[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9719-9722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02607]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-871]


Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From India: 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 India 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

[[Page 9720]]

to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective February 8, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Baker or Mark Flessner, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2924 or (202) 482-6312, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department initiated this investigation on July 20, 2016.\1\ We 
selected two mandatory respondents in this investigation, Norma (India) 
Limited and R.N. Gupta & Co., Ltd.\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 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 Fred Baker to Christian Marsh, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, entitled, ``Respondent Selection for the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India,'' 
dated September 20, 2016 (Respondent Selection Memorandum).
    \3\ 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 Antidumping Duty Investigation of 
Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India,'' dated concurrently with 
this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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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 India. For a full description of the scope of this 
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). Export 
price was calculated in accordance with section 772 of the Act. Normal 
value (NV) was 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

    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. In this investigation, we calculated weighted-average 
dumping margins for both mandatory respondents that are above de 
minimis and which are not based on section 776 of the Act. However, 
because there are only two weighted-average dumping margins for this 
preliminary determination, using a weighted-average of these two rates 
risks disclosure of business proprietary data. Therefore, the 
Department assigned a margin to the all-others rate companies based on 
the simple average of the two mandatory respondents' rates.\4\
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    \4\ We calculated a simple average because the record does not 
contain usable publicly ranged data for both respondents.
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Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that finished carbon steel 
flanges from India 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
                                                                margins
                                                               (percent)
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Norma (India) Limited/USK Exports Private Limited/Uma               8.58
 Shanker Khandelwal & Co./Bansidhar Chiranjilal.............
R.N. Gupta & Co., Ltd.......................................       12.56
All Others..................................................       10.57
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 carbon steel flanges from India, as described in 
the Scope of the Investigation in Appendix I, that 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 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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    \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 intend to disclose the calculations performed to interested 
parties in this proceeding within five days of the public announcement 
of this preliminary determination in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

[[Page 9721]]

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 no later than 30 days after the date of publication of 
this preliminary determination.\6\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after 
the deadline date for case briefs.\7\ 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(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for 
general filing requirements).
    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); 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. Section 351.210(e)(2) of the Department's regulations 
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 Norma and Gupta have requested that, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination in this investigation, the 
Department postpone its final determination, i.e., no later than 135 
days after the publication of the preliminary determination in the 
Federal Register, and that the Department 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.\8\
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    \8\ See Letter from Norma to the Secretary of Commerce entitled, 
``Request to Postpone the Final Determination,'' dated January 12, 
2017; see also Letter from Gupta to the Secretary of Commerce 
entitled, ``Request to Postpone the Final Determination,'' dated 
January 11, 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 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.\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 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: 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-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

[[Page 9722]]

    (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. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
6. Scope Comments
7. Affiliation and Collapsing of Affiliates
8. Discussion of the Methodology
9. Product Comparisons
10. Date of Sale
11. Export Price
12. Normal Value
13. Currency Conversion
14. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-02607 Filed 2-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P