[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 16, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33918-33920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-15073]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-823-815]


Termination of the Suspension Agreement on Certain Oil Country 
Tubular Goods From Ukraine, Rescission of Administrative Review, and 
Issuance of Antidumping Duty Order

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

SUMMARY: On July 10, 2019, the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation on Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine 
(the Agreement) terminates. Accordingly, the Department of Commerce 
(Commerce) is issuing an antidumping duty (AD) order on certain oil 
country tubular goods (OCTG) from Ukraine. Commerce is directing the 
suspension of liquidation and collection of cash deposits to begin on 
July 10, 2019. Additionally, Commerce is rescinding the administrative 
review of the Agreement.

DATES: Applicable July 10, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sally C. Gannon or David Cordell, 
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-0162 or (202) 482-0408, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On July 22, 2013, Commerce initiated an antidumping duty 
investigation under section 732 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act) to determine whether imports of OCTG from Ukraine are being, 
or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV).\1\ On August 16, 2013, the U.S. International Trade Commission 
(ITC) notified Commerce of its affirmative preliminary injury 
determination in this case.\2\ On February 14, 2014, Commerce 
preliminarily determined that OCTG is being, or is likely to be, sold 
in the United States at LTFV, as provided in section 733 of the Act. On 
this same date, Commerce also preliminarily determined that there is 
not a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that critical 
circumstances exist with respect to OCTG from Ukraine and postponed the 
final determination in this investigation until no later than July 10, 
2014.\3\
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    \1\ See Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from India, the 
Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, 
Taiwan, Thailand, the Republic of Turkey, Ukraine, and the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations, 
78 FR 45505 (July 29, 2013).
    \2\ See Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from India, Korea, The 
Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and 
Vietnam: Determinations, Inv. Nos. 701-TA-499-500 and 731-TA-1215-
1223 (Preliminary) USITC Pub. No. 4422, 78 FR 52213 (August 22, 
2013).
    \3\ See Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine: 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Negative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, and 
Postponement of Final Determination, 79 FR 10482 (February 25, 
2014).
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    Commerce and Interpipe and North American Interpipe (collectively, 
Interpipe) signed the Agreement on July 10, 2014, and the Agreement was 
published on July 18, 2014.\4\ The terms of the Agreement stipulated 
that the Agreement would terminate on July 10, 2017.
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    \4\ See Suspension of Antidumping Duty Investigation: Certain 
Oil Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine, 79 FR 41959 (July 18, 2014).
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    Pursuant to section 734(g) of the Act, the investigation was 
continued based upon requests by Interpipe and Maverick Tube 
Corporation; United States Steel Corporation; Boomerang Tube LLC; 
EnergeX, division of JMC Steel Group; Northwest Pipe Company; Tejas 
Tubular Products, Inc.; TMK IPSCO; Welded Tube USA, Inc.; Wheatland 
Tube Company; and Vallourec Star L.P. (collectively, petitioners). Both 
Commerce's final determination and the ITC's final injury determination 
were affirmative.\5\
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    \5\ See Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 41969 (July 18, 2014) 
(Final Determination) and Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from 
Ukraine: Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 79 FR 52303 (September 3, 2014) (Amended Final 
Determination). See also Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from 
India, Korea, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, 
Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, Inv. Nos. 701-TA-499-500 and 731-TA-
1215-1223 (Final) USITC Pub. No. 4489, 79 FR 53080 (September 5, 
2014) (ITC Final Determination).
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    Following requests by Interpipe, on July 17, 2017, Commerce and 
Interpipe amended the Agreement to extend its term for one additional 
year, until July 10, 2018.\6\ On July 5, 2018, at the request of 
Interpipe, Commerce and Interpipe amended the Agreement to extend the 
Agreement for one additional year, until July 10, 2019.\7\
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    \6\ See Amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation on Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from 
Ukraine, 82 FR 32681 (July 17, 2017).
    \7\ See Amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation on Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from 
Ukraine, 83 FR 31369 (July 5, 2018).
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    On December 7, 2018, Interpipe requested an extension of the 
Agreement for an additional five years, until July 10, 2024.\8\ On 
December 18, 2018, Commerce invited interested parties to comment on 
Interpipe's request.\9\ On February 19, 2019, U.S. petitioning 
companies Maverick Tube Corporation, United States Steel Corporation, 
Vallourec Star, L.P., TMK IPSCO, and Welded Tube USA Inc., submitted 
comments opposing Interpipe's request and asking Commerce to allow the 
Agreement to terminate as scheduled, and proceed to issue an AD order 
on July 10, 2019.\10\ Interpipe submitted additional comments in 
support of its request on the same day.\11\
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    \8\ See Letter to Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, from 
Interpipe, ``Antidumping Duty Suspension Agreement on Certain Oil 
Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine: Request to Extend the Suspension 
Agreement'' (December 7, 2018) (Extension Request).
    \9\ See Memorandum to the File, ``Agreement Suspending the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation on Oil Country Tubular Goods from 
Ukraine: Request for Comment'' (December 18, 2018).
    \10\ See Letter to Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, from 
Maverick Tube Corporation, et al., ``Comments in Opposition to 
Interpipe's Request to Further Extend for an Additional 5 Years the 
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation of Certain Oil 
Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine'' (February 19, 2019).
    \11\ See Letter to Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, from 
Interpipe, ``Antidumping Duty Suspension Agreement on Certain Oil 
Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine: Additional Letter in Support of 
Request to Extend Suspension Agreement'' (February 19, 2019).

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[[Page 33919]]

    On June 4, 2019, Commerce initiated and the ITC instituted a five-
year sunset review of the OCTG suspended investigation.\12\
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    \12\ See Initiation of Five-Year (Sunset) Reviews, 84 FR 25741 
(June 4, 2019).
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Scope of the Order

    See Appendix I for a complete description of the scope of the AD 
order.

Termination of Suspension Agreement

    On July 10, 2019, Commerce notified Interpipe of its decision not 
to extend the Agreement as requested by Interpipe and that the 
Agreement would terminate pursuant to Section H of the Agreement, which 
states (in part):

    This Agreement shall terminate five years after the effective 
date of this Agreement, on July 10, 2019. At that time, in the event 
the antidumping duty investigation with respect to OCTG from Ukraine 
is continued pursuant to section 734(g) of the Act and results in 
affirmative determinations, as referenced in sections 735(a)(1) and 
(b)(1) of the Act, by the Department and the International Trade 
Commission respectively, the Department shall issue an antidumping 
duty order and order the suspension of liquidation on entries of 
OCTG from Ukraine in accordance with section 735(c) of the Act.\13\
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    \13\ See Suspension of Antidumping Duty Investigation: Certain 
Oil Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine, 79 FR 41959 (July 18, 2014), 
amended in Amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation on Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from 
Ukraine, 82 FR 32681 (July 17, 2017), amended in Amendment to the 
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Certain 
Oil Country Tubular Goods from Ukraine, 83 FR 31369 (July 5, 2018).

Therefore, pursuant to Section H of the Agreement, the Agreement 
terminates on July 10, 2019.

Rescission of Administrative Review

    On September 10, 2018, Commerce initiated an administrative review 
of the Agreement for the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018.\14\ 
Because the Agreement terminates effective July 10, 2019, there is no 
longer an agreement of which to conduct an administrative review. 
Therefore, Commerce is rescinding the administrative review of the 
Agreement effective on the date of termination of the Agreement, i.e., 
July 10, 2019.
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    \14\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 83 FR 50077, 50086 (October 4, 2018).
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Antidumping Duty Order

    As noted above, the underlying investigation in this proceeding was 
continued pursuant to section 734(g) of the Act. Commerce made a final 
affirmative AD determination, and the ITC found material injury.\15\ 
Therefore, in light of the termination of the Agreement and the final 
affirmative determinations issued by Commerce and ITC, in accordance 
with section 735(c)(2) of the Act, Commerce is issuing an AD order and 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise, entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after July 10, 2019. These 
suspension-of-liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.
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    \15\ See Final Determination, Amended Final Determination, and 
ITC Final Determination, respectively.
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    In accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce is 
directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, 
antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the normal value of the 
merchandise exceeds the export price (or constructed export price) of 
the merchandise, for all entries of OCTG from Ukraine subject to the 
scope of this order in Appendix 1 below.
    Commerce also shall instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for each 
entry equal to the AD estimated weighted-average margin rates found in 
Commerce's Amended Final Determination, as listed below. Accordingly, 
for entries of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after July 10, 2019, CBP will require, 
at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties 
on the subject merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins listed below. Therefore, effective 
July 10, 2019, CBP shall require a cash deposit equal to the cash 
deposit rates shown below. The all-others rate applies to all producers 
and exporters of subject merchandise not specifically listed. The ad 
valorem rates for this antidumping duty order are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Estimated
                                                               weighted-
                    Manufacturer/exporter                       average
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
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Interpipe Europe S.A.; Interpipe Ukraine LLC; PJSC Interpipe        7.47
 Niznedneprovsky Tube Rolling Plant (aka Interpipe NTRP);
 LLC Interpipe Niko Tube....................................
All Others..................................................        7.47
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Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice constitutes the AD order with respect to OCTG from 
Ukraine pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested parties can 
find a list of AD orders currently in effect at https://www.trade.gov/enforcement/. This order is issued and published in accordance with 
section 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

    Dated: July 10, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I: Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to this Order is certain oil country 
tubular goods (OCTG) from Ukraine, which are hollow steel products 
of circular cross-section, including oil well casing and tubing, of 
iron (other than cast iron) or steel (both carbon and alloy), 
whether seamless or welded, regardless of end finish (e.g., whether 
or not plain end, threaded, or threaded and coupled) whether or not 
conforming to American Petroleum Institute (API) or non-API 
specifications, whether finished (including limited service OCTG 
products) or unfinished (including green tubes and limited service 
OCTG products), whether or not thread protectors are attached. The 
scope of the order also covers OCTG coupling stock.
    Excluded from the scope of this order are: Casing or tubing 
containing 10.5 percent or more by weight of chromium; drill pipe; 
unattached couplings; and unattached thread protectors. The 
merchandise subject to this Order is currently classified in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item 
numbers: 7304.29.10.10, 7304.29.10.20, 7304.29.10.30, 7304.29.10.40, 
7304.29.10.50, 7304.29.10.60, 7304.29.10.80, 7304.29.20.10, 
7304.29.20.20,

[[Page 33920]]

7304.29.20.30, 7304.29.20.40, 7304.29.20.50, 7304.29.20.60, 
7304.29.20.80, 7304.29.31.10, 7304.29.31.20, 7304.29.31.30, 
7304.29.31.40, 7304.29.31.50, 7304.29.31.60, 7304.29.31.80, 
7304.29.41.10, 7304.29.41.20, 7304.29.41.30, 7304.29.41.40, 
7304.29.41.50, 7304.29.41.60, 7304.29.41.80, 7304.29.50.15, 
7304.29.50.30, 7304.29.50.45, 7304.29.50.60, 7304.29.50.75, 
7304.29.61.15, 7304.29.61.30, 7304.29.61.45, 7304.29.61.60, 
7304.29.61.75, 7305.20.20.00, 7305.20.40.00, 7305.20.60.00, 
7305.20.80.00, 7306.29.10.30, 7306.29.10.90, 7306.29.20.00, 
7306.29.31.00, 7306.29.41.00, 7306.29.60.10, 7306.29.60.50, 
7306.29.81.10, and 7306.29.81.50.
    The merchandise subject to this Order may also enter under the 
following HTSUS item numbers: 7304.39.00.24, 7304.39.00.28, 
7304.39.00.32, 7304.39.00.36, 7304.39.00.40, 7304.39.00.44, 
7304.39.00.48, 7304.39.00.52, 7304.39.00.56, 7304.39.00.62, 
7304.39.00.68, 7304.39.00.72, 7304.39.00.76, 7304.39.00.80, 
7304.59.60.00, 7304.59.80.15, 7304.59.80.20, 7304.59.80.25, 
7304.59.80.30, 7304.59.80.35, 7304.59.80.40, 7304.59.80.45, 
7304.59.80.50, 7304.59.80.55, 7304.59.80.60, 7304.59.80.65, 
7304.59.80.70, 7304.59.80.80, 7305.31.40.00, 7305.31.60.90, 
7306.30.50.55, 7306.30.50.90, 7306.50.50.50, and 7306.50.50.70.
    The HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of the 
product coverage is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2019-15073 Filed 7-15-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P