[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 806-808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00036]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-552-816]


Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe From the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Postponement of Final Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, formerly Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') preliminarily 
determines that welded stainless pressure pipe from the socialist 
republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam'') is being, or is likely to be, sold in 
the United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''), as provided in 
section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''). The 
weighted-average dumping margins are shown in the ``Preliminary 
Determination'' section of this notice. Interested parties are invited 
to comment on this preliminary determination. Pursuant to requests from 
respondents, we are postponing for 60 days the final determination and 
extending provisional measures from a four-month period to not more 
than six months. Accordingly, the final determination will be issued 
not later than 135 days after publication of this preliminary 
determination in the Federal Register.

DATES: Effective Date: January 7, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lilit Astvatsatrian or Robert Bolling, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office 4, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., , Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6412 or (202) 482-
3434, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is circular welded 
austenitic stainless pressure pipe not greater than 14 inches in 
outside diameter. For purposes of this investigation, references to 
size are in

[[Page 807]]

nominal inches and include all products within tolerances allowed by 
pipe specifications. This merchandise includes, but is not limited to, 
the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) A-312 or ASTM A-
778 specifications, or comparable domestic or foreign specifications. 
ASTM A-358 products are only included when they are produced to meet 
ASTM A-312 or ASTM A-778 specifications, or comparable domestic or 
foreign specifications.
    Excluded from the scope are: (1) Welded stainless mechanical 
tubing, meeting ASTM A-554 or comparable domestic or foreign 
specifications; (2) boiler, heat exchanger, superheater, refining 
furnace, feedwater heater, and condenser tubing, meeting ASTM A-249, 
ASTM A-688 or comparable domestic or foreign specifications; and (3) 
specialized tubing, meeting ASTM A269, ASTM A-270 or comparable 
domestic or foreign specifications.
    The subject imports are normally classified in subheadings 
7306.40.5005, 7306.40.5040, 7306.40.5062, 7306.40.5064, and 
7306.40.5085 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). They may also enter under HTSUS subheadings 7306.40.1010, 
7306.40.1015, 7306.40.5042, 7306.40.5044, 7306.40.5080, and 
7306.40.5090. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes only; the written description of the scope of these 
investigations is dispositive.

Tolling of Deadlines for Preliminary Determination

    As explained in the memorandum from the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, the Department has exercised its discretion 
to toll deadlines for the duration of the closure of the Federal 
Government from October 1, through October 16, 2013.\1\ Therefore, all 
deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been extended by 16 
days. If the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance 
with the Department's practice, the deadline will become the next 
business day. The revised deadline for the preliminary determination of 
this investigation is now December 30, 2013.
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    \1\ See Memorandum for the Record from Paul Piquado, Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by 
the Shutdown of the Federal Government'' (October 18, 2013).
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Methodology

    The Department has conducted this antidumping duty investigation in 
accordance with section 731 of the Act. Export prices and constructed 
export prices have been calculated in accordance with section 772 of 
the Act. Because Vietnam is a non-market economy within the meaning of 
section 771(18) of the Act, normal value has been calculated in 
accordance with section 773(c) of the Act.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary Determination of 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe 
from Vietnam'' from Abdelali Elouaradia, Director Office IV, 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to Christian Marsh, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, dated concurrently with this notice (``Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum'') and hereby adopted by this notice. The Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically 
via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is 
available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is 
available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room 7046 of the 
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version 
of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the 
Internet at http://www.trade.gov/ia/. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.

Combination Rates

    As announced in the Initiation Notice, \2\ the Department has 
calculated combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for 
a separate rate in this investigation. This practice is described in 
Policy Bulletin 05.1.
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    \2\ See Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe From Malaysia, Thailand, 
and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Antidumping 
Duty Investigations, 78 FR 35253 (June 12, 2013) (``Initiation 
Notice'').
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Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted
                                                              average
            Exporter                     Producer             dumping
                                                              margin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sonha International Corporation  Sonha International               17.72
                                  Corporation.
Mejonson Industrial Vietnam      Mejonson Industrial               17.72
 Co., Ltd.                        Vietnam Co., Ltd..
Vietnam-Wide Entity............  .......................           53.91
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose calculations performed for this 
preliminary determination to the parties within five days of the date 
of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance via IA ACESS \3\ no 
later than seven days after the date on which the final verification 
report is issued in this proceeding, and rebuttal briefs, limited to 
issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days 
after the deadline date for case briefs.\4\ A table of contents, list 
of authorities used, and an executive summary of issues should 
accompany any briefs submitted to the Department. This summary should 
be limited to five pages total, including footnotes. 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 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, filed 
electronically using IA ACCESS, within 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice.\5\ An electronically filed document must be 
received successfully in its entirety by the Department's electronic 
records system, IA ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Requests should 
contain

[[Page 808]]

the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request 
for a hearing is made, the Department intends to hold the hearing at 
the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time to be determined. Parties should 
confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two 
days before the scheduled date.
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    \3\ See generally 19 CFR 351.303 (for procedural rules regarding 
the filing of documents in AD proceedings).
    \4\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Pursuant to requests from Sonha, we are postponing the final 
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month 
period to not more than six months. Accordingly, we will make our final 
determination no later than 135 days after the date of publication of 
this preliminary determination, pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the 
Act.

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d) of the Act, the Department will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of welded stainless pressure pipe from 
Vietnam, as described in the ``Scope of the Investigation'' section, 
entered or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the 
date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit \6\ equal to the weighted-average amount by 
which normal value exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) the separate-rate 
weighted-average dumping margin for the exporter/producer combinations 
listed in the table above will be the rate the Department has 
determined in this preliminary determination; (2) for all combinations 
of Vietnam exporters/producers of merchandise under consideration which 
have not received their own separate-rate weighted-average dumping 
margin above, the cash-deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate 
established for the Vietnam-wide entity; and (3) for all non-Vietnam 
exporters of merchandise under consideration which have not received 
their own separate rate above, the cash deposit rate will be the cash 
deposit rate applicable to the Vietnam exporter/producer combination 
that supplied that non-Vietnam exporter. These cash deposit 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \6\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 
(October 3, 2011).
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International Trade Commission (``ITC'') Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the 
ITC of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. 
Section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires the ITC to make its final 
determination as to whether the domestic industry in the United States 
is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of 
imports of welded stainless pressure pipe, or sales (or the likelihood 
of sales) for importation, of the merchandise under consideration 
within 45 days of our final determination.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: December 30, 2013.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Initiation
2. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
3. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
4. Scope of the Investigation
5. Scope Comments
6. Non-Market Economy Country
7. Surrogate Country
    a. Economic Comparability
    b. Significant Producers of Identical or Comparable Merchandise
    c. Data Availability
8. Surrogate Value Comments
9. Separate Rate
    a. Separate Rate Respondents
    b. Dumping Margin for the Separate Rate Company
10. Date of Sale
11. Fair Value Comparisons
    a. Export Price
    b. Normal Value
    c. Factor Valuations
    d. Currency Conversion
12. Determination of Comparison Method
    a. Results of DP Analysis
13. Vietnam-Wide Entity
14. Verification

[FR Doc. 2014-00036 Filed 1-6-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P