[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 209 (Friday, October 28, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75042-75045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26112]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-552-820]


Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: 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 
imports of circular welded carbon-quality steel pipe (CWP) from the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) are being, or are likely to be, 
sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of 
investigation (POI) is April 1, 2015, through September 30, 2015. The 
final dumping margins of sales at LTFV are listed below in the ``Final 
Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective October 28, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Huston or Nancy Decker, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4261 or (202) 482-0196, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On June 8, 2016, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination of this antidumping duty (AD) investigation.\1\ On July 
15, 2016, the Department published an Amended Preliminary Determination 
in this investigation.\2\ A summary of the events that occurred since 
the Department published the Amended Preliminary Determination, as well 
as a full discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final 
determination, may be found in the Final Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.\3\ The Final 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 Final Issues and Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed and electronic versions of the Final Issues 
and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Affirmative Preliminary Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final 
Determination, 81 FR 36884 (June 8, 2016) (Preliminary 
Determination) and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Antidumping Duty Investigation of Circular Welded 
Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 
Amended Affirmative Preliminary Determination, 81 FR 46048 (July 15, 
2016) (Amended Preliminary Determination).
    \3\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Affirmative Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of 
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam,'' (Final Issues and Decision Memorandum), dated 
concurrently with this determination and hereby adopted by this 
notice.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are CWP from Vietnam. 
For a full description of the scope of this investigation, see the 
``Scope of the Investigation,'' in Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

    In the Preliminary Determination, the Department set aside a period 
of time for parties to address scope issues in case briefs or other 
written comments on scope issues.
    No interested parties submitted scope comments in case or rebuttal 
briefs; therefore, for this final determination, the scope of this 
investigation remains unchanged from that published in the Preliminary 
Determination.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in 
this investigation are addressed in the Final Issues and Decision 
Memorandum. A list of the issues raised is attached to this notice as 
Appendix II.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), in June and July 2016, the Department verified the sales and 
factors of production data reported by the mandatory respondents SeAH 
Steel VINA Corporation (SeAH) and Vietnam

[[Page 75043]]

Haiphong Hongyuan Machinery Manufactory Co., Ltd. (Hongyuan). We used 
standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
accounting and production records, and original source documents 
provided by respondents.\4\
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    \4\ See Memorandum to the File, ``Verification of the 
Questionnaire Responses of SeAH Steel VINA Corp.'' (August 31, 
2016); Memorandum to the File, ``Verification of the Questionnaire 
Responses of SeAH Steel America'' (August 31, 2016); Memorandum to 
the File, ``Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of State 
Pipe & Supply Co.'' (August 31, 2016); Memorandum to the File, 
``Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of Vietnam Haiphong 
Hongyuan Machinery Manufactory Co., Ltd.'' (August 30, 2016); and 
Memorandum to the File, ``Verification of the Questionnaire 
Responses of Midwest Air Technologies'' (August 30, 2016).
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination and Amended Preliminary 
Determination

    Based on the Department's analysis of the comments received and our 
findings at verification, we made certain changes to our margin 
calculations. For a discussion of these changes, see the Final Issues 
and Decision Memorandum.

Combination Rates

    As stated in the Initiation Notice,\5\ the Department calculates 
combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a separate 
rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin 05.1 describes this 
practice.\6\
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    \5\ See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From Italy, 
India, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and 
Taiwan: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 80 FR 
37228 (June 30, 2015) (Initiation Notice).
    \6\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1, 
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination 
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy 
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on 
the Department's Web site at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Separate Rate

    Under section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the rate for all other 
companies that have not been individually examined is normally 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 on the basis of facts available. In this 
final determination, we calculated a weighted-average dumping margin 
for Hongyuan which is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
available. We calculated a zero margin for SeAH. Accordingly, we 
determine to use Hongyuan's weighted-average dumping margin as the 
margin for the separate rate company.

Vietnam-Wide Rate

    In our Preliminary Determination, we found that the Vietnam-wide 
entity, which includes one Vietnam exporter and/or producer that did 
not respond to the Department's requests for information, failed to 
provide necessary information, withheld information requested by the 
Department, failed to provide information in a timely manner, and 
significantly impeded this proceeding by not submitting the requested 
information, pursuant to sections 776(a)(1) and (a)(2)(A)-(C) of the 
Act. We also concluded that the Vietnam-wide entity failed to cooperate 
to the best of its ability, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act. As a 
result, we preliminarily determined to calculate the Vietnam-wide rate 
on the basis of adverse facts available (AFA). We first examined 
whether the highest petition margin was less than or equal to the 
highest calculated margin, and determined that the highest petition 
margin of 113.18 percent was the higher of the two. Next, in order to 
corroborate 113.18 percent as the potential Vietnam-wide rate, we first 
compared it to the highest product matching control number (CONNUM)-
specific margin calculated for the mandatory respondents.\7\ Neither 
respondent had a CONNUM-specific margin higher than the petition rate. 
We next compared the normal values (NVs) and U.S. prices in the 
petition with the NVs and U.S. prices calculated for the respondents. 
We determined the petition values were within the range of the values 
calculated for the respondents. Therefore, we determine that the 
petition rate is corroborated by the actual experience of the mandatory 
respondents. The changes made to the calculations since the Preliminary 
Determination do not change this analysis. Therefore, we continue to 
assign the petition rate to the Vietnam-wide entity for this final 
determination.
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    \7\ See Memorandum to the File, ``Preliminary Analysis of SeAH 
Steel Vina Corp. (SeAH),'' (SeAH Preliminary Analysis Memorandum) 
dated May 31, 2016, and Memorandum to Mark Hoadley ``Vietnam 
Haiphong Hongyuan Machinery Manufactory Co., Ltd. Preliminary 
Analysis Memorandum'' (Hongyuan Preliminary Analysis Memorandum), 
dated May 31, 2016.
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Final Determination

    The Department determines that the final weighted-average dumping 
margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-
                                                              average
             Exporter                     Producer        dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vietnam Haiphong Hongyuan           Vietnam Haiphong                6.27
 Machinery Manufactory Co., Ltd.     Hongyuan Machinery
                                     Manufactory Co.,
                                     Ltd.
Hoa Phat Steel Pipe Co............  Hoa Phat Steel Pipe             6.27
                                     Co.
SeAH Steel VINA Corporation.......  SeAH Steel VINA                 0.00
                                     Corporation.
Vietnam-Wide Entity...............  ....................          113.18
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to interested 
parties within five days of the public announcement of this final 
determination in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to 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 entries of CWP from Vietnam, except for 
those produced and exported by SeAH, the rate for which is zero, which 
were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after: 
(1) June 8, 2016 (the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination of this investigation in the Federal Register) for the 
Vietnam-wide entity; and (2) July 15, 2016 (the date of publication of 
the Amended Preliminary Determination) for Hongyuan and Hoa Phat Steel 
Pipe Co. Further, pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, the 
Department will instruct CBP to require

[[Page 75044]]

a cash deposit,\8\ as detailed below, on all imports of the subject 
merchandise from Vietnam, other than those produced and exported by 
SeAH, that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on 
or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. The cash deposit will be equal to the weighted-average amount 
by which the normal value exceeds U.S. price as follows: (1) For the 
exporter/producer combinations listed in the table above, the cash 
deposit rate will be equal to the dumping margin which the Department 
determined in this final determination; (2) for all combinations of 
Vietnamese exporters/producers of merchandise under consideration which 
have not received their own separate rate above, the cash deposit rate 
will be equal to the dumping margin established for the Vietnam-wide 
entity; and (3) for all non-Vietnamese exporters of merchandise under 
consideration which have not received their own separate rate above, 
the cash deposit rate will be equal to the cash deposit rate applicable 
to the Vietnam exporter/producer combination that supplied that non-
Vietnamese exporter. The suspension of liquidation instructions will 
remain in effect until further notice.
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    \8\ 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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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (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 CWP from 
Vietnam 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 as discussed in the ``Continuation of 
Suspension of Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Record Keeping

    In the event we issue a final antidumping duty order, in future 
proceedings we expect Hongyuan's U.S. affiliate Midwest Air 
Technologies to modify its recordkeeping system to be able to track the 
country of origin of U.S. sales of subject merchandise.\9\
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    \9\ See Final Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 15.
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Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (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 violation subject to sanction.
    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: October 21, 2016.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting 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
           O.D. in inches (nominal)              in 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

[[Page 75045]]

 
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 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 Final Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Use of Adverse Facts Available
V. Discussion of the Issues
    General Issues
    Comment 1: Financial Statements to Use for Financial Ratios
    Comment 2: Water Surrogate Value
    Comment 3: Verification Findings
    Company-Specific Issues
    SeAH Issues
    Comment 4: Misreported U.S. Sales Destinations
    Comment 5: SeAH's Sodium Hydroxide and UniCoat Surrogate Values
    Comment 6: Brokerage and Handling Related to Hot-Rolled Coil 
Surrogate Values
    Comment 7: Cap on Freight Revenue
    Comment 8: Surrogate Value for SeAH's Hot-Rolled Coils
    Comment 9: Conversion of Surrogate Value for Vietnamese Inland 
Freight
    Comment 10: U.S. Credit Expenses
    Comment 11: Differential Pricing Analysis
    Hongyuan Issues
    Comment 12: Hongyuan's Hot-Rolled Strip Value
    Comment 13: U.S. Indirect Selling Expenses
    Comment 14: Treatment of Strengthening Tubes Used For Packing
    Comment 15: Record-keeping of Hongyuan's U.S. Affiliate
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2016-26112 Filed 10-27-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P