[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 72 (Monday, April 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18108-18110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07680]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-469-815]


Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From Spain: 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 
finished carbon steel flanges from Spain 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 final estimated weighted-average dumping margins of sales at LTFV 
are shown in the ``Final Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective April 17, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Flessner or Erin Kearney, 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) 482-6312 or (202) 482-0167, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On February 8, 2017, the Department published the preliminary 
affirmative determination of sales at LTFV in the investigation of 
finished carbon steel flanges from Spain.\1\ We invited interested 
parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination. We received no 
comments from interested parties.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 82 FR 9723 (February 
8, 2017) (Preliminary Determination).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is finished carbon steel 
flanges from Spain. For a full description of the scope of this 
investigation, see the ``Scope of the Investigation,'' in Appendix I of 
this notice.

Verification

    Because the mandatory respondent in this investigation did not 
provide the information requested, the Department did not conduct 
verification.

Analysis of Comments Received and Changes Since the Preliminary 
Determination

    As noted above, we received no comments pertaining to the 
Preliminary Determination. For the purposes of the final determination, 
the Department has made no changes to the Preliminary Determination.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    As stated in the Preliminary Determination, we found that the 
mandatory respondent in this investigation, ULMA Forja, S.Coop (ULMA), 
did not cooperate to the best of its ability and, accordingly, we 
determined it appropriate to apply facts otherwise available with an 
adverse inference, in accordance with section 776(a)-(b) of the Tariff 
Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).\2\ For the purposes of the final 
determination, the Department has made no changes to the Preliminary 
Determination.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See Preliminary Determination at 9724 and the accompanying 
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 Spain,'' dated January 26, 2017 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum), at 3-7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

All-Others Rate

    As discussed in the Preliminary Determination, the Department based 
the selection of the ``all-others'' rate on the simple average of the 
two dumping margins calculated for subject merchandise from Spain 
provided in the Petition (as recalculated by the Department for 
initiation purposes),\3\ in

[[Page 18109]]

accordance with section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, and determined a rate 
of 18.81 percent. We made no changes to the ``all-others'' rate for 
this final determination.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See Letter from Weldbend Corporation and Boltex Mfg. Co., 
L.P. (collectively, petitioners) to the Secretary of the U.S. 
International Trade Commission and the Secretary of Commerce 
entitled, ``Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain: 2nd 
Supplemental Questionnaire Response,'' dated July 13, 2016, at 2 and 
Exhibit 1. See also AD Investigation Initiation Checklist: Finished 
Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain (July 20, 2016) (in which the 
petition margins were recalculated for purposes of initiation).
    \4\ See Preliminary Determination, 82 FR at 9724-9725.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final Determination

    The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter/manufacturer                       dumping
                                                                margins
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ULMA Forja, S.Coop..........................................       24.43
All Others..................................................       18.81
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, for this final 
determination, the Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of 
finished carbon steel flanges from Spain, as described in Appendix I of 
this notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after February 8, 2017, the date of publication of 
the preliminary determination in the Federal Register.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, CBP shall require 
a cash deposit equal to the weighted-average amount by which normal 
value exceeds U.S. price, as follows: (1) For ULMA, the cash deposit 
rate will be equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
which the Department determined in this final determination; (2) if the 
exporter is not a firm identified in this investigation but the 
producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin established for the producer of the 
subject merchandise; (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers 
or exporters will be 18.81 percent, as discussed in the ``All-Others 
Rate'' section, above.
    The instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until 
further notice.

Disclosure

    The weighted-average dumping margin assigned to the mandatory 
respondent in this investigation in the Preliminary Determination was 
based on adverse facts available and the Department described the 
method it used to determine the adverse facts available rate in the 
Preliminary Determination. As we made no changes to this margin since 
the Preliminary Determination, no additional disclosure of calculations 
is necessary for this final determination.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this 
proceeding is affirmative, 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 
finished carbon steel flanges from Spain in accordance with section 
735(b)(2) of the Act. If the ITC determines that such injury does not 
exist, this proceeding will be terminated and all securities posted 
will be refunded or canceled. If the ITC determines that such injury 
exists, 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.

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 written 
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 
sanctionable violation.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: April 11, 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
    (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

[[Page 18110]]

written description of the scope is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2017-07680 Filed 4-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P