Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From Spain: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 9723-9726 [2017-02606]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9723-9726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02606]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-469-815]


Finished Carbon Steel Flanges From Spain: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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 Spain are being, or 
are

[[Page 9724]]

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: Mark Flessner or Erin Kearney, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6312 or (202) 482-0167, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department initiated this investigation on July 20, 2016.\1\ We 
selected one mandatory respondent in this investigation, ULMA Forja, 
S.Coop (ULMA), which accounted for all imports of finished carbon steel 
flanges from Spain during the POI.\2\ For a complete description of the 
events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum that is dated concurrently with this 
determination and hereby adopted by this notice.\3\ A list of topics in 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this 
notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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 Mark Flessner to Christian Marsh, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, entitled, ``Respondent Selection for the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation of Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain,'' 
dated November 18, 2016 (Respondent Selection Memorandum).
    \3\ See Memorandum from Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, entitled ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Finished 
Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 Spain. For a full description of the scope of this 
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 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 preliminarily relied upon 
facts otherwise available to assign an estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin to the mandatory respondent in this investigation, 
because ULMA did not submit a response to the Department's 
questionnaire.\4\ Further, the Department preliminarily determines that 
ULMA failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its ability to 
comply with a request for information, and has applied an adverse 
inference in selecting from the facts otherwise available (AFA) for 
ULMA, in accordance with section 776(b) of Act. For a full description 
of the methodology underlying our preliminary determination, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ See Letter from ULMA to the Secretary of Commerce entitled, 
``ULMA Piping's Notice of Intent Not To Respond To The Department's 
Questionnaire--Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain,'' dated 
September 30, 2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 margin determined 
for the individually examined respondent in this preliminary 
determination was determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. In 
an investigation where no weighted-average dumping margins other than 
zero, 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.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    With respect to Spain, the petitioners calculated two margins in 
the Petition.\6\ Thus, consistent with our practice, we preliminarily 
assigned as the ``all-others'' rate in this investigation the simple 
average of the two dumping margins calculated for subject merchandise 
from Spain provided in the Petitions, as recalculated by the Department 
for initiation purposes, which is 18.81 percent.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ See Letter from Weldbend Corporation and Boltex Mfg. Co., 
L.P. (collectively, petitioners) to the Secretary of the U.S. 
International Trade Commission and the Secretary of Commerce 
entitled, ``Finished Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain: 2nd 
Supplemental Questionnaire Response,'' dated July 13, 2016, at 2 and 
Exhibit 1. See also AD Investigation Initiation Checklist: Finished 
Carbon Steel Flanges from Spain (July 20, 2016) (in which the 
petition margins were recalculated for purposes of initiation).
    \7\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that finished carbon steel 
flanges from Spain 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

[[Page 9725]]

weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter/manufacturer                       dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ULMA Forja, S.Coop..........................................       24.43
All Others..................................................       18.81
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 carbon steel flanges from Spain, as described in 
the Scope of the Investigation in Appendix I, that are 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 \8\ 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 respondent listed above will be the respondent-specific rate 
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ 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 to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with a preliminary determination 
within five days after public announcement of the preliminary 
determination in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Because the 
Department preliminarily applied a rate from the Petition as AFA to the 
mandatory respondent in this investigation, there are no calculations 
to disclose.

Verification

    Because the mandatory respondent in this investigation did not 
provide the information requested, the Department will not conduct 
verifications.

Public Comment

    Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination no later than 30 days after the date of publication of 
this preliminary determination.\9\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after 
the deadline date for case briefs.\10\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for 
general filing requirements).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); 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.

International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we are notifying the 
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-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

[[Page 9726]]

    (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. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
7. Calculation of All-Others Rate
8. Verification
9. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-02606 Filed 2-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P