[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10487-10489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04096]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-549-832]


Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From Thailand: 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 certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Thailand 
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 July 
1, 2012, through June 30, 2013. The estimated weighted-average dumping 
margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' 
section of this notice. We intend to issue the final determination 135 
days after publication of this preliminary determination in the Federal 
Register. We invite interested parties to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Effective Date: February 25, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Drury or Yasmin Nair, 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-
0195 or (202) 482-3813, 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.

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.\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.\2\ The revised deadline for the preliminary determination 
of this investigation is now February 14, 2014.\3\
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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,'' dated October 18, 2013.
    \2\ 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).
    \3\ On October 31, 2013, the Department extended the deadline 
for the issuance of the preliminary determination by 50 days, or 
until February 13, 2014. 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: Postponement of Preliminary 
Determinations of Antidumping Duty Investigations, 78 FR 65268 
(October 31, 2013).). 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. The Department preliminarily determined the 
estimated antidumping duty margins in accordance with section 776 of 
the Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see the ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Oil 
Country Tubular Goods from the Thailand,'' 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). 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.

Scope Comments

    On August 12, 2013, WSP Pipe Co., Ltd. (WSP), the sole respondent 
in this investigation, 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 not made any modifications to the scope of the investigation. 
For more information, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Application of Adverse Facts Available

    On October 18, 2013, WSP submitted a letter informing the 
Department ``that WSP will not be responding to the Department of 
Commerce's August 28, 2013 Request for Information.'' Therefore, the 
Department preliminarily applied adverse facts available to WSP in 
accordance with section 776 of the Act. See the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum for a complete explanation of the methodology and analysis 
underlying our preliminary application of adverse facts available.

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following dumping 
margins exist:

[[Page 10488]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Dumping
                  Exporter/Manufacturer                      margin %
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WSP Pipe Co., Ltd.......................................          118.32
All Others..............................................          118.32
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All Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated ``all 
others'' rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters 
and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero or de 
minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under section 776 
of the Act. We cannot apply the methodology described in section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act to calculate the ``all others'' rate, as all of 
the margins in this preliminary determination were calculated under 
section 776 of the Act. In cases where no weighted-average dumping 
margins besides zero, de minimis, or those determined entirely under 
section 776 of the Act have been established for individually 
investigated entities, in accordance with section 735 (c)(5)(B) of the 
Act, the Department averages the margins calculated by the petitioners 
in the petition and applies the result to all other entities not 
individually examined.\4\ In this case, however, petitioners calculated 
only one margin in the petition.\5\ Therefore, we assigned as the all 
others rate the only margin in the petition; that rate is 118.32 
percent.
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    \4\ See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of 
Germany, 73 FR 21909 (April 23, 2008); unchanged in Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from 
the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 38986 (July 8, 2008).
    \5\ 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 (July 29, 2013) at 45508; see also Antidumping Duty 
Investigation Initiation Checklist: Oil Country Tubular Goods from 
Thailand at 7-8.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we are directing 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all 
entries of OCTG from Thailand 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.
    We will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the margins 
indicated in the chart above.\6\ These suspension of liquidation 
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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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Normally, the Department discloses 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). As the Department 
preliminarily applied adverse facts available to WSP in accordance with 
section 776 of the Act, there are no further calculations to disclose.
    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 50 
days after the date on which the the preliminary determination is 
published, 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.\7\ 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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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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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.\8\ 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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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. The Department's regulations, at 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), 
require that requests by respondents for postponement of a final 
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four-month period to not more than six months.
    On February 7, 2014, WSP requested that in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination in this investigation, the 
Department postpone its final determination by 60 days (135 days after 
publication of the preliminary determination), and agreed to extend the 
application of the provisional measures prescribed under section 733(d) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), from a four-month period to a six-
month period.\9\ In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because (1) our preliminary determination is 
affirmative; (2) the requesting producer/exporter accounts for a 
significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) 
no compelling reasons for denial exist, we are postponing the final 
determination until no later than 135 days after the publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation will be 
extended accordingly. We are also extending the application of the 
provisional measures prescribed under section 733(d) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.210(e)(2) from a four-month period to a six-month period.
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    \9\ See Letter from WSP to the Department, dated February 7, 
2014.
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U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. 
Because the preliminary determination in this proceeding is 
affirmative, section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires that the ITC 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

[[Page 10489]]

OCTG from Thailand before the later of 120 days after the date of this 
preliminary determination or 45 days after our final determination. 
Because we are postponing the deadline for our final determination to 
135 days from the date of the publication of this preliminary 
determination, as discussed above, the ITC will make its final 
determination no 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. Application of Adverse Facts Available
2. All Others rate
3. Scope
[FR Doc. 2014-04096 Filed 2-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P