[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 188 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59041-59043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21170]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-856]


Oil Country Tubular Goods From Mexico: Final Affirmative 
Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Critical 
Circumstances

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Mexico are being, or 
are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV) during the period of investigation October 1, 2020, through 
September 30, 2021.

DATES: Applicable September 29, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Bradshaw or Yang Jin Chun, AD/
CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3896 or (202) 
482-5760, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 11, 2022, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of OCTG 
from Mexico, in which it also postponed the final determination until 
September 23, 2022.\1\ We invited interested parties to comment on the 
Preliminary Determination. A summary of the events that occurred since 
Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full 
discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final 
determination, may be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\2\
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    \1\ See Oil Country Tubular Goods from Mexico: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Critical Circumstances, Postponement of Final Determination, and 
Extension of Provisional Measures, 87 FR 28808 (May 11, 2022) 
(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Oil Country Tubular Goods from Mexico: 
Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Affirmative 
Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Critical 
Circumstances,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, 
this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are OCTG from Mexico. 
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
appendix I.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs submitted by 
interested parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum is attached to this notice as appendix II. 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 https://access.trade.gov. In 
addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can 
be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Verification

    Commerce was unable to conduct on-site verifications of the 
information relied upon in making its final determination in this 
investigation for reasons beyond its control. However, we conducted 
virtual verifications in lieu of on-site verifications to verify the 
information relied upon in making this final determination, in 
accordance with section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act). Specifically, Commerce conducted virtual verifications of 
the home market sales, U.S. sales, cost of production, and further 
manufacturing responses submitted by Tubos de Acero de Mexico, S.A. 
(TAMSA).

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and additional 
information obtained since the Preliminary Determination, we made 
certain changes to the margin calculation for this final determination. 
For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters 
not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
individually investigated exporters and producers, excluding rates that 
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act, i.e., facts otherwise available.
    In this investigation, Commerce calculated an individual estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for the sole mandatory respondent, 
TAMSA, that is not zero, de minimis, or

[[Page 59042]]

based entirely on facts otherwise available. Consequently, Commerce 
assigned the estimated weighted-average dumping margin calculated for 
TAMSA to all other producers and exporters of the merchandise under 
consideration, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    In accordance with section 735(a)(3) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, 
Commerce continues to find that critical circumstances exist for all 
companies in Mexico. For a full description of the methodology and 
results of Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, see the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum.\3\
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    \3\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum at 3-4.
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Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins exist for the period October 1, 2020, through September 
30, 2021:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Estimated
                                                               weighted-
                                                                average
                      Exporter/producer                         dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tubos de Acero de Mexico, S.A...............................       44.93
All Others..................................................       44.93
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this final determination within five 
days of any 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).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise, as described 
in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after May 11, 2022, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. 
Further, in accordance with 735(c)(4) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of 
subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which 
were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
February 10, 2022, which is 90 days before the date of publication of 
the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. These suspension 
of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(d), upon the publication of this notice, we will instruct CBP 
to require a cash deposit for estimated antidumping duties for such 
entries as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondent listed 
in the table above is the company-specific estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin listed for the respondent in the table; (2) if the 
exporter is not the respondent listed in the table above, but the 
producer is, then the cash deposit rate is the company-specific 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed for the producer of 
the subject merchandise in the table above; and (3) the cash deposit 
rate for all other producers and exporters is the all-others estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin listed in the table above.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this 
investigation is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of 
the Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the 
likelihood of sales) for importation of OCTG no later than 45 days 
after this final determination. If the ITC determines that such injury 
does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, all cash deposits 
posted will be refunded, and suspension of liquidation will be lifted. 
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue 
an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation, as discussed in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section above.

Administrative Protective Order

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). 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

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

    Dated: September 23, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain OCTG, 
which are hollow steel products of circular cross-section, including 
oil well casing and tubing, of iron (other than case 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 this investigation also 
covers OCTG coupling stock.
    Subject merchandise includes material matching the above 
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed 
in a third country, including by performing any heat treatment, 
cutting, upsetting, threading, coupling, or any other finishing, 
packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the OCTG.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are: casing, 
tubing, or coupling stock containing 10.5 percent or more by weight 
of chromium; drill pipe; unattached couplings; and unattached thread 
protectors.
    The merchandise subject to this investigation is currently 
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) under item numbers: 7304.29.1010, 7304.29.1020, 
7304.29.1030, 7304.29.1040, 7304.29.1050, 7304.29.1060, 
7304.29.1080, 7304.29.2010, 7304.29.2020, 7304.29.2030, 
7304.29.2040, 7304.29.2050, 7304.29.2060, 7304.29.2080, 
7304.29.3110, 7304.29.3120, 7304.29.3130, 7304.29.3140, 
7304.29.3150, 7304.29.3160, 7304.29.3180, 7304.29.4110, 
7304.29.4120, 7304.29.4130, 7304.29.4140, 7304.29.4150, 
7304.29.4160, 7304.29.4180, 7304.29.5015, 7304.29.5030, 
7304.29.5045, 7304.29.5060, 7304.29.5075, 7304.29.6115, 
7304.29.6130, 7304.29.6145, 7304.29.6160, 7304.29.6175, 
7305.20.2000, 7305.20.4000, 7305.20.6000, 7305.20.8000, 
7306.29.1030, 7306.29.1090, 7306.29.2000, 7306.29.3100, 
7306.29.4100, 7306.29.6010, 7306.29.6050, 7306.29.8110, and 
7306.29.8150.

[[Page 59043]]

    The merchandise subject to this investigation may also enter 
under the following HTSUS item numbers: 7304.39.0024, 7304.39.0028, 
7304.39.0032, 7304.39.0036, 7304.39.0040, 7304.39.0044, 
7304.39.0048, 7304.39.0052, 7304.39.0056, 7304.39.0062, 
7304.39.0068, 7304.39.0072, 7304.39.0076, 7304.39.0080, 
7304.59.6000, 7304.59.8015, 7304.59.8020, 7304.59.8025, 
7304.59.8030, 7304.59.8035, 7304.59.8040, 7304.59.8045, 
7304.59.8050, 7304.59.8055, 7304.59.8060, 7304.59.8065, 
7304.59.8070, 7304.59.8080, 7305.31.4000, 7305.31.6090, 
7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5090, 7306.50.5050, and 7306.50.5070.
    The HTSUS subheadings and specifications above are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes only. The written description of 
the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
VI. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: U.S. Indirect Selling Expenses (ISE) Incurred in a 
Third Country
    Comment 2: Constructed Export Price (CEP) Offset
    Comment 3: Additional Coupling Code
    Comment 4: Additional Thread Codes
    Comment 5: U.S. Early Payment Discounts
    Comment 6: U.S. Inventory Carrying Costs
    Comment 7: Affiliated Raw Material Input Purchases for Further 
Manufacturing (FM)
    Comment 8: FM Yield Losses
    Comment 9: Research and Development (R&D) Expenses
    Comment 10: Virtual Verification
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2022-21170 Filed 9-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P