[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 124 (Thursday, June 29, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29483-29485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13627]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-871]


Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From India: Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Department) determines that 
imports of finished carbon steel flanges (flanges) from India are 
being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair 
value (LTFV). The final estimated weighted-average dumping margins of 
sales at LTFV are listed below in the section entitled ``Final 
Determination.'' The period of investigation is April 1, 2015, through 
March 31, 2016.

DATES: Effective June 29, 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

    On February 8, 2017, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register.\1\ In the Preliminary 
Determination, we postponed the final determination until no later than 
135 days after the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination, in accordance with section 735(a)(2) of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended (the Act).\2\
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    \1\ See Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination, 82 FR 9719 (February 8, 2017) (Preliminary 
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
(PDM).
    \2\ See Preliminary Determination, 82 FR at 9721.
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    The petitioners in this investigation are Weldbend Corporation and 
Boltex Manufacturing Co., L.P. The two mandatory respondents in this 
investigation are: R. N. Gupta & Co., Ltd. (Gupta); and Norma (India) 
Limited (Norma).
    A summary of the events that occurred since the Department 
published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion 
of the issues raised by parties for this final determination, may be 
found in the accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.\3\ The 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 http://access.trade.gov, and 
is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of 
the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at http://enforcement.trade.gov. The signed and electronic versions of

[[Page 29484]]

the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India: 
Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value,'' 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 finished carbon 
steel flanges from India. The Department did not receive any scope 
comments, and has not updated the scope of the investigation since the 
Preliminary Determination. For a complete description of the scope of 
the investigation, see Appendix I of this notice.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by interested parties in this investigation are addressed in 
the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A list of these issues is attached 
to this notice at Appendix II.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in February 2017, we 
conducted sales and cost verifications of the questionnaire responses 
submitted by Gupta and Norma. We used standard verification procedures, 
including an examination of relevant accounting and production records, 
as well as original source documents provided by both respondents.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the dumping margin 
calculations for each respondent, Gupta and Norma. For a discussion of 
these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 735(c)(1)(B)(i)(II) and 735(c)(5) of the Act provide that 
in the final determination the Department shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
investigated. 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 final 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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Final Determination

    The Department determines, as provided in section 735 of the Act, 
the following weighted-average dumping margins for the period April 1, 
2015 through March 31, 2016:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Weighted-     Cash deposit
                                              average      adjusted for
            Exporter/producer                 margins     subsidy offset
                                             (percent)       (percent)
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Norma (India) Limited/USK Exports                  11.32            8.56
 Private Limited/Uma Shanker Khandelwal
 & Co./Bansidhar Chiranjilal............
R. N. Gupta & Co., Ltd..................           12.58            9.27
All-Others..............................           11.95            8.91
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Disclosure

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

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with 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 appropriate entries of flanges from India, 
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. Furthermore, 
the Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for such 
entries of merchandise. The Department normally adjusts cash deposits 
for estimated antidumping duties by the amount of export subsidies 
countervailed in a companion countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding, when 
CVD provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly, where the 
Department made an affirmative determination for countervailable export 
subsidies, the Department has offset the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin by the appropriate CVD rate.\5\ Any such adjusted cash 
deposit rate may be found in the ``Final Determination'' section, 
above. 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 Gupta and Norma, 
the cash deposit rates will be the cash deposit rates adjusted for 
export subsidies listed above; (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 adjusted cash deposit rate 
established for the producer of the subject merchandise; (3) the cash 
deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will be 8.91 percent, 
as discussed in the ``All-Others Rate'' section and as listed in the 
chart, above.
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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Analysis for the Final Determination of 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges 
(Flanges) from Turkey: R. N. Gupta & Co., Ltd. (Gupta)'' dated June 
23, 2017; see also Memorandum, ``Analysis for the Final 
Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Finished 
Carbon Steel Flanges (Flanges) from Turkey: Norma (India) Limited 
(Norma),'' dated June 23, 2017.
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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 our final determination. 
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, or sales (or the likelihood of sales) for 
importation of finished carbon steel flanges from India no later than 
45 days after our final determination. If the ITC determines that 
material injury or threat

[[Page 29485]]

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 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 above in the 
``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (APOs) 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 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.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: June 23, 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 
written description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. List of Issues
III. Background
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Discussion of the Issues:
    Comment 1: Excess Cash Deposits
    Comment 2: Adverse Facts Available for Norma's Cost Data
    Comment 3: Offset to Costs for Miscellaneous Income
    Comment 4: Currency Conversion
    Comment 5: Gupta's Reported Scrap Offset Claim
    Comment 6: Adjustment of Gupta's Reported Costs Due to an 
Alleged Understatement of Costs
    Comment 7: Adjustment of Gupta's General and Administrative 
Expenses for Costs Incurred by an Affiliate
    Comment 8: Adjustment of Gupta's General and Administrative 
Expenses for Unreported Costs
    Comment 9: Gupta's Reported Financial Expenses
    Comment 10: Differential Pricing Test
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2017-13627 Filed 6-28-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P