[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 197 (Tuesday, October 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61362-61365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25990]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-489-822]


Welded Line Pipe From the Republic of Turkey: Final Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) 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 735(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act). The period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 2013,

[[Page 61363]]

through September 30, 2014. The final dumping margins of sales at LTFV 
are listed below in the ``Final Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective Date: October 13, 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

    On May 22, 2015, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination of sales at LTFV of welded line pipe from Turkey.\1\ The 
following events occurred since the Preliminary Determination was 
issued.
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    \1\ See Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of Turkey: 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Postponement of Final Determination, 80 FR 29617 (May 22, 2015) 
(Preliminary Determination).
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    In May and June 2015, the Department verified the sales and cost of 
production (COP) information submitted by the two participating 
mandatory respondents in this investigation, [Ccedil]ayirova Boru 
Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S./Y[uuml]cel Boru Ithalat-Ihracat 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), in accordance with section 782(i) of the Act.
    On July 27, 2015, we requested that Tos[ccedil]elik submit a 
revised COP database to reflect minor corrections made at verification. 
On August 7, 2015, we received Tos[ccedil]elik's revised COP database.
    We invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary 
Determination. On August 6 and August 11, 2015, respectively, the 
petitioners,\2\ [Ccedil]ayirova, and Tos[ccedil]elik submitted case and 
rebuttal briefs.
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    \2\ The petitioners in this investigation are American Cast Iron 
Pipe Company, Energex (a division of JMC Steel Group), Maverick Tube 
Corporation, Northwest Pipe Company, Stupp Corporation (a division 
of Stupp Bros., Inc.), Tex-Tube Company, TMK IPSCO, and Welspun 
Tubular LLC USA.
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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.

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, 
which is hereby adopted by this notice.\3\ 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 (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at https://access.trade.gov and it is available to all 
parties in the Central Records Unit, room B-8024 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/index.html. The signed and electronic 
versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.
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    \3\ See Memorandum to Paul Piquado, ``Issues and Decision 
Memorandum for the Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-
Fair-Value Investigation of Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of 
Turkey'' (October 5, 2015) (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in May and June 2015, we 
verified the sales and cost information submitted by [Ccedil]ayirova 
and Tos[ccedil]elik 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 [Ccedil]ayirova and Tos[ccedil]elik.\4\
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    \4\ See Memorandum to the File from Alice Maldonado and David 
Crespo, Senior Analysts, entitled ``Verification of the Sales 
Responses of Tos[ccedil]elik Profil ve Sac Endustrisi A.S. 
(Tos[ccedil]elik Profil) and Tosyali Dis Ticaret A.S. (Tosyali) 
(collectively, Tos[ccedil]elik) in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Welded Line Pipe from Turkey,'' dated July 16, 
2015; Memorandum to the File from Alice Maldonado and David Crespo, 
Senior Analysts, entitled ``Verification of the Sales Response of 
[Ccedil]ayirova Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.[Scedil]. ([Ccedil]ayirova 
Boru) and Y[uuml]cel Boru Ithatlat-Ihracat ve Pazarlama A.[Scedil]. 
(YIIP) (collectively, [Ccedil]ayirova) in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Welded Line Pipe from Turkey,'' dated July 22, 
2015; Memorandum to the File from Robert Greger, Senior Accountant, 
entitled ``Verification of the Cost Response of [Ccedil]ayirova Boru 
Sanayi ve Ticaret A.[Scedil]. in the Antidumping Duty Investigation 
of Welded Line Pipe from Turkey,'' dated June 30, 2015; and 
Memorandum to the File from Heidi Schriefer and Robert Greger, 
Senior Accountants, entitled ``Verification of the Cost Response of 
Tos[ccedil]elik Profil ve Sac Endustrisi A.S. in the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation of Welded Line Pipe from Turkey,'' dated June 18, 
2015.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations for 
[Ccedil]ayirova and Tos[ccedil]elik. For a discussion of these changes, 
see the ``Margin Calculations'' section of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum. In addition, we changed the dumping margin assigned to two 
additional mandatory respondents in this investigation, Borusan 
Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Borusan Mannesmann) and Borusan 
Istikbal Ticaret (Borusan Istikbal). Because these companies failed to 
respond to the Department's questionnaire, in the Preliminary 
Determination, we based the preliminary dumping margin for these 
companies on adverse facts available (AFA), in accordance with sections 
776(a) and (b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.308. As AFA, we preliminarily 
assigned a rate of 9.85 percent (i.e., the petition rate). For the 
final determination, we assigned these companies an AFA margin of 22.95 
percent, which is the highest calculated final dumping margin. For 
further discussion, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 
20.

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 margins determined entirely under section 776 of 
the Act. For the Final Determination, the Department calculated the 
``all others'' rate based on a weighted average of [Ccedil]ayirova's 
and Tos[ccedil]elik's margins using publicly-ranged quantities for 
their sales of subject merchandise.\5\
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    \5\ See Memorandum to the File from David Crespo, Senior 
Analyst, entitled, ``Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of Turkey: 
Calculation of the Final Margin for All Other Companies,'' dated 
concurrently with this memorandum (All Others Calculation 
Memorandum). With two respondents, we normally calculate (A) a 
weighted-average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory 
respondents; (B) a simple average of the dumping margins calculated 
for the mandatory respondents; and (C) a weighted-average of the 
dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents using each 
company's publicly-ranged values for the merchandise under 
consideration. We compare (B) and (C) to (A) and select the rate 
closest to (A) as the most appropriate rate for all other companies. 
See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof From France, Germany, Italy, 
Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances 
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 
(September 1, 2010).

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[[Page 61364]]

Final Determination

    The final weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
                                                              average
                  Exporter/manufacturer                   dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Borusan Istikbal Ticaret................................           22.95
Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S...........           22.95
[Ccedil]ayirova Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S./Y[uuml]cel             22.95
 Boru Ithalat-Ihracat ve Pazarlama A.S..................
Tos[ccedil]elik Profil ve Sac Endustrisi A.S./Tosyali               6.66
 Dis Ticaret A.S........................................
All Others..............................................            7.10
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Disclosure

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

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, the Department 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of welded line pipe from 
Turkey, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after May 22, 2015, 
the date of publication of the preliminary determination of this 
investigation in the Federal Register.
    Further, the Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit 
equal to the estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds the 
U.S. price as shown above. If a CVD order is issued and suspension of 
liquidation is resumed, the Department will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit equal to the estimated amount by which the normal value 
exceed the U.S. price as shown above, adjusted for export subsidies, as 
appropriate, found in the final determination of the companion 
countervailing duty investigation on welded line pipe from Turkey.\6\ 
Specifically, consistent with our 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 normal value exceeds the export price or 
constructed export price, as indicated below, less the amount of the 
countervailing duty determined to constitute an export subsidy.\7\
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    \6\ The Department terminated the suspension of liquidation 
associated with the CVD investigation effective July 18, 2015. See 
CBP message no. 5201304 dated July 20, 2015. Therefore, until and 
unless suspension of liquidation is resumed, we will not adjust the 
AD cash deposit rate for collection of duties associated with export 
subsidies.
    \7\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Carbazole Violet Pigment 23 From India, 69 FR 
67306, 67307 (Nov. 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).
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    Accordingly, if a CVD order is issued, for cash deposit purposes, 
we will subtract from the applicable cash deposit rate that portion of 
the rate attributable to the export subsidies found in the affirmative 
countervailing duty determination for each respondent (i.e., 27.32 
percent for Borusan Istikbal and Borusan Mannesman, 0.86 percent for 
[Ccedil]ayirova and all others, and 0.86 percent for 
Tos[ccedil]elik).\8\ After this adjustment, the resulting cash deposit 
rates will be 0.00 percent for Borusan Istikbal and Borusan Mannesmann, 
22.09 percent for [Ccedil]ayirova, 5.80 percent for Tos[ccedil]elik, 
and 6.24 percent for all others. The suspension of liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \8\ See Memorandum to the File from Alice Maldonado, Analyst, 
entitled, ``Placing Information on the Record: Export Subsidies 
Calculated in the Final Determination of the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of Turkey,'' 
dated October 5, 2015.
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ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because 
the final determination in this proceeding is affirmative, in 
accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will 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 line pipe from Turkey no later than 45 days 
after our final determination. If the ITC determines that material 
injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will 
be terminated and all cash deposits will be refunded. If the ITC 
determines that such injury does exist, 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 Regarding Administrative Protective Orders (APO)

    This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to APO of their 
responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 
notification of the return or 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.
    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: October 5, 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 Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Scope of the Investigation
4. Margin Calculations
5. Discussion of the Issues
    a. Duty Drawback Comments
    i. Duty Drawback
    ii. KKDF
    iii. U.S. Exports of Subject Merchandise
    iv. Unreliability of Reported Duty Drawback Information

[[Page 61365]]

    v. Deducting Expenses from the Duty Drawback Calculation
    vi. Making a Duty Drawback Adjustment to Normal Value and/or 
Capping the U.S. Duty Drawback Adjustment
    vii. Treatment of Duty Drawback in the Calculation of the Cash 
Deposit Rate
    viii. Moot Arguments related to Duty Drawback
    b. Company-Specific Comments
    i. [Ccedil]ayirova
    1. [Ccedil]ayirova's U.S. Date of Sale
    2. [Ccedil]ayirova's Pipe Specification for a Home Market Sale
    3. [Ccedil]ayirova's General and Administrative (G&A) Expenses
    ii. Tos[ccedil]elik
    1. Tos[ccedil]elik's Reporting of Home Market Sales
    2. Tos[ccedil]elik's Home Market Interest Rate
    3. Tos[ccedil]elik's Late Shipment Penalties
    4. Tos[ccedil]elik's Net Financial Expense
    5. Tos[ccedil]elik's Polyethylene (PE) Coated Product Costs
    6. Tos[ccedil]elik's Revised Manufacturing Costs
    7. Tos[ccedil]elik's Second Quality Pipe Adjustment
    8. Moot Arguments for Tos[ccedil]elik
    iii. Borusan Mannesmann and Borusan Istikbal
    1. Basing the Margin for Borusan Mannesmann and Borusan Istikbal 
on AFA
6. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2015-25990 Filed 10-9-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P