83 FR 16289 - Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy Steel From Italy: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 73 (April 16, 2018)

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that certain cold-drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and alloy steel (cold-drawn mechanical tubing) from Italy is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), during the period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2017.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 73 (Monday, April 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16289-16292]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07848]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-475-838]


Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy Steel 
From Italy: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that certain 
cold-drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and alloy steel (cold-drawn 
mechanical tubing) from Italy is being, or is likely to be, sold in the 
United States at less than fair value (LTFV), during the period of 
investigation (POI) is April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2017.

DATES: Effective April 16, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carrie Bethea, AD/CVD Operations,

[[Page 16290]]

Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1491.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On November 22, 2017, Commerce published in the Federal Register 
the preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV and the 
preliminary affirmative determination of critical circumstances, in 
part, in the antidumping duty (AD) investigation of cold-drawn 
mechanical tubing from Italy.\1\ Commerce postponed the final LTFV 
determination.\2\ Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all 
deadlines affected by the closure of the Federal Government from 
January 20 through 22, 2018. As a result, the revised deadline for the 
final determination of this investigation is now April 9, 2018.\3\ 
Commerce invited comments from interested parties on the Preliminary 
Determination.\4\ The petitioners,\5\ Dalmine, S.p.A. (Dalmine), and 
Metalfer, S.p.A. (Metalfer) filed case and rebuttal briefs.\6\ A 
summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues 
raised by interested parties for this final determination, may be found 
in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\7\ The Issues and Decision 
Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at http://access.trade.gov, and it is available to all 
parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Commerce 
building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy 
Steel from Italy: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at 
Less than Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances, in Part, Postponement of Final Determination 
and Extension of Provisional Measures, 82 FR 55561 (November 22, 
2017) (Preliminary Determination).
    \2\ Id.
    \3\ See Memorandum for The Record from Christian Marsh, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of 
the Federal Government'' (Tolling Memorandum), dated January 23, 
2018. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been 
extended by 3 days.
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Briefing Schedule for Final 
Determination,'' dated February 23, 2018.
    \5\ ArcelorMittal Tubular Products, Michigan Seamless Tube, LLC, 
PTC Alliance Corp., Plymouth Tube Co. USA, Webco Industries, Inc., 
and Zekelman Industries, Inc. (collectively, the petitioners).
    \6\ See Metalfer's Letter, ``Metalfer's Case Brief,'' dated 
March 2, 2018 (Metalfer's Case Brief); Petitioners' Letter, ``Case 
Brief of Petitioners,'' dated March 5, 2018 (Petitioners' Case 
Brief); Dalmine's Letter, ``Case Brief of Dalmine S.p.A. and Tenaris 
Global Services U.S.A. Corporation,'' dated March 5, 2018 (Dalmine's 
Case Brief).
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair Value 
Investigation of Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and 
Alloy Steel from Italy,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby 
adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is cold-drawn mechanical 
tubing from Italy. In the Preliminary Determination,\8\ we set a 
separate briefing schedule on scope issues for interested parties.\9\ 
Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation 
as it appeared in the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\10\ On 
December 4, 2017, the petitioners withdrew a portion of their comments 
regarding the scope language.\11\ Commerce addressed all scope comments 
received in the Final Scope Decision Memorandum and made changes to the 
scope that appeared in the Preliminary Determination.\12\ A full 
description of the scope is contained at Appendix I to this notice.
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    \8\ See Preliminary Determination.
    \9\ Id., 82 FR at 55562. The scope case briefs were due five 
days after the publication of the preliminary less than fair value 
determinations for China, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, and 
Switzerland in the Federal Register, and the rebuttal briefs were 
due three days after the due date for the scope case briefs, i.e., 
Monday, November 27, 2017 and Thursday, November 30, 2017.
    \10\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of 
Carbon and Alloy Steel from the Federal Republic of Germany, India, 
Italy, the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China, and 
Switzerland: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determinations,'' dated November 15, 2017 (Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum).
    \11\ See the petitioners' letter, ``Certain Cold-Drawn 
Mechanical Tubing from Germany et al.--EN-10305-3,'' dated December 
4, 2017.
    \12\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of 
Carbon and Alloy Steel from the Federal Republic of Germany, India, 
Italy, the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China, and 
Switzerland: Scope Decision Memorandum for the Final Determinations: 
Final Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated December 4, 2017 (Final 
Scope Decision Memorandum).
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Period of Investigation

    The POI is April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2017.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), Commerce conducted the cost and sales verifications of 
Dalmine in Dalmine, Italy, and Houston, Texas, between December 12, 
2017, and February 13, 2018. We used standard verification procedures, 
including an examination of relevant accounting and production records, 
and original source documents provided by the respondents. Following 
the Preliminary Determination, Metalfer withdrew its participation in 
the investigation as a mandatory respondent and did not participate in 
verification.\13\
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    \13\ See Metalfer's Letter, ``Metalfer's Withdrawal of 
Participation as Mandatory Respondent,'' dated December 8, 2017.
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in Part

    In the Preliminary Determination, in accordance with section 
733(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, Commerce found that critical 
circumstances existed for Dalmine and Metalfer, but not for all other 
producers or exporters. Commerce received no comments concerning the 
preliminary critical circumstances determination. For this final 
determination, while Commerce continues to find that, in accordance 
with section 735(a)(3) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, critical 
circumstances exist for Dalmine and Metalfer and do not exist for ``all 
other'' producers or exporters, Commerce has made changes to its 
analysis because, as discussed below, Commerce has determined that for 
both Dalmine and Metalfer, the use of adverse facts available is 
warranted in determining a margin for these companies. For further 
discussion of Commerce's critical circumstances analysis, see the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in 
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, 
which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues raised is 
attached to this notice as Appendix II.

Use of Facts Available and Adverse Facts Available

    For purposes of this final determination, Commerce relied on facts 
available with adverse inferences to assign an estimated weighted-
average dumping margin to Dalmine and Metalfer, pursuant to sections 
776(a)(2)(A)-(C) and 776(b) of the Act. For further information, see 
the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

[[Page 16291]]

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to our analysis. As noted above, 
we are now applying adverse facts available in determining margins for 
the mandatory respondents. For a discussion of these and other changes, 
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated ``all-
others'' rate for exporters and producers not individually investigated 
shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins established for individually 
investigated exporters and producers, excluding any margins that are 
zero or de minimis or any margins determined entirely under section 776 
of the Act. In contrast to the Preliminary Determination, we cannot 
apply the methodology described in section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act to 
calculate the ``all-others'' rate because the margin for both 
individually-investigated respondents in the final determination was 
determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. In cases 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, Commerce averages the margins calculated by 
the petitioners in the petition and applies the result to ``all-other'' 
entities not individually examined.\14\ Consistent with our practice, 
we assigned as the ``all-others'' rate, the simple average of the three 
dumping margins provided in the petition, which is 47.87 percent.
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    \14\ See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Sodium Nitrite from the Federal Republic of 
Germany, 73 FR 21909, 21912 (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, 38987 (July 8, 
2008), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2 
(Sodium Nitrite from Germany Final Determination).
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Final Determination Margins

    The weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                  Exporter or producer                        average
                                                          dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
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Dalmine, S.p.A..........................................           68.95
Metalfer, S.p.A.........................................           68.95
All-Others..............................................           47.87
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    We will disclose the calculations performed within five days of any 
public announcement of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(4)(A) of the Act, for this final 
determination, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all entries of cold-drawn 
mechanical tubing from Italy, as described in the Appendix I to this 
notice, produced or exported by Dalmine and Metalfer, which were 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
August 24, 2017, (90 days prior to the date of publication of the 
Preliminary Determination), because we continue to find that critical 
circumstances exist with regard to imports from, produced, or exported 
by Dalmine and Metalfer.
    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. CBP to continue to suspend liquidation of all appropriate 
entries of cold-drawn mechanical tubing, as described in Appendix I of 
this notice, produced or exported by ``all-other'' entities which were 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
November 22, 2017, the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination.
    Furthermore, pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.210(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit 
for such entries of merchandise equal to the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: (1) The 
cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the 
respondent-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
determined in this final determination; (2) if the exporter is not a 
respondent identified above but the producer is, then the cash deposit 
rate will be equal to the respondent-specific estimated weighted-
average dumping margin established for that producer of the subject 
merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and 
exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin.
    These instructions will stay in effect until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

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

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice will serve as the only reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the destruction of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of return/destruction or APO materials or conversion to 
judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with 
the regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).


[[Page 16292]]


    Dated: April 9, 2018.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation covers cold-drawn mechanical 
tubing of carbon and alloy steel (cold-drawn mechanical tubing) of 
circular cross-section, 304.8 mm or more in length, in actual 
outside diameters less than 331 mm, and regardless of wall 
thickness, surface finish, end finish or industry specification. The 
subject cold-drawn mechanical tubing is a tubular product with a 
circular cross-sectional shape that has been cold-drawn or otherwise 
cold-finished after the initial tube formation in a manner that 
involves a change in the diameter or wall thickness of the tubing, 
or both. The subject cold-drawn mechanical tubing may be produced 
from either welded (e.g., electric resistance welded, continuous 
welded, etc.) or seamless (e.g., pierced, pilgered or extruded, 
etc.) carbon or alloy steel tubular products. It may also be heat 
treated after cold working. Such heat treatments may include, but 
are not limited to, annealing, normalizing, quenching and tempering, 
stress relieving or finish annealing. Typical cold-drawing methods 
for subject merchandise include, but are not limited to, drawing 
over mandrel, rod drawing, plug drawing, sink drawing and similar 
processes that involve reducing the outside diameter of the tubing 
with a die or similar device, whether or not controlling the inside 
diameter of the tubing with an internal support device such as a 
mandrel, rod, plug or similar device. Other cold-finishing 
operations that may be used to produce subject merchandise include 
cold-rolling and cold-sizing the tubing.
    Subject cold-drawn mechanical tubing is typically certified to 
meet industry specifications for cold-drawn tubing including but not 
limited to:
    (1) American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or 
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) specifications ASTM 
A-512, ASTM A-513 Type 3 (ASME SA513 Type 3), ASTM A-513 Type 4 
(ASME SA513 Type 4), ASTM A-513 Type 5 (ASME SA513 Type 5), ASTM A-
513 Type 6 (ASME SA513 Type 6), ASTM A-519 (cold-finished);
    (2) SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers) 
specifications SAE J524, SAE J525, SAE J2833, SAE J2614, SAE J2467, 
SAE J2435, SAE J2613;
    (3) Aerospace Material Specification (AMS) AMS T-6736 (AMS 
6736), AMS 6371, AMS 5050, AMS 5075, AMS 5062, AMS 6360, AMS 6361, 
AMS 6362, AMS 6371, AMS 6372, AMS 6374, AMS 6381, AMS 6415;
    (4) United States Military Standards (MIL) MIL-T-5066 and MIL-T-
6736;
    (5) foreign standards equivalent to one of the previously listed 
ASTM, ASME, SAE, AMS or MIL specifications including but not limited 
to:
    (a) German Institute for Standardization (DIN) specifications 
DIN 2391-2, DIN 2393-2, DIN 2394-2);
    (b) European Standards (EN) EN 10305-1, EN 10305-2, EN 10305-4, 
EN 10305-6 and European national variations on those standards 
(e.g., British Standard (BS EN), Irish Standard (IS EN) and German 
Standard (DIN EN) variations, etc.);
    (c) Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) JIS G 3441 and JIS G 
3445; and
    (6) proprietary standards that are based on one of the above-
listed standards.
    The subject cold-drawn mechanical tubing may also be dual or 
multiple certified to more than one standard. Pipe that is multiple 
certified as cold-drawn mechanical tubing and to other 
specifications not covered by this scope, is also covered by the 
scope of this investigation when it meets the physical description 
set forth above.
    Steel products included in the scope of this investigation are 
products in which: (1) Iron predominates, by weight, over each of 
the other contained elements; and (2) the carbon content is 2 
percent or less by weight.
    For purposes of this scope, the place of cold-drawing determines 
the country of origin of the subject merchandise. Subject 
merchandise that is subject to minor working in a third country that 
occurs after drawing in one of the subject countries including, but 
not limited to, heat treatment, cutting to length, straightening, 
nondestructive testing, deburring or chamfering, remains within the 
scope of this investigation.
    All products that meet the written physical description are 
within the scope of this investigation unless specifically excluded 
or covered by the scope of an existing order. Merchandise that meets 
the physical description of cold-drawn mechanical tubing above is 
within the scope of the investigation even if it is also dual or 
multiple certified to an otherwise excluded specification listed 
below. The following products are outside of, and/or specifically 
excluded from, the scope of this investigation:
    (1) cold-drawn stainless steel tubing, containing 10.5 percent 
or more of chromium by weight and not more than 1.2 percent of 
carbon by weight;
    (2) products certified to one or more of the ASTM, ASME or 
American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications listed below:
     ASTM A-53;
     ASTM A-106;
     ASTM A-179 (ASME SA 179);
     ASTM A-192 (ASME SA 192);
     ASTM A-209 (ASME SA 209);
     ASTM A-210 (ASME SA 210);
     ASTM A-213 (ASME SA 213);
     ASTM A-334 (ASME SA 334);
     ASTM A-423 (ASME SA 423);
     ASTM A-498;
     ASTM A-496 (ASME SA 496);
     ASTM A-199;
     ASTM A-500;

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in 
Part
V. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
VI. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VII. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Whether Applying Partial AFA to Dalmine for the 
Preliminary Determination was appropriate
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce Used Aberrational Values in the 
Application of Partial AFA to Dalmine for the Preliminary 
Determination
    Comment 3: Whether Commerce Had a Ministerial Error in the 
Program Calculating Dalmine's Margin for the Preliminary 
Determination
    Comment 4: Whether Commerce Properly Applied Its Differential 
Pricing Methodology in Selecting Dalmine's Cash Deposit Rate
    Comment 5: Whether Commerce Can Rely on Dalmine's U.S. and Home 
Market Sales Responses
    Comment 6: Whether Commerce Can Rely on Dalmine's Cost Response 
for the Final Determination
    Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Apply Total Adverse Facts 
Available to Dalmine for the Final Determination
    Comment 8: Commerce's Selection of the Total Adverse Facts 
Available Rate for Metalfer
VIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-07848 Filed 4-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P