[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 110 (Wednesday, June 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36881-36884]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-13528]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-520-807]


Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From the United Arab 
Emirates: 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 circular welded carbon-quality steel pipe (CWP) from 
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 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, 2014, through September 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 June 8, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Whitley Herndon or Dennis McClure, 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-
6274 or (202) 482-5973, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department initiated this investigation on November 17, 
2015.\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\ There are two mandatory respondents participating in this 
investigation, Ajmal Steel Tubes & Pipes Ind. L.L.C. (Ajmal Steel) and 
Universal Tube and Plastic Industries, LLC--Jebel Ali Branch, Universal 
Tube and Pipe Industries, and KHK Scaffolding and Framework LLC 
(collectively, Universal). 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 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.
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    \1\ See Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the 
Sultanate of Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, the United Arab 
Emirates, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Less-
Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 80 FR 73708 (November 25, 2015).
    \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 Circular Welded Carbon-Quality 
Steel Pipe From the United Arab Emirates'' (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum), dated concurrently with this notice.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is CWP from the UAE.

[[Page 36882]]

Interested parties filed comments regarding the scope of the 
investigation, which resulted in one clarification to the scope 
language and are addressed, in detail, in the Department's Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum.\3\ For a full description of the scope of 
this investigation, see the ``Scope of the Investigation,'' in Appendix 
I of this notice.
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    \3\ See Department Memorandum, ``Antidumping Duty Investigations 
of Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the Sultanate of 
Oman, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam and Countervailing Duty Investigation of Circular Welded 
Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe form Pakistan; Scope Comments Decision 
Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination,'' April 1, 2016 
(Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Export price and, where appropriate, 
constructed export price are calculated in accordance with section 772 
of the Act and 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 Ajmal and 
Universal using publicly ranged data. We cannot calculate a weighted-
average margin based on the actual data reported by the respondents 
because doing so may potentially reveal their business proprietary 
information. Accordingly, we find this rate, which is based on publicly 
ranged data that respondents reported to be the best proxy of the 
weighted-average margin based on these respondents' actual data. For 
further discussion of this calculation, see the memorandum entitled 
``Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the United Arab 
Emirates: Calculation of the Preliminary Margin for All Other 
Companies,'' dated concurrently with this notice.

Preliminary Determination \4\

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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    \4\ On March 14, 2016, the Department postponed the preliminary 
determination in this investigation until May 31, 2016; see Circular 
Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the United Arab Emirates, 
Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations of Antidumping 
Duty Investigations, 81 FR 15039 (March 21, 2016).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Weighted-
                                                               average
                   Exporter/ manufacturer                      dumping
                                                                margin
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ajmal Steel Tubes & Pipes Ind. L.L.C.......................         6.10
Universal Tube and Plastic Industries, LLC--Jebel Ali               9.25
 Branch, Universal Tube and Pipe Industries, and KHK
 Scaffolding and Framework LLC.............................
All Others.................................................         7.86
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 the UAE, as described in Appendix I 
of this notice, for all companies, 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 \5\ 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 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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    \5\ 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 will disclose the calculations performed to interested parties 
in this proceeding within five days of the announcement of this 
preliminary determination 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 concerning scope 
issues may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance no later than 30 days from the publication of this notice, 
and rebuttal briefs, limited to scope issues raised in the case briefs, 
may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for 
case briefs. Scope-related briefs/comments must be filed on the record 
of this investigation and the concurrent antidumping and countervailing 
duty CWP investigations. Case briefs or other written comments on non-
scope issues 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 non-scope issues raised in the case briefs, 
may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for 
case briefs.\6\ 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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    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.309.
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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 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

[[Page 36883]]

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. 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.
    Ajmal and Universal, the respondents, 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.7 8
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    \7\ See Letter from Ajmal entitled, ``Circular Welded Carbon-
Quality Steel Pipe from the United Arab Emirates: Request to 
Postpone the Final Determination,'' Amendment to Request to Postpone 
Final Determination,'' dated May 5, 2016.
    \8\ See Letters from Universal entitled, ``Circular Welded 
Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the United Arab Emirates, Case No. A-
520-807: Request to Postpone Final Determination'' and ``Circular 
Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the United Arab Emirates, Case 
No. A-520-807: Amendment to Request to Postpone Final 
Determination,'' dated May 5, 2016.
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    In accordance with sections 735(a)(2)(A) and 733(d) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii) and (e)(2), because (1) our preliminary 
determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting exporters account for 
a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; (3) the 
requesting exporters have requested extension of provisional measures 
to a period not more than six months; and (4) 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.\9\
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    \9\ 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 will notify 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 31, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    This investigation covers welded carbon-quality steel pipes and 
tube, of circular cross-section, with an outside diameter (O.D.) not 
more than nominal 16 inches (406.4 mm), regardless of wall 
thickness, surface finish (e.g., black, galvanized, or painted), end 
finish (plain end, beveled end, grooved, threaded, or threaded and 
coupled), or industry specification (e.g., American Society for 
Testing and Materials International (ASTM), proprietary, or other), 
generally known as standard pipe, fence pipe and tube, sprinkler 
pipe, and structural pipe (although subject product may also be 
referred to as mechanical tubing). Specifically, the term ``carbon 
quality'' includes products in which:
    (a) iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other 
contained elements;
    (b) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight; and
    (c) none of the elements listed below exceeds the quantity, by 
weight, as indicated:
    (i) 1.80 percent of manganese;
    (ii) 2.25 percent of silicon;
    (iii) 1.00 percent of copper;
    (iv) 0.50 percent of aluminum;
    (v) 1.25 percent of chromium;
    (vi) 0.30 percent of cobalt;
    (vii) 0.40 percent of lead;
    (viii) 1.25 percent of nickel;
    (ix) 0.30 percent of tungsten;
    (x) 0.15 percent of molybdenum;
    (xi) 0.10 percent of niobium;
    (xii) 0.41 percent of titanium;
    (xiii) 0.15 percent of vanadium; or
    (xiv) 0.15 percent of zirconium.
    Covered products are generally made to standard O.D. and wall 
thickness combinations. Pipe multi-stenciled to a standard and/or 
structural specification and to other specifications, such as 
American Petroleum Institute (API) API-5L specification, may also be 
covered by the scope of these investigations. In particular, such 
multi-stenciled merchandise is covered when it meets the physical 
description set forth above, and also has one or more of the 
following characteristics: is 32 feet in length or less; is less 
than 2.0 inches (50 mm) in outside diameter; has a galvanized and/or 
painted (e.g., polyester coated) surface finish; or has a threaded 
and/or coupled end finish.
    Standard pipe is ordinarily made to ASTM specifications A53, 
A135, and A795, but can also be made to other specifications. 
Structural pipe is made primarily to ASTM specifications A252 and 
A500. Standard and structural pipe may also be produced to 
proprietary specifications rather than to industry specifications.
    Sprinkler pipe is designed for sprinkler fire suppression 
systems and may be made to industry specifications such as ASTM A53 
or to proprietary specifications.
    Fence tubing is included in the scope regardless of 
certification to a specification listed in the exclusions below, and 
can also be made to the ASTM A513 specification. Products that meet 
the physical description set forth above but are made to the 
following nominal outside diameter and wall thickness combinations, 
which are recognized by the industry as typical for fence tubing, 
are included despite being certified to ASTM mechanical tubing 
specifications:

 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Wall
                                                    thickness  in
             O.D. in inches (nominal)                  inches       Gage
                                                      (nominal)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.315............................................           0.035     20
1.315............................................           0.047     18
1.315............................................           0.055     17
1.315............................................           0.065     16
1.315............................................           0.072     15
1.315............................................           0.083     14
1.315............................................           0.095     13
1.660............................................           0.055     17
1.660............................................           0.065     16
1.660............................................           0.083     14
1.660............................................           0.095     13
1.660............................................           0.109     12
1.900............................................           0.047     18
1.900............................................           0.055     17
1.900............................................           0.065     16
1.900............................................           0.072     15
1.900............................................           0.095     13
1.900............................................           0.109     12
2.375............................................           0.047     18
2.375............................................           0.055     17
2.375............................................           0.065     16
2.375............................................           0.072     15
2.375............................................           0.095     13
2.375............................................           0.109     12
2.375............................................           0.120     11
2.875............................................           0.109     12
2.875............................................           0.165      8
3.500............................................           0.109     12
3.500............................................           0.165      8
4.000............................................           0.148      9
4.000............................................           0.165      8
4.500............................................           0.203      7
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The scope of this investigation does not include:
    (a) Pipe suitable for use in boilers, superheaters, heat 
exchangers, refining

[[Page 36884]]

furnaces and feedwater heaters, whether or not cold drawn, which are 
defined by standards such as ASTM A178 or ASTM A192;
    (b) finished electrical conduit, i.e., Electrical Rigid Steel 
Conduit (also known as Electrical Rigid Metal Conduit and Electrical 
Rigid Metal Steel Conduit), Finished Electrical Metallic Tubing, and 
Electrical Intermediate Metal Conduit, which are defined by 
specifications such as American National Standard (ANSI) C80.1-2005, 
ANSI C80.3-2005, or ANSI C80.6-2005, and Underwriters Laboratories 
Inc. (UL) UL-6, UL-797, or UL-1242;
    (c) finished scaffolding, i.e., component parts of final, 
finished scaffolding that enter the United States unassembled as a 
``kit.'' A kit is understood to mean a packaged combination of 
component parts that contains, at the time of importation, all of 
the necessary component parts to fully assemble final, finished 
scaffolding;
    (d) tube and pipe hollows for redrawing;
    (e) oil country tubular goods produced to API specifications;
    (f) line pipe produced to only API specifications, such as API 
5L, and not multi-stenciled; and
    (g) mechanical tubing, whether or not cold-drawn, other than 
what is included in the above paragraphs.
    The products subject to this investigation are currently 
classifiable in Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) statistical reporting numbers 7306.19.1010, 7306.19.1050, 
7306.19.5110, 7306.19.5150, 7306.30.1000, 7306.30.5015, 
7306.30.5020, 7306.30.5025, 7306.30.5032, 7306.30.5040, 
7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5085, 7306.30.5090, 7306.50.1000, 
7306.50.5030, 7306.50.5050, and 7306.50.5070. The HTSUS subheadings 
above are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes only. 
The written description of the scope of the 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 the 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 Transactionsand Arm's Length Test
    c. Level of Trade
    d. Cost of Production (COP) Analysis
    1. Cost Averaging Methodology
    i. Significance of Cost Changes
    ii. Linkage Between Sales and Cost Information
    2. Calculation of COP
    3. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
    4. Results of the COP Test
    e. Calculation of NV Based on Comparison-Market Prices
11. Currency Conversion
12. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2016-13528 Filed 6-7-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P