[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10478-10480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04036]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-552-817]


Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, in 
Part, and Postponement of Final Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, formerly Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Department) preliminarily 
determines that certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) are being, or are likely to be, 
sold in the United States at less-than-fair value (LTFV), as provided 
in section 733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The 
period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2013, through June 30, 
2013. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins of sales at LTFV 
are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice. 
The final determination will be issued 135 days after publication of 
this preliminary determination in the Federal Register. We invite 
interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Effective Date: February 25, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Baker, Tyler Weinhold, or Robert 
James, AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-2924, (202) 482-1121, or (202) 482-0649, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the investigation is certain oil country 
tubular goods (OCTG), which are hollow steel products of circular 
cross-section, including oil well casing and tubing, of iron (other 
than cast iron) or steel (both carbon and alloy), whether seamless or 
welded, regardless of end finish (e.g., whether or not plain end, 
threaded, or threaded and coupled) whether or not conforming to 
American Petroleum Institute (API) or non-API specifications, whether 
finished (including limited service OCTG products) or unfinished 
(including green tubes and limited service OCTG products), whether or 
not thread protectors are attached. The scope of the investigation also 
covers OCTG coupling stock. For a complete description of the scope of 
the investigation, see Appendix I to this notice.

Scope Comments

    On August 12, 2013, WSP Pipe Co., Ltd. (the sole mandatory 
respondent in the concurrent LTFV investigation of OCTG from Thailand) 
submitted scope comments to the Department regarding ``pierced 
billets'' and asked that the Department determine that such merchandise 
was outside of the scope of this and other OCTG investigations. 
Petitioners filed rebuttal comments on August 22, 2013. We have made no 
modifications to the scope of the investigations. For more information, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\1\
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    \1\ See Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Oil Country Tubular 
Goods from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, from Christian Marsh, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, to Paul 
Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, dated 
concurrently with this determination and hereby adopted by this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Tolling of Deadlines for Preliminary Determination

    As explained in the memorandum from the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, the Department exercised its discretion to 
toll deadlines for the duration of the closure of the Federal 
Government from October 1, through October 16, 2013.\2\ 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.\3\ The revised deadline for the preliminary determination 
of this investigation is now February 14, 2014.\4\
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    \2\ 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).
    \3\ See Notice of Clarification: Application of ``Next Business 
Day'' Rule for Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to 
the Tariff Act of 1930, As Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
    \4\ Due to the closure of the Federal Government on February 13, 
2014, Commerce completed this determination on the next business day 
(i.e., February 14, 2014). See Notice of Clarification: Application 
of ``Next Business Day'' Rule for Administrative Determination 
Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, As Amended, 70 FR 
24533 (May 10, 2005).
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Methodology

    The Department conducted this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Constructed export price (CEP) has 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, and available information does not permit the calculation of 
normal value (NV) under 773(a) of the Act, we calculated NV in 
accordance with section 773(c) of the Act. Further, we determined to 
apply facts otherwise available with an adverse inference to the 
Vietnam-wide entity in accordance with section 776(a) and (b) of the 
Act.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, please see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. The 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made 
available to the public via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (IA 
ACCESS). IA ACCESS is available to registered users at https://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Department's 
Central Records Unit, located at room 7046 of the main Department of 
Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum can be found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. 
The signed and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.

Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in 
Part

    On December 18, 2013, petitioners \5\ filed a timely critical 
circumstances

[[Page 10479]]

allegation, pursuant to section 773(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.206(c)(1), alleging that critical circumstances exist with respect 
to imports of the merchandise under consideration.\6\ We preliminarily 
determine that critical circumstances do not exist for SeAH VINA 
Corporation (SeAH) but do exist with respect to the Vietnam-wide 
entity. For a full description of the methodology and results of our 
analysis, please see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \5\ United States Steel Corporation, Maverick Tube Corporation, 
Boomerang Tube LLC, Energex Tube, Northwest Pipe Company, Tejas 
Tubular Products Inc., TMK IPSCO, Vallourec Star, L.P., and Welded 
Tube USA, Inc. (collectively, petitioners).
    \6\ See Letter from petitioners to the Department, Re: 
``Amendment to Petition for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties: 
Oil Country Tubular Goods from Vietnam,'' December 18, 2013.
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Combination Rates

    As explained in the Initiation Notice, the Department calculated 
exporter-producer combination rates for the respondents that are 
eligible for a separate rate in this investigation.\7\
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    \7\ See Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from India, the 
Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, 
Taiwan, Thailand, the Republic of Turkey, Ukraine, and the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations, 
78 FR 45505, 45511 (July 29, 2013).
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Preliminary Determination

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Weighted-average
           Exporter                    Producer          dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
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SeAH Steel VINA Corporation...  SeAH Steel VINA                     9.57
                                 Corporation.
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               Vietnam-Wide Entity Rate                           111.47
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We will disclose the calculations performed to parties in this 
proceeding 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 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.\8\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), 
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.
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
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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 Enforcement and 
Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce. All documents must be filed 
electronically using IA ACCESS. An electronically filed request must be 
received successfully in its entirety by IA ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. 
Eastern Standard Time, within 30 days after the date of publication of 
this notice.\9\ Requests should contain 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 and 
date 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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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we shall direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all 
entries of OCTG from Vietnam as described in the scope of the 
investigation. For entries of OCTG produced and exported by SeAH VINA, 
the suspension of liquidation shall apply to all entries of 
merchandise, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on 
or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.
    Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative 
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation 
shall apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of (a) 
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of 
liquidation was first ordered, or (b) the date on which notice of 
initiation of the investigation was published. As described above, we 
preliminarily find that critical circumstances exist for imports 
produced or exported by the Vietnam-wide entity. For the Vietnam-wide 
entity, in accordance with section 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the 
suspension of liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of 
merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the date which is 90 days before the publication of this notice.
    We will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for all suspended 
entries at an ad valorem rate equal to the weighted-average dumping 
margins, as indicated in the chart above.\10\ These suspension of 
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \10\ 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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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Pursuant to a request from SeAH VINA, we are postponing the final 
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month 
period to no 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.\11\
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    \11\ See also 19 CFR 351.210(e).
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we notified the ITC 
of our preliminary determination of sales at LTFV. If our final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later 
of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days 
after our final determination whether these imports are materially 
injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry. Because we 
are postponing the deadline for our final determination to 135 days 
from the date of publication of this preliminary determination, as 
discussed above, the ITC will make its final determination no

[[Page 10480]]

later than 45 days after our final determination.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: February 14, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the investigation is certain oil 
country tubular goods (OCTG), which are hollow steel products of 
circular cross-section, including oil well casing and tubing, of 
iron (other than cast iron) or steel (both carbon and alloy), 
whether seamless or welded, regardless of end finish (e.g., whether 
or not plain end, threaded, or threaded and coupled) whether or not 
conforming to American Petroleum Institute (API) or non-API 
specifications, whether finished (including limited service OCTG 
products) or unfinished (including green tubes and limited service 
OCTG products), whether or not thread protectors are attached. The 
scope of the investigation also covers OCTG coupling stock.
    Excluded from the scope of the investigation are: casing or 
tubing containing 10.5 percent or more by weight of chromium; drill 
pipe; unattached couplings; and unattached thread protectors.
    The merchandise subject to the investigation is 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, 
7304.29.31.10, 7304.29.31.20, 7304.29.31.30, 7304.29.31.40, 
7304.29.31.50, 7304.29.31.60, 7304.29.31.80, 7304.29.41.10, 
7304.29.41.20, 7304.29.41.30, 7304.29.41.40, 7304.29.41.50, 
7304.29.41.60, 7304.29.41.80, 7304.29.50.15, 7304.29.50.30, 
7304.29.50.45, 7304.29.50.60, 7304.29.50.75, 7304.29.61.15, 
7304.29.61.30, 7304.29.61.45, 7304.29.61.60, 7304.29.61.75, 
7305.20.20.00, 7305.20.40.00, 7305.20.60.00, 7305.20.80.00, 
7306.29.10.30, 7306.29.10.90, 7306.29.20.00, 7306.29.31.00, 
7306.29.41.00, 7306.29.60.10, 7306.29.60.50, 7306.29.81.10, and 
7306.29.81.50.
    The merchandise subject to the investigation may also enter 
under the following HTSUS item numbers: 7304.39.00.24, 
7304.39.00.28, 7304.39.00.32, 7304.39.00.36, 7304.39.00.40, 
7304.39.00.44, 7304.39.00.48, 7304.39.00.52, 7304.39.00.56, 
7304.39.00.62, 7304.39.00.68, 7304.39.00.72, 7304.39.00.76, 
7304.39.00.80, 7304.59.60.00, 7304.59.80.15, 7304.59.80.20, 
7304.59.80.25, 7304.59.80.30, 7304.59.80.35, 7304.59.80.40, 
7304.59.80.45, 7304.59.80.50, 7304.59.80.55, 7304.59.80.60, 
7304.59.80.65, 7304.59.80.70, 7304.59.80.80, 7305.31.40.00, 
7305.31.60.90, 7306.30.50.55, 7306.30.50.90, 7306.50.50.50, and 
7306.50.50.70.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the 
investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

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 Investigation
    a. Scope Comments
5. Non-Market Economy Country
6. Surrogate Country
    a. Economic Comparability
    b. Significant Producer of Identical or Comparable Merchandise
    c. Data Availability
7. Surrogate Value Comments
8. Separate Rates
9. Vietnam-Wide Entity
10. Date of Sale
11. Discussion of Methodology
    a. Fair Value Comparisons
    b. Export Price
    c. Normal Value
    d. Factor Values
    e. Application of Adverse Facts Available
    f. Rate for the Vietnam-Wide Entity
    g. Corroboration
    h. Determination of Comparison Method
    i. Results of Differential Pricing Analysis
12. Currency Conversion
13. Critical Circumstances
14. Verification

[FR Doc. 2014-04036 Filed 2-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P