[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10587-10590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04511]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-847]


Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes From 
Mexico: Affirmative 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 heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and 
tubes (HWR pipes and tubes) from Mexico 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, 2014, through June 30, 2015. 
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: March 1, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blaine Wiltse 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-
6345 or (202) 482-3693, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Department initiated this investigation on August 10, 2015.\1\ 
As explained in the memorandum from the Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement & Compliance, the Department has exercised its discretion 
to toll all administrative deadlines due to the recent closure of the 
Federal Government. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding 
have been extended by four business days. The revised deadline for the 
preliminary determination of this investigation is now February 22, 
2016.\2\ 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.\3\ A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice.
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    \1\ See Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and 
Tubes from the Republic of Korea, Mexico, and the Republic of 
Turkey: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 80 FR 
49202 (August 17, 2015) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum to the Record from Ron Lorentzen, Acting A/S 
for Enforcement & Compliance, regarding ``Tolling of Administrative 
Deadlines As a Result of the Government Closure During Snowstorm 
Jonas,'' dated January 27, 2016.
    \3\ 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 Heavy Walled Rectangular 
Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Mexico'' (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with this notice.
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    The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on 
file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized

[[Page 10588]]

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 B8024 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.

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are HWR pipes and tubes 
from Mexico. For a full description of the scope of this investigation, 
see the ``Scope of the Investigation,'' in Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

    As noted in the Initiation Notice, we set aside a period of time 
for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage.\4\ On October 
13, 2015, we received comments from Productos Laminados de Monterrey 
S.A. de C.V. (Prolamsa), a producer/exporter of HWR in Mexico, in the 
context of its response to the Department's questionnaire.\5\ In these 
comments, Prolamsa requested that the Department find that two types of 
HWR products are outside the scope of this investigation (i.e., HWR cut 
to short lengths and custom-designed HWR sold as parts). On December 1, 
2015, we received a similar request from Maquilacero S.A. de C.V. 
(Maquilacero), also a producer/exporter of HWR in Mexico.\6\ On 
December 2, 2014, the petitioners \7\ objected to Maquilacero's 
request, noting that the products in question are within the definition 
of the scope.\8\
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    \4\ See Initiation Notice, 80 FR at 49203; see also Antidumping 
Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 
19, 1997).
    \5\ See Prolamsa's October 13, 2015, submission, at A-14.
    \6\ See Maquilacero's December 1, 2015, submission, at 4-5.
    \7\ The petitioners in this proceeding are Atlas Tube, a 
division of JMC Steel Group; Bull Moose Tube Company; EXLTUBE; 
Hannibal Industries, Inc.; Independence Tube Corporation; Maruichi 
American Corporation; Searing Industries; Southland Tube; and Vest, 
Inc.
    \8\ See the petitioners' December 2, 2015, submission, at 1-2.
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    We considered the requests noted above, as well as the petitioners' 
responsive comments. Absent an overarching reason to modify the scope 
in the petition, the Department accepts the scope as it is currently 
written.\9\ Consequently, we made no change to the scope with respect 
to cut-to-length products, as well as HWR sold as parts because: (1) 
These products are clearly within the scope; and (2) the petitioners 
intended that these products be covered. For further discussion, see 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \9\ Id.; see also Circular Welded Austenitic Stainless Pressure 
Pipe from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final 
Determination, 73 FR 51788, 51789 (September 5, 2008), unchanged in 
Circular Welded Austenitic Stainless Pressure Pipe from the People's 
Republic of China: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 74 FR 4913 (January 28, 2009); Notice of Final Determination 
of Sales at Not Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium from the 
Russian Federation, 66 FR 49347 (September 27, 2001), and 
accompanying Issues and Decision memorandum, at Comment 12; and 
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. v. United States, 986 F. Supp. 
1428, 1433-34 (CIT 1997).
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. There are two mandatory respondents 
participating in this investigation, Maquilacero and Prolamsa. Export 
price and, where appropriate, constructed export price, for these 
companies are 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.

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 based our calculation of the all-others 
rate on the weighted-average of the margins calculated for Maquilacero 
and Prolamsa using publicly-ranged data. Because we cannot apply our 
normal methodology of calculating a weighted-average margin due to 
requests to protect business-proprietary information, we find this rate 
to be the best proxy of the actual weighted-average margin determined 
for these respondents. For further discussion of this calculation, see 
the memorandum entitled ``Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel 
Pipes and Tubes from Mexico: Calculation of the Preliminary Margin for 
All Other Companies,'' dated concurrently with this notice.

Preliminary Determination

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Weighted-average
                Exporter/manufacturer                    dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maquilacero S.A. De C.V..............................               3.99
Productos Laminados de Monterrey S.A. de C.V.........              16.31
All Others...........................................              13.65
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we will direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all 
entries of subject merchandise from Mexico, 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.
    Pursuant to section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), we 
will instruct CBP to require cash deposits \10\ equal to the weighted-
average amount by which the NV exceeds U.S. price, as indicated in the 
chart above, as follows: (1) The rate for the mandatory respondents 
listed above will be the respondent-specific rates we determined in 
this

[[Page 10589]]

preliminary determination; (2) if the exporter is not a mandatory 
respondent identified above, but the producer is, the rate will be the 
specific rate established for the producer of the subject merchandise; 
and (3) the rate for all other producers or exporters will be the all 
others rate. These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain 
in effect until further notice.
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    \10\ 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

    We intend to 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 
the deadline date for case briefs.\11\ 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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    \11\ 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 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. 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.

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 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.
    Respondents Maquilacero and Prolamsa 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.\12\ In addition, the 
petitioners 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.\13\
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    \12\ See letter from Prolamsa entitled, ``Heavy Walled 
Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Mexico: Request 
to Postpone the Final Determination,'' dated February 5, 2016; and 
letter from Maquilacero entitled, ``Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded 
Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Mexico; Maquilacero S.A. de C.V.'s 
Request for Postponement of Final Determination,'' dated February 
11, 2016.
    \13\ See letter from the petitioners entitled, ``Heavy Walled 
Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipe and Tubes from Mexico: Request 
to Extend Final Determination,'' dated February 4, 2016.
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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 
until no later than 135 days after the publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register and extending the provisional measures from a 
four-month period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, 
we will issue 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.\14\
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2) and (e).
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we are notifying 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: February 22, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain heavy 
walled rectangular welded steel pipes and tubes of rectangular 
(including square) cross section, having a nominal wall thickness of 
not less than 4 mm. The merchandise includes, but is not limited to, 
the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) A-500, grade B 
specifications, or comparable domestic or foreign specifications.
    Included products are those in which: (1) Iron predominates, by 
weight, over each of the other contained elements; (2) the carbon 
content is 2 percent or less, by weight; and (3) none of the 
elements below exceeds the quantity, by weight, respectively 
indicated:
 2.50 percent of manganese, or
 3.30 percent of silicon, or
 1.50 percent of copper, or
 1.50 percent of aluminum, or
 1.25 percent of chromium, or
 0.30 percent of cobalt, or
 0.40 percent of lead, or
 2.0 percent of nickel, or
 0.30 percent of tungsten, or
 0.80 percent of molybdenum, or
 0.10 percent of niobium (also called columbium), or
 0.30 percent of vanadium, or
 0.30 percent of zirconium.
    The subject merchandise is currently provided for in item 
7306.61.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). Subject merchandise may also enter under HTSUS 
7306.61.3000. While the HTSUS subheadings and ASTM specification are 
provided for convenience

[[Page 10590]]

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. Discussion of Methodology
    a. Determination of the Comparison Method
    b. Results of the Differential Pricing Analysis
7. Date of Sale
8. Product Comparisons
9. Export Price/Constructed Export Price
10. Normal Value
    a. Home Market Viability
    b. Affiliated Party Transactions and Arm's-Length Test
    c. Level of Trade
    d. Cost of Production (COP) Analysis
    1. Calculation of COP
    2. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
    3. Results of the COP Test
    e. Calculation of NV Based on Comparison Market Prices
11. Currency Conversion
12. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2016-04511 Filed 2-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P