[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 16, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14090-14091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05943]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-847]


Heavy Walled Rectangular Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes From 
Mexico: Amended Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value

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

SUMMARY: As a result of the correction of a significant ministerial 
error, the Department of Commerce (the Department) continues to 
preliminarily determine that heavy walled rectangular carbon steel 
pipes and tubes (HWR pipes and tubes) from Mexico are being 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 is July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015. Interested 
parties are invited to comment on this amended 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

    On February 29, 2016, Productos Laminados de Monterrey S.A. de C.V. 
(Prolamsa), alleged that the Department made a significant ministerial 
error in the Preliminary Determination.\1\
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    \1\ See 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, 81 FR 
10587 (March 1, 2016) (Preliminary Determination).
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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 and customs purposes, the written description of the scope 
of this investigation is dispositive.

Significant Ministerial Error

    A ministerial error is defined in 19 CFR 351.224(f) as ``an error 
in addition, subtraction, or other arithmetic function, clerical error 
resulting from inaccurate copying, duplication, or the like, and any 
other similar type of unintentional error which the Secretary considers 
ministerial.'' Further, 19 CFR

[[Page 14091]]

351.224(e) provides that the Department ``will analyze any comments 
received and, if appropriate, correct any significant ministerial error 
by amending the preliminary determination.'' A significant ministerial 
error is defined as a ministerial error, the correction of which, 
singly or in combination with other errors, would result in: (1) A 
change of at least five absolute percentage points in, but not less 
than 25 percent of, the weighted-average dumping margin calculated in 
the original (erroneous) preliminary determination; or (2) a difference 
between a weighted-average dumping margin of zero or de minimis and a 
weighted-average dumping margin of greater than de minimis or vice 
versa.\2\
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    \2\ See 19 CFR 351.224(g)(1) and (2).
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Ministerial Error Allegation

    Productos Laminados de Monterrey S.A. de C.V. (Prolamsa) argues 
that the Department in its margin calculations incorrectly referenced 
the variable name for the production quantity reported in Prolamsa' 
cost of production database as ``QUANTITY,'' rather than ``PRODQTY.'' 
\3\ As a result of this error, Prolamsa points out that the Department 
failed to weight average Prolamsa's reported costs by production 
quantity, but instead calculated a simple average of Prolamsa's costs.
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    \3\ See letter from Prolamsa entitled, ``Heavy Walled 
Rectangular Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Mexico: Ministerial 
Error Comments,'' dated February 29, 2016, at page 3.
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    We agree with Prolamsa. Moreover, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.224(g)(2), 
this error is significant because the correction of the error results 
in a change of at least five absolute percentage points in, but not 
less than 25 percent of, the weighted-average dumping margin originally 
calculated for Prolamsa. Therefore, we are correcting the error alleged 
by Prolamsa and we are amending our preliminary determination 
accordingly.
    The collection of cash deposits and suspension of liquidation will 
be revised accordingly in accordance with sections 733(d) and (f) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.224. Because the correction of the error for 
Prolamsa results in a reduced cash deposit rate, the revised rates 
calculated for Prolamsa and the companies covered by the ``all others'' 
rate will be effective retroactively to March 1, 2016, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination.

Amended Preliminary Determination

    We are amending the preliminary determination of sales at LTFV for 
HWR pipes and tubes from Mexico to reflect the correction of a 
ministerial error made in the margin calculation of that determination 
for Prolamsa. As a result of the correction of the ministerial error, 
the revised weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Weighted-average
                Exporter/manufacturer                    dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
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Productos Laminados de Monterrey S.A. de C.V.........               5.17
All Others...........................................           \4\ 4.92
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International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we are notifying the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our amended 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.\5\
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    \4\ In this investigation, we based our calculation of the all-
others rate on the weighted-average of the margins calculated for 
Maquilacero S.A. de C.V. 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 ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Heavy Walled 
Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Mexico: 
Calculation of the All-Others Rate for the Amended Preliminary 
Determination,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
    \5\ See 735(b)(2) of the Act.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    The Department intends to disclose calculations performed in 
connection with this amended preliminary determination within five days 
of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b).
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.224(e).

    Dated: March 9, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2016-05943 Filed 3-15-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P