Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From Italy: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination, 9711-9714 [2017-02605]

Download as PDF asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 25 / Wednesday, February 8, 2017 / Notices Suspension Agreements None. In accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(b), an interested party as defined by section 771(9) of the Act may request in writing that the Secretary conduct an administrative review. For both antidumping and countervailing duty reviews, the interested party must specify the individual producers or exporters covered by an antidumping finding or an antidumping or countervailing duty order or suspension agreement for which it is requesting a review. In addition, a domestic interested party or an interested party described in section 771(9)(B) of the Act must state why it desires the Secretary to review those particular producers or exporters. If the interested party intends for the Secretary to review sales of merchandise by an exporter (or a producer if that producer also exports merchandise from other suppliers) which was produced in more than one country of origin and each country of origin is subject to a separate order, then the interested party must state specifically, on an order-by-order basis, which exporter(s) the request is intended to cover. Note that, for any party the Department was unable to locate in prior segments, the Department will not accept a request for an administrative review of that party absent new information as to the party’s location. Moreover, if the interested party who files a request for review is unable to locate the producer or exporter for which it requested the review, the interested party must provide an explanation of the attempts it made to locate the producer or exporter at the same time it files its request for review, in order for the Secretary to determine if the interested party’s attempts were reasonable, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.303(f)(3)(ii). As explained in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003), and NonMarket Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 76 FR 65694 (October 24, 2011), the Department clarified its practice with respect to the collection of final antidumping duties on imports of merchandise where intermediate firms are involved. The public should be aware of this clarification in determining whether to request an administrative review of merchandise subject to antidumping findings and orders.2 2 See also the Enforcement and Compliance Web site at https://trade.gov/enforcement/. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:36 Feb 07, 2017 Jkt 241001 The Department no longer considers the non-market economy (NME) entity as an exporter conditionally subject to an antidumping duty administrative reviews.3 Accordingly, the NME entity will not be under review unless the Department specifically receives a request for, or self-initiates, a review of the NME entity.4 In administrative reviews of antidumping duty orders on merchandise from NME countries where a review of the NME entity has not been initiated, but where an individual exporter for which a review was initiated does not qualify for a separate rate, the Department will issue a final decision indicating that the company in question is part of the NME entity. However, in that situation, because no review of the NME entity was conducted, the NME entity’s entries were not subject to the review and the rate for the NME entity is not subject to change as a result of that review (although the rate for the individual exporter may change as a function of the finding that the exporter is part of the NME entity). Following initiation of an antidumping administrative review when there is no review requested of the NME entity, the Department will instruct CBP to liquidate entries for all exporters not named in the initiation notice, including those that were suspended at the NME entity rate. All requests must be filed electronically in Enforcement and Compliance’s Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (‘‘ACCESS’’) on Enforcement and Compliance’s ACCESS Web site at https:// access.trade.gov.5 Further, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.303(f)(l)(i), a copy of each request must be served on the petitioner and each exporter or producer specified in the request. The Department will publish in the Federal Register a notice of ‘‘Initiation of Administrative Review of Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation’’ for requests received by the last day of February 2017. If the Department does not receive, by the last 3 See Antidumping Proceedings: Announcement of Change in Department Practice for Respondent Selection in Antidumping Duty Proceedings and Conditional Review of the Nonmarket Economy Entity in NME Antidumping Duty Proceedings, 78 FR 65963 (November 4, 2013) 4 In accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(b)(1), parties should specify that they are requesting a review of entries from exporters comprising the entity, and to the extent possible, include the names of such exporters in their request. 5 See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011). PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 9711 day of February 2017, a request for review of entries covered by an order, finding, or suspended investigation listed in this notice and for the period identified above, the Department will instruct CBP to assess antidumping or countervailing duties on those entries at a rate equal to the cash deposit of (or bond for) estimated antidumping or countervailing duties required on those entries at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption and to continue to collect the cash deposit previously ordered. For the first administrative review of any order, there will be no assessment of antidumping or countervailing duties on entries of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the relevant provisional-measures ‘‘gap’’ period of the order, if such a gap period is applicable to the period of review. This notice is not required by statute but is published as a service to the international trading community. Dated: February 2, 2017. Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations. [FR Doc. 2017–02522 Filed 2–7–17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [A–475–835] Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From Italy: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily determines that finished carbon steel flanges from Italy are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2015, through March 31, 2016. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the ‘‘Preliminary Determination’’ section of this notice. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination. DATES: Effective February 8, 2017. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edythe Artman or Moses Song, AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of AGENCY: E:\FR\FM\08FEN1.SGM 08FEN1 9712 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 25 / Wednesday, February 8, 2017 / Notices Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482–3931 or (202) 482–5041, respectively. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background The Department initiated this investigation on July 20, 2016.1 We selected two mandatory respondents in this investigation, Metalfar Prodotti Industriali S.p.A. (Metalfar) and Officine Ambrogio Melesi & C. S.r.l. (Melesi). For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the memorandum that is dated concurrently with this determination and hereby adopted by this notice.2 A list of topics in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is made available to the public via Enforcement and Compliance’s Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at https:// access.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Department’s Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the internet at https://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content. Scope of the Investigation The product covered by this investigation is finished carbon steel flanges from Italy. For a complete description of the scope of the investigation, see the ‘‘Scope of the Investigation’’ in Appendix I of this notice. asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Scope Comments We received no comments from interested parties regarding the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. The scope published 1 See Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India, Italy, and Spain: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair Value Investigations, 81 FR 49619 (July 28, 2016) (Initiation Notice). 2 See Memorandum from Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, entitled ‘‘Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Italy’’ (Preliminary Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with this notice. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:36 Feb 07, 2017 Jkt 241001 in the Initiation Notice contained several typographical errors, which have been corrected in Appendix I. Methodology The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with section 731 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act, the Department is preliminarily relying upon facts otherwise available to assign an estimated weighted-average dumping margin to the mandatory respondents in this investigation because both respondents failed to timely provide necessary information requested by the Department, withheld requested information, and significantly impeded the investigation. Further, the Department is preliminarily determining that these mandatory respondents failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of their abilities to comply with requests for information and, thus, the Department is applying adverse facts available (AFA) to the respondents, in accordance with section 776(b) of Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary determination, see Preliminary Decision Memorandum. All-Others Rate Section 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act provides that, in the preliminary determination, the Department shall determine an estimated ‘‘all-others’’ rate for all exporters and producers not individually investigated, in accordance with section 735(c)(5) of the Act. Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act states that, generally, the estimated rate for allothers shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero and de minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins in this preliminary determination were calculated entirely under section 776 of the Act. In cases where no weightedaverage dumping margins other than that of zero, that of de minimis, or those determined entirely under section 776 of the Act have been established for individually examined entities, in accordance with section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, the Department has previously used the simple average of the margins calculated in the petition and applied the result to ‘‘all-other’’ entities not individually examined.3 3 See Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 In the petition, Weldbend Corporation and Boltex Manufacturing Co., L.P. (collectively, Petitioners) calculated three dumping margins for subject merchandise from Italy.4 Consistent with our practice, we preliminarily assigned the simple average of these margins, which results in 79.17 percent, as the ‘‘all-others’’ rate in this investigation.5 Preliminary Determination The Department preliminarily determines that finished carbon steel flanges from Italy are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at LTFV, pursuant to section 733 of the Act, and that the following estimated weightedaverage dumping margins exist: Exporter/manufacturer Metalfar Prodotti Industriali S.p.A Officine Ambrogio Melesi & C. S.r.l./ASFO S.p.A .................... All Others .................................... Weightedaverage dumping margin (percent) 204.53 204.53 79.17 Suspension of Liquidation In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all entries of finished Fair Value and Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014); see also Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 21909 (April 23, 2008); unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 38986 (July 8, 2008). 4 See Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties on Imports of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India, Italy and Spain and Countervailing Duties on Imports from India, dated June 30, 2016 (the Petition) at Volume III; see also Letter from Petitioners to the Department, regarding ‘‘Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Italy: Second Supplemental Questionnaire Response,’’ dated July 13, 2016. 5 See Certain Iron Mechanical Transfer Drive Components From Canada: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 81 FR 75039 (October 28, 2016), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2; see also Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From Thailand: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Postponement of Final Determination, 79 FR 10487 (February 25, 2014), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum, unchanged in Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From India, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Antidumping Duty Orders; and Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 79 FR 53691 (September 10, 2014). E:\FR\FM\08FEN1.SGM 08FEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 25 / Wednesday, February 8, 2017 / Notices carbon steel flanges from Italy, as described in the ‘‘Scope of the Investigation’’ in Appendix I, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Pursuant to section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), we will instruct CBP to require cash deposits 6 equal to the weighted-average amount by which the normal value exceeds U.S. price, as indicated in the chart above, as follows: (1) The rate for the mandatory respondents listed above will be the respondent-specific rates we determined in this preliminary determination; (2) if the exporter is not a mandatory respondent identified above, but the producer is, the rate will be the specific rate established for the producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the rate for all other producers or exporters will be the all-others rate. The suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice. Disclosure Normally, the Department discloses the calculations performed in connection with a preliminary determination to interested parties within five days of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Because the Department preliminarily applied total AFA to each of the mandatory respondents in this investigation, in accordance with section 776 of the Act, there are no calculations to disclose. Verification Because the mandatory respondents in this investigation did not provide information requested by the Department, the Department will not conduct verifications of company responses. Public Comment asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination no later than 30 days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination.7 Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for case 6 See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 (October 3, 2011). 7 See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general filing requirements). The Department has exercised its discretion under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i) to alter the time limit for submission of case briefs. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:36 Feb 07, 2017 Jkt 241001 briefs.8 Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain the party’s name, address, and telephone number, the number of participants, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, the Department intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time and date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date. All documents must be filed electronically using ACCESS. An electronically-filed request must be received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional Measures Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by the petitioner. 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2) requires that requests by respondents for postponement of a final determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months in duration. Respondent Melesi has requested that, in the event of an affirmative preliminary determination in this investigation, the Department postpone its final determination until no later than 135 days after the publication of the preliminary determination in the Federal Register, in accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act. Melesi 8 See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general filing requirements). PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 9713 also requested the extension of the application of the provisional measures prescribed under section 733(d) of the Act from a four-month period to a period not to exceed six months, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2).9 In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii), because (1) our preliminary determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter accounts for a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling reasons for denial exist, we are postponing the final determination until no later than 135 days after the publication of this notice in the Federal Register and extending the provisional measures from a fourmonth period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, we will issue our final determination no later than 135 days after the date of publication of this preliminary determination, pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the Act.10 International Trade Commission Notification In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we are notifying the International Trade Commission (ITC) of our affirmative preliminary determination of sales at LTFV. If our final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after our final determination whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.This determination is issued and published in accordance with sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c). Dated: January 26, 2017. Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance. Appendix I Scope of the Investigation The scope of this investigation covers finished carbon steel flanges. Finished carbon steel flanges differ from unfinished carbon steel flanges (also known as carbon steel flange forgings) in that they have undergone further processing after forging, including, but not limited to, beveling, bore threading, center or step boring, face machining, taper boring, machining ends or surfaces, drilling bolt holes, and/or de9 See Letter from Melesi, regarding ‘‘Antidumping Duty Investigation of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Italy: Request to Extend Antidumping Duty Final Determination in the Event of an Affirmative Preliminary Determination,’’ dated January 18, 2017. 10 See 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2) and (e). E:\FR\FM\08FEN1.SGM 08FEN1 asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 9714 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 25 / Wednesday, February 8, 2017 / Notices burring or shot blasting. Any one of these post-forging processes suffices to render the forging into a finished carbon steel flange for purposes of this investigation. However, mere heat treatment of a carbon steel flange forging (without any other further processing after forging) does not render the forging into a finished carbon steel flange for purposes of this investigation. While these finished carbon steel flanges are generally manufactured to specification ASME B16.5 or ASME B16.47 series A or series B, the scope is not limited to flanges produced under those specifications. All types of finished carbon steel flanges are included in the scope regardless of pipe size (which may or may not be expressed in inches of nominal pipe size), pressure class (usually, but not necessarily, expressed in pounds of pressure, e.g., 150, 300, 400, 600, 900, 1500, 2500, etc.), type of face (e.g., flat face, full face, raised face, etc.), configuration (e.g., weld neck, slip on, socket weld, lap joint, threaded, etc.), wall thickness (usually, but not necessarily, expressed in inches), normalization, or whether or not heat treated. These carbon steel flanges either meet or exceed the requirements of the ASTM A105, ASTM A694, ASTM A181, ASTM A350 and ASTM A707 standards (or comparable foreign specifications). The scope includes any flanges produced to the above-referenced ASTM standards as currently stated or as may be amended. The term ‘‘carbon steel’’ under this scope is steel 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) 0.87 percent of aluminum; (ii) 0.0105 percent of boron; (iii) 10.10 percent of chromium; (iv) 1.55 percent of columbium; (v) 3.10 percent of copper; (vi) 0.38 percent of lead; (vii) 3.04 percent of manganese; (viii) 2.05 percent of molybdenum; (ix) 20.15 percent of nickel; (x) 1.55 percent of niobium; (xi) 0.20 percent of nitrogen; (xii) 0.21 percent of phosphorus; (xiii) 3.10 percent of silicon; (xiv) 0.21 percent of sulfur; (xv) 1.05 percent of titanium; (xvi) 4.06 percent of tungsten; (xvii) 0.53 percent of vanadium; or (xviii) 0.015 percent of zirconium. Finished carbon steel flanges are currently classified under subheadings 7307.91.5010 and 7307.91.5050 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). They may also be entered under HTSUS subheadings 7307.91.5030 and 7307.91.5070. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes; the written description of the scope is dispositive. Appendix II List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum 1. Summary 2. Background 3. Period of Investigation VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:36 Feb 07, 2017 Jkt 241001 4. Scope of the Investigation 5. Scope Comments 6. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional Measures 7. Affiliations and Collapsing of Affiliates 8. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference 9. Calculation of All-Others Rate 10. Verification 11. Conclusion [FR Doc. 2017–02605 Filed 2–7–17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [C–570–043] Countervailing Duty Investigation of Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip From the People’s Republic of China: Final Affirmative Determination, and Final Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, in Part Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of stainless steel sheet and strip (stainless sheet and strip) from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as provided in section 705 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For information on the estimated subsidy rates, see the ‘‘Final Determination’’ section of this notice. The period of investigation is January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015. DATES: Effective February 8, 2017. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Toubia or David Lindgren, AD/ CVD Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482–0123 or (202) 482–3870, respectively. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: AGENCY: Background The Department published the Preliminary Determination on July 18, 2016.1 A summary of the events that occurred since the Department published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full 1 See Countervailing Duty Investigation of Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip from the People’s Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination and Alignment of Final Determination with Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 81 FR 46643 (July 18, 2016) (Preliminary Determination). PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final determination, may be found in the Final Decision Memorandum.2 The Final Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance’s Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Final Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://enforcement.trade.gov/ frn/. The signed Final Decision Memorandum and the electronic version are identical in content. Period of Investigation The period of investigation (POI) for which we are measuring subsidies is January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015. Scope Comments In accordance with the Preliminary Scope Determination, the Department set aside a period of time for parties to address scope issues in case briefs or other written comments on scope issues.3 No interested parties submitted scope comments in case or rebuttal briefs; therefore, the scope of this investigation remains unchanged for this final determination. Scope of the Investigation The product covered by this investigation is stainless sheet and strip from the PRC. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see the ‘‘Scope of the Investigation,’’ in Appendix II of this notice. Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation are discussed in the Final Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues that parties raised, and to which we responded in the Final 2 See Memorandum, ‘‘Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip from the People’s Republic of China,’’ (Final Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with this determination and hereby adopted by this notice. 3 See Memorandum, ‘‘Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip from the People’s Republic of China: Preliminary Scope Memorandum for the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations,’’ September 9, 2016. E:\FR\FM\08FEN1.SGM 08FEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9711-9714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02605]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-475-835]


Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From Italy: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that finished carbon steel flanges from Italy are being, or 
are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2015, through 
March 31, 2016. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins of sales 
at LTFV are shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this 
notice. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Effective February 8, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edythe Artman or Moses Song, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of

[[Page 9712]]

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; 
telephone: (202) 482-3931 or (202) 482-5041, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department initiated this investigation on July 20, 2016.\1\ We 
selected two mandatory respondents in this investigation, Metalfar 
Prodotti Industriali S.p.A. (Metalfar) and Officine Ambrogio Melesi & 
C. S.r.l. (Melesi). For a complete description of the events that 
followed the initiation of this investigation, see the memorandum that 
is dated concurrently with this determination and hereby adopted by 
this notice.\2\ A list of topics in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
is included as Appendix II to this notice.
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    \1\ See Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India, Italy, and 
Spain: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair Value Investigations, 81 FR 
49619 (July 28, 2016) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum from Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, entitled ``Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 
of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Italy'' (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum), dated concurrently with this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is 
made available to the public via Enforcement and Compliance's 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service 
System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Department's 
Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce 
building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly on the internet at https://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is finished carbon steel 
flanges from Italy. For a complete description of the scope of the 
investigation, see the ``Scope of the Investigation'' in Appendix I of 
this notice.

Scope Comments

    We received no comments from interested parties regarding the scope 
of the investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. The scope 
published in the Initiation Notice contained several typographical 
errors, which have been corrected in Appendix I.

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Pursuant 
to section 776(a) of the Act, the Department is preliminarily relying 
upon facts otherwise available to assign an estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin to the mandatory respondents in this investigation 
because both respondents failed to timely provide necessary information 
requested by the Department, withheld requested information, and 
significantly impeded the investigation. Further, the Department is 
preliminarily determining that these mandatory respondents failed to 
cooperate by not acting to the best of their abilities to comply with 
requests for information and, thus, the Department is applying adverse 
facts available (AFA) to the respondents, in accordance with section 
776(b) of Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
preliminary determination, see Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Section 733(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act provides that, in the 
preliminary determination, the Department shall determine an estimated 
``all-others'' rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
investigated, in accordance with section 735(c)(5) of the Act. Section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act states that, generally, the estimated rate for 
all-others shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters 
and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero and de 
minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under section 776 
of the Act. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins in this 
preliminary determination were calculated entirely under section 776 of 
the Act. In cases where no weighted-average dumping margins other than 
that of zero, that of de minimis, or those determined entirely under 
section 776 of the Act have been established for individually examined 
entities, in accordance with section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act, the 
Department has previously used the simple average of the margins 
calculated in the petition and applied the result to ``all-other'' 
entities not individually examined.\3\
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    \3\ See Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 
79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from 
Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 
14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014); see also Notice of Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from 
the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 FR 21909 (April 23, 2008); 
unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of Germany, 73 
FR 38986 (July 8, 2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the petition, Weldbend Corporation and Boltex Manufacturing Co., 
L.P. (collectively, Petitioners) calculated three dumping margins for 
subject merchandise from Italy.\4\ Consistent with our practice, we 
preliminarily assigned the simple average of these margins, which 
results in 79.17 percent, as the ``all-others'' rate in this 
investigation.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ See Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties on 
Imports of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from India, Italy and Spain 
and Countervailing Duties on Imports from India, dated June 30, 2016 
(the Petition) at Volume III; see also Letter from Petitioners to 
the Department, regarding ``Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from 
Italy: Second Supplemental Questionnaire Response,'' dated July 13, 
2016.
    \5\ See Certain Iron Mechanical Transfer Drive Components From 
Canada: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 81 FR 75039 (October 28, 2016), and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 2; see also Certain Oil Country 
Tubular Goods From Thailand: Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value, and Postponement of Final Determination, 79 FR 
10487 (February 25, 2014), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum, unchanged in Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From 
India, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey, and 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Antidumping Duty Orders; and 
Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, 79 FR 53691 (September 10, 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that finished carbon steel 
flanges from Italy are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United 
States at LTFV, pursuant to section 733 of the Act, and that the 
following estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter/manufacturer                       dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metalfar Prodotti Industriali S.p.A.........................      204.53
Officine Ambrogio Melesi & C. S.r.l./ASFO S.p.A.............      204.53
All Others..................................................       79.17
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we will direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all 
entries of finished

[[Page 9713]]

carbon steel flanges from Italy, as described in the ``Scope of the 
Investigation'' in Appendix I, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register.
    Pursuant to section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), we 
will instruct CBP to require cash deposits \6\ equal to the weighted-
average amount by which the normal value exceeds U.S. price, as 
indicated in the chart above, as follows: (1) The rate for the 
mandatory respondents listed above will be the respondent-specific 
rates we determined in this preliminary determination; (2) if the 
exporter is not a mandatory respondent identified above, but the 
producer is, the rate will be the specific rate established for the 
producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the rate for all other 
producers or exporters will be the all-others rate. The suspension of 
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 
(October 3, 2011).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    Normally, the Department discloses the calculations performed in 
connection with a preliminary determination to interested parties 
within five days of the date of publication of this notice in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Because the Department preliminarily 
applied total AFA to each of the mandatory respondents in this 
investigation, in accordance with section 776 of the Act, there are no 
calculations to disclose.

Verification

    Because the mandatory respondents in this investigation did not 
provide information requested by the Department, the Department will 
not conduct verifications of company responses.

Public Comment

    Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination no later than 30 days after the date of publication of 
the preliminary determination.\7\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after 
the deadline date for case briefs.\8\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) 
and (d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
proceeding are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement 
of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of 
authorities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for 
general filing requirements). The Department has exercised its 
discretion under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i) to alter the time limit for 
submission of case briefs.
    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for 
general filing requirements).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Requests 
should contain the party's name, address, and telephone number, the 
number of participants, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a 
request for a hearing is made, the Department intends to hold the 
hearing at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time and date to be determined. Parties 
should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing 
two days before the scheduled date.
    All documents must be filed electronically using ACCESS. An 
electronically-filed request must be received successfully in its 
entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2) requires that requests by 
respondents for postponement of a final determination be accompanied by 
a request for extension of provisional measures from a four-month 
period to a period not more than six months in duration.
    Respondent Melesi has requested that, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination in this investigation, the 
Department postpone its final determination until no later than 135 
days after the publication of the preliminary determination in the 
Federal Register, in accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act. 
Melesi also requested the extension of the application of the 
provisional measures prescribed under section 733(d) of the Act from a 
four-month period to a period not to exceed six months, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2).\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See Letter from Melesi, regarding ``Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Italy: Request 
to Extend Antidumping Duty Final Determination in the Event of an 
Affirmative Preliminary Determination,'' dated January 18, 2017.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii), because (1) our preliminary determination is 
affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter accounts for a significant 
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling 
reasons for denial exist, we are postponing the final determination 
until no later than 135 days after the publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register and extending the provisional measures from a 
four-month period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, 
we will issue our final determination no later than 135 days after the 
date of publication of this preliminary determination, pursuant to 
section 735(a)(2) of the Act.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2) and (e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we are notifying the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our affirmative preliminary 
determination of sales at LTFV. If our final determination is 
affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after 
the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after our final 
determination whether these imports are materially injuring, or 
threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.This determination is 
issued and published in accordance with sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: January 26, 2017.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation covers finished carbon steel 
flanges. Finished carbon steel flanges differ from unfinished carbon 
steel flanges (also known as carbon steel flange forgings) in that 
they have undergone further processing after forging, including, but 
not limited to, beveling, bore threading, center or step boring, 
face machining, taper boring, machining ends or surfaces, drilling 
bolt holes, and/or de-

[[Page 9714]]

burring or shot blasting. Any one of these post-forging processes 
suffices to render the forging into a finished carbon steel flange 
for purposes of this investigation. However, mere heat treatment of 
a carbon steel flange forging (without any other further processing 
after forging) does not render the forging into a finished carbon 
steel flange for purposes of this investigation.
    While these finished carbon steel flanges are generally 
manufactured to specification ASME B16.5 or ASME B16.47 series A or 
series B, the scope is not limited to flanges produced under those 
specifications. All types of finished carbon steel flanges are 
included in the scope regardless of pipe size (which may or may not 
be expressed in inches of nominal pipe size), pressure class 
(usually, but not necessarily, expressed in pounds of pressure, 
e.g., 150, 300, 400, 600, 900, 1500, 2500, etc.), type of face 
(e.g., flat face, full face, raised face, etc.), configuration 
(e.g., weld neck, slip on, socket weld, lap joint, threaded, etc.), 
wall thickness (usually, but not necessarily, expressed in inches), 
normalization, or whether or not heat treated. These carbon steel 
flanges either meet or exceed the requirements of the ASTM A105, 
ASTM A694, ASTM A181, ASTM A350 and ASTM A707 standards (or 
comparable foreign specifications). The scope includes any flanges 
produced to the above-referenced ASTM standards as currently stated 
or as may be amended. The term ``carbon steel'' under this scope is 
steel 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) 0.87 percent of aluminum;
    (ii) 0.0105 percent of boron;
    (iii) 10.10 percent of chromium;
    (iv) 1.55 percent of columbium;
    (v) 3.10 percent of copper;
    (vi) 0.38 percent of lead;
    (vii) 3.04 percent of manganese;
    (viii) 2.05 percent of molybdenum;
    (ix) 20.15 percent of nickel;
    (x) 1.55 percent of niobium;
    (xi) 0.20 percent of nitrogen;
    (xii) 0.21 percent of phosphorus;
    (xiii) 3.10 percent of silicon;
    (xiv) 0.21 percent of sulfur;
    (xv) 1.05 percent of titanium;
    (xvi) 4.06 percent of tungsten;
    (xvii) 0.53 percent of vanadium; or
    (xviii) 0.015 percent of zirconium.
    Finished carbon steel flanges are currently classified under 
subheadings 7307.91.5010 and 7307.91.5050 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). They may also be entered 
under HTSUS subheadings 7307.91.5030 and 7307.91.5070. The HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes; the 
written description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Period of Investigation
4. Scope of the Investigation
5. Scope Comments
6. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
7. Affiliations and Collapsing of Affiliates
8. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
9. Calculation of All-Others Rate
10. Verification
11. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-02605 Filed 2-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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