Notice2024-26890
Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe From the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Circumvention Inquiry on the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 19, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
In response to requests from Bull Moose Tube Company, Maruichi American Corporation, Wheatland Tube Company, and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (collectively, the domestic interested parties), the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating a country-wide circumvention inquiry to determine whether circular welded carbon quality steel pipe (CWP) from the People's Republic of China (China), which is completed in the Sultanate of Oman (Oman) from hot-rolled steel (HRS) produced in China, is circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on CWP from China.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 91327-91329]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26890]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-910, C-570-911]
Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe From the People's
Republic of China: Initiation of Circumvention Inquiry on the
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to requests from Bull Moose Tube Company, Maruichi
American Corporation, Wheatland Tube Company, and the United Steel,
Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial
and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (collectively,
the domestic interested parties), the U.S. Department of Commerce
(Commerce) is initiating a country-wide circumvention inquiry to
determine whether circular welded carbon quality steel pipe (CWP) from
the People's Republic of China (China), which is completed in the
Sultanate of Oman (Oman) from hot-rolled steel (HRS) produced in China,
is circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty
(CVD) orders on CWP from China.
DATES: Applicable November 19, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Krisha Hill, AD/CVD Operations, Office
IV Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20230; telephone: (202) 482-4037.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 9, 2024, pursuant to section 781(b) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.226(i), the domestic
interested parties filed circumvention inquiry requests alleging that
CWP completed in Oman using HRS manufactured in China is circumventing
the AD and CVD Orders \1\ on CWP from China and, accordingly, should be
included within the scope of the Orders.\2\ On July 19, 2024, Al
Jazeera Steel Products Co. SAOG (Al Jazeera), an Omani producer of CWP,
filed comments in opposition to the domestic interested parties'
request.\3\ On July 29, 2024, the domestic interested parties filed
rebuttal comments to Al Jazeera's July 19, 2024 comments.\4\
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\1\ See Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Circular Welded Carbon
Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic of China, 73 FR 42547
(July 22, 2008); see also Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe
from the People's Republic of China: Notice of Amended Final
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Notice of
Countervailing Duty Order, 73 FR 42545 (July 22, 2008)
(collectively, Orders).
\2\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Circular Welded
Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic of China--
Request for Circumvention Inquiry'', dated July 9, 2024.
\3\ See Al Jazeera's Letter, ``Circular Welded Carbon-Quality
Steel Pipe from the People's Republic of China; Al Jazeera comments
on petitioners' request for anti-circumvention inquiry,'' dated July
19, 2024.
\4\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Circular Welded
Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic of China--
Response and Rebuttal Factual Information Regarding Comments on
Request for Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated July 29, 2024.
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On August 12, 2024, we extended the deadline to initiate this
circumvention inquiry by 30 days, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.226(d)(1).\5\
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\5\ See Memorandum, ``Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe
from the People's Republic of China (A-570-910 and C-570-911):
Extension of Time to Determine Whether to Initiate Circumvention
Inquiry,'' dated August 12, 2024.
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On August 28, 2024, we issued a request for information
questionnaire to the domestic interested parties.\6\ In the Request for
Information, we clarified that we issued the request because we had
found that the request to conduct the circumvention inquiry was
insufficient for purposes of initiation, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.226(d)(1). Additionally, we clarified that 30-day time period for
Commerce to consider
[[Page 91328]]
whether to initiate on domestic interested parties' circumvention
inquiry would begin with domestic interested parties' response to the
Request for Information.\7\ Subsequently, on September 27, 2024, the
domestic interested parties filed their response to our request for
information.\8\ Thus, we consider the inquiry request to have been
filed on September 27, 2024.
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\6\ See Commerce's Letter, ``Circumvention Request with Respect
to the Antidumping Order and Countervailing Duty Order on Circular
Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic of
China: Request for Information,'' dated August 28, 2024 (Request for
Information).
\7\ Id.
\8\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Circular Welded
Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic of China--
Request for Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated September 27, 2024
(Circumvention Request). We note that the Circumvention Request
contained a new circumvention allegation as well as responses to our
Request for Information. See Circumvention Request at Appendix.
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On October 7, 2024, Al Jazeera filed opposition comments in
response to the Domestic Interested Parties' Request.\9\ On October 15,
2024, the domestic interested parties filed rebuttal comments to Al
Jazeera's Circumvention Request.\10\ On October 28, 2024, Commerce
rejected both the Al Jazeera Opposition Comments and the Domestic
Interested Party Rebuttal Comments.\11\
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\9\ See Al Jazeera's Letter, ``Circular Welded Carbon-Quality
Steel Pipe from People Republic of China: Al Jazeera comments on
petitioners' request for anti-circumvention inquiry,'' dated October
7, 2024 (Al Jazeera Opposition Comments).
\10\ See Domestic Interested Parties' Letter, ``Circular Welded
Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic of China--
Response and Rebuttal Factual Information Regarding Comments on
Request for Circumvention Inquiry,'' dated October 15, 2024
(Domestic Interested Party Rebuttal Comments).
\11\ See Commerce's Letters, ``Circumvention Request with
Respect to the Antidumping Order and Countervailing Duty Order on
Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the People's Republic
of China: Rejection of Al Jazeera comments on domestic interested
parties' revised request for anti-circumvention inquiry,'' and
``Circumvention Request with Respect to the Antidumping Order and
Countervailing Duty Order on Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel
Pipe from the People's Republic of China: Rejection of Response and
Rebuttal Factual Information Regarding Comments on Request for
Circumvention Inquiry,'' both dated October 28, 2024
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Scope of the Orders
The merchandise covered by the scope of the Orders is CWP from
China. For a complete description of the scope of Orders, see the
Circumvention Initiation Checklist.\12\
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\12\ For a complete description of the scope of the Orders, see
Checklist, ``Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the
People's Republic of China (Circumvention Initiation Checklist).
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Merchandise Subject to the Circumvention Inquiry
This circumvention inquiry covers CWP from China, completed in Oman
using Chinese-produced HRS, and subsequently exported from Oman 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 alleges ``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.'' The domestic interested parties
alleged circumvention pursuant to section 781(b) of the Act, which
pertains to merchandise completed or assembled in other foreign
countries.
Section 781(b)(1) of the Act provides that Commerce may find
circumvention of an AD or CVD 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 AD or CVD 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 CVD
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.\13\ Accordingly, it is
Commerce's practice to evaluate each of these five factors, depending
on the totality of the circumstances of the particular circumvention
inquiry.\14\
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\13\ See Statement of Administrative Action Accompanying the
Uruguay Round Agreements Act, H.R. Doc. No. 103-316, Vol. 1 (1994)
(SAA), at 893.
\14\ 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 AD or
CVD 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 initiations of circumvention inquiries of these Orders. Therefore,
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.226(d)(1)(ii), we are initiating the requested
circumvention inquiries. For a full discussion of the basis for our
decisions to initiate these circumvention inquiries, see the
Circumvention Initiation Checklist.\15\ As explained in the
Circumvention Initiation Checklist, the information provided by the
domestic interested parties in this instance warrants initiating this
circumvention inquiry on a country-wide basis. Commerce has taken this
approach in prior circumvention inquiries, where the facts
[[Page 91329]]
warranted initiation on a country-wide basis.\16\
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\15\ See Circumvention Initiation Checklist. The Circumvention
Initiation Checklist is a public document available electronically
online via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS).
\16\ 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 we initiated on a country-wide basis, Commerce intends to issue
questionnaires to solicit information from producers and exporters in
Oman concerning their shipments of CWP, made from Chinese-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 Orders. 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' requests 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 CWP from China, completed in and exported from Oman
using HRS inputs manufactured in China, are circumventing the Orders.
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 Checklist.\17\ 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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\17\ See Circumvention Initiation Checklist.
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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: November 12, 2024.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2024-26890 Filed 11-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 19, 2024.
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