[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 138 (Friday, July 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41983-41986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16874]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-870]


Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Republic of Korea: 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Negative Final 
Determination of Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
imports of oil country tubular goods from the Republic of Korea are 
being sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as 
provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act). The final weighted-average dumping margins of sales at LTFV are 
listed below in the section entitled ``Final Determination Margins.''

DATES: Effective Date: July 18, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Cho or Deborah Scott, 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-
5075 or (202) 482-2657.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 25, 2014, the Department published in the Federal 
Register the preliminary determination in the LTFV investigation of 
OCTG from the Republic of Korea.\1\ In the Preliminary Determination, 
we postponed the final determination until no later than 135 days after 
the publication of the Preliminary Determination in accordance with 
section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii) and

[[Page 41984]]

invited parties to comment on our Preliminary Determination.
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    \1\ See Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Republic of 
Korea: Negative Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, Negative Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances 
and Postponement of Final Determination, 79 FR 10480 (February 25, 
2014) (Preliminary Determination).
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    The following events occurred since the Preliminary Determination 
was issued. We issued supplemental sales and cost questionnaires to 
NEXTEEL Co. Ltd. (NEXTEEL), NEXTEEL's Korean customer and its U.S. 
subsidiary, NEXTEEL's hot-rolled supplier (POSCO), Hyundai HYSCO 
(HYSCO), Hyundai HYSCO USA (HHU) and HYSCO's U.S. customer. We received 
responses to these supplemental questionnaires in March and April 2014.
    On March 26, 2014, and March 27, 2014, respectively, Husteel Co. 
Ltd. (Husteel), Iljin Steel Corporation (Iljin), NEXTEEL, HYSCO, SeAH 
Steel Corporation (SeAH), and the petitioners \2\ requested that the 
Department hold a hearing in this investigation, which was held on June 
26, 2014.
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    \2\ Boomerang Tube, Energex Tube, a division of JMC Steel Group, 
Maverick Tube Corporation, Northwest Pipe Company, Tejas Tubular 
Products, TMK IPSCO, United States Steel Corporation, Vallourec 
Star, L.P., and Welded Tube USA Inc. (collectively, the 
petitioners).
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    Between April 21, 2014, and June 4, 2014, the Department conducted 
sales and cost verifications of both respondents. See ``Verification,'' 
infra. From June 18, 2014 through June 23, 2014, the petitioners, 
HYSCO, NEXTEEL, AJU Besteel Co. Ltd. (AJU Besteel), Husteel, Iljin, and 
SeAH submitted case and/or rebuttal briefs.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013.

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this 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.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in 
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum 
\3\ which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues raised 
is attached to this notice as Appendix II. The Issues and 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; the 
memorandum 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 Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed 
directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and 
electronic versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical 
in content.
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    \3\ See Memorandum to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, from Christian Marsh, 
entitled ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Affirmative 
Determination in the Less than Fair Value Investigation of Certain 
Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Republic of Korea'' (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum), which is dated concurrently with and hereby 
adopted by this notice.
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Negative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances

    In the Preliminary Determination, the Department found that 
critical circumstances did not exist for HYSCO and NEXTEEL nor for all 
other producers and exporters, in accordance with section 733(e)(1) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.206(c)(1).\4\ Our analysis of the comments 
submitted by interested parties led us to affirm our findings from the 
Preliminary Determination. In accordance with section 735(a)(3) of the 
Act, we find that critical circumstances do not exist with respect to 
imports from HYSCO and NEXTEEL, and for all other producers or 
exporters of OCTG from the Republic of Korea.\5\
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    \4\ See Preliminary Determination, 79 FR 10480, 10481.
    \5\ For a full description of the methodology and results of our 
analysis, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in April 2014 through 
June 2014, we verified the sales and cost information submitted by 
NEXTEEL, NEXTEEL's Korean customer and its U.S. subsidiary, NEXTEEL's 
hot-rolled supplier (POSCO), HYSCO, HHU, and HYSCO's U.S. customer for 
use in our final determination. We used standard verification 
procedures including an examination of relevant accounting and 
production records, and original source documents provided by NEXTEEL, 
NEXTEEL's Korean customer and its U.S. subsidiary, NEXTEEL's hot-rolled 
supplier (POSCO), HYSCO, HHU, and HYSCO's U.S. customer.

Final Determination

    The Department determines that the following weighted-average 
dumping margins exist for the period July 1, 2012, through June 30, 
2013:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Weighted-
                                                               average
                    Exporter or producer                       dumping
                                                                margin
                                                              (percent)
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Hyundai HYSCO..............................................        15.75
NEXTEEL Co. Ltd............................................         9.89
All Others.................................................        12.82
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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. For the calculation of the dumping margin for all other 
producers and exporters, see the Memorandum to the File from Victoria 
Cho, International Trade Compliance Analyst, entitled, ``Calculation of 
the Final Determination All-Others Rate,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice.

Disclosure

    We will disclose to parties in this proceeding the calculations 
performed for this final determination within five days of the date of 
publication of this notice, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B) and (C) of the Act, the Department 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of OCTG from the Republic of the Korea which 
were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the date of publication of the final determination. We will instruct 
CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by 
which normal value exceeds U.S. price, as follows: (1) The rates for 
NEXTEEL and HYSCO will be the rates we determined in this final

[[Page 41985]]

determination; (2) if the exporter is not a firm identified in this 
investigation but the producer is, the rate will be the rate 
established for the producer of the subject merchandise; (3) the rate 
for all other producers or exporters will be 12.82 percent. These 
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we notified the U.S. 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our final determination. As our 
final determination is affirmative, in accordance with section 
735(b)(3) of the Act, the ITC will determine within 75 days whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the 
likelihood of sales) for importation of the subject merchandise. If the 
ITC determines that such injury exists, the Department will issue an 
antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by the Department, antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation.

Notification to Importers

    This notice serves as a final reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 51.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries. 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.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely written notification of 
the destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective 
order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and 
the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: July 10, 2014.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting 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 Issues and Decision Memorandum

Case Issues:

General Issues

Comment 1: Constructed Value Profit
Comment 2: The Department Should Base Its Final Determination on an 
Objective Assessment of the Facts and Law
Comment 3: Whether to Reject Certain Submissions Containing New 
Factual Information
Comment 4: Denial of Offsets for Non-Dumped Sales With the Average-
to-Transaction Method
Comment 5: Application of the Average-to-Transaction Method to All 
U.S. Sales
Comment 6: Differential Pricing Analysis: Thresholds for the Results 
of the Ratio Test
Comment 7: Differential Pricing Analysis: Calculations of the Ratio 
Test

Issues Pertaining to HYSCO

Comment 8: Basis for U.S. Price
Comment 9: HYSCO's International Freight Expenses
Comment 10: Application of Total or Partial Adverse Facts Available 
to HYSCO's Reported Costs
Comment 11: HYSCO's Domestic Inland Freight Expenses
Comment 12: Raw Material Transportation Costs Provided by HYSCO's 
Affiliate
Comment 13: Rental Fees Paid to HYSCO's Affiliate
Comment 14: HYSCO's Packing Expenses
Comment 15: Whether to Reject One of HHU's Minor Corrections
Comment 16: Whether to Allocate HHU's Property Taxes to OCTG Sales 
or Sales of All Products
Comment 17: HYSCO's Warranty Expenses
Comment 18: Treatment of HYSCO's Non-Prime Merchandise
Comment 19: Adjustments to HYSCO's General and Administrative 
Expenses

Issues Pertaining to NEXTEEL

Comment 20: Affiliation and Application of the Major Input Rule
Comment 21: Propriety of Use of Adverse Facts Available for NEXTEEL
Comment 22: NEXTEEL's Warranty Expenses
Comment 23: NEXTEEL's Warehousing Expenses
Comment 24: NEXTEEL's Direct Sales to U.S. Customers
Comment 25: Alleged Middleman Dumping
Comment 26: Date of Sale
Comment 27: The Department Should Apply AFA to NEXTEEL's Direct 
Material Costs
Comment 28: The Department Should Adjust NEXTEEL's Reported Data to 
Correct for the Unreconciled Difference
Comment 29: The Department Should Exclude the Transferred Quantity 
of OCTG from NEXTEEL's Cost File
Comment 30: The Department Should Increase NEXTEEL's TOTCOM for 
Costs Related to Test Production
Comment 31: The Department Should Increase NEXTEEL's TOTCOM for 
Expenses Incurred by NEXTEEL's Wholly-Owned Subsidiary NEXTEEL QNT

[[Page 41986]]

Comment 32: The Department Should Rely on Facts Available for 
NEXTEEL's Heat Treatment Costs
Comment 33: The Department Erred in Adjusting NEXTEEL's Reported 
Costs for Apparent Minor Differences in Scrap Value
Comment 34: The Department Should Accept NEXTEEL's Reported General 
and Administrative Expense Ratio Without Adjustment
Comment 35: Miscellaneous Comments on the Department's Cost 
Verification Report

Issues Pertaining to Non-Selected Respondents

Comment 36: Respondent Selection and Basis for the Weighted-Average 
Dumping Margin Assigned to Non-Selected Respondents
Comment 37: Critical Circumstances
Comment 38: Incorporating Arguments by Reference

[FR Doc. 2014-16874 Filed 7-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P