[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55139-55141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22532]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-489-817]


Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Republic of Turkey: Final 
Results of the Expedited First Sunset Review of the Countervailing Duty 
Order

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) finds that revocation of 
the countervailing duty (CVD) order would be likely to lead to the 
continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy at the levels 
indicated in the ``Final Results of Review'' section of this notice.

DATES: Applicable October 15, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aimee Phelan or Mary Kolberg, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2201 or (202) 482-1785, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On September 10, 2014, Commerce published in the Federal Register 
the CVD order on oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from the Republic of 
Turkey (Turkey).\1\ Subsequently on October 5, 2017, Commerce published 
an amended order consistent with the decision of the United States 
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirming Commerce's remand 
redetermination.\2\ On June 4, 2019, Commerce published the notice of 
initiation of the first sunset review of the CVD order on OCTG Turkey, 
pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act).\3\ In June 2019, Commerce received a notice of intent to 
participate from the following domestic interested parties: Benteler 
Steel/Tube, Boomerang Tube, LLC, IPSCO Tubulars, Inc., Vallourec Star, 
LP, and Welded Tube USA Inc; \4\ Maverick Tube Corporation and Tenaris 
Bay City, Inc; \5\ and United States Steel Corporation. (U.S. Steel 
Corporation).\6\ All notices of intent to participate were timely filed 
within the deadline specified in 19 CFR 351.218(d)(1)(i). Additionally, 
each of these companies claimed interested party status under section 
771(9)(C) of the Act, as a domestic producer of OCTG.
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    \1\ See Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from India and the 
Republic of Turkey: Countervailing Duty Orders and Amended 
Affirmative Final Countervailing Duty Determination for India, 79 FR 
53688 (September 10, 2014).
    \2\ See Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Republic of Turkey: 
Amendment of Countervailing Duty Order, 82 FR 46483 (October 5, 
2017).
    \3\ See Initiation of Five-Year (Sunset) Reviews, 84 FR 25741 
(June 4, 2019).
    \4\ See Benteler Steel/Tube's, Boomerang Tube, LLC's, IPSCO 
Tubulars, Inc.'s, Vallourec Star, LP's, and Welded Tube USA Inc.'s 
Letter, ``Oil Country Tubular Goods from Turkey: Notice of Intent to 
Participate,'' dated June 13, 2019.
    \5\ See Maverick Tube Corporation's and Tenaris Bay City, Inc.'s 
Letter, ``Notice of Intent to Participate in First Sunset Reviews of 
the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders on Oil Country 
Tubular Goods from Turkey,'' dated June 17, 2019.
    \6\ See U.S. Steel Corporation's Letter, ``Five-Year (Sunset) 
Review of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders on Oil Country 
Tubular Goods from Turkey: Notice of Intent to Participate,'' dated 
June 19, 2019.
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    Commerce received an adequate substantive response to the notice of 
initiation from the domestic producers within the 30-day deadline 
specified in 19 CFR 351.218(d)(3)(i).\7\ On July 4, 2019, we received a 
timely substantive response from the government of Turkey (GOT).\8\ The 
domestic interested parties

[[Page 55140]]

filed a timely rebuttal response to the GOT's submission on July 9, 
2019.\9\ However, because we did not receive a substantive response 
from exporters of OCTG from Turkey, we determined that the substantive 
response provided by the GOT was not adequate.
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    \7\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Oil Country 
Tubular Goods from Turkey: Substantive Response of the Domestic 
Industry to Commerce's Notice of Initiation of Five-Year (Sunset) 
Review,'' dated July 3, 2019.
    \8\ See GOT's Letter, ``Response of the Government of Turkey to 
the Five-Year Review (Sunset Review) of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Orders on Imports of Certain Oil Country Tubular 
Goods from the Republic of Turkey,'' dated July 4, 2019.
    \9\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Oil Country 
Tubular Goods from Turkey: Rebuttal to the Substantive Response of 
the Government of Turkey to Commerce's Notice of Initiation of Five-
Year (Sunset) Reviews,'' dated July 9, 2019.
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    On July 29, 2019, Commerce notified the U.S. International Trade 
Commission that it did not receive an adequate substantive response 
from respondent interested parties.\10\ As a result, pursuant to 
751(c)(3)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.218(e)(1)(ii)(C)(2), Commerce 
conducted an expedited (120-day) sunset review of the CVD order on OCTG 
from Turkey.
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    \10\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Sunset Reviews Initiated on June 
1, 2019,'' dated July 29, 2019.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the order is OCTG, 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 the 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 the 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, 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 the 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. 
Although the HTSUS subheadings above are provided for convenience and 
customs purpose, the written description of the scope of the order is 
dispositive.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in this sunset review are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum,\11\ which is hereby adopted by this notice. 
The issues discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum are the 
likelihood of continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy 
and the net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail if the order were 
revoked. 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 
to all in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Commerce 
building. A list of the topics discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum is attached to this notice as an Appendix. In addition, a 
complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed 
directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/.
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    \11\ See Memorandum ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Expedited Fourth Sunset Review of the Countervailing Duty Order on 
Certain Pasta from Italy,'' dated concurrently with this notice 
(Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Final Results of Review

    Pursuant to sections 751(c)(1) and 752(b) of the Act, Commerce 
determines that revocation of the CVD order on OCTG from Turkey would 
be likely to lead to the continuation or recurrence of a 
countervailable subsidy at the rates listed below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Net subsidy
                    Producer/exporter                          rate
                                                             (percent)
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Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., and                 2.71
 cross-owned affiliates Borusan Istikbal Ticaret,
 Borusan Mannesmann Boru Yatirim Holding A.S., and
 Borusan Holding A.S. (collectively, Borusan)...........
All Others..............................................            2.71
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Administrative Protective Order (APO)

    This notice also serves as the only reminder to parties subject to 
an APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction of 
proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305. Timely written notification of the return or destruction of 
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO 
is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(c), 752(b), and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.218.


[[Page 55141]]


    Dated: October 2, 2019.
P. Lee Smith,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations Enforcement and 
Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. History of the Order
V. Legal Framework
VI. Discussion of the Issues
VII. Final Results of Review
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-22532 Filed 10-11-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P