[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55558-55561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25291]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-428-845]


Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy Steel 
From the Federal Republic of Germany: Preliminary Affirmative 
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 certain cold-drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and 
alloy steel (cold-drawn mechanical tubing) from the Federal Republic of 
Germany (Germany) is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United 
States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation 
(POI) is April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2017.

DATES: Applicable November 22, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frances Veith, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4295.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The Department 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on May 16, 
2017.\1\ On September 12, 2017, the Department postponed the 
preliminary determination of this investigation until November 15, 
2017.\2\ A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum, dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by 
this notice, 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 to all parties in the 
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 at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the electronic versions of the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy 
Steel from the Federal Republic of Germany, India, Italy, the 
Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China, and Switzerland: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 82 FR 22491 (May 
16, 2017) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy 
Steel from the Federal Republic of Germany, India, Italy, the 
Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China, and Switzerland: 
Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-
Value Investigations, 82 FR 42788 (September 12, 2017).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is cold-drawn mechanical 
tubing from Germany. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to the Department's regulations,\3\ 
the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\4\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice, as well as additional language proposed by the 
petitioners.\5\ For a summary of the product coverage comments and 
rebuttal responses submitted to the record for this preliminary 
determination, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments 
timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\6\ The 
Department is preliminarily modifying the scope language as it appeared 
in the Initiation Notice. See the revised scope in Appendix I to this 
notice.
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Initiation Notice, 82 FR at 22492.
    \5\ ArcelorMittal Tubular Products, Michigan Seamless Tube, LLC, 
PTC Alliance Corp., Plymouth Tube Co. USA, Webco Industries, Inc., 
and Zekelman Industries, Inc. (collectively, the petitioners).
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of 
Carbon and Alloy Steel from the Federal Republic of Germany, India, 
Italy, the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China, and 
Switzerland: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination'' (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum), dated 
concurrently with this preliminary determination.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Export prices were calculated in accordance 
with section 772(a) of the Act. Constructed export prices were 
calculated in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. Normal value 
(NV) was calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. In 
addition, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, the 
Department has preliminarily relied upon facts otherwise available, 
with adverse inferences for Mubea Fahrwerksfedern GmbH (Mubea) and 
Salzgitter Mannesmann Line Pipe GmbH (Salzgitter). Also, for certain 
BENTELER Steel/Tube GmbH (BENTELER) sales transactions, we 
preliminarily relied upon facts available pursuant to section 776(a) of 
the Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying the 
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    The Department calculated an individual estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin for BENTELER, the only individually examined exporter/
producer that is participating in this investigation. Because the only 
individually calculated dumping margin is not zero, de minimis, or 
based entirely on facts otherwise available, the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin calculated for BENTELER is the margin assigned 
to all-other producers and exporters, pursuant to sections 
733(d)(1)(A)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                                                              average
                    Exporter/producer                         dumping
                                                              margin
                                                             (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENTELER Steel/Tube GmbH/BENTELER Distribution                     75.39
 International GmbH \7\.................................
Mubea Fahrwerksfedern GmbH..............................          209.06
Salzgitter Mannesmann Line Pipe GmbH....................          209.06
All-Others..............................................           75.39
------------------------------------------------------------------------

     
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    \7\ The Department preliminarily determines that BENTELER Steel/
Tube GmbH and BENTELER Distribution International GmbH are a single 
entity. See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, the Department 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix 
I, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19

[[Page 55559]]

CFR 351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to require a cash 
deposit equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the 
estimated all-others rate, as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for 
the respondents listed above will be equal to the company-specific 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins determined in this 
preliminary determination; (2) if the exporter is not a respondent 
identified above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will 
be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin established for that producer of the subject merchandise; and 
(3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be 
equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average dumping margin.

Disclosure

    The Department intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, the Department intends 
to verify the information relied upon in making its final determination 
with respect to BENTELER. Because mandatory respondents Mubea and 
Salzgitter did not respond to the Department's questionnaire and the 
Department preliminarily determined that they failed to cooperate by 
not acting to the best of their ability, the Department does not intend 
to conduct verification for these companies.

Public Comment

    The Department is setting different deadlines for scope-related 
case and rebuttal briefs, and case and rebuttal briefs addressing all 
other issues.
    Scope briefs may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance no later than five days after the 
publication of the preliminary AD determinations for the PRC, Germany, 
India, Italy, Korea, and Switzerland in the Federal Register. Rebuttal 
scope briefs, limited to issues raised in the scope case briefs, may be 
submitted no later than three days after the deadline for the scope 
case briefs. These deadlines, which are based on publication in the 
Federal Register of the preliminary determinations in the AD 
investigations of cold-drawn mechanical tubing, apply for both the on-
going CVD and AD investigations. There is only one briefing schedule 
for scope case and rebuttal briefs in the CVD and AD investigations. 
For all scope issues, parties must file separate and identical 
documents on the records of all of the ongoing CVD and AD cold-drawn 
mechanical tubing investigations. No new factual information should be 
included in scope case briefs or rebuttal scope briefs, and no 
proprietary information should be submitted in the scope case briefs 
and rebuttal scope briefs.
    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing on the revised scope, limited to issues raised in the 
scope case and rebuttal briefs, must submit a written request to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, separate from the hearing on issues raised in case briefs, 
within five days after the date of publication of this notice. Requests 
should contain the party's name, address, and telephone number, the 
number of participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, 
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.
    Scope comments may only be included in the scope case brief and 
scope rebuttal brief. Should this investigation result in an order, 
interested parties may submit requests for a scope ruling after the 
issuance of any such order.
    Case briefs or other non-scope written comments may be submitted to 
the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 
seven days after the date on which the last verification report is 
issued in this investigation, unless the Secretary alters the time 
limit. 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 investigation 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. 
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a 
hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs, 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, 
whether any participant is a foreign national, 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.
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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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 a request by exporters for postponement of the 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.
    On October 24, 2017, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), BENTELER 
requested that the Department postpone the final determination and that 
provisional measures be extended to a period not to exceed six 
months.\9\ On November 13, 2017, the petitioners requested that we 
grant BENTELER's request to extend the deadline for the final 
determination of this investigation.\10\ In accordance with section 
735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) The 
preliminary determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter 
accounts for a significant proportion of exports of the subject 
merchandise; and

[[Page 55560]]

(3) no compelling reasons for denial exist, the Department is 
postponing the final determination and extending the provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not greater than six 
months. Accordingly, the Department will make its final determination 
no later than 135 days after the date of publication of this 
preliminary determination.
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    \9\ See letter from BENTELER, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation 
of Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing from Germany: Request for 
Postponement of Final Determination and Provisional Measures 
Period,'' dated October 24, 2017.
    \10\ See letter from Petitioners' ``Certain Cold-Drawn 
Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy Steel from China, Germany, 
India, Italy, Korea and Switzerland--Petitioners' Comments Regarding 
Extension of the Final Determination Deadline,'' date November 13, 
2017.
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, the Department will 
notify the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination. If the 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 the final determination 
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    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: November 15, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation covers cold-drawn mechanical 
tubing of carbon and alloy steel (cold-drawn mechanical tubing) of 
circular cross-section, 304.8 mm or more in length, in actual 
outside diameters less than 331 mm, and regardless of wall 
thickness, surface finish, end finish or industry specification. The 
subject cold-drawn mechanical tubing is a tubular product with a 
circular cross-sectional shape that has been cold-drawn or otherwise 
cold-finished after the initial tube formation in a manner that 
involves a change in the diameter or wall thickness of the tubing, 
or both. The subject cold-drawn mechanical tubing may be produced 
from either welded (e.g., electric resistance welded, continuous 
welded, etc.) or seamless (e.g., pierced, pilgered or extruded, 
etc.) carbon or alloy steel tubular products. It may also be heat 
treated after cold working. Such heat treatments may include, but 
are not limited to, annealing, normalizing, quenching and tempering, 
stress relieving or finish annealing. Typical cold-drawing methods 
for subject merchandise include, but are not limited to, drawing 
over mandrel, rod drawing, plug drawing, sink drawing and similar 
processes that involve reducing the outside diameter of the tubing 
with a die or similar device, whether or not controlling the inside 
diameter of the tubing with an internal support device such as a 
mandrel, rod, plug or similar device. Other cold-finishing 
operations that may be used to produce subject merchandise include 
cold-rolling and cold-sizing the tubing.
    Subject cold-drawn mechanical tubing is typically certified to 
meet industry specifications for cold-drawn tubing including but not 
limited to:
    (1) American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or 
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) specifications ASTM 
A-512, ASTM A-513 Type 3 (ASME SA513 Type 3), ASTM A-513 Type 4 
(ASME SA513 Type 4), ASTM A-513 Type 5 (ASME SA513 Type 5), ASTM A-
513 Type 6 (ASME SA513 Type 6), ASTM A-519 (cold-finished);
    (2) SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers) 
specifications SAE J524, SAE J525, SAE J2833, SAE J2614, SAE J2467, 
SAE J2435, SAE J2613;
    (3) Aerospace Material Specification (AMS) AMS T-6736 (AMS 
6736), AMS 6371, AMS 5050, AMS 5075, AMS 5062, AMS 6360, AMS 6361, 
AMS 6362, AMS 6371, AMS 6372, AMS 6374, AMS 6381, AMS 6415;
    (4) United States Military Standards (MIL) MIL-T-5066 and MIL-T-
6736;
    (5) foreign standards equivalent to one of the previously listed 
ASTM, ASME, SAE, AMS or MIL specifications including but not limited 
to:
    (a) German Institute for Standardization (DIN) specifications 
DIN 2391-2, DIN 2393-2, DIN 2394-2);
    (b) European Standards (EN) EN 10305-1, EN 10305-2, EN 10305-3, 
EN 10305-4, EN 10305-6 and European national variations on those 
standards (e.g., British Standard (BS EN), Irish Standard (IS EN) 
and German Standard (DIN EN) variations, etc.);
    (c) Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) JIS G 3441 and JIS G 
3445; and
    (6) proprietary standards that are based on one of the above-
listed standards.
    The subject cold-drawn mechanical tubing may also be dual or 
multiple certified to more than one standard. Pipe that is multiple 
certified as cold-drawn mechanical tubing and to other 
specifications not covered by this scope, is also covered by the 
scope of this investigation when it meets the physical description 
set forth above.
    Steel products included in the scope of this investigation are 
products in which: (1) Iron predominates, by weight, over each of 
the other contained elements; and (2) the carbon content is 2 
percent or less by weight.
    For purposes of this scope, the place of cold-drawing determines 
the country of origin of the subject merchandise. Subject 
merchandise that is subject to minor working in a third country that 
occurs after drawing in one of the subject countries including, but 
not limited to, heat treatment, cutting to length, straightening, 
nondestruction testing, deburring or chamfering, remains within the 
scope of this investigation.
    All products that meet the written physical description are 
within the scope of this investigation unless specifically excluded 
or covered by the scope of an existing order. Merchandise that meets 
the physical description of cold-drawn mechanical tubing above is 
within the scope of the investigation even if it is also dual or 
multiple certified to an otherwise excluded specification listed 
below. The following products are outside of, and/or specifically 
excluded from, the scope of this investigation:
    (1) Cold-drawn stainless steel tubing, containing 10.5 percent 
or more of chromium by weight and not more than 1.2 percent of 
carbon by weight;
    (2) products certified to one or more of the ASTM, ASME or 
American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications listed below:
     ASTM A-53;
     ASTM A-106;
     ASTM A-179 (ASME SA 179);
     ASTM A-192 (ASME SA 192);
     ASTM A-209 (ASME SA 209);
     ASTM A-210 (ASME SA 210);
     ASTM A-213 (ASME SA 213);
     ASTM A-334 (ASME SA 334);
     ASTM A-423 (ASME SA 423);
     ASTM A-498;
     ASTM A-496 (ASME SA 496);
     ASTM A-199;
     ASTM A-500;
     ASTM A-556;
     ASTM A-565;
     API 5L; and
     API 5CT

except that any cold-drawn tubing product certified to one of the 
above excluded specifications will not be excluded from the scope if 
it is also dual- or multiple-certified to any other specification 
that otherwise would fall within the scope of this investigation.

    The products subject to the investigation are currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under item numbers: 7304.31.3000, 7304.31.6050, 
7304.51.1000, 7304.51.5005, 7304.51.5060, 7306.30.5015, 
7306.30.5020, 7306.50.5030. Subject merchandise may also enter under 
numbers 7306.30.1000 and 7306.50.1000. The HTSUS subheadings above 
are provided for convenience and customs purposes only. The written 
description of the scope of the investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope Comments
V. Affiliation/Collapsing
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
    A. Determination of the Comparison Method
    B. Results of the Differential Pricing Analysis
VII. Date of Sale
VIII. Product Comparisons
IX. Export Price and Constructed Export Price
    A. Export Price
    B. Constructed Export Price
X. Normal Value
    A. Home Market Viability
    B. Level of Trade
    C. Cost of Production (COP) Analysis
    D. Calculation of NV Based on Comparison Market Prices
    E. Calculation of NV Based on Constructed Value

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XI. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
    A. Application of Facts Available
    B. Use of Adverse Inference
    C. Selection and Corroboration of the AFA Rate
XII. Currency Conversion
XIII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-25291 Filed 11-21-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P