[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 99 (Friday, May 22, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29617-29619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12519]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-489-822]


Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of Turkey: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Department) preliminarily 
determines that welded line pipe from the Republic of Turkey (Turkey) 
is being, or is 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 
October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2014. The estimated weighted-
average dumping margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the ``Preliminary 
Determination'' section of this notice. Interested parties are invited 
to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective Date: May 22, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alice Maldonado or David Crespo, AD/
CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4682 or (202) 482-3693, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Department initiated this investigation on November 5, 2014.\1\ 
For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation 
of this investigation, see the memorandum that is dated concurrently 
with this determination and hereby adopted by this notice.\2\ 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 (ACCESS). 
ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov, 
and 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 found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.
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    \1\ See Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of Korea and the 
Republic of Turkey: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 79 FR 68213 (November 14, 2014) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, 
entitled ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Welded Line Pipe from the 
Republic of Turkey'' (Preliminary Decision Memorandum), dated 
concurrently with this notice.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of the investigation covers welded line pipe, which is 
carbon and alloy steel pipe of a kind used for oil and gas pipelines, 
not more than 24 inches in nominal outside diameter. For a complete 
description of the scope of the investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the 
investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. For discussion 
of those comments, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. There are two mandatory respondents 
participating in this investigation, [Ccedil]ayirova Boru Sanayi ve 
Ticaret A.S./Y[uuml]cel Boru Ithalat-Ihracat

[[Page 29618]]

ve Pazarlama A.S. (collectively, [Ccedil]ayirova) and Tos[ccedil]elik 
Profil ve Sac Endustrisi A.S./Tosyali Dis Ticaret A.S. (collectively, 
Tos[ccedil]elik). Export price for these companies is calculated in 
accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal value (NV) is calculated 
in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full description of 
the methodology underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    Because mandatory respondents Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve 
Ticaret A.S. (Borusan Mannesmann) and Borusan Istikbal Ticaret (Borusan 
Istikbal) failed to respond to the Department's questionnaire, we 
preliminarily determine to apply adverse facts available (AFA) to these 
respondents, in accordance with sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.308. For further discussion, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Consistent with sections 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) and 735(c)(5) of the Act, 
the Department also calculated an estimated 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 and de minimis 
margins, and any margins determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act.
    In this investigation, we calculated weighted-average dumping 
margins for both participating mandatory respondents that are above de 
minimis and which are not based on total facts available. However, 
because there are only two relevant weighted-average dumping margins 
for this preliminary determination, using a weighted average of these 
two rates risks disclosure of business proprietary data. Therefore, we 
calculated both a weighted average of the dumping margins calculated 
for the two cooperating mandatory respondents using publicly ranged 
quantities for their sales of subject merchandise and a simple average 
of these two dumping margins, and selected, as the all-others rate, the 
average that provides a more accurate proxy for the weighted-average 
margin of both companies calculated using business proprietary 
information.\3\
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    \3\ See Memorandum to the File from David Crespo, Senior 
Analyst, entitled, ``Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of Turkey: 
Calculation of the Preliminary Margin for All Other Companies,'' 
dated concurrently with this memorandum (All Others Calculation 
Memorandum).
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Preliminary Determination

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Weighted-average
                Exporter/manufacturer                    dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borusan Istikbal Ticaret.............................               9.85
Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S........               9.85
[Ccedil]ayirova Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S./                        9.71
 Y[uuml]cel Boru Ithalat-Ihracat ve Pazarlama A.S....
Tos[ccedil]elik Profil ve Sac Endustrisi A.S./Tosyali               3.11
 Dis Ticaret A.S.....................................
All Others...........................................               3.29
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 welded line pipe from Turkey as described in Appendix I of 
this notice, which are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register.
    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.205(d), we will instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by which 
the NV exceeds U.S. price, as indicated in the chart above, adjusted 
for export subsidies found in the preliminary determination of the 
companion countervailing duty investigation.\4\ Specifically, 
consistent with our longstanding practice, where the product under 
investigation is also subject to a concurrent countervailing duty 
investigation, we instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the 
amount by which the NV exceeds the U.S. price, as indicated below, less 
the amount of the countervailing duty determined to constitute an 
export subsidy.\5\ Therefore, for cash deposit purposes, we are 
subtracting from the applicable cash deposit rate that portion of the 
countervailing duty rate attributable to the export subsidies found in 
the preliminary affirmative countervailing duty determination. 
Accordingly, the export subsidy offsets are as follows: 0.82 percent 
for Tos[ccedil]elik, and 0.77 percent for [Ccedil]ayirova and all 
others, and 0.42 percent for Borusan Istikbal and Borusan 
Mannesmann.\6\ After this adjustment, the resulting cash deposit rates 
will be 9.43 percent for Borusan Istikbal and Borusan Mannesmann, 8.94 
percent for [Ccedil]ayirova, 2.29 percent for Tos[ccedil]elik, and 2.52 
percent for all others. The suspension of liquidation instructions will 
remain in effect until further notice.
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    \4\ See Welded Line Pipe From the Republic of Turkey: 
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and 
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping 
Determination, 80 FR 14943 (March 20, 2015), and accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \5\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Carbazole Violet Pigment 23 From India, 69 FR 
67306, 67307 (November 17, 2004); and Notice of Final Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Negative Critical Circumstances 
Determination: Bottom Mount Combination Refrigerator-Freezers From 
the Republic of Korea, 77 FR 17413 (March 26, 2012).
    \6\ See Memorandum to the File from Alice Maldonado, Senior 
Analyst, entitled, ``Placing Information on the Record: Export 
Subsidies Calculated in the Preliminary Determination of the 
Countervailing Duty Investigation of Welded Line Pipe from the 
Republic of Turkey,''dated May 14, 2015.
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Disclosure

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

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we intend to verify 
information relied upon in making our final determination.

Public Comment

    Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination. 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

[[Page 29619]]

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.
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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 ACCESS. An electronically-filed request must be 
received successfully in its entirety by 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. 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2) requires that requests by 
respondents for postponement of a final antidumping determination be 
accompanied by a request for extension of provisional measures from a 
four-month period to a period not more than six months in duration.
    [Ccedil]ayirova and Tos[ccedil]elik requested that, in the event of 
an affirmative preliminary determination in this investigation, the 
Department postpone its final determination by 60 days (i.e., to 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 period not to exceed six months.\9\ In addition, certain 
petitioners \10\ also requested that, in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, the Department postpone its final 
determination to 135 days after the date of publication of the 
preliminary determination.\11\
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    \9\ See letter from [Ccedil]ayirova and Tos[ccedil]elik 
entitled, ``Line pipe from Turkey; request to extend the final 
determination,'' dated March 20, 2015.
    \10\ These companies include American Cast Iron Pipe Company, 
Energex Tube, a division of JMC Steel Group, Northwest Pipe Company, 
Stupp Corporation, a division of Stupp Bros., Inc., Tex-Tube 
Company, TMK IPSCO, and Welspun Tubular LLC USA (collectively, 
certain petitioners).
    \11\ See letter from certain of the petitioners entitled, 
``Welded Line Pipe from Turkey: Contingent Request for Postponement 
of Final Determination,'' dated April 23, 2015.
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    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 exporters account for a significant 
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling 
reasons for denial exist, we are postponing the final determination and 
extending the provisional measures from a four-month period to a period 
not greater 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.\12\
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    \12\ 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 have notified the 
ITC of our affirmative 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.
    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: May 14, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

 Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is circular welded 
carbon and alloy steel (other than stainless steel) pipe of a kind 
used for oil or gas pipelines (welded line pipe), not more than 24 
inches in nominal outside diameter, regardless of wall thickness, 
length, surface finish, end finish, or stenciling. Welded line pipe 
is normally produced to the American Petroleum Institute (API) 
specification 5L, but can be produced to comparable foreign 
specifications, to proprietary grades, or can be non-graded 
material. All pipe meeting the physical description set forth above, 
including multiple-stenciled pipe with an API or comparable foreign 
specification line pipe stencil is covered by the scope of this 
investigation.
    The welded line pipe that is subject to this investigation is 
currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) under subheadings 7305.11.1030, 7305.11.5000, 
7305.12.1030, 7305.12.5000, 7305.19.1030, 7305.19.5000, 
7306.19.1010, 7306.19.1050, 7306.19.5110, and 7306.19.5150. The 
subject merchandise may also enter in HTSUS 7305.11.1060 and 
7305.12.1060. While the HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Period of Investigation
4. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
5. Scope Comments
6. Affiliation and Single Entity
7. Discussion of Methodology
    a. Determination of the Comparison Method
    b. Results of the Differential Pricing Analysis
8. Date of Sale
9. Product Comparisons
10. Export Price
11. Duty Drawback
12. Normal Value
    a. Home Market Viability
    b. Level of Trade
    c. Cost of Production (COP) Analysis
    1. Calculation of COP
    2. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
    3. Results of the COP Test
    d. Calculation of NV Based on Comparison Market Prices
13. Facts Available
    a. Use of Facts Available
    b. Application of Facts Available With an Adverse Reference
    c. Selection and Corroboration of Adverse Facts Available (AFA) 
Rate
14. Currency Conversion

[FR Doc. 2015-12519 Filed 5-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P