[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 230 (Wednesday, December 1, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69952-69954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-26482]



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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigations Nos. 731-TA-308-310, 520, and 521 (Second Review)]


Carbon Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings From Brazil, China, Japan, 
Taiwan, and Thailand

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Institution of five-year reviews concerning the antidumping 
duty orders on carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from Brazil, China, 
Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.

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SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives notice that it has instituted 
reviews pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1675(c)) (the Act) to determine whether revocation of the antidumping 
duty orders on carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from Brazil, China, 
Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand would be likely to lead to continuation or 
recurrence of material injury. Pursuant to section 751(c)(2) of the 
Act, interested parties are requested to respond to this notice by 
submitting the information specified below to the Commission;\1\ to be 
assured of consideration, the deadline for responses is January 21, 
2005. Comments on the adequacy of responses may be filed with the 
Commission by February 14, 2005. For further information concerning the 
conduct of these reviews and rules of general application, consult the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 201, subparts A 
through E (19 CFR part 201), and part 207, subparts A, D, E, and F (19 
CFR part 207).
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    \1\ No response to this request for information is required if a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) number is not 
displayed; the OMB number is 3117-0016/USITC No. 04-5-102, 
expiration date June 30, 2005. Public reporting burden for the 
request is estimated to average 7 hours per response. Please send 
comments regarding the accuracy of this burden estimate to the 
Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20436.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: December 1, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Messer (202-205-3193), Office of 
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information 
on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-
1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need special 
assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact the 
Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information concerning 
the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its internet server 
(http://www.usitc.gov). The public record for these reviews may be 
viewed on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at http://edis.usitc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background. On the dates listed below, the 
Department of Commerce issued antidumping duty orders on the subject 
imports:

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        Order date              Product/country              Investigation no.                  FR cite
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12/17/86.................  Carbon steel butt-weld     731-TA-308.....................  51 FR 45152
                            pipe fittings/Brazil.
12/17/86.................  Carbon steel butt-weld     731-TA-310.....................  51 FR 45152
                            pipe fittings/Taiwan.
2/10/87..................  Carbon steel butt-weld     731-TA-309.....................  52 FR 4167
                            pipe fittings/Japan.
7/6/92...................  Carbon steel butt-weld     731-TA-520.....................  57 FR 29702
                            pipe fittings/China.
7/6/92...................  Carbon steel butt-weld     731-TA-521.....................  57 FR 29702
                            pipe fittings/Thailand.
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    Following five-year reviews by Commerce and the Commission, 
effective January 6, 2000, Commerce issued a continuation of the 
antidumping duty orders on imports of carbon steel butt-weld pipe 
fittings from Brazil, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand (65 FR 753). 
The Commission is now conducting second reviews to determine whether 
revocation of the orders would be likely to lead to continuation or 
recurrence of material injury to the domestic industry within a 
reasonably foreseeable time. It will assess the adequacy of interested 
party responses to this notice of institution to determine whether to 
conduct full reviews or expedited reviews. The Commission's 
determinations in any expedited reviews will be based on the facts 
available, which may include information provided in response to this 
notice.
    Definitions. The following definitions apply to these reviews:
    (1) Subject Merchandise is the class or kind of merchandise that is 
within the scope of the five-year reviews, as defined by the Department 
of Commerce.
    (2) The Subject Countries in these reviews are Brazil, China, 
Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.
    (3) The Domestic Like Product is the domestically produced product 
or products which are like, or in the absence of like, most similar in 
characteristics and uses with, the Subject Merchandise. In its original 
and expedited five-year review determinations, the Commission defined 
the Domestic Like Product as carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings 
having an inside diameter of less than 14 inches, whether finished or 
unfinished.
    (4) The Domestic Industry is the U.S. producers as a whole of the 
Domestic Like Product, or those producers whose collective output of 
the Domestic Like Product constitutes a major proportion of the total 
domestic production of the product. In its original and expedited five-
year review determinations, the Commission defined a single Domestic 
Industry: producers of finished and unfinished carbon steel butt-weld 
pipe fittings having an inside diameter of less than 14 inches, 
including integrated producers, converters, and combination producers 
which perform both integrated production and conversion. One 
Commissioner defined the Domestic Industry differently in the original 
determinations concerning Brazil, Japan, and Taiwan. In the original 
determinations concerning China and Thailand, the Commission excluded 
two domestic producers, Tube Line and Weldbend, from the Domestic 
Industry under the related parties provision. In its expedited five-
year review determinations, the Commission once again excluded Tube 
Line from the Domestic Industry under the related parties provision but 
found that Weldbend was no longer a related party eligible for 
exclusion. Certain Commissioners did not exclude Tube Line from the 
Domestic Industry in the expedited five-year review. For purposes of 
this notice, you should report information separately on each of the 
following two Domestic Industries: (1) the Domestic Industry including 
Tube Line and (2) the Domestic Industry excluding Tube Line.
    (5) An Importer is any person or firm engaged, either directly or 
through a parent company or subsidiary, in importing the Subject 
Merchandise into the United States from a foreign

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manufacturer or through its selling agent.
    Participation in the reviews and public service list. Persons, 
including industrial users of the Subject Merchandise and, if the 
merchandise is sold at the retail level, representative consumer 
organizations, wishing to participate in the reviews as parties must 
file an entry of appearance with the Secretary to the Commission, as 
provided in section 201.11(b)(4) of the Commission's rules, no later 
than 21 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
The Secretary will maintain a public service list containing the names 
and addresses of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties 
to the reviews.
    Former Commission employees who are seeking to appear in Commission 
five-year reviews are reminded that they are required, pursuant to 19 
CFR 201.15, to seek Commission approval if the matter in which they are 
seeking to appear was pending in any manner or form during their 
Commission employment. The Commission is seeking guidance as to whether 
a second transition five-year review is the ``same particular matter'' 
as the underlying original investigation for purposes of 19 CFR 201.15 
and 18 U.S.C. 207, the post employment statute for Federal employees. 
Former employees may seek informal advice from Commission ethics 
officials with respect to this and the related issue of whether the 
employee's participation was ``personal and substantial.'' However, any 
informal consultation will not relieve former employees of the 
obligation to seek approval to appear from the Commission under its 
rule 201.15. For ethics advice, contact Carol McCue Verratti, Deputy 
Agency Ethics Official, at 202-205-3088.
    Limited disclosure of business proprietary information (BPI) under 
an administrative protective order (APO) and APO service list. Pursuant 
to section 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the Secretary will make 
BPI submitted in these reviews available to authorized applicants under 
the APO issued in the reviews, provided that the application is made no 
later than 21 days after publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. Authorized applicants must represent interested parties, as 
defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to the reviews. A 
separate service list will be maintained by the Secretary for those 
parties authorized to receive BPI under the APO.
    Certification. Pursuant to section 207.3 of the Commission's rules, 
any person submitting information to the Commission in connection with 
these reviews must certify that the information is accurate and 
complete to the best of the submitter's knowledge. In making the 
certification, the submitter will be deemed to consent, unless 
otherwise specified, for the Commission, its employees, and contract 
personnel to use the information provided in any other reviews or 
investigations of the same or comparable products which the Commission 
conducts under Title VII of the Act, or in internal audits and 
investigations relating to the programs and operations of the 
Commission pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Appendix 3.
    Written submissions. Pursuant to section 207.61 of the Commission's 
rules, each interested party response to this notice must provide the 
information specified below. The deadline for filing such responses is 
January 21, 2005. Pursuant to section 207.62(b) of the Commission's 
rules, eligible parties (as specified in Commission rule 207.62(b)(1)) 
may also file comments concerning the adequacy of responses to the 
notice of institution and whether the Commission should conduct 
expedited or full reviews. The deadline for filing such comments is 
February 14, 2005. All written submissions must conform with the 
provisions of sections 201.8 and 207.3 of the Commission's rules and 
any submissions that contain BPI must also conform with the 
requirements of sections 201.6 and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. The 
Commission's rules do not authorize filing of submissions with the 
Secretary by facsimile or electronic means, except to the extent 
permitted by section 201.8 of the Commission's rules, as amended, 67 
Fed. Reg. 68036 (November 8, 2002). Also, in accordance with sections 
201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's rules, each document filed by a 
party to the reviews must be served on all other parties to the reviews 
(as identified by either the public or APO service list as 
appropriate), and a certificate of service must accompany the document 
(if you are not a party to the reviews you do not need to serve your 
response).
    Inability to provide requested information. Pursuant to section 
207.61(c) of the Commission's rules, any interested party that cannot 
furnish the information requested by this notice in the requested form 
and manner shall notify the Commission at the earliest possible time, 
provide a full explanation of why it cannot provide the requested 
information, and indicate alternative forms in which it can provide 
equivalent information. If an interested party does not provide this 
notification (or the Commission finds the explanation provided in the 
notification inadequate) and fails to provide a complete response to 
this notice, the Commission may take an adverse inference against the 
party pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act in making its 
determinations in the reviews.
    Information To Be Provided in Response To This Notice of 
Institution: If you are a domestic producer, union/worker group, or 
trade/business association; import/export Subject Merchandise from more 
than one Subject Country; or produce Subject Merchandise in more than 
one Subject Country, you may file a single response. If you do so, 
please ensure that your response to each question includes the 
information requested for each pertinent Subject Country. As used 
below, the term ``firm'' includes any related firms.
    (1) The name and address of your firm or entity (including World 
Wide Web address if available) and name, telephone number, fax number, 
and E-mail address of the certifying official.
    (2) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is a U.S. 
producer of the Domestic Like Product, a U.S. union or worker group, a 
U.S. importer of the Subject Merchandise, a foreign producer or 
exporter of the Subject Merchandise, a U.S. or foreign trade or 
business association, or another interested party (including an 
explanation). If you are a union/worker group or trade/business 
association, identify the firms in which your workers are employed or 
which are members of your association.
    (3) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is willing to 
participate in these reviews by providing information requested by the 
Commission.
    (4) A statement of the likely effects of the revocation of the 
antidumping duty orders on the Domestic Industry in general and/or your 
firm/entity specifically. In your response, please discuss the various 
factors specified in section 752(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675a(a)) 
including the likely volume of subject imports, likely price effects of 
subject imports, and likely impact of imports of Subject Merchandise on 
the Domestic Industry.
    (5) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. producers of 
the Domestic Like Product. Identify any known related parties and the 
nature of the relationship as defined in section 771(4)(B) of the Act 
(19 U.S.C. 1677(4)(B)).
    (6) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. importers of 
the Subject Merchandise and producers of the Subject Merchandise in 
each Subject Country that currently export or have exported Subject 
Merchandise to the

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United States or other countries after 1998.
    (7) If you are a U.S. producer of the Domestic Like Product, 
provide the following information on your firm's operations on that 
product during calendar year 2003 (report quantity data in pounds and 
value data in U.S. dollars, f.o.b. plant). If you are a union/worker 
group or trade/business association, provide the information, on an 
aggregate basis, for the firms in which your workers are employed/which 
are members of your association.
    (a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total U.S. production of the Domestic Like Product 
accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
    (b) the quantity and value of U.S. commercial shipments of the 
Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s); and
    (c) the quantity and value of U.S. internal consumption/company 
transfers of the Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s).
    (8) If you are a U.S. importer or a trade/business association of 
U.S. importers of the Subject Merchandise from the Subject Countries, 
provide the following information on your firm's(s') operations on that 
product during calendar year 2003 (report quantity data in pounds and 
value data in U.S. dollars). If you are a trade/business association, 
provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms which are 
members of your association.
    (a) The quantity and value (landed, duty-paid but not including 
antidumping or countervailing duties) of U.S. imports and, if known, an 
estimate of the percentage of total U.S. imports of Subject Merchandise 
from each Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') imports;
    (b) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping 
and/or countervailing duties) of U.S. commercial shipments of Subject 
Merchandise imported from each Subject Country; and
    (c) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping 
and/or countervailing duties) of U.S. internal consumption/company 
transfers of Subject Merchandise imported from each Subject Country.
    (9) If you are a producer, an exporter, or a trade/business 
association of producers or exporters of the Subject Merchandise in the 
Subject Countries, provide the following information on your firm's(s') 
operations on that product during calendar year 2003 (report quantity 
data in pounds and value data in U.S. dollars, landed and duty-paid at 
the U.S. port but not including antidumping or countervailing duties). 
If you are a trade/business association, provide the information, on an 
aggregate basis, for the firms which are members of your association.
    (a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total production of Subject Merchandise in each Subject 
Country accounted for by your firm's(s') production; and
    (b) the quantity and value of your firm's(s') exports to the United 
States of Subject Merchandise and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total exports to the United States of Subject Merchandise 
from each Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') exports.
    (10) Identify significant changes, if any, in the supply and demand 
conditions or business cycle for the Domestic Like Product that have 
occurred in the United States or in the market for the Subject 
Merchandise in the Subject Countries after 1998, and significant 
changes, if any, that are likely to occur within a reasonably 
foreseeable time. Supply conditions to consider include technology; 
production methods; development efforts; ability to increase production 
(including the shift of production facilities used for other products 
and the use, cost, or availability of major inputs into production); 
and factors related to the ability to shift supply among different 
national markets (including barriers to importation in foreign markets 
or changes in market demand abroad). Demand conditions to consider 
include end uses and applications; the existence and availability of 
substitute products; and the level of competition among the Domestic 
Like Product produced in the United States, Subject Merchandise 
produced in the Subject Countries, and such merchandise from other 
countries.
    (11) (Optional) A statement of whether you agree with the above 
definitions of the Domestic Like Product and Domestic Industry; if you 
disagree with either or both of these definitions, please explain why 
and provide alternative definitions.

    Authority: These reviews are being conducted under authority of 
title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published 
pursuant to section 207.61 of the Commission's rules.

    Issued: November 22, 2004.

    By order of the Commission.
Marilyn R. Abbott,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 04-26482 Filed 11-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P