[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9571-9573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03661]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-502]


Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes From India: 
Initiation of Circumvention Inquiry on the Antidumping Duty Order

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

SUMMARY: In response to a request from Bull Moose Tube Company (Bull 
Moose), Nucor Tubular Products Inc. (Nucor Tubular), Wheatland Tube 
Company (Wheatland) and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, 
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers 
International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (the USW) (collectively, the domestic 
interested parties), the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is 
initiating a country-wide circumvention inquiry to determine whether 
imports of certain welded carbon steel standard pipes and tubes (pipe 
and tube), which are completed in Oman and the United Arab Emirates 
(UAE) from hot-rolled steel (HRS) produced in India, are circumventing 
the antidumping duty (AD) order on pipe and tube from India.

DATES: Applicable February 22, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacob Keller, 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) 482-4849.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 16, 2021, pursuant to section 781(b) of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended (the Act) and 19 CFR 351.226(c) domestic interested 
parties filed a circumvention inquiry request alleging that pipe and 
tube completed in Oman and the UAE using HRS manufactured in India are 
circumventing the Order \1\ and, accordingly, should be included within 
the scope of the Order.\2\ On December 24, 2021, Al Jazeera Steel 
Products Co. SAOG (Al Jazeera) filed opposition comments in response to 
the domestic interested parties' request.\3\ On January 5, 2022, the 
domestic interested parties filed rebuttal comments regarding Al 
Jazeera's opposition comments.\4\ On January 11, 2022, Universal Tube 
and Plastic Industries, Ltd.; KHK Scaffolding and Formwork LLC; and THL 
Pipe and Tube Industries LLC (collectively, Universal) filed opposition 
comments.\5\ On January 13, 2022, Conares Metal Supply Limited 
(Conares) filed opposition comments.\6\
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    \1\ See Antidumping Duty Order; Certain Welded Carbon Steel 
Standard Pipes and Tubes from India, 51 FR 17384 (May 12, 1986) 
(Order).
    \2\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Certain Welded 
Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes from India: Request for an 
Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated December 16, 2021.
    \3\ See Al Jazeera's Letter, ``Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe 
from India; Al Jazeera Comments on Petitioners' Request for Anti-
circumvention Inquiry,'' dated December 24, 2021.
    \4\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Certain Welded 
Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes from India: Response to Al 
Jazeera's Comments on Request for Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' 
dated January 5, 2022.
    \5\ See Universal's Letter, ``Certain Welded Carbon Steel 
Standard Pipes and Tubes from India--Response to Domestic Interested 
Parties' Request for an Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January 
11, 2022.
    \6\ See Conares' Letter, ``Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe 
from India: Comments on Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January 
13, 2022.
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    On January 6, 2022, we issued a supplemental questionnaire to the 
domestic interested parties regarding their circumvention inquiry 
request.\7\ On January 18, 2022, the domestic interested parties filed 
their response to our supplemental questionnaire.\8\ On January 24 and 
25, 2022, Universal, Ajmal Steel Tubes and Pipes Ind., LLC, and K.D 
Industries Inc. (UAE Producers), and Conares filed additional 
opposition comments, respectively.\9\
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    \7\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Anti-Circumvention Inquiry of 
Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe and Tube from India: 
Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated January 6, 2022.
    \8\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Certain Welded 
Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes from India: Response to 
Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated January 18, 2022.
    \9\ See UAE Producers' Letter, ``Certain Welded Carbon Steel 
Standard Pipes and Tubes from India--Additional Information to 
Support a Rejection of an Anti-Circumvention Inquiry Request,'' 
dated January 14, 2022; see also Conares' Letter, ``Welded Carbon 
Steel Standard Pipe from India: Rebuttal and Comments on Domestic 
Interested Parties' Supplemental Response,'' dated January 25, 2022.
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    On January 11, 2022, we extended the deadline to initiate these 
circumvention inquiries by 15 days, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.226(d)(1).\10\ On January 28,

[[Page 9572]]

2022, we extended, for good cause, the deadline to initiate by an 
additional 15 days in accordance with 19 CFR 351.302(b).\11\
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    \10\ See Memoranda, ``Certain Welded Steel Carbon Standard Pipes 
and Tubes from India: Extension of Time to Determine Whether to 
Initiate Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January 11, 2022; and 
``Certain Welded Steel Carbon Standard Pipes and Tubes from India: 
Revised Extension of Time to Determine Whether to Initiate Anti-
Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January 12, 2022.
    \11\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard 
Pipes and Tubes from India: Extension of Time to Determine Whether 
to Initiate Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January 28, 2022.
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the Order include certain welded carbon 
steel standard pipes and tubes with an outside diameter of 0.375 inch 
or more but not over 16 inches. These products are commonly referred to 
in the industry as standard pipes and tubes produced to various 
American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) specifications, most 
notably A-53, A-120, or A-135. The antidumping duty order on certain 
welded carbon steel standard pipes and tubes from India, published on 
May 12, 1986, included standard scope language which used the import 
classification system as defined by Tariff Schedules of the United 
States, Annotated (TSUSA).
    The United States developed a system of tariff classification based 
on the international harmonized system of customs nomenclature. On 
January 1, 1989, the U.S. tariff schedules were fully converted from 
the TSUSA to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). See, e.g., Certain 
Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes from India; Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, 56 FR 26650, 26651 
(June 10, 1991). As a result of this transition, the scope language we 
used in the 1991 Federal Register notice is slightly different from the 
scope language of the original final determination and antidumping duty 
order.
    Until January 1, 1989, such merchandise was classifiable under item 
numbers 610.3231, 610.3234, 610.3241, 610.3242, 610.3243, 610.3252, 
610.3254, 610.3256, 610.3258, and 610.4925 of the TSUSA. This 
merchandise is currently classifiable under HTS subheadings 
7306.30.1000, 7306.30.5025, 7306.30.5032, 7306.30.5040, 7306.30.5055, 
7306.30.5085, 7306.30.5090. As with the TSUSA item numbers, the HTS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes.
    The written product description remains dispositive.

Merchandise Subject to the Circumvention Inquiry

    This circumvention inquiry covers pipe and tube completed in Oman 
and the UAE using India-origin HRS and subsequently exported from Oman 
and the UAE to the United States.

Initiation of Circumvention Inquiry

    Section 351.226(d) of Commerce's regulations states that if 
Commerce determines that a request for a circumvention inquiry 
satisfies the requirements of 19 CFR 351.226(c), then Commerce ``will 
accept the request and initiate a circumvention inquiry.'' Section 
351.226(c)(1) of Commerce's regulations, in turn, requires that each 
circumvention inquiry request allege ``that the elements necessary for 
a circumvention determination under section 781 of the Act exist'' and 
be ``accompanied by information reasonably available to the interested 
party supporting these allegations.''
    Section 781(b)(1) of the Act provides that Commerce may find 
circumvention of an AD order when merchandise of the same class or kind 
subject to the order is completed or assembled in a foreign country 
other than the country to which the order applies. In conducting a 
circumvention inquiry, under section 781(b)(1) of the Act, Commerce 
relies on the following criteria: (A) Merchandise imported into the 
United States is of the same class or kind as any merchandise produced 
in a foreign country that is the subject of an antidumping or 
countervailing duty order or finding; (B) before importation into the 
United States, such imported merchandise is completed or assembled in 
another foreign country from merchandise which is subject to the order 
or merchandise which is produced in the foreign country that is subject 
to the order; (C) the process of assembly or completion in the foreign 
country referred to in section (B) is minor or insignificant; (D) the 
value of the merchandise produced in the foreign country to which the 
AD or countervailing duty order applies is a significant portion of the 
total value of the merchandise exported to the United States; and (E) 
the administering authority determines that action is appropriate to 
prevent evasion of such order or finding.
    In determining whether the process of assembly or completion in a 
third country is minor or insignificant under section 781(b)(1)(C) of 
the Act, section 781(b)(2) of the Act directs Commerce to consider: (A) 
The level of investment in the foreign country; (B) the level of 
research and development in the foreign country; (C) the nature of the 
production process in the foreign country; (D) the extent of production 
facilities in the foreign country; and (E) whether or not the value of 
processing performed in the foreign country represents a small 
proportion of the value of the merchandise imported into the United 
States. However, no single factor, by itself, controls Commerce's 
determination of whether the process of assembly or completion in a 
third country is minor or insignificant.\12\ Accordingly, it is 
Commerce's practice to evaluate each of these five factors as they 
exist in the third country, depending on the totality of the 
circumstances of the particular circumvention inquiry.\13\
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    \12\ See Statement of Administrative Action accompanying the 
Uruguay Round Agreements Act (SAA), H.R. Doc. No. 103-316 (1994) at 
893.
    \13\ See Uncovered Innerspring Units from the People's Republic 
of China: Final Affirmative Determination of Circumvention of the 
Antidumping Duty Order, 83 FR 65626 (December 21, 2018), and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at 4.
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    In addition, section 781(b)(3) of the Act sets forth additional 
factors to consider in determining whether to include merchandise 
assembled or completed in a third country within the scope of an 
antidumping or countervailing duty order. Specifically, Commerce shall 
take into account such factors as: (A) The pattern of trade, including 
sourcing patterns; (B) whether the manufacturer or exporter of the 
merchandise is affiliated with the person who, in the third country, 
uses the merchandise to complete or assemble the merchandise which is 
subsequently imported into the United States; and (C) whether imports 
of the merchandise into the third country have increased after the 
initiation of the investigation that resulted in the issuance of such 
order or finding.
    Based on our analysis of the domestic interested parties' 
circumvention request, Commerce determines that the domestic interested 
parties have satisfied the criteria under 19 CFR 351.226(c) to warrant 
the initiation of a circumvention inquiry of the Order. For a full 
discussion of the basis for our decision to initiate this circumvention 
inquiry, see the Circumvention Initiation Memo.\14\ As explained in the 
Circumvention Initiation Memo, the information provided by domestic 
interested parties warrants initiating

[[Page 9573]]

this circumvention inquiry on a country-wide basis. Commerce has taken 
this approach in prior circumvention inquiries, where the facts 
warranted initiation on a country-wide basis.\15\
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    \14\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard 
Pipes and Tubes from India: Initiation of Circumvention Inquiries on 
the Antidumping Duty Order,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice (Circumvention Initiation Memo). This memo 
is a public document and available electronically online via ACCESS.
    \15\ See, e.g., Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from 
the Republic of Korea and Taiwan: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention 
Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders, 83 
FR 37785 (August 2, 2018); Carbon Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings from 
the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention 
Inquiry on the Antidumping Duty Order, 82 FR 40556, 40560 (August 
25, 2017) (stating at initiation that Commerce would evaluate the 
extent to which a country-wide finding applicable to all exports 
might be warranted); and Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products 
from the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Anti-
Circumvention Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing 
Duty Orders, 81 FR 79454, 79458 (November 14, 2016) (stating at 
initiation that Commerce would evaluate the extent to which a 
country-wide finding applicable to all exports might be warranted).
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    Consistent with the approach in the prior circumvention inquiries 
that were initiated on a country-wide basis, Commerce intends to issue 
questionnaires to solicit information from producers and exporters in 
Oman and the UAE concerning their shipments of pipe and tube made from 
India-origin HRS to the United States. A company's failure to respond 
completely to Commerce's requests for information may result in the 
application of partial or total facts available, pursuant to section 
776(a) of the Act, which may include adverse inferences, pursuant to 
section 776(b) of the Act.

Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.226(l)(1), Commerce will notify U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) of the initiation and direct CBP to 
continue the suspension of liquidation of entries of products subject 
to the circumvention inquiry that were already subject to the 
suspension of liquidation under the Order. Should Commerce issue 
preliminary or final circumvention determinations, Commerce will follow 
the suspension of liquidation rules under 19 CFR 351.226(l)(2)-(4).

Notification to Interested Parties

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.226(d) and section 781(b) of the Act, 
Commerce determines that the domestic interested parties' request for 
this circumvention inquiry satisfies the requirements of 19 CFR 
351.226(c). Accordingly, Commerce is notifying all interested parties 
of the initiation of this circumvention inquiry to determine whether 
certain imports of pipe and tube, completed in and exported from Oman 
and the UAE using HRS inputs manufactured in India, are circumventing 
the Order. In addition, we have included a description of the products 
that are the subject of this inquiry, and an explanation of the reasons 
for Commerce's decision to initiate this inquiry as provided above and 
in the accompanying Circumvention Initiation Memo.\16\ In accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.226(e)(2), Commerce intends to issue its final 
circumvention determination within 300 days from the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation of a circumvention inquiry in 
the Federal Register.
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    \16\ See Circumvention Initiation Memo.
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    This notice is published in accordance with section 781(b) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.226(d)(1)(ii).

    Dated: February 14, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Circumvention Initiation Memo

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Merchandise Subject to the Circumvention Inquiry
V. Statutory and Regulatory Framework for Circumvention Inquiries
VI. Statutory Analysis for the Circumvention Inquiry
VII. Comments Opposing the Initiation of a Circumvention Inquiry
VIII. Country-Wide Circumvention Inquiries
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2022-03661 Filed 2-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P