Notice2022-10051
Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Russian Federation: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Negative Critical Circumstances Determination, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures
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Published
May 11, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from the Russian Federation (Russia) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 91 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28804-28807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10051]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-821-833]
Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Russian Federation:
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Preliminary Negative Critical Circumstances Determination, Postponement
of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines
that oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from the Russian Federation
(Russia) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at
less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is
October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021. Interested parties are
invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES: Applicable May 11, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George McMahon or Mike Heaney, 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) 482-1167 or (202) 482-4475,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce
published the notice of initiation of this LTFV investigation on
November 1, 2021.\1\ On February 17, 2022, Commerce postponed the
preliminary determination of this investigation until May 4, 2022.\2\
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\1\ See Oil Country Tubular Goods from Argentina, Mexico, and
the Russian Federation: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigations, 86 FR 60205 (November 1, 2021) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Oil Country Tubular Goods from Argentina, Mexico, and
the Russian Federation: Postponement of Preliminary Determinations
in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations: Postponement of
Preliminary Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigations, 87 FR 9034 (February 17, 2022).
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\3\ A list of sections in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum is included in Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary
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 <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a complete
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly
at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx</a>.
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\3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Oil
Country Tubular Goods from the Russian Federation,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by this notice (Preliminary
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are OCTG from Russia.
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see
Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ in
the Initiation Notice Commerce set aside a period of time for parties
to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\5\ Certain
interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it
appeared in the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product
coverage comments and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for
this investigation, and accompanying discussion and analysis of all
comments timely received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum.\6\ As discussed in the Preliminary Scope Decision
Memorandum, Commerce preliminarily modified the scope language as it
appeared in the Initiation Notice.
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\4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\5\ See Initiation Notice, 86 FR at 60205-60206.
\6\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping Duty Investigations of Oil
Country Tubular Goods from Argentina, Mexico, and the Russian
Federation and Countervailing Duty Investigations of Oil Country
Tubular Goods from the Republic of Korea, and the Russian
Federation: Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated March 7,
2022 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
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In the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, Commerce established
the deadline for parties to submit scope case briefs.\7\ Commerce did
not receive any comments from interested parties regarding the scope as
stated in the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum prior to the
deadline. As explained in the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,
there will be no further opportunity for comments on scope-related
issues.\8\
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\7\ Case briefs, other written comments, and rebuttal briefs
submitted by in response to this preliminary LTFV determination
should not include scope-related issues. See Preliminary Scope
Decision Memorandum, and ``Public Comment'' section of this notice.
\8\ See Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum at 4.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 731 of the Act. Commerce calculated export prices in accordance
with section 772(a) of the Act and constructed export prices in
accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. Normal value (NV) is
calculated in accordance with section 773 of the Act. For a full
description of the methodology underlying the preliminary
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
All-Others Rate
Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in
the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually
examined. This rate shall be 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 dumping margins, and any dumping margins determined entirely
under section 776 of the Act.
In this investigation, Commerce calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping margins that are above de minimis for the mandatory
respondents, JSC Vyksa Steel Works (VSW) and Volzhsky Pipe Plant, Joint
Stock Company (VTZ). Commerce calculated the all-others rate by weight-
averaging the estimated weighted-average dumping margins that it
calculated for the individually examined respondents. Commerce weight-
averaged these dumping margins using the publicly ranged total
quantities of each respondent's sales of subject merchandise to the
United States during the POI.\9\
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\9\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally
calculates (A) a weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average
dumping margins calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a
simple average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins
calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a weighted-average
of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the
examined respondents using each company's publicly ranged U.S. sale
quantities for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then
compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closer to (A) as
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters. See
Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663
(September 1, 2010). As complete publicly ranged sales data were
available, Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly ranged
sales data of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of
the data, please see the All-Others Rate Calculation Memorandum.
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[[Page 28805]]
Preliminary Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
In accordance with section 733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206,
Commerce preliminarily determines that critical circumstances do not
exist for all companies in Russia.\10\ For a full description of the
methodology and results of Commerce's critical circumstances analysis,
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\10\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Oil Country Tubular Goods from
Russia: Allegation of the Existence of Critical Circumstances,''
dated March 16, 2022.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
weighted-average dumping margins exist in this investigation:
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Cash deposit rate
Estimated (adjusted for
Exporter/producer weighted-average subsidy
dumping margin offset(s))
(percent) (percent) \11\
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JSC Vyksa Steel Works............. 11.82 11.35
Volzhsky Pipe Plant, Joint Stock 121.11 121.11
Company/Public Joint-Stock
Company Trubnaya
Metallurgicheskaya Kompaniya/
Sinarsky Pipe Plant, Joint Stock
Company/Seversky Pipe Plant,
Joint Stock Company/Taganrog
Metallurgical Plant, Joint Stock
Company/Pervouralsk Pipe Plant,
Joint Stock Company/Chelyabinsk
Pipe Plant, Joint Stock Company/
Orsky Machine Building Plant,
Joint Stock Company..............
All Others........................ 70.49 70.27
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Suspension of Liquidation
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\11\ See Memoranda, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Oil
Country Tubular Goods from the Russian Federation: Preliminary
Determination Analysis Memorandum for JSC Vyksa Steel Works,'' and
``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Oil Country Tubular Goods
from the Russian Federation: Preliminary Determination Analysis
Memorandum for Volzhsky Pipe Plant,'' dated concurrently with this
memorandum; and Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of
Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Russian Federation: Preliminary
Determination Calculation for the All-Others,'' dated concurrently
with this memorandum (All-Others Rate Calculation Memorandum).
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In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation
of all entries of OCTG from Russia, as described in Appendix I,
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the
date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal
to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the estimated all-
others rate, as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for each of the
respondents listed in the table above is the company-specific cash
deposit rate listed for the respondent in the table; (2) if the
exporter is not a respondent listed in the table above, but the
producer is, then the cash deposit rate is the company-specific cash
deposit rate listed for the producer of the subject merchandise in the
table above; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and
exporters is the all-others cash deposit rate listed in the table
above.
Commerce normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated antidumping
duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a companion
countervailing duty (CVD) investigation when CVD provisional measures
are in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce made a preliminary
affirmative determination of countervailable export subsidies in the
companion CVD investigation, we offset the estimated weighted-average
dumping margins listed in the table above by the appropriate CVD rates
to determine the cash deposit rates. Any such adjusted cash deposit
rate may be found in the table in the ``Preliminary Determination''
section above.
Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting estimated
antidumping duty cash deposits unadjusted for countervailed export
subsidies at the time that the provisional CVD measures expired. These
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until
further notice.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its preliminary calculations and
related analysis to interested parties in this preliminary
determination within five days of any public announcement of the
preliminary determination or, if there is no public announcement,
within five days of the date of publication of this notice in the
Federal Register in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to
verify the information relied upon in making its final
determination.\12\
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\12\ See Commerce's Letter to OMK/VSW, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Oil Country Tubular Goods from Russia: Notification
of Intent to Conduct Virtual Verification,'' dated March 16, 2022;
see also Commerce's Letter to TMK/VTZ, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Oil Country Tubular Goods from Russia: Notification
of Intent to Conduct Virtual Verification,'' dated March 16, 2022.
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Public Comment
Case briefs or other written comments on non-scope issues may be
submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and
Compliance.\13\ Interested parties will be notified of the timeline for
the submission of such case briefs and written comments at a later
date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be
submitted no later than seven days after the deadline date for case
briefs.\14\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2),
[[Page 28806]]
parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation
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. Commerce has modified certain of its requirements for
serving documents containing business proprietary information until
further notice.\15\
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\13\ Case briefs, other written comments, and rebuttal briefs
submitted by parties in response to this preliminary LTFV
determination should not include scope-related issues. The scope
case briefs deadline expired on April 13, 2022. See Preliminary
Scope Decision Memorandum at 3-4; see also Oil Country Tubular Goods
from the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Negative Countervailing Duty
Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final
Antidumping Duty Determination, 87 FR 14248 (March 14, 2022), and
Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Russian Federation: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary Negative
Critical Circumstances Determination, and Alignment of Final
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 87 FR 14249
(March 14, 2022).
\14\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general
filing requirements).
\15\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements
Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 41363 (July
10, 2020).
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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal
briefs, 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 in the Federal Register.
Requests for a hearing should contain: (1) The requesting party's name,
address, and telephone number; (2) the number of individuals from the
requesting party that will attend the hearing, including whether any
individuals are foreign nationals; and (3) a list of the issues the
party intends to discuss at the hearing. If a request for a hearing is
made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing 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.
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 in the Federal Register
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. Section 351.210(e)(2) of
Commerce's regulations requires that a request by exporters for
postponement of the 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.
On April 14, 2022, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), VSW and VTZ
requested that, contingent upon an affirmative preliminary
determination of sales at LTFV, Commerce postpone the final
determination in this investigation up to 135 days after publication of
this notice and that provisional measures be extended to a period not
to exceed six months.\16\
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\16\ See VSW's Letter, ``Oil Country Tubular Goods from the
Russian Federation: Request to Extend the Deadline for the Final
Determination and Provisional Measures,'' dated April 14, 2022; see
also VTZ's Letter, ``Antidumping Investigation of Oil Country
Tubular Goods from Russia--Request for Extension of Final
Determination,'' dated April 14, 2022.
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In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(b)(2)(ii), because: (1) The preliminary determination is
affirmative; (2) the requesting exporters account for a significant
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; \17\ and (3) no
compelling reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the final
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month
period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, Commerce
will make its final determination no later than 135 days after the date
of publication of this preliminary determination in the Federal
Register, pursuant to section 735(a)(2) of the Act.\18\
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\17\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Oil
Country Tubular Goods from Russia: Respondent Selection,'' dated
November 17, 2021.
\18\ See also 19 CFR 351.210(e).
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International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary
determination. If Commerce's final determination is affirmative, then
the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after the date of
this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination
whether imports of OCTG from Russia are materially injuring, or
threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This preliminary 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: May 4, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain OCTG,
which are hollow steel products of circular cross-section, including
oil well casing and tubing, of iron (other than case iron) or steel
(both carbon and alloy), whether seamless or welded, regardless of
end finish (e.g., whether or not plain end, threaded, or threaded
and coupled) whether or not conforming to American Petroleum
Institute (API) or non-API specifications, whether finished
(including limited service OCTG products) or unfinished (including
green tubes and limited service OCTG products), whether or not
thread protectors are attached. The scope of this investigation also
covers OCTG coupling stock.
Subject merchandise includes material matching the above
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed
in a third country, including by performing any heat treatment,
cutting, upsetting, threading, coupling, or any other finishing,
packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove the
merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the
country of manufacture of the OCTG.
Excluded from the scope of the investigation are: Casing,
tubing, or coupling stock containing 10.5 percent or more by weight
of chromium; drill pipe; unattached couplings; and unattached thread
protectors.
The merchandise subject to this investigation is currently
classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) under item numbers: 7304.29.1010, 7304.29.1020,
7304.29.1030, 7304.29.1040, 7304.29.1050, 7304.29.1060,
7304.29.1080, 7304.29.2010, 7304.29.2020, 7304.29.2030,
7304.29.2040, 7304.29.2050, 7304.29.2060, 7304.29.2080,
7304.29.3110, 7304.29.3120, 7304.29.3130, 7304.29.3140,
7304.29.3150, 7304.29.3160, 7304.29.3180, 7304.29.4110,
7304.29.4120, 7304.29.4130, 7304.29.4140, 7304.29.4150,
7304.29.4160, 7304.29.4180, 7304.29.5015, 7304.29.5030,
7304.29.5045, 7304.29.5060, 7304.29.5075, 7304.29.6115,
7304.29.6130, 7304.29.6145, 7304.29.6160, 7304.29.6175,
7305.20.2000, 7305.20.4000, 7305.20.6000, 7305.20.8000,
7306.29.1030, 7306.29.1090, 7306.29.2000, 7306.29.3100,
7306.29.4100, 7306.29.6010, 7306.29.6050, 7306.29.8110, and
7306.29.8150.
The merchandise subject to this investigation may also enter
under the following HTSUS item numbers: 7304.39.0024, 7304.39.0028,
7304.39.0032, 7304.39.0036, 7304.39.0040, 7304.39.0044,
7304.39.0048, 7304.39.0052, 7304.39.0056, 7304.39.0062,
7304.39.0068, 7304.39.0072, 7304.39.0076, 7304.39.0080,
7304.59.6000, 7304.59.8015, 7304.59.8020, 7304.59.8025,
7304.59.8030, 7304.59.8035, 7304.59.8040, 7304.59.8045,
7304.59.8050, 7304.59.8055, 7304.59.8060, 7304.59.8065,
7304.59.8070, 7304.59.8080, 7305.31.4000, 7305.31.6090,
7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5090, 7306.50.5050, and 7306.50.5070.
The HTSUS subheadings and specifications above are provided for
convenience and customs purposes only. The written description of
the scope of this investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Affiliation/Single Entity
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
VII. Preliminary Negative Determination of
[[Page 28807]]
Critical Circumstances
VIII. Currency Conversion
IX. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in
Companion CVD Investigation
X. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2022-10051 Filed 5-10-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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