[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1237-1238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00262]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-489-823]


Welded Line Pipe From the Republic of Turkey: Preliminary Results 
of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2015

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an 
administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on welded 
line pipe from the Republic of Turkey (Turkey) for the period of review 
March 20, 2015, through December 31, 2015. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable January 10, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: E. Whitley Herndon, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 202-482-6274.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 13, 2017, Commerce published a notice of initiation of 
an administrative review of the countervailing duty order on pipe and 
tube from Turkey.\1\ On August 22, 2017, Commerce extended the deadline 
for the preliminary results to January 2, 2018.\2\ For a complete 
description of the events that followed the initiation of this review, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics discussed 
in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as an Appendix to 
this notice. The Preliminary 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 Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The 
signed and electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 82 FR 10457 (February 13, 2017).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of 
Turkey: Extension of Deadline for Preliminary Results of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated August 22, 2017.
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review: Welded Line 
Pipe from Turkey; 2015,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the order is welded line pipe, which is 
carbon and alloy steel pipe of a kind used for oil or gas pipelines, 
not more than 24 inches in nominal outside diameter. For a complete 
description of the scope of the order, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.

Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each 
of the subsidy programs found countervailable, we preliminarily 
determine that there is a subsidy, i.e., a government financial 
contribution that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that 
the subsidy is specific.\4\ For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our conclusions, see the accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \4\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and, section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    Commerce determines that the following preliminary net subsidy 
rates exist for the period March 20, 2015, through December 31, 2015:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Company                     Net subsidy rate (percent)
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Borusan Istikbal Ticaret and Borusan   0.78 ad valorem.
 Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret
 A.S.5
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Assessment Rates
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    \5\ For the Borusan Companies, we initiated on the following: 
Borusan Istikbal Ticaret (Istikbal) and Borusan Mannesmann Boru 
Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (BMB). As explained in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum, we found Istikbal and BMB to be cross-owned 
under Borusan Holding, A.S. For these preliminary results, we find 
all three companies to be cross-owned, though only BMB received 
countervailable subsidies in this review period.
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    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we assigned a subsidy 
rate for each producer/exporter subject to this administrative review. 
Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall determine, and U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, countervailing duties 
on all appropriate entries covered by this review. We intend to issue 
instructions to CBP 15 days after publication of the final results of 
this review.

Cash Deposit Rates

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce also intends 
to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties in the amounts indicated for the company listed above with 
regard to shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the 
final results of this review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will 
instruct CBP to continue to collect cash deposits of estimated 
countervailing duties at the most recent company-specific or all-others 
rate applicable to the company, as appropriate. These cash deposit 
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further 
notice.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce will disclose to parties to this proceeding the 
calculations performed in reaching the preliminary results within five 
days of the date of

[[Page 1238]]

publication of these preliminary results.\6\ Interested parties may 
submit written comments (case briefs) within 30 days of publication of 
the preliminary results and rebuttal comments (rebuttal briefs) within 
five days after the time limit for filing case briefs.\7\ Pursuant to 
19 CFR 351.309(d)(2), rebuttal briefs must be limited to issues raised 
in the case briefs. Parties who submit arguments are requested to 
submit with the argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief 
summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities.\8\ All briefs 
must be filed electronically using ACCESS.
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    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii) and 351.309(d)(1).
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 351.309(d)(2).
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must do so within 
30 days of publication of these preliminary results by submitting a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance using Enforcement and Compliance's ACCESS system.\9\ 
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, we will inform parties 
of the scheduled date for the hearing which will be held at the U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230, at a time and location to be determined.\10\ Issues addressed at 
the hearing will be limited to those raised in the briefs.\11\
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act, Commerce intends to issue the final results of this 
administrative review, including the results of our analysis of the 
issues raised by the parties in their comments, within 120 days after 
issuance of these preliminary results.
    This administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213.

    Dated: January 2, 2018.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Subsidies Valuation Information
    A. Allocation Period
    B. Attribution of Subsidies
    C. Benchmark Interest Rates
V. Analysis of Programs Preliminarily Determined To Be 
Countervailable
    A. Deduction From Taxable Income for Export Revenue
    B. Short-Term Pre-Shipment Rediscount Program
    C. Provision of Hot-Rolled Steel for Less Than Adequate 
Remuneration
    D. Inward Processing Certificate Exemption
    E. Investment Encouragement Program: Customs Duty and Value 
Added Tax Exemptions
VI. Programs Preliminarily Determined to Not Be Used
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-00262 Filed 1-9-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P