[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 133 (Friday, July 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41536-41538]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14920]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-897, C-580-898]


Large Diameter Welded Pipe From the Republic of Korea: Initiation 
and Expedited Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty and 
Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Reviews

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating and 
issuing expedited preliminary results of changed circumstances reviews 
(CCR) of the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders 
on large diameter welded pipe from the Republic of Korea (Korea).

DATES: Applicable July 10, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine Johnson or Sergio Balbontin, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4929 
or (202) 482-6478, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 2, 2019, Commerce published the AD and CVD orders on large 
diameter welded pipe from Korea.\1\ On June 11, 2020,\2\ SeAH Steel 
Corporation (SeAH), a Korean producer of large diameter welded pipe, 
requested that Commerce initiate CCRs to revoke, in part, the AD and 
CVD orders on large diameter welded pipe from Korea with respect to 
certain large diameter welded pipe products within four specific groups 
of grades, outside diameters, and wall thicknesses.\3\ In its June 11 
CCR

[[Page 41537]]

Request, SeAH included as attachments the CCR requests filed in the 
companion India AD and CVD proceedings by nine members of the domestic 
industry, including the petitioners in the underlying investigations 
(individually and as members of the American Line Pipe Producers 
Association) and Welspun Global Trade LLC.\4\ In those CCR requests, 
the domestic industry requested that Commerce initiate CCRs to revoke, 
in part, the AD and CVD orders on large diameter welded pipe from 
India, with respect to certain large diameter welded pipe products 
within four specific groups of grades, outside diameters, and wall 
thicknesses.
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    \1\ See Large Diameter Welded Pipe from Korea: Amended Final 
Affirmative Antidumping Determination and Antidumping Duty Order, 84 
FR 18767 (May 2, 2019); and Large Diameter Welded Pipe from the 
Republic of Korea: Countervailing Duty Order, 84 FR 18773 (May 2, 
2019) (collectively, Orders).
    \2\ This request was originally filed on the record of the 
investigation on May 7, 2020, without any of the attachments 
referenced therein. It was refiled on June 11, 2020, on the correct 
segment and with the referenced attachments included.
    \3\ See SeAH's Letter, ``Large Diameter Welded Pipe from Korea: 
Request for Changed Circumstances Review and Revocation, in Part,'' 
dated June 11, 2020 (June 11 CCR Request) and Attachment to this 
notice.
    \4\ See June 11 CCR Request at Exhibits 1-3.
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    In its June 11 CCR Request, SeAH states that Commerce recently made 
determinations to revoke, in part, the AD and CVD orders on large 
diameter welded pipe from India and the AD order on large diameter 
welded pipe from Greece for these same four product groups. SeAH argues 
that because the domestic industry has expressed ``no interest'' in 
these four product groups from India, the domestic industry's statement 
should apply equally to the AD and CVD orders on Korea. According to 
SeAH, the AD and CVD orders for India and the AD order for Greece, as 
well as the AD and CVD orders for Korea, were the result of the same 
set of original January 17, 2018, petitions,\5\ each of which included 
the four product groups in which the domestic industry has now 
expressed ``no interest.'' \6\ SeAH requests that Commerce modify the 
Korea large diameter welded pipe AD and CVD orders in a manner 
consistent with the changes that have been made to the corresponding 
India and Greece orders.
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    \5\ See Large Diameter Welded Pipe from Canada, Greece, India, 
the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and the 
Republic of Turkey: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 83 FR 7154 (February 20, 2018) (Initiation Notice).
    \6\ See Large Diameter Welded Pipe from India: Final Results of 
Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances 
Reviews, 85 FR 26930 (May 6, 2020) (India CCR Final Results); and 
Large Diameter Welded Pipe from Greece: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 85 FR 37424 (June 22, 2020) 
(Greece CCR Final Results).
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Scope of the Orders

    The merchandise covered by these orders is welded carbon and alloy 
steel pipe (other than stainless steel pipe), more than 406.4 mm (16 
inches) in nominal outside diameter (large diameter welded pipe), 
regardless of wall thickness, length, surface finish, grade, end 
finish, or stenciling. Large diameter welded pipe may be used to 
transport oil, gas, slurry, steam, or other fluids, liquids, or gases. 
It may also be used for structural purposes, including, but not limited 
to, piling. Specifically, not included is large diameter welded pipe 
produced only to specifications of the American Water Works Association 
(AWWA) for water and sewage pipe.
    Large diameter welded pipe used to transport oil, gas, or natural 
gas liquids is normally produced to the American Petroleum Institute 
(API) specification 5L. Large diameter welded pipe may also be produced 
to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards A500, 
A252, or A53, or other relevant domestic specifications, grades and/or 
standards. Large diameter welded pipe can be produced to comparable 
foreign specifications, grades and/or standards or to proprietary 
specifications, grades and/or standards, or can be non-graded material. 
All pipe meeting the physical description set forth above is covered by 
the scope of these orders, whether or not produced according to a 
particular standard.
    Subject merchandise also includes large diameter welded pipe that 
has been further processed in a third country, including but not 
limited to coating, painting, notching, beveling, cutting, punching, 
welding, or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of the orders if performed in the country of 
manufacture of the in-scope large diameter welded pipe.
    Excluded from the scope are any products covered by the existing 
antidumping duty order on welded line pipe from the Republic of Korea. 
See Welded Line Pipe from the Republic of Korea and the Republic of 
Turkey: Antidumping Duty Orders, 80 FR 75056 (December 1, 2015).\7\
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    \7\ This paragraph does not appear in the scope of the CVD order 
on large diameter welded pipe from Korea.
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    The large diameter welded pipe that is subject to these orders is 
currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS) under subheadings 7305.11.1030, 7305.11.1060, 
7305.11.5000, 7305.12.1030, 7305.12.1060, 7305.12.5000, 7305.19.1030, 
7305.19.1060, 7305.19.5000, 7305.31.4000, 7305.31.6090, 7305.39.1000 
and 7305.39.5000. While the HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope 
of these orders is dispositive.

Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), and 19 CFR 351.216(d), Commerce will conduct a CCR of an AD 
or CVD order when it receives information which shows changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant such a review. Section 782(h)(2) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.222(g)(1)(i) provide that Commerce may revoke an 
order (in whole or in part) if it determines that producers accounting 
for substantially all of the production of the domestic like product 
have no further interest in the order, in whole or in part. In the 
event Commerce determines that expedited action is warranted, 19 CFR 
351.221(c)(3)(ii) permits Commerce to combine the notices of initiation 
and preliminary results.
    For the reasons discussed below, we find that such sufficient 
information exists to warrant the initiation of the CCRs requested by 
SeAH. Further, Commerce requires no additional information to make 
preliminary findings. For this reason, as permitted by 19 CFR 
351.221(c)(3)(ii), Commerce finds that expedited action is warranted 
and is conducting these reviews on an expedited basis by publishing 
preliminary results in conjunction with this notice of initiation.
    Furthermore, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.216(c), Commerce will not 
review a final determination in an investigation less than 24 months 
after the date of publication of notice of the final determination, 
unless Commerce determines that good cause exists. In the India CCR 
Preliminary Results, Commerce found that ``good cause'' existed to 
initiate the India CCRs even though the request was made less than 24 
months after the final determination.\8\ The 10 domestic producers who 
requested the India CCRs represented substantially all of the 
production of the domestic like product covered by the India orders,\9\ 
and have stated in those proceedings that they are no longer interested 
in the merchandise

[[Page 41538]]

at issue being covered by the orders.\10\ Additionally, the domestic 
industry does not currently produce the particular large diameter 
welded pipe products subject to this CCR request, nor were these 
products produced in the United States during the period of 
investigation. Furthermore, according to the domestic producers, the 
investment needed for the industry to produce these products far 
exceeds the potential benefit of such an investment, given that the 
U.S. market for deep offshore projects, i.e., the primary market for 
the large diameter welded pipe product groups at issue, is relatively 
small.\11\
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    \8\ See Large Diameter Welded Pipe from India: Initiation and 
Expedited Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty and Countervailing 
Duty Changed Circumstances Reviews, 84 FR 69356, 69357 (December 18, 
2019) (India CCR Preliminary Results); see also India CCR Final 
Results, 85 FR at 26930.
    \9\ In its administrative practice, Commerce has interpreted 
``substantially all'' to mean at least 85 percent of the total 
production of the domestic like product covered by the order. See, 
e.g., Supercalendered Paper from Canada: Final Results of Changed 
Circumstances Review and Revocation of Countervailing Duty Order, 83 
FR 32268 (July 12, 2018).
    \10\ See India CCR Preliminary Results, 84 FR at 69357 
(unchanged in India CCR Final Results 85 FR at 26930).
    \11\ Id.
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    Furthermore, in the Greece CCR Preliminary Results, Commerce 
stated:

    There is no evidence that harm is done to the domestic industry 
only by imports of Greek welded pipe and not by Indian welded pipe. 
Accordingly, we find that the domestic producers' statements are 
equally applicable to the CCRs for both countries, as the lack of 
domestic production or planned domestic production is true 
regardless of the foreign country of production.\12\
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    \12\ See Large Diameter Welded Pipe from Greece: Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 85 FR 
26924, 26926 (May 6, 2020) (Greece CCR Preliminary Results) 
(unchanged in Greece CCR Final Results).

    The AD and CVD orders on large diameter welded pipe from Korea 
began with the same scope in the petitions \13\ that resulted in the AD 
orders against India and Greece and the CVD order against India. 
Accordingly, we find that the domestic producers' statements are also 
applicable to the CCR requests for Korea. All of the facts that led 
Commerce to determine that there was ``good cause'' to initiate CCRs 
and finally modify the scopes of the India and Greece orders pertaining 
to large diameter welded pipe are equally applicable to the AD and CVD 
orders on large diameter welded pipe from Korea.
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    \13\ The scope in each of the large diameter welded pipe 
petitions was identical except for the exclusion of certain products 
covered by existing AD and/or CVD orders at the time of the 
initiation of the investigations. See Initiation Notice at Appendix.
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Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Reviews

    In the absence of any objection by any other interested parties, 
and consistent with the revocation, in part, of the AD and CVD orders 
on large diameter welded pipe from India and the AD order on large 
diameter welded pipe from Greece, we preliminarily determine that 
substantially all of the domestic producers of the like product have no 
interest in the continued application of part of the AD and CVD orders 
on large diameter welded pipe from Korea. Accordingly, we are notifying 
the public of our intent to revoke, in part, the Korea AD and CVD 
orders as they relate to certain specific large diameter welded pipe 
products produced in Korea. We intend to amend the scope of the AD and 
CVD orders on large diameter welded pipe from Korea by adding the 
exclusion language provided in the Attachment to this notice.

Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than 14 days 
after the date of publication of this notice.\14\ Rebuttal briefs, 
which must be limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be filed not 
later than seven days after the due date for case briefs.\15\ Note that 
Commerce has modified certain of its requirements for serving documents 
containing business proprietary information, until July 17, 2020, 
unless extended.\16\ All submissions must be filed electronically using 
Enforcement and Compliance's AD and CVD Centralized Electronic Service 
System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov. An electronically filed document must be received 
successfully in its entirety in ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the 
due date set forth in this notice.
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    \14\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(1)(ii) to alter the time limit for filing of case briefs.
    \15\ Commerce is exercising its discretion under 19 CFR 
351.309(d)(1) to alter the time limit for filing of rebuttal briefs.
    \16\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements 
Due to COVID-19, 85 FR 17006 (March 26, 2020); see also Temporary 
Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements Due to COVID-19; 
Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 29615 (May 18, 2020).
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    An interested party may request a hearing within 14 days of 
publication of this notice. 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 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 in a room to be determined.\17\
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    \17\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    Unless extended, consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), we intend to 
issue the final results of these CCRs no later than 270 days after the 
date on which these reviews were initiated, or within 45 days of that 
date if all parties agree to the outcome of the reviews.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice is published in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 
777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221(c)(3).

    Dated: July 2, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Attachment

Proposed Revision to the Scope of the Orders

    Excluded from the scope of the AD/CVD orders are large diameter 
welded pipe products in the following combinations of grades, 
outside diameters, and wall thicknesses:
     Grade X60, X65, or X70, 18 inches outside diameter, 
0.688 inches or greater wall thickness;
     Grade X60, X65, or X70, 20 inches outside diameter, 
0.688 inches or greater wall thickness;
     Grade X60, X65, X70, or X80, 22 inches outside 
diameter, 0.750 inches or greater wall thickness; and
     Grade X60, X65, or X70, 24 inches outside diameter, 
0.750 inches or greater wall thickness.

[FR Doc. 2020-14920 Filed 7-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P