[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49095-49097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20176]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-964]


Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and Tube From the People's Republic 
of China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review 
and Rescission of Review, in Part; 2017-2018

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that producers and/or exporters subject to this administrative review 
made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value during the 
period of review (POR), November 1, 2017 through October 31, 2018. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results 
of review.

DATES: Applicable September 18, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maisha Cryor, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5831.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On November 20, 2010, Commerce published in the Federal Register an 
antidumping (AD) order on seamless refined copper pipe and tube (copper 
pipe and tube) from the People's Republic of China (China).\1\ On 
November 1, 2018, Commerce published a notice of opportunity to request 
an administrative review of the Order.\2\ On November 30, 2018, the 
Mueller Copper Tube Products, Inc. and Mueller Copper Tube Company, 
Inc., (collectively, the petitioners), timely requested that Commerce 
conduct an administrative review of this AD order with respect to 16 
companies.\3\ On February 6, 2019, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.221(c)(1)(i), Commerce published the notice of initiation of the 
administrative review of the AD Order on copper pipe and tube from 
China for the POR covering 16 companies.\4\
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    \1\ See Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and Tube from Mexico and 
the People's Republic of China: Antidumping Duty Orders and Amended 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value from Mexico, 75 
FR 71070 (November 20, 2010) (Order).
    \2\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review, 83 FR 54912 (November 1, 2018).
    \3\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and 
Tube from China: Request for Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review,'' dated November 30, 2018.
    \4\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 84 FR 2159 (February 6, 2019) (Initiation 
Notice).
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    All requests for administrative review were timely withdrawn with 
regard to 12 companies (listed in Appendix II to this notice), leaving 
4 companies subject to the administrative review.\5\ On March 4, 2019, 
we selected the Golden Dragon Entity as the sole producer or exporter 
eligible for individual examination as a mandatory respondent in this 
administrative review.\6\ For a complete description of the events that 
followed the initiation of this administrative review, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\7\
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    \5\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and 
Tube from China: Partial Withdrawal of Request for Administrative 
Review of Antidumping Order,'' dated May 6, 2019 (Withdrawal 
Request). A request for an administrative review therefore remains 
in place for 4 companies not named in the Withdrawal Request.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Issuance of Questionnaire,'' dated March 
4, 2019 (Respondent Selection Memorandum). As explained in the 
Respondent Selection Memorandum, the Golden Dragon Entity is a 
collapsed entity that encompasses three of the companies initiated 
upon in the Initiation Notice, i.e., Golden Dragon Holding (Hong 
Kong) International Co., Ltd., Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube 
Group, Inc., and Hong Kong GD Trading Co, Ltd.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Seamless Refined 
Copper Pipe and Tube from the People's Republic of China: 2017-
2018,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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    The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on 
file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's AD and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS).

[[Page 49096]]

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 
Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the electronic versions of 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content. A list of 
topics included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as 
Appendix I to this notice.
    Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by 
the partial federal government closure from December 22, 2018 through 
the resumption of operations on January 29, 2019.\8\ The revised 
deadline for the preliminary results of this review is now September 
11, 2019.
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    \8\ See Memorandum to the Record from 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, ``Deadlines 
Affected by the Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated 
January 28, 2019. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding 
have been extended by 40 days.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to the order is seamless refined copper 
pipe and tube. The product is currently classified under Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') item numbers 
7411.10.1030 and 7411.10.1090. Products subject to this order may also 
enter under HTSUS item numbers 7407.10.1500, 7419.99.5050, 
8415.90.8065, and 8415.90.8085. Although the HTSUS numbers are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
scope of this order remains dispositive.\9\
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    \9\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum for a complete 
description of the scope of the order.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For a 
full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary results 
of review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if the party or parties 
that requested a review withdraws the request within 90 days of the 
publication date of the notice of initiation of the requested review. 
As noted above, all requests for administrative review were timely 
withdrawn for certain companies. Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(1), we are rescinding this administrative review with 
respect to 12 of the 16 companies named in the Initiation Notice.\10\ 
See Appendix II for a list of these companies.
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    \10\ See Initiation Notice, 84 FR at 2160.
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Separate Rates

    In the Initiation Notice, we informed parties of the opportunity to 
request a separate rate.\11\ In proceedings involving non-market 
economy (NME) countries, Commerce begins with a rebuttable presumption 
that all companies within the NME country are subject to government 
control and, thus, should be assigned a single weighted-average dumping 
margin. It is Commerce's policy to assign all exporters of merchandise 
subject to an administrative review involving an NME country this 
single rate unless an exporter can demonstrate that it is sufficiently 
independent so as to be entitled to a separate rate. Companies that 
wanted to qualify for separate rate status in this administrative 
review were required to timely file, as appropriate, a separate rate 
application (SRA) or a separate rate certification (SRC) to demonstrate 
their eligibility for a separate rate. SRAs and SRCs were due to 
Commerce within 30 calendar days of the publication of the Initiation 
Notice.\12\
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    \11\ Id.
    \12\ Id.
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    On April 18, 2019, the Golden Dragon Entity notified Commerce that 
it would not participate further in this administrative review.\13\ 
Furthermore, the Golden Dragon Entity failed to respond to sections C 
and D of Commerce's antidumping questionnaire; consequently, given that 
we are unable to verify its separate rate status, we preliminarily find 
that the Golden Dragon Entity is ineligible for separate rate 
status.\14\ Sinochem Ningbo Import & Export Co., Ltd. did not file 
either a SRA or a SRC within 30 calendar days of the publication of the 
Initiation Notice. Therefore, we preliminarily find that Sinochem 
Ningbo Import & Export Co., Ltd. is ineligible for separate rate 
status.
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    \13\ See Golden Dragon Entity's Letter, ``Seamless Refined 
Copper Pipe and Tube from China: Notice of Non-Participation,'' 
dated April 18, 2019.
    \14\ See Initiation Notice, 84 FR at 2160. (``For exporters and 
producers who submit a separate-rate status application or 
certification and subsequently are selected as mandatory 
respondents, these exporters and producers will no longer be 
eligible for separate rate status unless they respond to all parts 
of the questionnaire as mandatory respondents.'').
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China-Wide Entity

    We preliminarily find that the Golden Dragon Entity is part of the 
China-wide entity in this administrative review, because it failed to 
respond to Commerce's antidumping questionnaire after being selected as 
a mandatory respondent and because we are unable to verify its separate 
rate status. We also preliminarily find that Sinochem Ningbo Import & 
Export Co., Ltd. is a part of the China-wide entity in this 
administrative review because it failed to submit either an SRA or an 
SRC.
    Commerce's policy regarding conditional review of the China-wide 
entity applies to this administrative review.\15\ Under this policy, 
the China-wide entity will not be under review unless a party 
specifically requests, or Commerce self-initiates, a review of the 
entity. Because no party requested a review of the China-wide entity in 
the instant review, the entity is not under review, and the entity's 
current rate, i.e., 60.85 percent,\16\ is not subject to change.
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    \15\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Announcement of Change in 
Department Practice for Respondent Selection in Antidumping Duty 
Proceedings and Conditional Review of the Nonmarket Economy Entity 
in NME Antidumping Duty Proceedings, 78 FR 65963, 65970 (November 4, 
2013).
    \16\ See Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and Tube from the People's 
Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review; 2014-2015, 82 FR 27688, 27689 (June 16, 2017).
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with the preliminary results within five days 
of the 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). However, because Commerce did not 
calculate weighted-average dumping margins for any companies in this 
review, nor for the China-wide entity, there is nothing further to 
disclose.
    Interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice.\17\ Rebuttal briefs, 
limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no later than 
five days after the case briefs are filed.\18\ Parties who submit case 
or rebuttal briefs in this review are requested to submit with each 
argument: (a) A statement of the issue; (b) a brief summary of the 
argument; and (c) a table of authorities.\19\
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    \17\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \18\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
    \19\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).

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[[Page 49097]]

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of 
publication of this notice.\20\ Hearing requests should contain the 
following information: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone 
number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to 
be discussed. Oral presentations at the hearing will be limited to 
issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs. If a request for a 
hearing is made, parties will be notified of the time and date for the 
hearing to be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.\21\
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    \20\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \21\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    All submissions, with limited exceptions, must be filed 
electronically using ACCESS.\22\ An electronically filed document must 
be received successfully in its entirety by Commerce's electronic 
records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the due date. 
Documents excepted from the electronic submission requirements must be 
filed manually (i.e., in paper form) with the APO/Dockets Unit in Room 
18022 and stamped with the date and time of receipt by 5 p.m. ET on the 
due date.\23\
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    \22\ See generally 19 CFR 351.303.
    \23\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order 
Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011).
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    Unless otherwise extended, Commerce intends to issue the final 
results of this administrative review, which will include the results 
of our analysis of all issues raised in any briefs received, within 120 
days of publication of these preliminary results in the Federal 
Register, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results of this review, Commerce will 
determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, 
AD duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review.\24\ 
Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP 15 days after 
publication of the final results of this review.
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    \24\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
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    We intend to instruct CBP to liquidate entries containing subject 
merchandise exported by the China-wide entity at the China-wide rate. 
Additionally, if Commerce determines that an exporter under review had 
no shipments of the subject merchandise, any suspended entries that 
entered under that exporter's case number will be liquidated at the 
China-wide rate.\25\
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    \25\ See Non-Market Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment 
of Antidumping Duties, 76 FR 65694 (October 24, 2011).
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    For the companies for which this review is rescinded, AD duties 
shall be assessed at rates equal to the cash deposit of estimated AD 
duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for 
consumption, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce 
intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP for those companies 15 
days after publication of this notice.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements for estimated AD duties, 
when imposed, will apply to all shipments of subject merchandise from 
China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the publication of the final results of this administrative review, as 
provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) If the companies 
preliminarily determined to be eligible for a separate rate receive a 
separate rate in the final results of this administrative review, their 
cash deposit rate will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margin 
established in the final results of this review, as adjusted for 
domestic and export subsidies (except, if that rate is de minimis, then 
the cash deposit rate will be zero); (2) for any previously 
investigated or reviewed Chinese and non-Chinese exporters that are not 
under review in this segment of the proceeding but that received a 
separate rate in the most recently completed segment of this 
proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the exporter-
specific rate published for the most recently completed segment of this 
proceeding; (3) for all Chinese exporters of subject merchandise that 
have not been found to be entitled to a separate rate, the cash deposit 
rate will be that for the China-wide entity; (4) for the China-wide 
entity, the cash deposit rate will be 60.85 percent; and (5) for all 
non-Chinese exporters of subject merchandise which have not received 
their own rate, the cash deposit rate will be the rate applicable to 
the Chinese exporter that supplied that non-Chinese exporter.
    These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in 
effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of AD duties prior to liquidation of the 
relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this 
requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement 
of AD duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double AD 
duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing notice of these preliminary results 
in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: September 11, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Respondent Selection
V. Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part
VI. Non-Market Economy Country
VII. Separate Rates
VIII. The China-Wide Entity
IX. Recommendation

Appendix II

Companies for Which This Administrative Review Is Being Rescinded

    1. Zhejiang Hailiang Co., Ltd.
    2. Shanghai Hailiang Copper Co., Ltd.
    3. Zhejiang Jiahe Pipes Inc
    4. Sinochem Ningbo Ltd.
    5. Ningbo Jintian Copper Tube Co., Ltd.
    6. Zhejiang Naile Copper Co., Ltd.
    7. Guilin Lijia Metals Co., Ltd.
    8. Foshan Hua Hong Copper Tube Co., Ltd
    9. Taicang City Jinxin Copper Tube Co., Ltd.
    10. Hong Kong Hailiang Metal.
    11. China Hailiang Metal Trading.
    12. Shanghai Hailiang Metal Trading Limited.

[FR Doc. 2019-20176 Filed 9-17-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P