned a single 
antidumping duty deposit rate. It is the Department's policy to assign 
all exporters of merchandise subject to review in an NME country this 
single rate unless an exporter can demonstrate that it is free of de 
jure and de facto control over its export decisions, so as to be 
entitled to a separate rate.
    In the Preliminary Results, we found that Myland demonstrated its 
eligibility for separate-rate status. For the final results, we 
continue to find that the evidence placed on the record of this 
administrative review by Myland demonstrates an absence of government 
control, both in law and in fact, with respect to its exports of the 
merchandise under review and thus determine Myland is eligible for 
separate-rate status.

Changes Since the Preliminary Results

    Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made changes in 
the margin calculations for Myland. See Decision Memo at 4. In the 
preliminary results, the Department calculated a margin for Myland 
based on its reported data. However, for the final results, the 
Department has based its margin on total adverse facts available 
(``AFA''). See Application of Adverse Facts Available for Myland 
Industrial Ltd. & Myland Buxin Foundry Ltd. in the Final Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of Non-Malleable Cast Iron Pipe 
Fittings from the People's Republic of China Memorandum, from Eugene 
Degnan, Analyst, through Wendy J. Frankel, Director, dated November 21, 
2006 (``Myland AFA Memorandum'').

Adverse Facts Available

    Sections 776(a)(1) and (2) of the Act provide that the Department 
shall apply ``facts otherwise available'' if necessary information is 
not on the record or an interested party or any other person (A) 
withholds information that has been requested, (B) fails to provide 
information within the deadlines established, or in the form and manner 
requested by the Department, subject to subsections (c)(1) and (e) of 
section 782, (C) significantly impedes a proceeding, or (D) provides 
information that cannot be verified as provided by section 782(i) of 
the Act.
    Where the Department determines that a response to a request for 
information does not comply with the request, section 782(d) of the Act 
provides that the Department will so inform the party submitting the 
response and will, to the extent practicable, provide that party the 
opportunity to remedy or explain the deficiency. If the party fails to 
remedy the deficiency within the applicable time limits and subject to 
section 782(e) of the Act, the Department may disregard all or part of 
the original and subsequent responses, as appropriate. Section 782(e) 
of the Act provides that the Department ``shall not decline to consider 
information that is submitted by an interested party and is necessary 
to the determination but does not meet all applicable requirements 
established by the administering authority'' if the information is 
timely, can be verified, is not so incomplete that it cannot be used, 
and if the interested party acted to the best of its ability in 
providing the information. Where all of these conditions are met, the 
statute requires the Department to use the information if it can do so 
without undue difficulties.
    Section 776(b) of the Act further provides that the Department may 
use an adverse inference in applying the facts otherwise available when 
a party has failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its 
ability to comply with a request for information. Section 776(b) of the 
Act also authorizes the Department to use as AFA, information derived 
from the petition, the final determination, a previous administrative 
review, or other information placed on the record.
    The Department finds that the information necessary to calculate an 
accurate and otherwise reliable margin is not available on the record 
with respect to Myland. In addition, the Department finds that Myland 
withheld information, failed to provide information requested by the 
Department in a timely manner and in the form required, and 
significantly impeded the Department's ability to calculate an accurate 
margin for Myland. Specifically, we determine that the application of 
facts available is necessary in this case because Myland did not report 
all of the inputs necessary to produce the subject merchandise (i.e., 
record evidence indicates that raw material inputs have not been 
reported accurately because the total of Myland's reported raw material 
inputs is less than the finished quantity for certain products) and 
Myland's cost reconciliation is neither complete nor accurate. See 
Decision Memo at Comment 1; see also Application of Adverse Facts 
Available for Myland Industrial Ltd. & Myland Buxin Foundry Ltd. in the 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of Non-
Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic of China 
Memorandum, from Eugene Degnan, Analyst, through Wendy J. Frankel, 
Director, dated November 21, 2006 (``Myland AFA Memorandum''). 
Therefore, pursuant to sections 776(a)(1) and (2)(A),(B) and (C) of the 
Act, the Department is resorting to facts otherwise available.
    In addition, in accordance with section 776(b) of the Act, the 
Department is applying an adverse inference in selecting the facts 
available rate as it has determined that Myland did not act to the best 
of its ability to cooperate with the Department in this administrative 
review because it did not report all of its inputs of raw materials. 
See Myland AFA Memorandum. As AFA we are applying the highest rate from 
the history of this proceeding, 75.50 percent, the PRC-wide rate from 
the less-than-fair-value final determination. See Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Non-Malleable Cast Iron 
Pipe Fittings from the People's Republic of China 68 FR 7765 (February 
18, 2003) (``Final Determination'').

Corroboration

    Section 776(c) of the Act provides that, when the Department relies 
on secondary information rather than on information obtained in the 
course of an investigation or review, it shall, to the extent 
practicable, corroborate that information from independent sources that 
are reasonably at its disposal. Secondary information is defined as 
information derived from the petition that gave rise to the 
investigation or review, the final determination concerning the subject 
merchandise, or any previous review under section 751 concerning the 
subject merchandise. See Statement of Administrative Action (``SAA'') 
accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, H. Doc. No. 316, 103d 
Cong., 2d Sess. Vol.1 at 870 (1994). Corroborate means that the 
Department will satisfy itself that the secondary information to be 
used has probative value. See SAA at 870. To corroborate secondary 
information, the Department will, to the extent practicable, examine 
the reliability and relevance of the information to be used. The 
Department, however, need not prove that the selected facts available 
are the best alternative information. See SAA at 869.
    To satisfy itself that the secondary information has probative the 
Department will, to the extent practicable, examine the reliability and

[[Page 69549]]

relevance of the information used. See Tapered Roller Bearings and 
Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished from Japan, and Tapered Roller 
Bearings Four Inches or Less in Outside Diameter, and Components 
Thereof, from Japan: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Reviews and Partial Termination of Administrative 
Reviews, 61 Fed. Reg. 57391, 57392 (Nov. 6, 1996) (unchanged in the 
final determination). Independent sources used to corroborate such 
evidence may include, for example, published price lists, official 
import statistics and customs data, and information obtained from 
interested parties during the particular investigation. See Notice of 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: High and 
Ultra-High Voltage Ceramic Station Post Insulators from Japan, 68 FR 
35627 (June 16, 2003) (unchanged in final determination); and, Notice 
of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Live Swine 
From Canada, 70 FR 12181 (March 11, 2005).
    The reliability of the AFA rate was determined in the final 
determination of the investigation. See Final Determination. The 
Department has received no information to date that warrants revisiting 
the issue of the reliability of the rate calculation itself. See e.g., 
Certain Preserved Mushrooms from the People's Republic of China: Final 
Results and Partial Rescission of the New Shipper Review and Final 
Results and Partial Rescission of the Third Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 68 FR 41304, 41307-41308 (July 11, 2003). No 
information has been presented in the current review that calls into 
question the reliability of this information. Thus, the Department 
finds that the information contained in the order is reliable.
    With respect to the relevance aspect of corroboration, the 
Department will consider information reasonably at its disposal to 
determine whether a margin continues to have relevance. Where 
circumstances indicate that the selected margin is not appropriate as 
AFA, the Department will disregard the margin and determine an 
appropriate margin. For example, in Fresh Cut Flowers from Mexico: 
Final Results of Antidumping Administrative Review, 61 FR 6812 
(February 22, 1996), the Department disregarded the highest margin in 
that case as adverse best information available (the predecessor to 
facts available) because the margin was based on another company's 
uncharacteristic business expense resulting in an unusually high 
margin. Similarly, the Department does not apply a margin that has been 
discredited. See D&L Supply Co. V. United States, 113 F.3d 1220, 1221 
(Fed. Cir. 1997) which ruled that the Department will not use a margin 
that has been judicially invalidated. Nothing in the record of this 
review calls into question the relevance of the margin selected as AFA. 
Further, the selected margin is currently the PRC-wide rate. Moreover, 
this rate has not been invalidated judicially. Thus, it is appropriate 
to use the selected rate as AFA in the instant review. Therefore, we 
determine that the rate from the Final Determination continues to be 
relevant for use in this administrative review.
    As the recalculated Final Determination rate is both reliable and 
relevant, we determine that it has probative value. As a result, the 
Department determines that the Final Determination rate is corroborated 
for the purposes of this administrative review and may reasonably be 
applied to Myland as AFA. Accordingly, we determine that the Final 
Determination rate of 75.50 percent, which is the highest rate from any 
segment of this administrative proceeding, meets the corroboration 
criteria established in section 776(c) that secondary information have 
probative value.

Final Results of Review

    We determine that the following percentage margin exists on exports 
of Non-Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings from the PRC for the period 
April 1, 2004 through March 31, 2005:

           Non-Malleable Cast Iron Pipe Fittings from the PRC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-Average
           Producer/Manufacturer/Exporter              Margin (Percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Myland..............................................               75.50
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assessment Rates

    The Department intends to issue assessment instructions to U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') 15 days after the date of 
publication of these final results of administrative review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of this notice of final results of administrative review 
for all shipments of NMP fittings from the PRC entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication, as 
provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) for Myland, which has a 
separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be the company-specific rate 
shown above; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated companies not 
listed above that have a separate rate, the cash deposit rate will 
continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recent 
period; (3) the cash deposit rate for all other PRC exporters will be 
75.50 percent, the current PRC-wide rate; and (4) the cash deposit rate 
for all non-PRC exporters will be the rate applicable to the PRC 
exporter that supplied that exporter. These deposit requirements, when 
imposed, shall remain in effect until publication of the final results 
of the next administrative review.

Notification of Interested Parties

    This notice also serves as a final reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) 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 the antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (``APOs'') of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305, which continues 
to govern business proprietary information in this segment of the 
proceeding. Timely written notification of the return/destruction of 
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO 
is a violation which is subject to sanction.
    We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: November 21, 2006.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix 1

Issues in the Decision Memorandum

Comment 1: Adverse Facts Available for Missing Factors of Production
Comment 2: Freight: Application of Sigma Rule
Comment 3: Treatment of Sand and Riverbed Sand in Normal Value
Comment 4: Treatment of Additional U.S. Inland Freight Revenues and 
Expenses

[[Page 69550]]

Comment 5: Clerical Error in the Calculation of the Cost of Freight on 
Incoming Materials
[FR Doc. E6-20366 Filed 11-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S