Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes From India: Initiation of Circumvention Inquiry on the Antidumping Duty Order
| Published date | 22 February 2022 |
| Record Number | 2022-03661 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | International Trade Administration |
Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2022)
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9571-9573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03661]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-533-502]
Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes From India:
Initiation of Circumvention Inquiry on the Antidumping Duty Order
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to a request from Bull Moose Tube Company (Bull
Moose), Nucor Tubular Products Inc. (Nucor Tubular), Wheatland Tube
Company (Wheatland) and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber,
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers
International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (the USW) (collectively, the domestic
interested parties), the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is
initiating a country-wide circumvention inquiry to determine whether
imports of certain welded carbon steel standard pipes and tubes (pipe
and tube), which are completed in Oman and the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) from hot-rolled steel (HRS) produced in India, are circumventing
the antidumping duty (AD) order on pipe and tube from India.
DATES: Applicable February 22, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacob Keller, AD/CVD Operations,
Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4849.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On December 16, 2021, pursuant to section 781(b) of the Tariff Act
of 1930, as amended (the Act) and 19 CFR 351.226(c) domestic interested
parties filed a circumvention inquiry request alleging that pipe and
tube completed in Oman and the UAE using HRS manufactured in India are
circumventing the Order \1\ and, accordingly, should be included within
the scope of the Order.\2\ On December 24, 2021, Al Jazeera Steel
Products Co. SAOG (Al Jazeera) filed opposition comments in response to
the domestic interested parties' request.\3\ On January 5, 2022, the
domestic interested parties filed rebuttal comments regarding Al
Jazeera's opposition comments.\4\ On January 11, 2022, Universal Tube
and Plastic Industries, Ltd.; KHK Scaffolding and Formwork LLC; and THL
Pipe and Tube Industries LLC (collectively, Universal) filed opposition
comments.\5\ On January 13, 2022, Conares Metal Supply Limited
(Conares) filed opposition comments.\6\
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\1\ See Antidumping Duty Order; Certain Welded Carbon Steel
Standard Pipes and Tubes from India, 51 FR 17384 (May 12, 1986)
(Order).
\2\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Certain Welded
Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes from India: Request for an
Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated December 16, 2021.
\3\ See Al Jazeera's Letter, ``Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe
from India; Al Jazeera Comments on Petitioners' Request for Anti-
circumvention Inquiry,'' dated December 24, 2021.
\4\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Certain Welded
Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes from India: Response to Al
Jazeera's Comments on Request for Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,''
dated January 5, 2022.
\5\ See Universal's Letter, ``Certain Welded Carbon Steel
Standard Pipes and Tubes from India--Response to Domestic Interested
Parties' Request for an Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January
11, 2022.
\6\ See Conares' Letter, ``Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe
from India: Comments on Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January
13, 2022.
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On January 6, 2022, we issued a supplemental questionnaire to the
domestic interested parties regarding their circumvention inquiry
request.\7\ On January 18, 2022, the domestic interested parties filed
their response to our supplemental questionnaire.\8\ On January 24 and
25, 2022, Universal, Ajmal Steel Tubes and Pipes Ind., LLC, and K.D
Industries Inc. (UAE Producers), and Conares filed additional
opposition comments, respectively.\9\
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\7\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Anti-Circumvention Inquiry of
Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe and Tube from India:
Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated January 6, 2022.
\8\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Certain Welded
Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes from India: Response to
Supplemental Questionnaire,'' dated January 18, 2022.
\9\ See UAE Producers' Letter, ``Certain Welded Carbon Steel
Standard Pipes and Tubes from India--Additional Information to
Support a Rejection of an Anti-Circumvention Inquiry Request,''
dated January 14, 2022; see also Conares' Letter, ``Welded Carbon
Steel Standard Pipe from India: Rebuttal and Comments on Domestic
Interested Parties' Supplemental Response,'' dated January 25, 2022.
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On January 11, 2022, we extended the deadline to initiate these
circumvention inquiries by 15 days, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.226(d)(1).\10\ On January 28,
[[Page 9572]]
2022, we extended, for good cause, the deadline to initiate by an
additional 15 days in accordance with 19 CFR 351.302(b).\11\
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\10\ See Memoranda, ``Certain Welded Steel Carbon Standard Pipes
and Tubes from India: Extension of Time to Determine Whether to
Initiate Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January 11, 2022; and
``Certain Welded Steel Carbon Standard Pipes and Tubes from India:
Revised Extension of Time to Determine Whether to Initiate Anti-
Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January 12, 2022.
\11\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard
Pipes and Tubes from India: Extension of Time to Determine Whether
to Initiate Anti-Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated January 28, 2022.
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Scope of the Order
The products covered by the Order include certain welded carbon
steel standard pipes and tubes with an outside diameter of 0.375 inch
or more but not over 16 inches. These products are commonly referred to
in the industry as standard pipes and tubes produced to various
American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) specifications, most
notably A-53, A-120, or A-135. The antidumping duty order on certain
welded carbon steel standard pipes and tubes from India, published on
May 12, 1986, included standard scope language which used the import
classification system as defined by Tariff Schedules of the United
States, Annotated (TSUSA).
The United States developed a system of tariff classification based
on the international harmonized system of customs nomenclature. On
January 1, 1989, the U.S. tariff schedules were fully converted from
the TSUSA to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). See, e.g., Certain
Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipes and Tubes from India; Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, 56 FR 26650, 26651
(June 10, 1991). As a result of this transition, the scope language we
used in the 1991 Federal Register notice is slightly different from the
scope language of the original final determination and antidumping duty
order.
Until January 1, 1989, such merchandise was classifiable under item
numbers 610.3231, 610.3234, 610.3241, 610.3242, 610.3243, 610.3252,
610.3254, 610.3256, 610.3258, and 610.4925 of the TSUSA. This
merchandise is currently classifiable under HTS subheadings
7306.30.1000, 7306.30.5025, 7306.30.5032, 7306.30.5040, 7306.30.5055,
7306.30.5085, 7306.30.5090. As with the TSUSA item numbers, the HTS
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes.
The written product description remains dispositive.
Merchandise Subject to the Circumvention Inquiry
This circumvention inquiry covers pipe and tube completed in Oman
and the UAE using India-origin HRS and subsequently exported from Oman
and the UAE to the United States.
Initiation of Circumvention Inquiry
Section 351.226(d) of Commerce's regulations states that if
Commerce determines that a request for a circumvention inquiry
satisfies the requirements of 19 CFR 351.226(c), then Commerce ``will
accept the request and initiate a circumvention inquiry.'' Section
351.226(c)(1) of Commerce's regulations, in turn, requires that each
circumvention inquiry request allege ``that the elements necessary for
a circumvention determination under section 781 of the Act exist'' and
be ``accompanied by information reasonably available to the interested
party supporting these allegations.''
Section 781(b)(1) of the Act provides that Commerce may find
circumvention of an AD order when merchandise of the same class or kind
subject to the order is completed or assembled in a foreign country
other than the country to which the order applies. In conducting a
circumvention inquiry, under section 781(b)(1) of the Act, Commerce
relies on the following criteria: (A) Merchandise imported into the
United States is of the same class or kind as any merchandise produced
in a foreign country that is the subject of an antidumping or
countervailing duty order or finding; (B) before importation into the
United States, such imported merchandise is completed or assembled in
another foreign country from merchandise which is subject to the order
or merchandise which is produced in the foreign country that is subject
to the order; (C) the process of assembly or completion in the foreign
country referred to in section (B) is minor or insignificant; (D) the
value of the merchandise produced in the foreign country to which the
AD or countervailing duty order applies is a significant portion of the
total value of the merchandise exported to the United States; and (E)
the administering authority determines that action is appropriate to
prevent evasion of such order or finding.
In determining whether the process of assembly or completion in a
third country is minor or insignificant under section 781(b)(1)(C) of
the Act, section 781(b)(2) of the Act directs Commerce to consider: (A)
The level of investment in the foreign country; (B) the level of
research and development in the foreign country; (C) the nature of the
production process in the foreign country; (D) the extent of production
facilities in the foreign country; and (E) whether or not the value of
processing performed in the foreign country represents a small
proportion of the value of the merchandise imported into the United
States. However, no single factor, by itself, controls Commerce's
determination of whether the process of assembly or completion in a
third country is minor or insignificant.\12\ Accordingly, it is
Commerce's practice to evaluate each of these five factors as they
exist in the third country, depending on the totality of the
circumstances of the particular circumvention inquiry.\13\
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\12\ See Statement of Administrative Action accompanying the
Uruguay Round Agreements Act (SAA), H.R. Doc. No. 103-316 (1994) at
893.
\13\ See Uncovered Innerspring Units from the People's Republic
of China: Final Affirmative Determination of Circumvention of the
Antidumping Duty Order, 83 FR 65626 (December 21, 2018), and
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at 4.
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In addition, section 781(b)(3) of the Act sets forth additional
factors to consider in determining whether to include merchandise
assembled or completed in a third country within the scope of an
antidumping or countervailing duty order. Specifically, Commerce shall
take into account such factors as: (A) The pattern of trade, including
sourcing patterns; (B) whether the manufacturer or exporter of the
merchandise is affiliated with the person who, in the third country,
uses the merchandise to complete or assemble the merchandise which is
subsequently imported into the United States; and (C) whether imports
of the merchandise into the third country have increased after the
initiation of the investigation that resulted in the issuance of such
order or finding.
Based on our analysis of the domestic interested parties'
circumvention request, Commerce determines that the domestic interested
parties have satisfied the criteria under 19 CFR 351.226(c) to warrant
the initiation of a circumvention inquiry of the Order. For a full
discussion of the basis for our decision to initiate this circumvention
inquiry, see the Circumvention Initiation Memo.\14\ As explained in the
Circumvention Initiation Memo, the information provided by domestic
interested parties warrants initiating
[[Page 9573]]
this circumvention inquiry on a country-wide basis. Commerce has taken
this approach in prior circumvention inquiries, where the facts
warranted initiation on a country-wide basis.\15\
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\14\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard
Pipes and Tubes from India: Initiation of Circumvention Inquiries on
the Antidumping Duty Order,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby
adopted by, this notice (Circumvention Initiation Memo). This memo
is a public document and available electronically online via ACCESS.
\15\ See, e.g., Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from
the Republic of Korea and Taiwan: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention
Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders, 83
FR 37785 (August 2, 2018); Carbon Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings from
the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Anti-Circumvention
Inquiry on the Antidumping Duty Order, 82 FR 40556, 40560 (August
25, 2017) (stating at initiation that Commerce would evaluate the
extent to which a country-wide finding applicable to all exports
might be warranted); and Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products
from the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Anti-
Circumvention Inquiries on the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing
Duty Orders, 81 FR 79454, 79458 (November 14, 2016) (stating at
initiation that Commerce would evaluate the extent to which a
country-wide finding applicable to all exports might be warranted).
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Consistent with the approach in the prior circumvention inquiries
that were initiated on a country-wide basis, Commerce intends to issue
questionnaires to solicit information from producers and exporters in
Oman and the UAE concerning their shipments of pipe and tube made from
India-origin HRS to the United States. A company's failure to respond
completely to Commerce's requests for information may result in the
application of partial or total facts available, pursuant to section
776(a) of the Act, which may include adverse inferences, pursuant to
section 776(b) of the Act.
Suspension of Liquidation
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.226(l)(1), Commerce will notify U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) of the initiation and direct CBP to
continue the suspension of liquidation of entries of products subject
to the circumvention inquiry that were already subject to the
suspension of liquidation under the Order. Should Commerce issue
preliminary or final circumvention determinations, Commerce will follow
the suspension of liquidation rules under 19 CFR 351.226(l)(2)-(4).
Notification to Interested Parties
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.226(d) and section 781(b) of the Act,
Commerce determines that the domestic interested parties' request for
this circumvention inquiry satisfies the requirements of 19 CFR
351.226(c). Accordingly, Commerce is notifying all interested parties
of the initiation of this circumvention inquiry to determine whether
certain imports of pipe and tube, completed in and exported from Oman
and the UAE using HRS inputs manufactured in India, are circumventing
the Order. In addition, we have included a description of the products
that are the subject of this inquiry, and an explanation of the reasons
for Commerce's decision to initiate this inquiry as provided above and
in the accompanying Circumvention Initiation Memo.\16\ In accordance
with 19 CFR 351.226(e)(2), Commerce intends to issue its final
circumvention determination within 300 days from the date of
publication of the notice of initiation of a circumvention inquiry in
the Federal Register.
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\16\ See Circumvention Initiation Memo.
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This notice is published in accordance with section 781(b) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.226(d)(1)(ii).
Dated: February 14, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix
List of Topics Discussed in the Circumvention Initiation Memo
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Merchandise Subject to the Circumvention Inquiry
V. Statutory and Regulatory Framework for Circumvention Inquiries
VI. Statutory Analysis for the Circumvention Inquiry
VII. Comments Opposing the Initiation of a Circumvention Inquiry
VIII. Country-Wide Circumvention Inquiries
IX. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2022-03661 Filed 2-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
