[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73617-73619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29646]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-805]


Certain Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe From Mexico: 
Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review; 2010-11

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

SUMMARY: In response to requests by interested parties, the Department 
of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of 
the antidumping duty order on certain circular welded non-alloy steel 
pipe from Mexico. This administrative review covers mandatory 
respondents Pytco, S.A. de C.V. (PYTCO), Conduit S.A. de C.V. 
(Conduit); Mueller Comercial de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. (Mueller); 
Lamina y Placa Comercial, S.A. de C.V. (Lamina y Placa); and Tuberia 
Nacional, S.A. de C.V. (TUNA). We preliminarily determine that the 
respondents did not have reviewable sales, shipments, or entries during 
the POR. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results.

DATES: Effective Date: December 11, 2012.

[[Page 73618]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Flessner or Robert James, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 7, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
6312 or (202) 482-0469, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Period of Review

    The period of review (POR) is November 1, 2010, through October 31, 
2011.

Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the order are circular welded non-alloy 
steel pipes and tubes, of circular cross-section, not more than 406.4 
millimeters (16 inches) in outside diameter, regardless of wall 
thickness, surface finish (black, galvanized, or painted), or end 
finish (plain end, beveled end, threaded, or threaded and coupled). The 
merchandise covered by the order and subject to this review is 
currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS) at subheadings: 7306.30.10.00, 7306.30.50.25, 
7306.30.50.32, 7306.30.50.40, 7306.30.50.55, 7306.30.50.85, and 
7306.30.50.90. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope 
of this proceeding is dispositive. For the complete scope, see 
Antidumping Duty Order.\1\
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    \1\ See Notice of Antidumping Duty Orders: Certain Circular 
Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe from Brazil, the Republic of Korea 
(Korea), Mexico, and Venezuela and Amendment to Final Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Welded Non-Alloy Steel 
Pipe from Korea, 57 FR 49453 (November 2, 1992) (Antidumping Duty 
Order).
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Partial Rescission of Administrative Review

    Timely requests for administrative review of ten companies were 
received from parties. For a full description of requests for review 
and the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Memorandum from 
Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Operations, to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting 
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, ``Decision Memorandum 
for Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: 
Certain Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe from Mexico,'' 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with this notice, 
which is hereby adopted by this notice. Petitioner Allied Tube and 
Conduit (Allied) requested administrative reviews of the following 
companies: Conduit; Mueller; PYTCO; Lamina y Placa; and TUNA. 
Petitioner Wheatland Tube Company (Wheatland) requested administrative 
reviews of the following companies: Galvak, S.A. de C.V. (Galvak); 
Hylsa, S.A. de C.V. (Hylsa); Industrias Monterrey S.A. de C.V. (IMSA); 
Mueller; Southland Pipe Nipples Co., Inc. (Southland); Lamina y Placa; 
Ternium Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (Ternium); and TUNA. Petitioner U.S. Steel 
Corporation (U.S. Steel) requested administrative reviews of the 
following companies: Conduit; Mueller; Southland; Lamina y Placa; 
Ternium; and TUNA. On March 29, 2012, Wheatland timely withdrew its 
requests for administrative review with regard to all companies for 
whom it had requested an administrative review. Also on March 29, 2012, 
U.S. Steel timely withdrew its requests for administrative review with 
regard to all companies for whom it had requested an administrative 
review. The remaining companies for whom administrative reviews had 
been requested were TUNA, Lamina y Placa, Mueller, PYTCO, and Conduit. 
Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), we preliminarily 
rescind the administrative review with respect to the companies named 
in the Initiation Notice \2\ for which no request for administrative 
review remains on the record of this proceeding, to wit: Ternium, 
Galvak, Hylsa, IMSA, and Southland.
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    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation in Part, 76 FR 
82268 (December 30, 2011) (Initiation Notice).
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Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

A. No Shipments Claims

PYTCO
    PYTCO submitted a letter to the Department indicating that it made 
no shipments or entries of subject merchandise to the United States 
during the POR that are subject to this administrative review. In 
response to the Department's query, CBP data showed that a single entry 
of subject merchandise may have entered for consumption into the United 
States during the POR.\3\ In its claim of no shipments, PYTCO did not 
address the status of this single entry. Through multiple questionnaire 
responses, PYTCO provided additional documentation which demonstrated 
that the single entry in question had (a) been mischaracterized as 
subject merchandise and (b) did not involve an actual sale. We received 
no information from CBP to contradict the results of our data query and 
the claims made by this respondent. In addition, despite close 
questioning on the subject of sales by its POR affiliates, no evidence 
of sales by PYTCO's affiliates was established on the record of this 
proceeding. Therefore, because the evidence on the record indicates 
that PYTCO (and its affiliates) made no shipments of subject 
merchandise to the United States during the POR, we preliminarily 
determine that there are no reviewable transactions during the POR for 
PYTCO. For further discussion, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \3\ See Memorandum from Mark Flessner to the File entitled, 
``Certain Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe from Mexico: 
Placement on the Record of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol 
Information for 2010-2011 Period of Review,'' dated January 27, 
2012, at Attachment 1.
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    Since the implementation of the 1997 regulations, our practice 
concerning no shipment respondents had been to rescind the 
administrative review if the respondent certifies that it had no 
shipments and we have confirmed through our examination of CBP data 
that there were no shipments of subject merchandise during the POR.\4\ 
In such circumstances, we normally instructed CBP to liquidate any 
entries from the no shipment company at the deposit rate in effect on 
the date of entry.
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    \4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27393 (May 19, 1997); see also Oil Country Tubular Goods from Japan: 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and 
Partial Rescission of Review, 70 FR 53161, 53162 (September 5, 
2007), unchanged in Oil Country Tubular Goods from Japan: Final 
Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 71 FR 95 (January 3, 2006).
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    In our May 6, 2003, ``automatic assessment'' clarification, we 
explained that, where respondents in an administrative review 
demonstrate that they had no knowledge of sales through resellers to 
the United States, we would instruct CBP to liquidate such entries at 
the all-others rate applicable to the proceeding.\5\
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    \5\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003) 
(Assessment Policy Notice).
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    Because ``as entered'' liquidation instructions do not alleviate 
the concerns which the Assessment Policy Notice was intended to 
address, we find it appropriate in this case to instruct CBP to 
liquidate any existing entries of merchandise produced by the 
respondents, and exported by other parties at the all-others rate, 
should we continue to find that the respondents had no shipments of 
subject merchandise in the POR in our final

[[Page 73619]]

results.\6\ In addition, the Department finds that it is more 
consistent with the Assessment Policy Notice not to rescind the review 
in its entirety but, rather, to complete the review with respect to the 
respondents, issuing appropriate instructions to CBP based on the final 
results of the review. See the ``Assessment Rates'' section of this 
notice below.
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    \6\ See, e.g., Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation: 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 
26922, 26923 (May 13, 2010), unchanged in Magnesium Metal From the 
Russian Federation: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 75 FR 56989, 56990 (September 17, 2010).
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B. Duty Absorption

    On January 30, 2012, Wheatland requested that the Department 
conduct a duty absorption inquiry with regard to each of the companies 
for whom an administrative review had been requested. See the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum. Because this review was not initiated 
at the two-year or four-year interval from publication of the 
antidumping duty order, a duty absorption inquiry is not authorized. 
See Antidumping Duty Order.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit cases 
briefs not later than the later of 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised 
in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the 
date for filing case briefs.\7\ Parties who submit case briefs or 
rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are encouraged to submit with each 
argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the 
argument; and (3) a table of authorities.\8\ Case and rebuttal briefs 
should be filed using Import Administration's Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (IA 
ACCESS).\9\
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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, or to participate if one is requested, must submit a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, 
filed electronically via IA ACCESS. An electronically filed document 
must be received successfully in its entirety by the Department's 
electronic records system, IA ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time 
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\10\ 
Requests should contain: (1) The party's name, address and telephone 
number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of issues to be 
discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised 
in the respective case briefs. The Department will issue the final 
results of this administrative review, including the results of its 
analysis of the issues raised in any written briefs, not later than 120 
days after the date of publication of this notice, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Assessment Rates

    Upon completion of the administrative review, the Department shall 
determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate 
entries, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212. The Department intends to 
issue appraisement instructions directly to CBP 15 days after the date 
of publication of the final results of this review.
    As noted above, the Department clarified its ``automatic 
assessment'' regulation on May 6, 2003. See the Assessment Policy 
Notice. This clarification will apply to POR entries by each respondent 
company if we continue to make a final determination of no shipments 
based upon their certifications that they made no POR shipments of 
subject merchandise for which they had knowledge of U.S. destination. 
We will instruct CBP to liquidate these entries at the all-others rate 
established in the less-than-fair-value investigation (32.62 percent) 
\11\ if there is no rate for the intermediary involved in the 
transaction. See the Assessment Policy Notice for a full discussion of 
this clarification.
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    \11\ See Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe From Mexico, 57 FR 42953 
(September 17, 1992).
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Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary 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 antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    The preliminary results of administrative review and this notice 
are issued and published in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 
777(i)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.

    Dated: November 29, 2012.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

No Shipments Claim--PYTCO
Duty Absorption

[FR Doc. 2012-29646 Filed 12-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P