[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 742-744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00078]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-810]


Welded ASTM A-312 Stainless Steel Pipe From the Republic of 
Korea: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 
2013-2014

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

SUMMARY: In response to requests from Petitioners and SeAH Steel 
Corporation (SeAH), the Department of Commerce (Department) is 
conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on 
welded ASTM A-312 stainless steel pipe from Republic of Korea 
(Korea).\1\ The period of review (POR) is December 1, 2013, through 
November 30, 2014. The review covers two exporters and/or producers of 
the subject merchandise, SeAH and LS Metal Co., Ltd. (LS Metal). The 
Department preliminarily finds that SeAH and LS Metal sold subject 
merchandise at less than normal value during the POR. We invite 
interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.
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    \1\ Petitioners are Bristol Metals LLC, Felker Brothers 
Corporation, and Outokumpu Stainless Pipe, Inc.

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DATES: Effective Date: January 7, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lingjun Wang, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
2316.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to the antidumping duty order is welded 
austenitic stainless steel pipe that meets

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the standards and specifications set forth by the American Society for 
Testing and Materials (ASTM) for the welded form of chromium-nickel 
pipe designated ASTM A-312. The merchandise covered by the scope of the 
orders also includes austenitic welded stainless steel pipes made 
according to the standards of other nations which are comparable to 
ASTM A-312.
    Imports of welded ASTM A-312 stainless steel pipe are currently 
classifiable under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 7306.40.5005, 7306.40.5015, 
7306.40.5040, 7306.40.5062, 7306.40.5064, and 7306.40.5085. Although 
these subheadings include both pipes and tubes, the scope of the 
antidumping duty order is limited to welded austenitic stainless steel 
pipes. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes. However, the written description of the scope of the orders 
is dispositive.\2\
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    \2\ See Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of the 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Welded ASTM A-312 Stainless 
Steel Pipe from the Republic of Korea; 2013-2014, dated concurrently 
with this notice for a full description of the scope of the order 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Constructed 
export price is calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. 
Normal value is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. 
With respect to LS Metal, we relied on facts available,\3\ and, because 
it did not act to the best of its ability to respond to the 
Department's requests for information, we drew an adverse inference in 
selecting from among the facts otherwise available.\4\
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    \3\ See section 776(a) of the Act.
    \4\ See section 776(b) of the Act.
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    For a full description of the methodology underlying these 
preliminary results, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, which is 
hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the topics discussed in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached as an appendix to this 
notice. 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 is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 
of the Department's main building. In addition, a complete version of 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the 
internet at http://www.trade.gov/enforcement/. The signed Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine the following 
weighted-average dumping margins for the period December 1, 2013, 
through November 30, 2014.

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                                                              Margin
                Producer and/or exporter                     (percent)
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SeAH Steel Corporation..................................            2.58
LS Metal Co., Ltd.......................................           31.70
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose the calculations performed in 
connection with these preliminary results within five days after the 
date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b).
    Interested parties are invited to comment on the preliminary 
results of this review and may submit case briefs no later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited 
to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five 
days after the date for filing case briefs.\5\ Parties who submit case 
briefs or rebuttal briefs in this review 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.\6\ Executive summaries should 
be limited to five pages total, including footnotes.\7\ Case and 
rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS.\8\ An electronically 
filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS, 
by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the on which it is due.\9\
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    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c) and (d).
    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \7\ Id.
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.303(b)(1).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance within 30 days of the date of 
publication of this notice, filed electronically via ACCESS. Requests 
should contain: (1) The party's name, address and telephone number; (2) 
the number of participants; and (3) a list of issues parties intend to 
discuss. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised 
in the respective case and rebuttal briefs. 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 date and time to be determined. See 19 CFR 
351.310(d). Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and 
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
    We intend to issue the final results of this administrative review 
within 120 days after the date of publication of this notice, unless 
otherwise extended.\10\
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    \10\ See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.213(h)(1).
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Assessment Rates

    Upon completion of this administrative review, the Department shall 
determine and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess 
antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. If a respondent's 
weighted-average dumping margin is not zero or de minimis (i.e., less 
than 0.5 percent) in the final results of this review, we will 
calculate importer-specific ad valorem assessment rates on the basis of 
the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for an importer's 
examined sales and the total entered value of such sales in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1). Where an importer-specific ad valorem 
assessment rate is zero or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to 
liquidate the appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2). If a respondent's weighted-
average dumping margin is zero or de minimis in the final results of 
this review, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the appropriate entries 
without regard to antidumping duties in accordance with the Final 
Modification for Reviews.\11\
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    \11\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-
Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping 
Proceedings: Final Modification, 77 FR 8101, 8102 (February 14, 
2012) (Final Modification for Reviews) (``Where the weighted-average 
margin of dumping for the exporter is determined to be zero or de 
minimis, no antidumping duties will be assessed.'').
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    The Department clarified its ``automatic assessment'' regulation on 
May 6, 2003.\12\ This clarification applies to entries of subject 
merchandise during the POR produced by a respondent for which it did 
not know its merchandise was destined for the United States. In such 
instances, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at the 
all-others rate if there is no rate for the

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intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.
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    \12\ For a full discussion of this clarification, see 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of 
Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003) (Assessment Policy 
Notice).
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    We intend to issue instructions to CBP 15 days after publication of 
the final results of this review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the notice of final results of administrative review for 
all shipments of welded ASTM A-312 stainless steel pipe from Korea 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
date of publication as provided for by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: 
(1) The cash deposit rate for the companies under review will be equal 
to the weighted-average dumping margin established in the final results 
of this review except if that rate is de minimis within the meaning of 
19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), in which case the cash deposit rate will be zero; 
(2) for merchandise exported by manufacturers or exporters not covered 
in this review but covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the 
cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate 
published for the most recently completed segment of this proceeding in 
which the manufacturer or exporter participated; (3) if the exporter is 
not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the less-than-
fair-value investigation but the manufacturer is, then the cash deposit 
rate will be the rate established for the most recently completed 
segment of this proceeding for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and 
(4) if neither the exporter nor the manufacturer is a firm covered in 
this or any previously completed segment of this proceeding, then the 
cash deposit rate will be the ``all-others'' rate of 6.83 percent 
established in the less-than-fair-value investigation.\13\ These 
deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.
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    \13\ See Antidumping Duty Order and Clarification of Final 
Determination: Certain Welded Stainless Steel Pipes From Korea, 57 
FR 62301, 62302 (December 30, 1992).
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Notification to Importers

    This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in the Department's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of doubled antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results of administrative review are issued and 
published in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h).

    Dated: December 21, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

Summary
Background
Scope of the Order
Discussion of Methodology
    A. Comparisons to Fair Value
    B. Date of Sale
    C. Product Comparisons
    D. Constructed Export Price
    E. SeAH's Alleged Affiliation With POSCO Based on Close Supplier 
Relationship
    F. Normal Value
    G. Cost of Production Analysis
    H. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Comparison Market Prices
    I. Currency Conversion
    J. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inferences
Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2016-00078 Filed 1-6-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P