[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9711-9714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02605]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-475-835]


Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From Italy: 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 (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that finished carbon steel flanges from Italy 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 
March 31, 2016. 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 February 8, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edythe Artman or Moses Song, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of

[[Page 9712]]

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; 
telephone: (202) 482-3931 or (202) 482-5041, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department initiated this investigation on July 20, 2016.\1\ We 
selected two mandatory respondents in this investigation, Metalfar 
Prodotti Industriali S.p.A. (Metalfar) and Officine Ambrogio Melesi & 
C. S.r.l. (Melesi). 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\ A list of topics in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
is included as Appendix II to this notice.
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    \1\ See Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India, Italy, and 
Spain: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair Value Investigations, 81 FR 
49619 (July 28, 2016) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum from Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, entitled ``Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Italy'' (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum), dated concurrently with this notice.
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    The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is 
made available to the public 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 Department's 
Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce 
building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly on the internet 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 product covered by this investigation is finished carbon steel 
flanges from Italy. For a complete description of the scope of the 
investigation, see the ``Scope of the Investigation'' in Appendix I of 
this notice.

Scope Comments

    We received no comments from interested parties regarding the scope 
of the investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. The scope 
published in the Initiation Notice contained several typographical 
errors, which have been corrected in Appendix I.

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Pursuant 
to section 776(a) of the Act, the Department is preliminarily relying 
upon facts otherwise available to assign an estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin to the mandatory respondents in this investigation 
because both respondents failed to timely provide necessary information 
requested by the Department, withheld requested information, and 
significantly impeded the investigation. Further, the Department is 
preliminarily determining that these mandatory respondents failed to 
cooperate by not acting to the best of their abilities to comply with 
requests for information and, thus, the Department is applying adverse 
facts available (AFA) to the respondents, in accordance with section 
776(b) of Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
preliminary determination, see Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Section 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act provides that, in the 
preliminary determination, the Department shall determine an estimated 
``all-others'' rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
investigated, in accordance with section 735(c)(5) of the Act. Section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act states that, generally, the estimated rate for 
all-others 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. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins in this 
preliminary determination were calculated entirely under section 776 of 
the Act. In cases where no weighted-average dumping margins other than 
that of zero, that of de minimis, or those determined entirely under 
section 776 of the Act have been established for individually examined 
entities, in accordance with section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, the 
Department has previously used the simple average of the margins 
calculated in the petition and applied the result to ``all-other'' 
entities not individually examined.\3\
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    \3\ See Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 
79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from 
Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 
14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014); see also Notice of Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from 
the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 21909 (April 23, 2008); 
unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 
FR 38986 (July 8, 2008).
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    In the petition, Weldbend Corporation and Boltex Manufacturing Co., 
L.P. (collectively, Petitioners) calculated three dumping margins for 
subject merchandise from Italy.\4\ Consistent with our practice, we 
preliminarily assigned the simple average of these margins, which 
results in 79.17 percent, as the ``all-others'' rate in this 
investigation.\5\
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    \4\ See Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties on 
Imports of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India, Italy and Spain 
and Countervailing Duties on Imports from India, dated June 30, 2016 
(the Petition) at Volume III; see also Letter from Petitioners to 
the Department, regarding ``Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from 
Italy: Second Supplemental Questionnaire Response,'' dated July 13, 
2016.
    \5\ See Certain Iron Mechanical Transfer Drive Components From 
Canada: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 81 FR 75039 (October 28, 2016), and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 2; see also Certain Oil Country 
Tubular Goods From Thailand: Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value, and Postponement of Final Determination, 79 FR 
10487 (February 25, 2014), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum, unchanged in Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From 
India, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Antidumping Duty Orders; and 
Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 79 FR 53691 (September 10, 2014).
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Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that finished carbon steel 
flanges from Italy are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United 
States at LTFV, pursuant to section 733 of the Act, and that the 
following estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter/manufacturer                       dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metalfar Prodotti Industriali S.p.A.........................      204.53
Officine Ambrogio Melesi & C. S.r.l./ASFO S.p.A.............      204.53
All Others..................................................       79.17
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 finished

[[Page 9713]]

carbon steel flanges from Italy, as described in the ``Scope of the 
Investigation'' in Appendix I, 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 \6\ equal to the weighted-
average amount by which the normal value 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. The suspension of 
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \6\ 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

    Normally, the Department discloses the calculations performed in 
connection with a preliminary determination to interested parties 
within five days of the date of publication of this notice in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Because the Department preliminarily 
applied total AFA to each of the mandatory respondents in this 
investigation, in accordance with section 776 of the Act, there are no 
calculations to disclose.

Verification

    Because the mandatory respondents in this investigation did not 
provide information requested by the Department, the Department will 
not conduct verifications of company responses.

Public Comment

    Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination no later than 30 days after the date of publication of 
the preliminary determination.\7\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after 
the deadline date for case briefs.\8\ 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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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for 
general filing requirements). The Department has exercised its 
discretion under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i) to alter the time limit for 
submission of case briefs.
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1); 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, 
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, 1401 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.
    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.

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.
    Respondent Melesi has requested that, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination in this investigation, the 
Department postpone its final determination until no later than 135 
days after the publication of the preliminary determination in the 
Federal Register, in accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act. 
Melesi also requested the extension of the application of the 
provisional measures prescribed under section 733(d) of the Act from a 
four-month period to a period not to exceed six months, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2).\9\
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    \9\ See Letter from Melesi, regarding ``Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Italy: Request 
to Extend Antidumping Duty Final Determination in the Event of an 
Affirmative Preliminary Determination,'' dated January 18, 2017.
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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 exporter accounts 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.\10\
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2) and (e).
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we are notifying the 
International Trade Commission (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: January 26, 2017.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation covers finished carbon steel 
flanges. Finished carbon steel flanges differ from unfinished carbon 
steel flanges (also known as carbon steel flange forgings) in that 
they have undergone further processing after forging, including, but 
not limited to, beveling, bore threading, center or step boring, 
face machining, taper boring, machining ends or surfaces, drilling 
bolt holes, and/or de-

[[Page 9714]]

burring or shot blasting. Any one of these post-forging processes 
suffices to render the forging into a finished carbon steel flange 
for purposes of this investigation. However, mere heat treatment of 
a carbon steel flange forging (without any other further processing 
after forging) does not render the forging into a finished carbon 
steel flange for purposes of this investigation.
    While these finished carbon steel flanges are generally 
manufactured to specification ASME B16.5 or ASME B16.47 series A or 
series B, the scope is not limited to flanges produced under those 
specifications. All types of finished carbon steel flanges are 
included in the scope regardless of pipe size (which may or may not 
be expressed in inches of nominal pipe size), pressure class 
(usually, but not necessarily, expressed in pounds of pressure, 
e.g., 150, 300, 400, 600, 900, 1500, 2500, etc.), type of face 
(e.g., flat face, full face, raised face, etc.), configuration 
(e.g., weld neck, slip on, socket weld, lap joint, threaded, etc.), 
wall thickness (usually, but not necessarily, expressed in inches), 
normalization, or whether or not heat treated. These carbon steel 
flanges either meet or exceed the requirements of the ASTM A105, 
ASTM A694, ASTM A181, ASTM A350 and ASTM A707 standards (or 
comparable foreign specifications). The scope includes any flanges 
produced to the above-referenced ASTM standards as currently stated 
or as may be amended. The term ``carbon steel'' under this scope is 
steel 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) 0.87 percent of aluminum;
    (ii) 0.0105 percent of boron;
    (iii) 10.10 percent of chromium;
    (iv) 1.55 percent of columbium;
    (v) 3.10 percent of copper;
    (vi) 0.38 percent of lead;
    (vii) 3.04 percent of manganese;
    (viii) 2.05 percent of molybdenum;
    (ix) 20.15 percent of nickel;
    (x) 1.55 percent of niobium;
    (xi) 0.20 percent of nitrogen;
    (xii) 0.21 percent of phosphorus;
    (xiii) 3.10 percent of silicon;
    (xiv) 0.21 percent of sulfur;
    (xv) 1.05 percent of titanium;
    (xvi) 4.06 percent of tungsten;
    (xvii) 0.53 percent of vanadium; or
    (xviii) 0.015 percent of zirconium.
    Finished carbon steel flanges are currently classified under 
subheadings 7307.91.5010 and 7307.91.5050 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). They may also be entered 
under HTSUS subheadings 7307.91.5030 and 7307.91.5070. The HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes; the 
written description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Period of Investigation
4. Scope of the Investigation
5. Scope Comments
6. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
7. Affiliations and Collapsing of Affiliates
8. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
9. Calculation of All-Others Rate
10. Verification
11. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-02605 Filed 2-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P