Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From India, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations, 72164-72171 [2011-30162]
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72164
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 225 / Tuesday, November 22, 2011 / Notices
November 7, 2011 (hereinafter, the
Supplement to the AD/CVD Petitions,1
the Supplement to the AD India
Petition, the Supplement to the AD
Oman Petition, the Supplement to the
AD United Arab Emirates Petition, and
Dated: November 15, 2011.
the Supplement to the AD Vietnam
Paul Piquado,
Petition). On November 4, 2011, the
Assistant Secretary for Import
Department issued a request for
Administration.
additional information and clarification
[FR Doc. 2011–30164 Filed 11–21–11; 8:45 am]
regarding the scope of the petitions, and
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
Petitioners’ response to this request was
included in the Supplement to the AD/
CVD Petitions. On November 8, 2011,
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Petitioners agreed to modified scope
language. See the November 10, 2011
International Trade Administration
memorandum from Steve Bezirganian
[A–533–852, A–523–801, A–520–805, A–552–
through Richard Weible to the File.
811]
On November 8, 2011, the Department
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel
requested additional clarification on
Pipe From India, the Sultanate of
issues involving industry support.
Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and
Petitioners filed a response to this
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
request on November 10, 2011
Initiation of Antidumping Duty
(hereinafter, the Second Supplement to
Investigations
the AD/CVD Petitions). On November 8,
2011, the Department requested
AGENCY: Import Administration,
additional information regarding India
International Trade Administration,
and Vietnam. Petitioners filed responses
Department of Commerce.
to these requests on November 10, 2011
DATES: Effective Date: November 22,
(hereinafter, the Second Supplement to
2011.
the AD India Petition and the Second
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Supplement to the AD Vietnam Petition,
Steve Bezirganian, Robert James (India,
respectively). In accordance with
the United Arab Emirates, and
section 732(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930,
Vietnam), or Angelica Mendoza (Oman), as amended (the Act), Petitioners allege
AD/CVD Operations, Office 7, Import
that imports of certain steel pipe from
Administration, International Trade
India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam are
Administration, U.S. Department of
being, or are likely to be, sold in the
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution United States at less than fair value,
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at within the meaning of section 731 of the
(202) 482–1131, (202) 482–0649, or
Act, and that such imports are
(202) 482–3019, respectively.
materially injuring, or threatening
material injury to, an industry in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
United States.
The Petitions
The Department finds that Petitioners
On October 26, 2011, the Department
filed the Petitions on behalf of the
of Commerce (the Department) received domestic industry because Petitioners
petitions concerning imports of circular are interested parties as defined in
welded carbon-quality steel pipe
section 771(9)(C) of the Act and have
(certain steel pipe) from India, the
demonstrated sufficient industry
Sultanate of Oman (Oman), the United
support with respect to the antidumping
Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Socialist
duty investigations that Petitioners are
Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) filed in
requesting that the Department initiate
proper form on behalf of Allied Tube
(see ‘‘Determination of Industry Support
and Conduit, JMC Steel Group,
for the Petitions’’ section below).
Wheatland Tube Company, and United
Period of Investigation
States Steel Corporation (collectively,
Petitioners). See Circular Welded
The period of investigation (POI) for
Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from India,
India, Oman, and the UAE is October 1,
Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam:
2010, through September 30, 2011. The
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
POI for Vietnam is April 1, 2011,
Petitions, filed on October 26, 2011
through September 30, 2011. See 19
(hereinafter, the Petitions). On
CFR 351.204(b)(1).
November 1, 2011, the Department
issued requests for additional
1 Petitioners refiled the Supplement to the AD/
information and clarification of certain
CVD Petitions on November 9, 2011, to include a
areas of the Petitions. Petitioners filed
statement that the business proprietary document
‘‘may be released under APO.’’
responses to these requests on
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Department’s analysis of any written
comments. This preliminary negative
circumvention determination is
published in accordance with section
781(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.225.
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Scope of Investigations
The product covered by these
investigations is certain steel pipe from
India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam.
For a full description of the scopes of
the investigations, see Appendix I
(Scope of the Oman, the UAE, and
Vietnam Investigations) and Appendix
II (Scope of the India AD Investigation)
of this notice.
Comments on Scope of Investigations
During our review of the Petitions, we
discussed the scope with Petitioners to
ensure that it is an accurate reflection of
the products for which the domestic
industry is seeking relief. Moreover, as
discussed in the preamble to the
Department’s regulations (Antidumping
Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final
Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19,
1997)), we are setting aside a period for
interested parties to raise issues
regarding product coverage. Interested
parties that wish to submit comments
on the scope should do so by December
5, 2011, twenty calendar days from the
signature date of this notice. All
comments must be filed on the records
of the India, Oman, the UAE, and
Vietnam antidumping duty
investigations and the India, Oman, the
UAE, and Vietnam countervailing duty
investigations. All comments and
submissions to the Department must be
filed electronically using Import
Administration’s Antidumping
Countervailing Duty Centralized
Electronic Service System (IA
ACCESS).2 An electronically filed
document must be received successfully
in its entirety by the Department’s
electronic records system, IA ACCESS,
by the time and date noted above.
Documents excepted from the electronic
submission requirements must be filed
manually (i.e., in paper form) with the
Import Administration’s APO/Dockets
Unit, Room 1870, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230,
and stamped with the date and time of
receipt by the deadline noted above.
Comments on Product Characteristics
for Antidumping Duty Questionnaires
Interested parties may submit
comments regarding the appropriate
characteristics of certain steel pipe to be
reported in response to the
2 See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR–2011–07–
06/pdf/2011–16352.pdf for details of the
Department’s Electronic Filing Requirements,
which went into effect on August 5, 2011.
Information on help using IAACCESS can be found
at https://iaaccess.trade.gov/help.aspx and a
handbook can be found at https://iaaccess.trade.
gov/help/Handbook%20on%20Electronic%20
Filling%20Procedures.pdf.
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 225 / Tuesday, November 22, 2011 / Notices
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Department’s antidumping
questionnaires. We base the product
characteristics used for defining models
and model matching on meaningful
commercial differences among products.
In addition, interested parties may
comment on the order in which the
characteristics should be used in model
matching. Generally, the Department
attempts to list the characteristics in
descending order of importance. On the
day of publication of this notice, the
Department will post its proposal on the
Import Administration Web site at
https://ia.ita.doc.gov/ia-highlights-andnews.html. In order to consider the
suggestions of interested parties in
developing and issuing the antidumping
duty questionnaires, we must receive
comments by December 9, 2011. All
such comments must be filed on the
records of the India, Oman, the UAE,
and Vietnam antidumping duty
investigations. All comments and
submissions to the Department must be
filed electronically using IA ACCESS, as
referenced above.
Determination of Industry Support for
the Petitions
Section 732(b)(1) of the Act requires
that a petition be filed on behalf of the
domestic industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A)
of the Act provides that a petition meets
this requirement if the domestic
producers or workers who support the
petition account for: (i) At least 25
percent of the total production of the
domestic like product; and (ii) more
than 50 percent of the production of the
domestic like product produced by that
portion of the industry expressing
support for, or opposition to, the
petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D)
of the Act provides that, if the petition
does not establish support of domestic
producers or workers accounting for
more than 50 percent of the total
production of the domestic like product,
the Department shall: (i) Poll the
industry or rely on other information in
order to determine if there is support for
the petition, as required by
subparagraph (A); or (ii) determine
industry support using a statistically
valid sampling method to poll the
industry.
Section 771(4)(A) of the Act defines
the ‘‘industry’’ as the producers as a
whole of a domestic like product. Thus,
to determine whether a petition has the
requisite industry support, the statute
directs the Department to look to
producers and workers who produce the
domestic like product. The International
Trade Commission (ITC), which is
responsible for determining whether
‘‘the domestic industry’’ has been
injured, must also determine what
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constitutes a domestic like product in
order to define the industry. While both
the Department and the ITC must apply
the same statutory definition regarding
the domestic like product (see section
771(10) of the Act), they do so for
different purposes and pursuant to a
separate and distinct authority. In
addition, the Department’s
determination is subject to limitations of
time and information. Although this
may result in different definitions of the
like product, such differences do not
render the decision of either agency
contrary to law. See USEC, Inc. v.
United States, 132 F. Supp. 2d 1, 8 (CIT
2001), citing Algoma Steel Corp., Ltd. v.
United States, 688 F. Supp. 639, 644
(CIT 1988), aff’d 865 F.2d 240 (Fed. Cir.
1989).
Section 771(10) of the Act defines the
domestic like product as ‘‘a product
which is like, or in the absence of like,
most similar in characteristics and uses
with, the article subject to an
investigation under this title.’’ Thus, the
reference point from which the
domestic like product analysis begins is
‘‘the article subject to an investigation’’
(i.e., the class or kind of merchandise to
be investigated, which normally will be
the scope as defined in the petition).
With regard to the domestic like
product, Petitioners do not offer a
definition of domestic like product
distinct from the scope of the
investigations. Based on our analysis of
the information submitted on the
record, we have determined that certain
steel pipe constitutes a single domestic
like product and we have analyzed
industry support in terms of that
domestic like product. For a discussion
of the domestic like product analysis in
this case, see Antidumping Duty
Investigation Initiation Checklist:
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel
Pipe from India (India AD Checklist),
Antidumping Duty Investigation
Initiation Checklist: Circular Welded
Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from Oman
(Oman AD Checklist), Antidumping
Duty Investigation Initiation Checklist:
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel
Pipe from the UAE (UAE AD Checklist),
and Antidumping Duty Investigation
Initiation Checklist: Circular Welded
Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from Vietnam
(Vietnam AD Checklist) at Attachment
II, Analysis of Industry Support for the
Petitions Covering Circular Welded
Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe, on file
electronically via IA ACCESS. Access to
IA ACCESS is available in the Central
Records Unit (CRU), Room 7046 of the
main Department of Commerce
building.
In determining whether Petitioners
have standing under section
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732(c)(4)(A) of the Act, we considered
the industry support data contained in
the Petitions with reference to the
domestic like product as defined in the
‘‘Scope of Investigations,’’ in Appendix
I of this notice. To establish industry
support, Petitioners provided their
shipments of the domestic like product
in 2010, and compared their shipments
to the estimated total shipments of the
domestic like product for the entire
domestic industry. Because total
industry production data for the
domestic like product for 2010 is not
reasonably available and Petitioners
have established that shipments are a
reasonable proxy for production data,
we have relied upon the shipment data
provided by Petitioners for purposes of
measuring industry support. For further
discussion, see India AD Checklist,
Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD Checklist,
and Vietnam AD Checklist, at
Attachment II.
Our review of the data provided in the
Petitions, supplemental submissions,
and other information readily available
to the Department indicates that
Petitioners have established industry
support. First, the Petitions established
support from domestic producers
accounting for more than 50 percent of
the total shipments 3 of the domestic
like product and, as such, the
Department is not required to take
further action in order to evaluate
industry support (e.g., polling). See
section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act and India
AD Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE
AD Checklist, and Vietnam AD
Checklist, at Attachment II. Second, the
domestic producers have met the
statutory criteria for industry support
under section 732(c)(4)(A)(i) of the Act
because the domestic producers who
support the Petitions account for at least
25 percent of the total shipments of the
domestic like product. See India AD
Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD
Checklist, and Vietnam AD Checklist, at
Attachment II. Finally, the domestic
producers have met the statutory criteria
for industry support under section
732(c)(4)(A)(ii) of the Act because the
domestic producers who support the
Petitions account for more than 50
percent of the shipments of the
domestic like product produced by that
portion of the industry expressing
support for, or opposition to, the
Petitions. See India AD Checklist, Oman
AD Checklist, UAE AD Checklist, and
3 As mentioned above, Petitioners have
established that shipments are a reasonable proxy
for production data. Section 351.203(e)(1) of the
Department’s regulations states ‘‘production levels
may be established by reference to alternative data
that the Secretary determines to be indicative of
production levels.’’
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Vietnam AD Checklist, each at
Attachment II. Accordingly, the
Department determines that the
Petitions were filed on behalf of the
domestic industry within the meaning
of section 732(b)(1) of the Act. See India
AD Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE
AD Checklist, and Vietnam AD
Checklist, each at Attachment II.
The Department finds that Petitioners
filed the Petitions on behalf of the
domestic industry because they are
interested parties as defined in section
771(9)(C) of the Act and they have
demonstrated sufficient industry
support with respect to the antidumping
duty investigations they are requesting
the Department initiate. See India AD
Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD
Checklist, and Vietnam AD Checklist,
each at Attachment II.
Allegations and Evidence of Material
Injury and Causation
Petitioners allege that the U.S.
industry producing the domestic like
product is being materially injured, or is
threatened with material injury, by
reason of the imports of the subject
merchandise sold at less than normal
value (NV). In addition, Petitioners
allege that subject imports exceed the
negligibility threshold provided for
under section 771(24)(A) of the Act.
Petitioners contend that the industry’s
injured condition is illustrated by
reduced market share; reduced
production, shipments, capacity, and
capacity utilization; reduced
employment, hours worked, and wages
paid; underselling and price depression
or suppression; decline in financial
performance; lost sales and revenue;
and increase in the volume of imports
and import penetration despite overall
declining demand. See India AD
Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD
Checklist, and Vietnam AD Checklist, at
Attachment III, Analysis of Allegations
and Evidence of Material Injury and
Causation for the Petitions Covering
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel
Pipe from India, Oman, the UAE, and
Vietnam. We have assessed the
allegations and supporting evidence
regarding material injury, threat of
material injury, and causation, and we
have determined that these allegations
are properly supported by adequate
evidence and meet the statutory
requirements for initiation. See India
AD Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE
AD Checklist, and Vietnam AD
Checklist, at Attachment III.
Allegations of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value
The following is a description of the
allegations of sales at less than fair value
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upon which the Department based its
decision to initiate these investigations
on imports of certain steel pipe from
India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam.
The sources of data for the deductions
and adjustments relating to U.S. price
and normal value (including the factors
of production (FOPs) for Vietnam) are
discussed in the country-specific
initiation checklists. See India AD
Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, the UAE
AD Checklist, and the Vietnam AD
Checklist, at their respective ‘‘Less Than
Fair Value Allegation’’ sections.
Export Price
Vietnam
For Vietnam, Petitioners calculated
U.S. price based on one offer for sale of
certain steel pipe produced in Vietnam
and on two average unit values (AUVs)
of products imported from Vietnam that
are representative of subject
merchandise.4 For the U.S. price based
on an offer for sale, consistent with the
stated sales and delivery terms,
Petitioners made deductions for
movement expenses estimated from U.S.
customs data for comparable
merchandise, and a deduction for
distributor mark-up. For the U.S. prices
based on AUVs, the values were already
on a free-along-side ship foreign port
price, so no additional adjustment for
international movement expenses was
necessary. Petitioners did not claim any
adjustment for foreign inland freight
expenses. See Volume II of the Petitions
at I–15, Exhibit II–B–1, Exhibit II–V–2,
Exhibit II–V–3, and Supplement to the
AD Vietnam Petition at 4. See also
Vietnam AD Checklist for additional
details.
India
For India, Petitioners based U.S. price
on one offer for sale of certain steel pipe
produced by Zenith Birla India Limited,
which they also refer to as Zenith Steel
Pipes and Industries Ltd., a company
excluded from the current antidumping
duty order on welded steel pipe and
tube from India (see the Respondent
Selection section of the notice, below),
and on one AUV of products imported
from India. For the U.S. price based on
an offer for sale, consistent with the
4 The AUVs are the average U.S. Customs value
for imports from the country under a specific
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) number, based on public U.S. Bureau of
the Census data for the anticipated POI. For
Vietnam, they are comparable to the normal value
based on constructed value, and for India, Oman,
and the United Arab Emirates, they are comparable
to the home market price information provided for
the normal value calculated for those countries. See
the India AD Checklist, the Oman AD Checklist, the
UAE AD Checklist, and the Vietnam AD Checklist
for more details.
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stated sales and delivery terms,
Petitioners made deductions for
movement expenses estimated from U.S.
customs data for comparable
merchandise, and a deduction for
distributor mark-up. For the U.S. prices
based on AUVs, the values were already
reported at a free-along-side ship foreign
port price, so no additional adjustment
for international movement expenses
was necessary. Petitioners did not claim
any adjustment for foreign inland freight
expenses. See Volume II of the Petitions
at II–2 and Exhibits II–B–1, II–I–3, and
II–1–4; Supplement to the AD India
Petition at 3 and Attachment 2; and
Second Supplement to the AD India
Petition, at 2–3 and Attachment 1. See
also India AD Checklist for additional
details.
Oman
For Oman, Petitioners calculated U.S.
price based on two offers for sale of
certain steel pipe produced in Oman
and on two AUVs of products imported
from Oman. For the U.S. prices based on
offers for sale, consistent with the stated
sales and delivery terms, Petitioners
made deductions for movement
expenses estimated from U.S. customs
data for comparable merchandise, and a
deduction for distributor mark-up. For
the U.S. prices based on AUVs, the
values were already on a free-along-side
ship foreign port price, so no additional
adjustment for international movement
expenses was necessary. Petitioners did
not claim any adjustment for foreign
inland freight expenses. See Volume II
of the Petitions at II–4 through II–5 and
Exhibits II–B–1, II–O–3–A and II–O–3–
B and Supplement to the AD Oman
Petition at 3–7 and Attachments 3 and
4. See also AD Oman Checklist for
additional details.
The UAE
For the UAE, the Petitioners based
U.S. price on two AUVs of products
imported from the UAE. For one of the
AUVs, we corrected the calculation for
an error in the data provided by
Petitioners. See UAE AD Checklist at
‘‘Less Than Fair Value Allegation’’
section. For the U.S. prices based on
AUVs, the values were already on a freealong-side ship foreign port price, so no
additional adjustment for international
movement expenses was necessary.
Petitioners did not claim any
adjustment for foreign inland freight
expenses. See Volume II of the Petitions
at II–7 to II–8 and Exhibits II–U–3 and
II–U–4, Supplement to the AD UAE
Petition at 3–4 and Attachments 1 and
2. See also UAE AD Checklist for
additional details.
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Normal Value
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Vietnam
Petitioners state that the Department
has long treated the Vietnam as a nonmarket economy (‘‘NME’’) country. See
Volume II of the Petitions at II–8.
In accordance with section
771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, the
presumption of NME status remains in
effect until revoked by the Department.
The presumption of NME status for
Vietnam has not been revoked by the
Department and, therefore, remains in
effect for purposes of the initiation of
this investigation. Accordingly, the NV
of the product is appropriately based on
FOPs valued in a surrogate marketeconomy country in accordance with
section 773(c) of the Act. In the course
of this investigation, all parties,
including the public, will have the
opportunity to provide relevant
information related to the issues of
Vietnam’s NME status and the granting
of separate rates to individual exporters.
Petitioners claim that India is an
appropriate surrogate country because it
is a market economy that is at a
comparable level of economic
development to Vietnam. Petitioners
also believe that India is a significant
producer of merchandise under
consideration. See Volume II of the
Petitions at II–8 through II–10. Based on
the information provided by Petitioners,
we believe that it is appropriate to use
India as a surrogate country for
initiation purposes. If the Department
initiates this investigation, interested
parties will have the opportunity to
submit comments regarding surrogate
country selection and, pursuant to 19
CFR 351.301(c)(3)(i), will be provided
an opportunity to submit publicly
available information to value FOPs
within 40 days from the date of
publication of the preliminary
determination.
Valuation of Raw Materials and ByProduct
Petitioners calculated normal value
based on consumption rates
experienced by one U.S. producer.
Petitioners assert that the experience of
that U.S. producer is applicable to that
of Vietnamese producers because that
U.S. producer, like the vast majority of
producers in Vietnam, is a nonintegrated producer which does not
manufacture the steel coils from which
the subject steel pipe is produced, but
instead buys the steel and converts it
into subject pipe. As a result, Petitioners
state, standard pipe is essentially a
commodity product, produced to
published specifications by many nonintegrated standard pipe producers, all
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employing similar methods of
converting raw steel into finished steel
pipe. See Supplement to the AD
Vietnam Petition, at 6.
Petitioners valued steel coils, zinc,
and the by-product offset based on
reasonably available, public surrogate
country data, specifically, Indian import
statistics from the Global Trade Atlas
(GTA). See Volume II of the Petitions at
II–11 through II–13 and Exhibit II–V–4–
B–1 through Exhibit II–V–B–3,
Supplement to the AD Vietnam Petition
at 8, and Second Supplement to the AD
Vietnam Petition at Attachment 2.
Petitioners excluded from these import
statistics values from countries
previously determined by the
Department to be NME countries.
Petitioners also excluded imports from
Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and
Thailand, as the Department has
previously excluded prices from these
countries because they maintain broadly
available, non-industry-specific export
subsidies. Finally, imports that were
labeled as originating from an
‘‘unspecified’’ country were excluded
from the average value, because the
Department could not be certain that
they were not from either an NME
country or a country with generally
available export subsidies. See
Supplement to the AD Vietnam Petition
at 8.
Valuation of Direct and Indirect Labor
Petitioners determined labor costs
using the labor consumption rates
derived from one U.S. producer. See
Volume II of the Petitions at II–14.
Petitioners valued labor using the wage
rate used in Certain Frozen Warmwater
Shrimp from the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam, 76 FR 20627 (April 13, 2011).
The Department recalculated wages to
comport with the methodology
announced on June 21, 2011. See
Antidumping Methodologies in
Proceedings Involving Non-Market
Economies: Valuing the Factor of
Production: Labor, 76 FR 36092 (June
21, 2011). The recalculation also uses
values for steel workers rather than
shrimp farmers. See Vietnam AD
Checklist at Attachment V.
Valuation of Energy
Petitioners determined electricity
costs using the electricity consumption
rates, in kilowatt hours, derived from
one U.S. producer’s experience. See
Volume II of the Petitions at II–10
through II–11 and II–14. Petitioners
valued electricity using the Indian
electricity rate reported by the Central
Electric Authority of the Government of
India, the source used in a recent
administrative review of light walled
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72167
rectangular pipe and tube from the
People’s Republic of China. See Volume
II of the Petitions at II–13 (citing LightWalled Rectangular Pipe and Tube
From the People’s Republic of China:
Preliminary Results of the 2008–2009
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 75 FR 27308 (May 14, 2010)).
Petitioners determined natural gas
costs using the natural gas consumption
rates derived from one U.S. producer’s
experience. See Volume II of the
Petitions at II–14. Petitioners valued
natural gas using the 2009/2010 annual
report of GAIL. See Supplement to the
AD Vietnam Petition at 8.
Valuation of Factory Overhead, Selling,
General and Administrative Expenses,
and Profit
Petitioners calculated surrogate
financial ratios (overhead, SG&A, and
profit) from the annual financial
statement of one Indian producer of
welded pipe: the 2010–2011 Annual
Report of Surya Roshni Limited (Surya).
See Volume I of the Petitions at II–14
and II–15 and Exhibit II–V–4–F.
Petitioners state that the majority of
Surya’s sales revenue is derived from
the sale of welded pipe. Furthermore,
they state that like the petitioner whose
FOP data was used, Surya buys the
major input, steel coils, rather than
producing the steel. See Volume I of the
Petition at II–15. We find that
Petitioners’ use of Surya as the source
for the surrogate financial expenses to
be acceptable for purposes of initiation.
Exchange Rates
Petitioners made Indian rupee/U.S.
dollar (USD) conversions based on
average exchange rates for the POI,
based on Federal Reserve exchange
rates. See Volume II of the Petitions at
II–V–4 and Exhibit II–V–4.
India, Oman, and the UAE
For India, Oman, and the UAE, the
Petitioners calculated NV for certain
steel pipe using information they were
able to obtain about home market prices.
For India, Petitioners based normal
value on a price quote for a single
product. Because the price quote was on
an ex-factory basis, no adjustments were
needed. See Volume II of the Petitions
at Exhibits II–A–1, II–A–2 and II–I–1,
and Second Supplement to the AD India
Petition at 2–3 and Attachment 1; see
also India AD Checklist at the ‘‘Less
Than Fair Value Allegation’’ section.
For Oman, Petitioners provided exfactory price quotes for two products.
Prices included packing, but petitioners
noted no adjustment for packing was
needed because the U.S. prices also
include packing and because there is no
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significant difference in packing
between markets. See Volume II of the
Petitions at Exhibits II–A–1, II–A–2, and
II–O–1 and Supplement to the AD
Oman Petition at 3; see also Oman AD
Checklist at the ‘‘Less Than Fair Value
Allegation’’ section.
For the UAE, the Petitioners provided
price quotes for two products. Because
the price quotes were on an ex-factory
basis, no adjustments were needed. See
Volume II of the Petitions at II–6 and
Exhibits II–A–1, II–A–2, and II–U–1; see
also UAE AD Checklist at the ‘‘Less
Than Fair Value Allegation’’ section.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Fair Value Comparisons
Based on the data provided by
Petitioners, there is reason to believe
that imports of certain steel pipe from
India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam are
being, or are likely to be, sold in the
United States at less than fair value.
Based on a comparison of U.S. prices
and NV calculated in accordance with
section 773(c) of the Act, the estimated
dumping margins for certain steel pipe
from Vietnam range from 20.47 percent
to 27.96 percent. See Vietnam AD
Checklist at ‘‘Estimated Margins’’
section; see also Supplement to the AD
Vietnam Petition at Attachment 5–A.
Based on a comparison of U.S. prices
and NV calculated in accordance with
section 773(a)(4) of the Act, the
estimated dumping margins for certain
steel pipe from India range from 22.88
percent to 48.43 percent. See India AD
Checklist at ‘‘Estimated Margins’’
section; see also Supplement to the AD
India Petition at Attachment 3.
Based on a comparison of U.S. prices
and NV calculated in accordance with
section 773(a)(4) of the Act, the
estimated dumping margins for certain
steel pipe from Oman range from 2.89
to 19.33 percent. See Oman AD
Checklist at ‘‘Estimated Margins’’
section; see also Supplement to the AD
Oman Petition at Attachment 1.
Based on a comparison of U.S. prices
and NV calculated in accordance with
section 773(a)(4) of the Act, the
estimated dumping margins for certain
steel pipe from the UAE range from 6.23
percent to 11.71 percent. See the UAE
AD Checklist at ‘‘Estimated Margins’’
section; see also Supplement to the AD
UAE Petition at Attachment 2.
Initiation of Antidumping
Investigations
Based upon the examination of the
Petitions on certain steel pipe from
India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam, the
Department finds that the Petitions meet
the requirements of section 732 of the
Act. Therefore, we are initiating
antidumping duty investigations to
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17:14 Nov 21, 2011
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determine whether imports of certain
steel pipe from India, Oman, the UAE,
and Vietnam are being, or are likely to
be, sold in the United States at less than
fair value. In accordance with section
733(b)(1)(A) of the Act, unless
postponed, we will make our
preliminary determinations no later
than 140 days after the date of these
initiations.
Targeted Dumping Allegations
On December 10, 2008, the
Department issued an interim final rule
for the purpose of withdrawing 19 CFR
351.414(f) and (g), the regulatory
provisions governing the targeted
dumping analysis in antidumping duty
investigations, and the corresponding
regulation governing the deadline for
targeted dumping allegations, 19 CFR
351.301(d)(5). See Withdrawal of the
Regulatory Provisions Governing
Targeted Dumping in Antidumping
Duty Investigations, 73 FR 74930
(December 10, 2008). The Department
stated that ‘‘{w}ithdrawal will allow the
Department to exercise the discretion
intended by the statute and, thereby,
develop a practice that will allow
interested parties to pursue all statutory
avenues of relief in this area.’’ See id. at
74931.
In order to accomplish this objective,
if any interested party wishes to make
a targeted dumping allegation in any of
these investigations pursuant to section
777A(d)(1)(B) of the Act, such
allegations are due no later than 45 days
before the scheduled date of the
country-specific preliminary
determination.
Respondent Selection
India
At the time of the filing of the petition
for this case, there was an existing
antidumping duty order on welded steel
pipe and tube from India. See
Antidumping Duty Order; Certain
Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipes
and Tubes from India, 51 FR 17384
(May 12, 1986). Therefore, the scope of
this investigation covers merchandise
manufactured and/or exported by
Zenith Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd.,
and any successors-in-interest to that
company, which is the only company
excluded from the 1986 order known to
exist.5 Petitioners have referred to
Zenith Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd.
and Zenith Birla India Limited
interchangeably. Therefore, we intend to
issue the questionnaire to both of these
5 Gujarat Steel Tubes Ltd. was also excluded from
the 1986 order, but the company is not known to
exist at the time of this initiation. See Supplement
to the AD India Petition at 2.
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named entities, and during the
investigation will examine whether
Zenith Birla India Limited is properly
considered the successor-in-interest to
Zenith Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd.
Oman and the UAE
Petitioners identified two exporters/
producers in Oman and five exporters/
producers in the UAE. See Volume I of
the Petitions, at Exhibit I–4. We are
unaware of any other exporters/
producers. Following standard practice
in antidumping investigations involving
market economy countries, the
Department intends to select
respondents for Oman and the UAE
based on U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) data for U.S. imports
under the following Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)
numbers: 7306.30.10.00, 7306.30.50.25,
7306.30.50.32, 7306.30.50.40,
7306.30.50.55, 7306.30.50.85, and
7306.30.50.90. These HTSUS numbers
closely match the subject merchandise,
and are those used by Petitioners to
calculate aggregate import totals.6 We
intend to release the CBP data under
Administrative Protective Order (APO)
to all parties with access to information
protected by APO within five days of
publication of this Federal Register
notice and make our decision regarding
respondent selection within 20 days of
publication of this notice. The
Department invites comments regarding
the CBP data and respondent selection
within seven days of publication of this
Federal Register notice.
Vietnam
For the Vietnam investigation, the
Department will request quantity and
value information from the ten known
exporters/producers identified with
complete contact information in the
Petitions. The quantity and value data
received from NME exporters/producers
will be used as the basis to select the
mandatory respondents.
For antidumping investigations
involving NME countries such as
Vietnam, the Department requires that
respondents submit a response to both
the quantity and value questionnaire
and the separate-rate application by the
respective deadlines in order to receive
consideration for separate-rate status.
See Circular Welded Austenitic
Stainless Pressure Pipe from the
People’s Republic of China: Initiation of
Antidumping Duty Investigation, 73 FR
10221, 10225 (February 26, 2008);
Initiation of Antidumping Duty
Investigation: Certain Artist Canvas
6 See, e.g., Supplement to the AD/CVD Petitions
at Attachment 3.
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From the People’s Republic of China, 70
FR 21996, 21999 (April 28, 2005). On
the date of the publication of this
initiation notice in the Federal Register,
the Department will post the quantity
and value questionnaire along with the
filing instructions on the Department’s
Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/iahighlights-and-news.html, and a
response to the quantity and value
questionnaire is due no later than
December 6, 2011. Also, the Department
will send the quantity and value
questionnaire to those Vietnamese
companies identified in Volume I of the
Petitions, at Exhibit I–4.
Interested parties must submit
applications for disclosure under APO
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305.
Instructions for filing such applications
may be found on the Department’s Web
site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/apo.
Separate Rates
In order to obtain separate-rate status
in NME investigations, exporters and
producers must submit a separate-rate
status application. See Policy Bulletin
05.1: Separate-Rates Practice and
Application of Combination Rates in
Antidumping Investigations involving
Non-Market Economy Countries (April
5, 2005) (Separate Rates and
Combination Rates Bulletin), available
on the Department’s Web site at
https://ia.ita.doc.gov/policy/bull05–
1.pdf. Based on our experience in
processing the separate-rate applications
in previous antidumping duty
investigations, we have modified the
application for this investigation to
make it more administrable and easier
for applicants to complete. See, e.g.,
Initiation of Antidumping Duty
Investigation: Certain New Pneumatic
Off-the-Road Tires From the People’s
Republic of China, 72 FR 43591, 43594–
95 (August 6, 2007). The specific
requirements for submitting the
separate-rate application in this
investigation are outlined in detail in
the application itself, which will be
available on the Department’s Web site
at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/ia-highlightsand-news.html on the date of
publication of this initiation notice in
the Federal Register. The separate-rate
application will be due 60 days after
publication of this initiation notice. For
exporters and producers who submit a
separate rate status application and
subsequently are selected as mandatory
respondents, these exporters and
producers will no longer be eligible for
consideration for separate rate status
unless they respond to all parts of the
questionnaire as mandatory
respondents. As noted in the
‘‘Respondent Selection’’ section above,
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17:14 Nov 21, 2011
Jkt 226001
the Department requires that Vietnam
respondents submit a response to both
the quantity and value questionnaire
and the separate-rate application by the
respective deadlines in order to receive
consideration for separate-rate status.
The quantity and value questionnaire
will be available on the Department’s
Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/iahighlights-and-news.html on the date of
the publication of this initiation notice
in the Federal Register.
Use of Combination Rates in an NME
Investigation
The Department will calculate
combination rates for certain
respondents that are eligible for a
separate rate in this investigation. The
Separate Rates and Combination Rates
Bulletin states:
{w}hile continuing the practice of assigning
separate rates only to exporters, all separate
rates that the Department will now assign in
its NME investigations will be specific to
those producers that supplied the exporter
during the period of investigation. Note,
however, that one rate is calculated for the
exporter and all of the producers which
supplied subject merchandise to it during the
period of investigation. This practice applies
both to mandatory respondents receiving an
individually calculated separate rate as well
as the pool of non-investigated firms
receiving the weighted-average of the
individually calculated rates. This practice is
referred to as the application of ‘‘combination
rates’’ because such rates apply to specific
combinations of exporters and one or more
producers. The cash-deposit rate assigned to
an exporter will apply only to merchandise
both exported by the firm in question and
produced by a firm that supplied the exporter
during the period of investigation.
See Separate Rates and Combination
Rates Bulletin, at 6 (emphasis added).
Distribution of Copies of the Petitions
In accordance with section
732(b)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.202(f), copies of the public versions
of the Petitions have been provided to
the representatives of the Governments
of India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam.
Because of the large number of
producers/exporters identified in the
Petitions, the Department considers the
service of the public version of the
Petitions to the foreign producers/
exporters satisfied by the delivery of the
public versions of the Petitions to the
Governments of India, Oman, the UAE,
and Vietnam, consistent with 19 CFR
351.203(c)(2).
ITC Notification
We have notified the ITC of our
initiations, as required by section 732(d)
of the Act.
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72169
Preliminary Determinations by the ITC
The ITC will preliminarily determine,
no later than 45 days after the date the
Petitions were filed, whether there is a
reasonable indication that imports of
certain steel pipe from India, Oman, the
UAE, and Vietnam are materially
injuring, or threatening material injury
to a U.S. industry. A negative ITC
determination with respect to any
country will result in the investigation
being terminated for that country;
otherwise, these investigations will
proceed according to statutory and
regulatory time limits.
Notification to Interested Parties
Interested parties must submit
applications for disclosure under APO
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(b).
On January 22, 2008, the Department
published Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings:
Documents Submission Procedures;
APO Procedures, 73 FR 3634 (January
22, 2008). Parties wishing to participate
in these investigations should ensure
that they meet the requirements of these
procedures (e.g., the filing of letters of
appearance as discussed at 19 CFR
351.103(d)).
Any party submitting factual
information in an AD proceeding must
certify to the accuracy and completeness
of that information. See section 782(b)
of the Act. Parties are hereby reminded
that revised certification requirements
are in effect for company/government
officials as well as their representatives
in all segments of any AD/CVD
proceedings initiated on or after March
14, 2011. See Certification of Factual
Information to Import Administration
During Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings:
Interim Final Rule, 76 FR 7491
(February 10, 2011) (Interim Final Rule)
(amending 19 CFR 351.303(g)(1) & (2)).
The formats for the revised certifications
are provided at the end of the Interim
Final Rule. The Department intends to
reject factual submissions in any
proceeding segments initiated on or
after March 14, 2011, if the submitting
party does not comply with the revised
certification requirements.
This notice is issued and published
pursuant to section 777(i) of the Act.
Dated: November 15, 2011.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration.
Appendix I
Scope of the Oman, the United Arab
Emirates, and Vietnam Investigations
These investigations cover welded
carbon-quality steel pipes and tube, of
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circular cross-section, with an outside
diameter (‘‘O.D.’’) not more than 16
inches (406.4 mm), regardless of wall
thickness, surface finish (e.g., black,
galvanized, or painted), end finish
(plain end, beveled end, grooved,
threaded, or threaded and coupled), or
industry specification (e.g., American
Society for Testing and Materials
International (‘‘ASTM’’), proprietary, or
other) generally known as standard
pipe, fence pipe and tube, sprinkler
pipe, and structural pipe (although
subject product may also be referred to
as mechanical tubing). Specifically, the
term ‘‘carbon quality’’ includes products
in which: (a) Iron predominates, by
weight, over each of the other contained
elements; (b) the carbon content is 2
percent or less, by weight; and (c) none
of the elements listed below exceeds the
quantity, by weight, as indicated:
(i) 1.80 percent of manganese;
(ii) 2.25 percent of silicon;
(iii) 1.00 percent of copper;
(iv) 0.50 percent of aluminum;
(v) 1.25 percent of chromium;
(vi) 0.30 percent of cobalt;
(vii) 0.40 percent of lead;
(viii) 1.25 percent of nickel;
(ix) 0.30 percent of tungsten;
(x) 0.15 percent of molybdenum;
(xi) 0.10 percent of niobium;
(xii) 0.41 percent of titanium;
(xiii) 0.15 percent of vanadium;
(xiv) 0.15 percent of zirconium.
Subject pipe is ordinarily made to
ASTM specifications A53, A135, and
A795, but can also be made to other
specifications. Structural pipe is made
primarily to ASTM specifications A252
and A500. Standard and structural pipe
may also be produced to proprietary
specifications rather than to industry
specifications. Fence tubing is included
in the scope regardless of certification to
a specification listed in the exclusions
below, and can also be made to the
ASTM A513 specification. Sprinkler
pipe is designed for sprinkler fire
suppression systems and may be made
to industry specifications such as ASTM
A53 or to proprietary specifications.
These products are generally made to
standard O.D. and wall thickness
combinations. Pipe multi-stenciled to a
standard and/or structural specification
and to other specifications, such as
American Petroleum Institute (‘‘API’’)
API–5L specification, is also covered by
the scope of these investigations when
it meets the physical description set
forth above, and also has one or more
of the following characteristics: is 32
feet in length or less; is less than 2.0
inches (50mm) in outside diameter; has
a galvanized and/or painted (e.g.,
polyester coated) surface finish; or has
a threaded and/or coupled end finish.
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The scope of these investigations does
not include: (a) Pipe suitable for use in
boilers, superheaters, heat exchangers,
refining furnaces and feedwater heaters,
whether or not cold drawn; (b) finished
electrical conduit; (c) finished
scaffolding; 7 (d) tube and pipe hollows
for redrawing; (e) oil country tubular
goods produced to API specifications; (f)
line pipe produced to only API
specifications; and (g) mechanical
tubing, whether or not cold-drawn.
However, products certified to ASTM
mechanical tubing specifications are not
excluded as mechanical tubing if they
otherwise meet the standard sizes (e.g.,
outside diameter and wall thickness) of
standard, structural, fence and sprinkler
pipe. Also, products made to the
following outside diameter and wall
thickness combinations, which are
recognized by the industry as typical for
fence tubing, would not be excluded
from the scope based solely on their
being certified to ASTM mechanical
tubing specifications:
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.035 inch wall
thickness (gage 20);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall
thickness (gage 18);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall
thickness (gage 17);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall
thickness (gage 16);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall
thickness (gage 15);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.083 inch wall
thickness (gage 14);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall
thickness (gage 13);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall
thickness (gage 18);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall
thickness (gage 17);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall
thickness (gage 16);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall
thickness (gage 15);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.083 inch wall
thickness (gage 14);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall
thickness (gage 13);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall
thickness (gage 18);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall
thickness (gage 17);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall
thickness (gage 16);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall
thickness (gage 15);
7 Finished scaffolding is defined as component
parts of a final, finished scaffolding that enters the
United States unassembled as a ‘‘kit.’’ A ‘‘kit’’ is
understood to mean a packaged combination of
component parts that contain, at the time of
importation, all the necessary component parts to
fully assemble a final, finished scaffolding.
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1.900 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall
thickness (gage 13);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall
thickness (gage 18);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall
thickness (gage 17);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall
thickness (gage 16);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall
thickness (gage 15);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall
thickness (gage 13);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.120 inch wall
thickness (gage 11);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.134 inch wall
thickness (gage 10);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall
thickness (gage 8);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.148 inch wall
thickness (gage 9);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall
thickness (gage 8);
4.000 inch O.D. and 0.148 inch wall
thickness (gage 9);
4.000 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall
thickness (gage 8);
4.500 inch O.D. and 0.203 inch wall
thickness (gage 7).
The pipe subject to these
investigations are currently classifiable
in Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (‘‘HTSUS’’) statistical
reporting numbers 7306.19.1010,
7306.19.1050, 7306.19.5110,
7306.19.5150, 7306.30.1000,
7306.30.5025, 7306.30.5032,
7306.30.5040, 7306.30.5055,
7306.30.5085, 7306.30.5090,
7306.50.1000, 7306.50.5050, and
7306.50.5070. However, the product
description, and not the HTSUS
classification, is dispositive of whether
the merchandise imported into the
United States falls within the scope of
the investigations.
Appendix II
Scope of the India AD Investigation
This investigation covers welded
carbon-quality steel pipes and tube, of
circular cross-section, with an outside
diameter (‘‘O.D.’’) not more than 16
inches (406.4 mm), regardless of wall
thickness, surface finish (e.g., black,
galvanized, or painted), end finish
(plain end, beveled end, grooved,
threaded, or threaded and coupled), or
industry specification (e.g., American
Society for Testing and Materials
International (‘‘ASTM’’), proprietary, or
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other) generally known as standard
pipe, fence pipe and tube, sprinkler
pipe, and structural pipe (although
subject product may also be referred to
as mechanical tubing). Specifically, the
term ‘‘carbon quality’’ includes products
in which: (a) Iron predominates, by
weight, over each of the other contained
elements; (b) the carbon content is 2
percent or less, by weight; and (c) none
of the elements listed below exceeds the
quantity, by weight, as indicated:
(i) 1.80 percent of manganese;
(ii) 2.25 percent of silicon;
(iii) 1.00 percent of copper;
(iv) 0.50 percent of aluminum;
(v) 1.25 percent of chromium;
(vi) 0.30 percent of cobalt;
(vii) 0.40 percent of lead;
(viii) 1.25 percent of nickel;
(ix) 0.30 percent of tungsten;
(x) 0.15 percent of molybdenum;
(xi) 0.10 percent of niobium;
(xii) 0.41 percent of titanium;
(xiii) 0.15 percent of vanadium;
(xiv) 0.15 percent of zirconium.
At the time of the filing of the petition
for this case, there was an existing
antidumping duty order on welded steel
pipe and tube from India. See
Antidumping Duty Order; Certain
Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipes
and Tubes from India, 51 FR 17384
(May 12, 1986). Therefore, the scope of
this investigation covers merchandise
manufactured and/or exported by
Zenith Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd.,
and any successors-in-interest to that
company, which is the only company
excluded from the 1986 order known to
exist.
Subject pipe is ordinarily made to
ASTM specifications A53, A135, and
A795, but can also be made to other
specifications. Structural pipe is made
primarily to ASTM specifications A252
and A500. Standard and structural pipe
may also be produced to proprietary
specifications rather than to industry
specifications. Fence tubing is included
in the scope regardless of certification to
a specification listed in the exclusions
below, and can also be made to the
ASTM A513 specification. Sprinkler
pipe is designed for sprinkler fire
suppression systems and may be made
to industry specifications such as ASTM
A53 or to proprietary specifications.
These products are generally made to
standard O.D. and wall thickness
combinations. Pipe multi-stenciled to a
standard and/or structural specification
and to other specifications, such as
American Petroleum Institute (‘‘API’’)
API–5L specification, is also covered by
the scope of this investigation when it
meets the physical description set forth
above, and also has one or more of the
following characteristics: is 32 feet in
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length or less; is less than 2.0 inches
(50mm) in outside diameter; has a
galvanized and/or painted (e.g.,
polyester coated) surface finish; or has
a threaded and/or coupled end finish.
The scope of this investigation does
not include: (a) Pipe suitable for use in
boilers, superheaters, heat exchangers,
refining furnaces and feedwater heaters,
whether or not cold drawn; (b) finished
electrical conduit; (c) finished
scaffolding; 8 (d) tube and pipe hollows
for redrawing; (e) oil country tubular
goods produced to API specifications; (f)
line pipe produced to only API
specifications; and (g) mechanical
tubing, whether or not cold-drawn.
However, products certified to ASTM
mechanical tubing specifications are not
excluded as mechanical tubing if they
otherwise meet the standard sizes (e.g.,
outside diameter and wall thickness) of
standard, structural, fence and sprinkler
pipe. Also, products made to the
following outside diameter and wall
thickness combinations, which are
recognized by the industry as typical for
fence tubing, would not be excluded
from the scope based solely on their
being certified to ASTM mechanical
tubing specifications:
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.035 inch wall
thickness (gage 20);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall
thickness (gage 18);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall
thickness (gage 17);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall
thickness (gage 16);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall
thickness (gage 15);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.083 inch wall
thickness (gage 14);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall
thickness (gage 13);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall
thickness (gage 18);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall
thickness (gage 17);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall
thickness (gage 16);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall
thickness (gage 15);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.083 inch wall
thickness (gage 14);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall
thickness (gage 13);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall
thickness (gage 18);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall
thickness (gage 17);
8 Finished scaffolding is defined as component
parts of a final, finished scaffolding that enters the
United States unassembled as a ‘‘kit.’’ A ‘‘kit’’ is
understood to mean a packaged combination of
component parts that contain, at the time of
importation, all the necessary component parts to
fully assemble a final, finished scaffolding.
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
72171
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall
thickness (gage 16);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall
thickness (gage 15);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall
thickness (gage 13);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall
thickness (gage 18);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall
thickness (gage 17);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall
thickness (gage 16);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall
thickness (gage 15);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall
thickness (gage 13);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.120 inch wall
thickness (gage 11);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.134 inch wall
thickness (gage 10);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall
thickness (gage 8);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall
thickness (gage 12);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.148 inch wall
thickness (gage 9);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall
thickness (gage 8);
4.000 inch O.D. and 0.148 inch wall
thickness (gage 9);
4.000 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall
thickness (gage 8);
4.500 inch O.D. and 0.203 inch wall
thickness (gage 7).
The pipe subject to this investigation
is currently classifiable in Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States
(‘‘HTSUS’’) statistical reporting numbers
7306.19.1010, 7306.19.1050,
7306.19.5110, 7306.19.5150,
7306.30.1000, 7306.30.5025,
7306.30.5032, 7306.30.5040,
7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5085,
7306.30.5090, 7306.50.1000,
7306.50.5050, and 7306.50.5070.
However, the product description, and
not the HTSUS classification, is
dispositive of whether the merchandise
imported into the United States falls
within the scope of the investigation.
[FR Doc. 2011–30162 Filed 11–21–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
E:\FR\FM\22NON1.SGM
22NON1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 225 (Tuesday, November 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72164-72171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30162]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-533-852, A-523-801, A-520-805, A-552-811]
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From India, the
Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam: Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
DATES: Effective Date: November 22, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Bezirganian, Robert James
(India, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam), or Angelica Mendoza
(Oman), AD/CVD Operations, Office 7, Import Administration,
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th
Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at (202) 482-
1131, (202) 482-0649, or (202) 482-3019, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Petitions
On October 26, 2011, the Department of Commerce (the Department)
received petitions concerning imports of circular welded carbon-quality
steel pipe (certain steel pipe) from India, the Sultanate of Oman
(Oman), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam (Vietnam) filed in proper form on behalf of Allied Tube and
Conduit, JMC Steel Group, Wheatland Tube Company, and United States
Steel Corporation (collectively, Petitioners). See Circular Welded
Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam:
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions, filed on October 26,
2011 (hereinafter, the Petitions). On November 1, 2011, the Department
issued requests for additional information and clarification of certain
areas of the Petitions. Petitioners filed responses to these requests
on November 7, 2011 (hereinafter, the Supplement to the AD/CVD
Petitions,\1\ the Supplement to the AD India Petition, the Supplement
to the AD Oman Petition, the Supplement to the AD United Arab Emirates
Petition, and the Supplement to the AD Vietnam Petition). On November
4, 2011, the Department issued a request for additional information and
clarification regarding the scope of the petitions, and Petitioners'
response to this request was included in the Supplement to the AD/CVD
Petitions. On November 8, 2011, Petitioners agreed to modified scope
language. See the November 10, 2011 memorandum from Steve Bezirganian
through Richard Weible to the File.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Petitioners refiled the Supplement to the AD/CVD Petitions
on November 9, 2011, to include a statement that the business
proprietary document ``may be released under APO.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On November 8, 2011, the Department requested additional
clarification on issues involving industry support. Petitioners filed a
response to this request on November 10, 2011 (hereinafter, the Second
Supplement to the AD/CVD Petitions). On November 8, 2011, the
Department requested additional information regarding India and
Vietnam. Petitioners filed responses to these requests on November 10,
2011 (hereinafter, the Second Supplement to the AD India Petition and
the Second Supplement to the AD Vietnam Petition, respectively). In
accordance with section 732(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act), Petitioners allege that imports of certain steel pipe from
India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam are being, or are likely to be, sold
in the United States at less than fair value, within the meaning of
section 731 of the Act, and that such imports are materially injuring,
or threatening material injury to, an industry in the United States.
The Department finds that Petitioners filed the Petitions on behalf
of the domestic industry because Petitioners are interested parties as
defined in section 771(9)(C) of the Act and have demonstrated
sufficient industry support with respect to the antidumping duty
investigations that Petitioners are requesting that the Department
initiate (see ``Determination of Industry Support for the Petitions''
section below).
Period of Investigation
The period of investigation (POI) for India, Oman, and the UAE is
October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011. The POI for Vietnam is
April 1, 2011, through September 30, 2011. See 19 CFR 351.204(b)(1).
Scope of Investigations
The product covered by these investigations is certain steel pipe
from India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam. For a full description of the
scopes of the investigations, see Appendix I (Scope of the Oman, the
UAE, and Vietnam Investigations) and Appendix II (Scope of the India AD
Investigation) of this notice.
Comments on Scope of Investigations
During our review of the Petitions, we discussed the scope with
Petitioners to ensure that it is an accurate reflection of the products
for which the domestic industry is seeking relief. Moreover, as
discussed in the preamble to the Department's regulations (Antidumping
Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final Rule, 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19,
1997)), we are setting aside a period for interested parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage. Interested parties that wish to
submit comments on the scope should do so by December 5, 2011, twenty
calendar days from the signature date of this notice. All comments must
be filed on the records of the India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam
antidumping duty investigations and the India, Oman, the UAE, and
Vietnam countervailing duty investigations. All comments and
submissions to the Department must be filed electronically using Import
Administration's Antidumping Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic
Service System (IA ACCESS).\2\ An electronically filed document must be
received successfully in its entirety by the Department's electronic
records system, IA ACCESS, by the time and date noted above. Documents
excepted from the electronic submission requirements must be filed
manually (i.e., in paper form) with the Import Administration's APO/
Dockets Unit, Room 1870, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, and stamped with the
date and time of receipt by the deadline noted above.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-07-06/pdf/2011-16352.pdf for details of the Department's Electronic Filing
Requirements, which went into effect on August 5, 2011. Information
on help using IAACCESS can be found at https://iaaccess.trade.gov/help.aspx and a handbook can be found at https://iaaccess.trade.gov/help/Handbook%20on%20Electronic%20Filling%20Procedures.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments on Product Characteristics for Antidumping Duty Questionnaires
Interested parties may submit comments regarding the appropriate
characteristics of certain steel pipe to be reported in response to the
[[Page 72165]]
Department's antidumping questionnaires. We base the product
characteristics used for defining models and model matching on
meaningful commercial differences among products. In addition,
interested parties may comment on the order in which the
characteristics should be used in model matching. Generally, the
Department attempts to list the characteristics in descending order of
importance. On the day of publication of this notice, the Department
will post its proposal on the Import Administration Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/ia-highlights-and-news.html. In order to consider the
suggestions of interested parties in developing and issuing the
antidumping duty questionnaires, we must receive comments by December
9, 2011. All such comments must be filed on the records of the India,
Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam antidumping duty investigations. All
comments and submissions to the Department must be filed electronically
using IA ACCESS, as referenced above.
Determination of Industry Support for the Petitions
Section 732(b)(1) of the Act requires that a petition be filed on
behalf of the domestic industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act
provides that a petition meets this requirement if the domestic
producers or workers who support the petition account for: (i) At least
25 percent of the total production of the domestic like product; and
(ii) more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like
product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support
for, or opposition to, the petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D) of
the Act provides that, if the petition does not establish support of
domestic producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of
the total production of the domestic like product, the Department
shall: (i) Poll the industry or rely on other information in order to
determine if there is support for the petition, as required by
subparagraph (A); or (ii) determine industry support using a
statistically valid sampling method to poll the industry.
Section 771(4)(A) of the Act defines the ``industry'' as the
producers as a whole of a domestic like product. Thus, to determine
whether a petition has the requisite industry support, the statute
directs the Department to look to producers and workers who produce the
domestic like product. The International Trade Commission (ITC), which
is responsible for determining whether ``the domestic industry'' has
been injured, must also determine what constitutes a domestic like
product in order to define the industry. While both the Department and
the ITC must apply the same statutory definition regarding the domestic
like product (see section 771(10) of the Act), they do so for different
purposes and pursuant to a separate and distinct authority. In
addition, the Department's determination is subject to limitations of
time and information. Although this may result in different definitions
of the like product, such differences do not render the decision of
either agency contrary to law. See USEC, Inc. v. United States, 132 F.
Supp. 2d 1, 8 (CIT 2001), citing Algoma Steel Corp., Ltd. v. United
States, 688 F. Supp. 639, 644 (CIT 1988), aff'd 865 F.2d 240 (Fed. Cir.
1989).
Section 771(10) of the Act defines the domestic like product as ``a
product which is like, or in the absence of like, most similar in
characteristics and uses with, the article subject to an investigation
under this title.'' Thus, the reference point from which the domestic
like product analysis begins is ``the article subject to an
investigation'' (i.e., the class or kind of merchandise to be
investigated, which normally will be the scope as defined in the
petition).
With regard to the domestic like product, Petitioners do not offer
a definition of domestic like product distinct from the scope of the
investigations. Based on our analysis of the information submitted on
the record, we have determined that certain steel pipe constitutes a
single domestic like product and we have analyzed industry support in
terms of that domestic like product. For a discussion of the domestic
like product analysis in this case, see Antidumping Duty Investigation
Initiation Checklist: Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from
India (India AD Checklist), Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation
Checklist: Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from Oman (Oman AD
Checklist), Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation Checklist:
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the UAE (UAE AD
Checklist), and Antidumping Duty Investigation Initiation Checklist:
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from Vietnam (Vietnam AD
Checklist) at Attachment II, Analysis of Industry Support for the
Petitions Covering Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe, on file
electronically via IA ACCESS. Access to IA ACCESS is available in the
Central Records Unit (CRU), Room 7046 of the main Department of
Commerce building.
In determining whether Petitioners have standing under section
732(c)(4)(A) of the Act, we considered the industry support data
contained in the Petitions with reference to the domestic like product
as defined in the ``Scope of Investigations,'' in Appendix I of this
notice. To establish industry support, Petitioners provided their
shipments of the domestic like product in 2010, and compared their
shipments to the estimated total shipments of the domestic like product
for the entire domestic industry. Because total industry production
data for the domestic like product for 2010 is not reasonably available
and Petitioners have established that shipments are a reasonable proxy
for production data, we have relied upon the shipment data provided by
Petitioners for purposes of measuring industry support. For further
discussion, see India AD Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD
Checklist, and Vietnam AD Checklist, at Attachment II.
Our review of the data provided in the Petitions, supplemental
submissions, and other information readily available to the Department
indicates that Petitioners have established industry support. First,
the Petitions established support from domestic producers accounting
for more than 50 percent of the total shipments \3\ of the domestic
like product and, as such, the Department is not required to take
further action in order to evaluate industry support (e.g., polling).
See section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act and India AD Checklist, Oman AD
Checklist, UAE AD Checklist, and Vietnam AD Checklist, at Attachment
II. Second, the domestic producers have met the statutory criteria for
industry support under section 732(c)(4)(A)(i) of the Act because the
domestic producers who support the Petitions account for at least 25
percent of the total shipments of the domestic like product. See India
AD Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD Checklist, and Vietnam AD
Checklist, at Attachment II. Finally, the domestic producers have met
the statutory criteria for industry support under section
732(c)(4)(A)(ii) of the Act because the domestic producers who support
the Petitions account for more than 50 percent of the shipments of the
domestic like product produced by that portion of the industry
expressing support for, or opposition to, the Petitions. See India AD
Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD Checklist, and
[[Page 72166]]
Vietnam AD Checklist, each at Attachment II. Accordingly, the
Department determines that the Petitions were filed on behalf of the
domestic industry within the meaning of section 732(b)(1) of the Act.
See India AD Checklist, Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD Checklist, and
Vietnam AD Checklist, each at Attachment II.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ As mentioned above, Petitioners have established that
shipments are a reasonable proxy for production data. Section
351.203(e)(1) of the Department's regulations states ``production
levels may be established by reference to alternative data that the
Secretary determines to be indicative of production levels.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Department finds that Petitioners filed the Petitions on behalf
of the domestic industry because they are interested parties as defined
in section 771(9)(C) of the Act and they have demonstrated sufficient
industry support with respect to the antidumping duty investigations
they are requesting the Department initiate. See India AD Checklist,
Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD Checklist, and Vietnam AD Checklist, each at
Attachment II.
Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and Causation
Petitioners allege that the U.S. industry producing the domestic
like product is being materially injured, or is threatened with
material injury, by reason of the imports of the subject merchandise
sold at less than normal value (NV). In addition, Petitioners allege
that subject imports exceed the negligibility threshold provided for
under section 771(24)(A) of the Act. Petitioners contend that the
industry's injured condition is illustrated by reduced market share;
reduced production, shipments, capacity, and capacity utilization;
reduced employment, hours worked, and wages paid; underselling and
price depression or suppression; decline in financial performance; lost
sales and revenue; and increase in the volume of imports and import
penetration despite overall declining demand. See India AD Checklist,
Oman AD Checklist, UAE AD Checklist, and Vietnam AD Checklist, at
Attachment III, Analysis of Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury
and Causation for the Petitions Covering Circular Welded Carbon-Quality
Steel Pipe from India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam. We have assessed the
allegations and supporting evidence regarding material injury, threat
of material injury, and causation, and we have determined that these
allegations are properly supported by adequate evidence and meet the
statutory requirements for initiation. See India AD Checklist, Oman AD
Checklist, UAE AD Checklist, and Vietnam AD Checklist, at Attachment
III.
Allegations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
The following is a description of the allegations of sales at less
than fair value upon which the Department based its decision to
initiate these investigations on imports of certain steel pipe from
India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam. The sources of data for the
deductions and adjustments relating to U.S. price and normal value
(including the factors of production (FOPs) for Vietnam) are discussed
in the country-specific initiation checklists. See India AD Checklist,
Oman AD Checklist, the UAE AD Checklist, and the Vietnam AD Checklist,
at their respective ``Less Than Fair Value Allegation'' sections.
Export Price
Vietnam
For Vietnam, Petitioners calculated U.S. price based on one offer
for sale of certain steel pipe produced in Vietnam and on two average
unit values (AUVs) of products imported from Vietnam that are
representative of subject merchandise.\4\ For the U.S. price based on
an offer for sale, consistent with the stated sales and delivery terms,
Petitioners made deductions for movement expenses estimated from U.S.
customs data for comparable merchandise, and a deduction for
distributor mark-up. For the U.S. prices based on AUVs, the values were
already on a free-along-side ship foreign port price, so no additional
adjustment for international movement expenses was necessary.
Petitioners did not claim any adjustment for foreign inland freight
expenses. See Volume II of the Petitions at I-15, Exhibit II-B-1,
Exhibit II-V-2, Exhibit II-V-3, and Supplement to the AD Vietnam
Petition at 4. See also Vietnam AD Checklist for additional details.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The AUVs are the average U.S. Customs value for imports from
the country under a specific Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS) number, based on public U.S. Bureau of the
Census data for the anticipated POI. For Vietnam, they are
comparable to the normal value based on constructed value, and for
India, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, they are comparable to
the home market price information provided for the normal value
calculated for those countries. See the India AD Checklist, the Oman
AD Checklist, the UAE AD Checklist, and the Vietnam AD Checklist for
more details.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
India
For India, Petitioners based U.S. price on one offer for sale of
certain steel pipe produced by Zenith Birla India Limited, which they
also refer to as Zenith Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd., a company
excluded from the current antidumping duty order on welded steel pipe
and tube from India (see the Respondent Selection section of the
notice, below), and on one AUV of products imported from India. For the
U.S. price based on an offer for sale, consistent with the stated sales
and delivery terms, Petitioners made deductions for movement expenses
estimated from U.S. customs data for comparable merchandise, and a
deduction for distributor mark-up. For the U.S. prices based on AUVs,
the values were already reported at a free-along-side ship foreign port
price, so no additional adjustment for international movement expenses
was necessary. Petitioners did not claim any adjustment for foreign
inland freight expenses. See Volume II of the Petitions at II-2 and
Exhibits II-B-1, II-I-3, and II-1-4; Supplement to the AD India
Petition at 3 and Attachment 2; and Second Supplement to the AD India
Petition, at 2-3 and Attachment 1. See also India AD Checklist for
additional details.
Oman
For Oman, Petitioners calculated U.S. price based on two offers for
sale of certain steel pipe produced in Oman and on two AUVs of products
imported from Oman. For the U.S. prices based on offers for sale,
consistent with the stated sales and delivery terms, Petitioners made
deductions for movement expenses estimated from U.S. customs data for
comparable merchandise, and a deduction for distributor mark-up. For
the U.S. prices based on AUVs, the values were already on a free-along-
side ship foreign port price, so no additional adjustment for
international movement expenses was necessary. Petitioners did not
claim any adjustment for foreign inland freight expenses. See Volume II
of the Petitions at II-4 through II-5 and Exhibits II-B-1, II-O-3-A and
II-O-3-B and Supplement to the AD Oman Petition at 3-7 and Attachments
3 and 4. See also AD Oman Checklist for additional details.
The UAE
For the UAE, the Petitioners based U.S. price on two AUVs of
products imported from the UAE. For one of the AUVs, we corrected the
calculation for an error in the data provided by Petitioners. See UAE
AD Checklist at ``Less Than Fair Value Allegation'' section. For the
U.S. prices based on AUVs, the values were already on a free-along-side
ship foreign port price, so no additional adjustment for international
movement expenses was necessary. Petitioners did not claim any
adjustment for foreign inland freight expenses. See Volume II of the
Petitions at II-7 to II-8 and Exhibits II-U-3 and II-U-4, Supplement to
the AD UAE Petition at 3-4 and Attachments 1 and 2. See also UAE AD
Checklist for additional details.
[[Page 72167]]
Normal Value
Vietnam
Petitioners state that the Department has long treated the Vietnam
as a non-market economy (``NME'') country. See Volume II of the
Petitions at II-8.
In accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, the
presumption of NME status remains in effect until revoked by the
Department. The presumption of NME status for Vietnam has not been
revoked by the Department and, therefore, remains in effect for
purposes of the initiation of this investigation. Accordingly, the NV
of the product is appropriately based on FOPs valued in a surrogate
market-economy country in accordance with section 773(c) of the Act. In
the course of this investigation, all parties, including the public,
will have the opportunity to provide relevant information related to
the issues of Vietnam's NME status and the granting of separate rates
to individual exporters.
Petitioners claim that India is an appropriate surrogate country
because it is a market economy that is at a comparable level of
economic development to Vietnam. Petitioners also believe that India is
a significant producer of merchandise under consideration. See Volume
II of the Petitions at II-8 through II-10. Based on the information
provided by Petitioners, we believe that it is appropriate to use India
as a surrogate country for initiation purposes. If the Department
initiates this investigation, interested parties will have the
opportunity to submit comments regarding surrogate country selection
and, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3)(i), will be provided an
opportunity to submit publicly available information to value FOPs
within 40 days from the date of publication of the preliminary
determination.
Valuation of Raw Materials and By-Product
Petitioners calculated normal value based on consumption rates
experienced by one U.S. producer. Petitioners assert that the
experience of that U.S. producer is applicable to that of Vietnamese
producers because that U.S. producer, like the vast majority of
producers in Vietnam, is a non-integrated producer which does not
manufacture the steel coils from which the subject steel pipe is
produced, but instead buys the steel and converts it into subject pipe.
As a result, Petitioners state, standard pipe is essentially a
commodity product, produced to published specifications by many non-
integrated standard pipe producers, all employing similar methods of
converting raw steel into finished steel pipe. See Supplement to the AD
Vietnam Petition, at 6.
Petitioners valued steel coils, zinc, and the by-product offset
based on reasonably available, public surrogate country data,
specifically, Indian import statistics from the Global Trade Atlas
(GTA). See Volume II of the Petitions at II-11 through II-13 and
Exhibit II-V-4-B-1 through Exhibit II-V-B-3, Supplement to the AD
Vietnam Petition at 8, and Second Supplement to the AD Vietnam Petition
at Attachment 2. Petitioners excluded from these import statistics
values from countries previously determined by the Department to be NME
countries. Petitioners also excluded imports from Indonesia, the
Republic of Korea and Thailand, as the Department has previously
excluded prices from these countries because they maintain broadly
available, non-industry-specific export subsidies. Finally, imports
that were labeled as originating from an ``unspecified'' country were
excluded from the average value, because the Department could not be
certain that they were not from either an NME country or a country with
generally available export subsidies. See Supplement to the AD Vietnam
Petition at 8.
Valuation of Direct and Indirect Labor
Petitioners determined labor costs using the labor consumption
rates derived from one U.S. producer. See Volume II of the Petitions at
II-14. Petitioners valued labor using the wage rate used in Certain
Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 76 FR
20627 (April 13, 2011). The Department recalculated wages to comport
with the methodology announced on June 21, 2011. See Antidumping
Methodologies in Proceedings Involving Non-Market Economies: Valuing
the Factor of Production: Labor, 76 FR 36092 (June 21, 2011). The
recalculation also uses values for steel workers rather than shrimp
farmers. See Vietnam AD Checklist at Attachment V.
Valuation of Energy
Petitioners determined electricity costs using the electricity
consumption rates, in kilowatt hours, derived from one U.S. producer's
experience. See Volume II of the Petitions at II-10 through II-11 and
II-14. Petitioners valued electricity using the Indian electricity rate
reported by the Central Electric Authority of the Government of India,
the source used in a recent administrative review of light walled
rectangular pipe and tube from the People's Republic of China. See
Volume II of the Petitions at II-13 (citing Light-Walled Rectangular
Pipe and Tube From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results
of the 2008-2009 Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 27308
(May 14, 2010)).
Petitioners determined natural gas costs using the natural gas
consumption rates derived from one U.S. producer's experience. See
Volume II of the Petitions at II-14. Petitioners valued natural gas
using the 2009/2010 annual report of GAIL. See Supplement to the AD
Vietnam Petition at 8.
Valuation of Factory Overhead, Selling, General and Administrative
Expenses, and Profit
Petitioners calculated surrogate financial ratios (overhead, SG&A,
and profit) from the annual financial statement of one Indian producer
of welded pipe: the 2010-2011 Annual Report of Surya Roshni Limited
(Surya). See Volume I of the Petitions at II-14 and II-15 and Exhibit
II-V-4-F. Petitioners state that the majority of Surya's sales revenue
is derived from the sale of welded pipe. Furthermore, they state that
like the petitioner whose FOP data was used, Surya buys the major
input, steel coils, rather than producing the steel. See Volume I of
the Petition at II-15. We find that Petitioners' use of Surya as the
source for the surrogate financial expenses to be acceptable for
purposes of initiation.
Exchange Rates
Petitioners made Indian rupee/U.S. dollar (USD) conversions based
on average exchange rates for the POI, based on Federal Reserve
exchange rates. See Volume II of the Petitions at II-V-4 and Exhibit
II-V-4.
India, Oman, and the UAE
For India, Oman, and the UAE, the Petitioners calculated NV for
certain steel pipe using information they were able to obtain about
home market prices.
For India, Petitioners based normal value on a price quote for a
single product. Because the price quote was on an ex-factory basis, no
adjustments were needed. See Volume II of the Petitions at Exhibits II-
A-1, II-A-2 and II-I-1, and Second Supplement to the AD India Petition
at 2-3 and Attachment 1; see also India AD Checklist at the ``Less Than
Fair Value Allegation'' section.
For Oman, Petitioners provided ex-factory price quotes for two
products. Prices included packing, but petitioners noted no adjustment
for packing was needed because the U.S. prices also include packing and
because there is no
[[Page 72168]]
significant difference in packing between markets. See Volume II of the
Petitions at Exhibits II-A-1, II-A-2, and II-O-1 and Supplement to the
AD Oman Petition at 3; see also Oman AD Checklist at the ``Less Than
Fair Value Allegation'' section.
For the UAE, the Petitioners provided price quotes for two
products. Because the price quotes were on an ex-factory basis, no
adjustments were needed. See Volume II of the Petitions at II-6 and
Exhibits II-A-1, II-A-2, and II-U-1; see also UAE AD Checklist at the
``Less Than Fair Value Allegation'' section.
Fair Value Comparisons
Based on the data provided by Petitioners, there is reason to
believe that imports of certain steel pipe from India, Oman, the UAE,
and Vietnam are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States
at less than fair value.
Based on a comparison of U.S. prices and NV calculated in
accordance with section 773(c) of the Act, the estimated dumping
margins for certain steel pipe from Vietnam range from 20.47 percent to
27.96 percent. See Vietnam AD Checklist at ``Estimated Margins''
section; see also Supplement to the AD Vietnam Petition at Attachment
5-A.
Based on a comparison of U.S. prices and NV calculated in
accordance with section 773(a)(4) of the Act, the estimated dumping
margins for certain steel pipe from India range from 22.88 percent to
48.43 percent. See India AD Checklist at ``Estimated Margins'' section;
see also Supplement to the AD India Petition at Attachment 3.
Based on a comparison of U.S. prices and NV calculated in
accordance with section 773(a)(4) of the Act, the estimated dumping
margins for certain steel pipe from Oman range from 2.89 to 19.33
percent. See Oman AD Checklist at ``Estimated Margins'' section; see
also Supplement to the AD Oman Petition at Attachment 1.
Based on a comparison of U.S. prices and NV calculated in
accordance with section 773(a)(4) of the Act, the estimated dumping
margins for certain steel pipe from the UAE range from 6.23 percent to
11.71 percent. See the UAE AD Checklist at ``Estimated Margins''
section; see also Supplement to the AD UAE Petition at Attachment 2.
Initiation of Antidumping Investigations
Based upon the examination of the Petitions on certain steel pipe
from India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam, the Department finds that the
Petitions meet the requirements of section 732 of the Act. Therefore,
we are initiating antidumping duty investigations to determine whether
imports of certain steel pipe from India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam
are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than
fair value. In accordance with section 733(b)(1)(A) of the Act, unless
postponed, we will make our preliminary determinations no later than
140 days after the date of these initiations.
Targeted Dumping Allegations
On December 10, 2008, the Department issued an interim final rule
for the purpose of withdrawing 19 CFR 351.414(f) and (g), the
regulatory provisions governing the targeted dumping analysis in
antidumping duty investigations, and the corresponding regulation
governing the deadline for targeted dumping allegations, 19 CFR
351.301(d)(5). See Withdrawal of the Regulatory Provisions Governing
Targeted Dumping in Antidumping Duty Investigations, 73 FR 74930
(December 10, 2008). The Department stated that ``{w{time} ithdrawal
will allow the Department to exercise the discretion intended by the
statute and, thereby, develop a practice that will allow interested
parties to pursue all statutory avenues of relief in this area.'' See
id. at 74931.
In order to accomplish this objective, if any interested party
wishes to make a targeted dumping allegation in any of these
investigations pursuant to section 777A(d)(1)(B) of the Act, such
allegations are due no later than 45 days before the scheduled date of
the country-specific preliminary determination.
Respondent Selection
India
At the time of the filing of the petition for this case, there was
an existing antidumping duty order on welded steel pipe and tube from
India. See Antidumping Duty Order; Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard
Pipes and Tubes from India, 51 FR 17384 (May 12, 1986). Therefore, the
scope of this investigation covers merchandise manufactured and/or
exported by Zenith Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd., and any successors-
in-interest to that company, which is the only company excluded from
the 1986 order known to exist.\5\ Petitioners have referred to Zenith
Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd. and Zenith Birla India Limited
interchangeably. Therefore, we intend to issue the questionnaire to
both of these named entities, and during the investigation will examine
whether Zenith Birla India Limited is properly considered the
successor-in-interest to Zenith Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Gujarat Steel Tubes Ltd. was also excluded from the 1986
order, but the company is not known to exist at the time of this
initiation. See Supplement to the AD India Petition at 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oman and the UAE
Petitioners identified two exporters/producers in Oman and five
exporters/producers in the UAE. See Volume I of the Petitions, at
Exhibit I-4. We are unaware of any other exporters/producers. Following
standard practice in antidumping investigations involving market
economy countries, the Department intends to select respondents for
Oman and the UAE based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data
for U.S. imports under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS) numbers: 7306.30.10.00, 7306.30.50.25,
7306.30.50.32, 7306.30.50.40, 7306.30.50.55, 7306.30.50.85, and
7306.30.50.90. These HTSUS numbers closely match the subject
merchandise, and are those used by Petitioners to calculate aggregate
import totals.\6\ We intend to release the CBP data under
Administrative Protective Order (APO) to all parties with access to
information protected by APO within five days of publication of this
Federal Register notice and make our decision regarding respondent
selection within 20 days of publication of this notice. The Department
invites comments regarding the CBP data and respondent selection within
seven days of publication of this Federal Register notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See, e.g., Supplement to the AD/CVD Petitions at Attachment
3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vietnam
For the Vietnam investigation, the Department will request quantity
and value information from the ten known exporters/producers identified
with complete contact information in the Petitions. The quantity and
value data received from NME exporters/producers will be used as the
basis to select the mandatory respondents.
For antidumping investigations involving NME countries such as
Vietnam, the Department requires that respondents submit a response to
both the quantity and value questionnaire and the separate-rate
application by the respective deadlines in order to receive
consideration for separate-rate status. See Circular Welded Austenitic
Stainless Pressure Pipe from the People's Republic of China: Initiation
of Antidumping Duty Investigation, 73 FR 10221, 10225 (February 26,
2008); Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigation: Certain Artist
Canvas
[[Page 72169]]
From the People's Republic of China, 70 FR 21996, 21999 (April 28,
2005). On the date of the publication of this initiation notice in the
Federal Register, the Department will post the quantity and value
questionnaire along with the filing instructions on the Department's
Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/ia-highlights-and-news.html, and a
response to the quantity and value questionnaire is due no later than
December 6, 2011. Also, the Department will send the quantity and value
questionnaire to those Vietnamese companies identified in Volume I of
the Petitions, at Exhibit I-4.
Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Instructions for filing such
applications may be found on the Department's Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/apo.
Separate Rates
In order to obtain separate-rate status in NME investigations,
exporters and producers must submit a separate-rate status application.
See Policy Bulletin 05.1: Separate-Rates Practice and Application of
Combination Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market
Economy Countries (April 5, 2005) (Separate Rates and Combination Rates
Bulletin), available on the Department's Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf. Based on our experience in
processing the separate-rate applications in previous antidumping duty
investigations, we have modified the application for this investigation
to make it more administrable and easier for applicants to complete.
See, e.g., Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigation: Certain New
Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From the People's Republic of China, 72 FR
43591, 43594-95 (August 6, 2007). The specific requirements for
submitting the separate-rate application in this investigation are
outlined in detail in the application itself, which will be available
on the Department's Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/ia-highlights-and-news.html on the date of publication of this initiation notice in
the Federal Register. The separate-rate application will be due 60 days
after publication of this initiation notice. For exporters and
producers who submit a separate rate status application and
subsequently are selected as mandatory respondents, these exporters and
producers will no longer be eligible for consideration for separate
rate status unless they respond to all parts of the questionnaire as
mandatory respondents. As noted in the ``Respondent Selection'' section
above, the Department requires that Vietnam respondents submit a
response to both the quantity and value questionnaire and the separate-
rate application by the respective deadlines in order to receive
consideration for separate-rate status. The quantity and value
questionnaire will be available on the Department's Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/ia-highlights-and-news.html on the date of the
publication of this initiation notice in the Federal Register.
Use of Combination Rates in an NME Investigation
The Department will calculate combination rates for certain
respondents that are eligible for a separate rate in this
investigation. The Separate Rates and Combination Rates Bulletin
states:
{w{time} hile continuing the practice of assigning separate rates
only to exporters, all separate rates that the Department will now
assign in its NME investigations will be specific to those producers
that supplied the exporter during the period of investigation. Note,
however, that one rate is calculated for the exporter and all of the
producers which supplied subject merchandise to it during the period
of investigation. This practice applies both to mandatory
respondents receiving an individually calculated separate rate as
well as the pool of non-investigated firms receiving the weighted-
average of the individually calculated rates. This practice is
referred to as the application of ``combination rates'' because such
rates apply to specific combinations of exporters and one or more
producers. The cash-deposit rate assigned to an exporter will apply
only to merchandise both exported by the firm in question and
produced by a firm that supplied the exporter during the period of
investigation.
See Separate Rates and Combination Rates Bulletin, at 6 (emphasis
added).
Distribution of Copies of the Petitions
In accordance with section 732(b)(3)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.202(f), copies of the public versions of the Petitions have been
provided to the representatives of the Governments of India, Oman, the
UAE, and Vietnam. Because of the large number of producers/exporters
identified in the Petitions, the Department considers the service of
the public version of the Petitions to the foreign producers/exporters
satisfied by the delivery of the public versions of the Petitions to
the Governments of India, Oman, the UAE, and Vietnam, consistent with
19 CFR 351.203(c)(2).
ITC Notification
We have notified the ITC of our initiations, as required by section
732(d) of the Act.
Preliminary Determinations by the ITC
The ITC will preliminarily determine, no later than 45 days after
the date the Petitions were filed, whether there is a reasonable
indication that imports of certain steel pipe from India, Oman, the
UAE, and Vietnam are materially injuring, or threatening material
injury to a U.S. industry. A negative ITC determination with respect to
any country will result in the investigation being terminated for that
country; otherwise, these investigations will proceed according to
statutory and regulatory time limits.
Notification to Interested Parties
Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(b). On January 22, 2008, the
Department published Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings:
Documents Submission Procedures; APO Procedures, 73 FR 3634 (January
22, 2008). Parties wishing to participate in these investigations
should ensure that they meet the requirements of these procedures
(e.g., the filing of letters of appearance as discussed at 19 CFR
351.103(d)).
Any party submitting factual information in an AD proceeding must
certify to the accuracy and completeness of that information. See
section 782(b) of the Act. Parties are hereby reminded that revised
certification requirements are in effect for company/government
officials as well as their representatives in all segments of any AD/
CVD proceedings initiated on or after March 14, 2011. See Certification
of Factual Information to Import Administration During Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Interim Final Rule, 76 FR 7491
(February 10, 2011) (Interim Final Rule) (amending 19 CFR 351.303(g)(1)
& (2)). The formats for the revised certifications are provided at the
end of the Interim Final Rule. The Department intends to reject factual
submissions in any proceeding segments initiated on or after March 14,
2011, if the submitting party does not comply with the revised
certification requirements.
This notice is issued and published pursuant to section 777(i) of
the Act.
Dated: November 15, 2011.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
Appendix I
Scope of the Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam Investigations
These investigations cover welded carbon-quality steel pipes and
tube, of
[[Page 72170]]
circular cross-section, with an outside diameter (``O.D.'') not more
than 16 inches (406.4 mm), regardless of wall thickness, surface finish
(e.g., black, galvanized, or painted), end finish (plain end, beveled
end, grooved, threaded, or threaded and coupled), or industry
specification (e.g., American Society for Testing and Materials
International (``ASTM''), proprietary, or other) generally known as
standard pipe, fence pipe and tube, sprinkler pipe, and structural pipe
(although subject product may also be referred to as mechanical
tubing). Specifically, the term ``carbon quality'' includes products in
which: (a) Iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other
contained elements; (b) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by
weight; and (c) none of the elements listed below exceeds the quantity,
by weight, as indicated:
(i) 1.80 percent of manganese;
(ii) 2.25 percent of silicon;
(iii) 1.00 percent of copper;
(iv) 0.50 percent of aluminum;
(v) 1.25 percent of chromium;
(vi) 0.30 percent of cobalt;
(vii) 0.40 percent of lead;
(viii) 1.25 percent of nickel;
(ix) 0.30 percent of tungsten;
(x) 0.15 percent of molybdenum;
(xi) 0.10 percent of niobium;
(xii) 0.41 percent of titanium;
(xiii) 0.15 percent of vanadium;
(xiv) 0.15 percent of zirconium.
Subject pipe is ordinarily made to ASTM specifications A53, A135,
and A795, but can also be made to other specifications. Structural pipe
is made primarily to ASTM specifications A252 and A500. Standard and
structural pipe may also be produced to proprietary specifications
rather than to industry specifications. Fence tubing is included in the
scope regardless of certification to a specification listed in the
exclusions below, and can also be made to the ASTM A513 specification.
Sprinkler pipe is designed for sprinkler fire suppression systems and
may be made to industry specifications such as ASTM A53 or to
proprietary specifications. These products are generally made to
standard O.D. and wall thickness combinations. Pipe multi-stenciled to
a standard and/or structural specification and to other specifications,
such as American Petroleum Institute (``API'') API-5L specification, is
also covered by the scope of these investigations when it meets the
physical description set forth above, and also has one or more of the
following characteristics: is 32 feet in length or less; is less than
2.0 inches (50mm) in outside diameter; has a galvanized and/or painted
(e.g., polyester coated) surface finish; or has a threaded and/or
coupled end finish.
The scope of these investigations does not include: (a) Pipe
suitable for use in boilers, superheaters, heat exchangers, refining
furnaces and feedwater heaters, whether or not cold drawn; (b) finished
electrical conduit; (c) finished scaffolding; \7\ (d) tube and pipe
hollows for redrawing; (e) oil country tubular goods produced to API
specifications; (f) line pipe produced to only API specifications; and
(g) mechanical tubing, whether or not cold-drawn. However, products
certified to ASTM mechanical tubing specifications are not excluded as
mechanical tubing if they otherwise meet the standard sizes (e.g.,
outside diameter and wall thickness) of standard, structural, fence and
sprinkler pipe. Also, products made to the following outside diameter
and wall thickness combinations, which are recognized by the industry
as typical for fence tubing, would not be excluded from the scope based
solely on their being certified to ASTM mechanical tubing
specifications:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Finished scaffolding is defined as component parts of a
final, finished scaffolding that enters the United States
unassembled as a ``kit.'' A ``kit'' is understood to mean a packaged
combination of component parts that contain, at the time of
importation, all the necessary component parts to fully assemble a
final, finished scaffolding.
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.035 inch wall thickness (gage 20);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall thickness (gage 18);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall thickness (gage 17);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall thickness (gage 16);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall thickness (gage 15);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.083 inch wall thickness (gage 14);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall thickness (gage 13);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall thickness (gage 18);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall thickness (gage 17);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall thickness (gage 16);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall thickness (gage 15);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.083 inch wall thickness (gage 14);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall thickness (gage 13);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall thickness (gage 18);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall thickness (gage 17);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall thickness (gage 16);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall thickness (gage 15);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall thickness (gage 13);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall thickness (gage 18);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall thickness (gage 17);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall thickness (gage 16);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall thickness (gage 15);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall thickness (gage 13);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.120 inch wall thickness (gage 11);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.134 inch wall thickness (gage 10);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall thickness (gage 8);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.148 inch wall thickness (gage 9);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall thickness (gage 8);
4.000 inch O.D. and 0.148 inch wall thickness (gage 9);
4.000 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall thickness (gage 8);
4.500 inch O.D. and 0.203 inch wall thickness (gage 7).
The pipe subject to these investigations are currently classifiable
in Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'')
statistical reporting numbers 7306.19.1010, 7306.19.1050, 7306.19.5110,
7306.19.5150, 7306.30.1000, 7306.30.5025, 7306.30.5032, 7306.30.5040,
7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5085, 7306.30.5090, 7306.50.1000, 7306.50.5050,
and 7306.50.5070. However, the product description, and not the HTSUS
classification, is dispositive of whether the merchandise imported into
the United States falls within the scope of the investigations.
Appendix II
Scope of the India AD Investigation
This investigation covers welded carbon-quality steel pipes and
tube, of circular cross-section, with an outside diameter (``O.D.'')
not more than 16 inches (406.4 mm), regardless of wall thickness,
surface finish (e.g., black, galvanized, or painted), end finish (plain
end, beveled end, grooved, threaded, or threaded and coupled), or
industry specification (e.g., American Society for Testing and
Materials International (``ASTM''), proprietary, or
[[Page 72171]]
other) generally known as standard pipe, fence pipe and tube, sprinkler
pipe, and structural pipe (although subject product may also be
referred to as mechanical tubing). Specifically, the term ``carbon
quality'' includes products in which: (a) Iron predominates, by weight,
over each of the other contained elements; (b) the carbon content is 2
percent or less, by weight; and (c) none of the elements listed below
exceeds the quantity, by weight, as indicated:
(i) 1.80 percent of manganese;
(ii) 2.25 percent of silicon;
(iii) 1.00 percent of copper;
(iv) 0.50 percent of aluminum;
(v) 1.25 percent of chromium;
(vi) 0.30 percent of cobalt;
(vii) 0.40 percent of lead;
(viii) 1.25 percent of nickel;
(ix) 0.30 percent of tungsten;
(x) 0.15 percent of molybdenum;
(xi) 0.10 percent of niobium;
(xii) 0.41 percent of titanium;
(xiii) 0.15 percent of vanadium;
(xiv) 0.15 percent of zirconium.
At the time of the filing of the petition for this case, there was
an existing antidumping duty order on welded steel pipe and tube from
India. See Antidumping Duty Order; Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard
Pipes and Tubes from India, 51 FR 17384 (May 12, 1986). Therefore, the
scope of this investigation covers merchandise manufactured and/or
exported by Zenith Steel Pipes and Industries Ltd., and any successors-
in-interest to that company, which is the only company excluded from
the 1986 order known to exist.
Subject pipe is ordinarily made to ASTM specifications A53, A135,
and A795, but can also be made to other specifications. Structural pipe
is made primarily to ASTM specifications A252 and A500. Standard and
structural pipe may also be produced to proprietary specifications
rather than to industry specifications. Fence tubing is included in the
scope regardless of certification to a specification listed in the
exclusions below, and can also be made to the ASTM A513 specification.
Sprinkler pipe is designed for sprinkler fire suppression systems and
may be made to industry specifications such as ASTM A53 or to
proprietary specifications. These products are generally made to
standard O.D. and wall thickness combinations. Pipe multi-stenciled to
a standard and/or structural specification and to other specifications,
such as American Petroleum Institute (``API'') API-5L specification, is
also covered by the scope of this investigation when it meets the
physical description set forth above, and also has one or more of the
following characteristics: is 32 feet in length or less; is less than
2.0 inches (50mm) in outside diameter; has a galvanized and/or painted
(e.g., polyester coated) surface finish; or has a threaded and/or
coupled end finish.
The scope of this investigation does not include: (a) Pipe suitable
for use in boilers, superheaters, heat exchangers, refining furnaces
and feedwater heaters, whether or not cold drawn; (b) finished
electrical conduit; (c) finished scaffolding; \8\ (d) tube and pipe
hollows for redrawing; (e) oil country tubular goods produced to API
specifications; (f) line pipe produced to only API specifications; and
(g) mechanical tubing, whether or not cold-drawn. However, products
certified to ASTM mechanical tubing specifications are not excluded as
mechanical tubing if they otherwise meet the standard sizes (e.g.,
outside diameter and wall thickness) of standard, structural, fence and
sprinkler pipe. Also, products made to the following outside diameter
and wall thickness combinations, which are recognized by the industry
as typical for fence tubing, would not be excluded from the scope based
solely on their being certified to ASTM mechanical tubing
specifications:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Finished scaffolding is defined as component parts of a
final, finished scaffolding that enters the United States
unassembled as a ``kit.'' A ``kit'' is understood to mean a packaged
combination of component parts that contain, at the time of
importation, all the necessary component parts to fully assemble a
final, finished scaffolding.
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.035 inch wall thickness (gage 20);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall thickness (gage 18);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall thickness (gage 17);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall thickness (gage 16);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall thickness (gage 15);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.083 inch wall thickness (gage 14);
1.315 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall thickness (gage 13);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall thickness (gage 18);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall thickness (gage 17);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall thickness (gage 16);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall thickness (gage 15);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.083 inch wall thickness (gage 14);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall thickness (gage 13);
1.660 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall thickness (gage 18);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall thickness (gage 17);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall thickness (gage 16);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall thickness (gage 15);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall thickness (gage 13);
1.900 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.047 inch wall thickness (gage 18);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.055 inch wall thickness (gage 17);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.065 inch wall thickness (gage 16);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.072 inch wall thickness (gage 15);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.095 inch wall thickness (gage 13);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
2.375 inch O.D. and 0.120 inch wall thickness (gage 11);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.134 inch wall thickness (gage 10);
2.875 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall thickness (gage 8);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.109 inch wall thickness (gage 12);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.148 inch wall thickness (gage 9);
3.500 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall thickness (gage 8);
4.000 inch O.D. and 0.148 inch wall thickness (gage 9);
4.000 inch O.D. and 0.165 inch wall thickness (gage 8);
4.500 inch O.D. and 0.203 inch wall thickness (gage 7).
The pipe subject to this investigation is currently classifiable in
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') statistical
reporting numbers 7306.19.1010, 7306.19.1050, 7306.19.5110,
7306.19.5150, 7306.30.1000, 7306.30.5025, 7306.30.5032, 7306.30.5040,
7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5085, 7306.30.5090, 7306.50.1000, 7306.50.5050,
and 7306.50.5070. However, the product description, and not the HTSUS
classification, is dispositive of whether the merchandise imported into
the United States falls within the scope of the investigation.
[FR Doc. 2011-30162 Filed 11-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P