[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 128 (Monday, July 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41088-41090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16672]



[[Page 41088]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigations Nos. 701-TA-364 (Review) and 731-TA-711 and 713-716 
(Review)]


Oil Country Tubular Goods From Argentina, Italy, Japan, Korea, 
and Mexico

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Institution of five-year reviews concerning the countervailing 
duty and antidumping duty orders on oil country tubular goods from 
Argentina, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Mexico.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 
countervailing duty and antidumping duty orders on oil country tubular 
goods from Argentina, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Mexico 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 August 22, 2000. Comments on the adequacy of responses may 
be filed with the Commission by September 18, 2000. 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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. 00-5-058, 
expiration date July 31, 2002. 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 3, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Messer (202-205-3193) or Vera 
Libeau (202-205-3176), 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).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background.--On August 10, 1995, the 
Department of Commerce issued a countervailing duty order on imports of 
oil country tubular goods from Italy (60 FR 40822). On August 11, 1995, 
the Department of Commerce issued antidumping duty orders on imports of 
oil country tubular goods from Argentina, Italy, Japan, Korea, and 
Mexico (60 FR 41055). The Commission is conducting 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 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 Argentina, Italy, 
Japan, Korea, and Mexico.
    (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 
determinations, the Commission found two Domestic Like Products 
consisting of (1) OCTG excluding drill pipe (i.e., casing and tubing) 
and (2) drill pipe.
    (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 determinations, the 
Commission found two Domestic Industries consisting of (1) producers of 
OCTG excluding drill pipe (i.e., casing and tubing) and (2) producers 
of drill pipe. The Commission found that processors should be included 
in both the domestic casing and tubing industry and in the domestic 
drill pipe industry, but those firms that only perform basic threading 
and coupling operations should not be included.
    (5) The Order Dates are the dates that the countervailing duty and 
antidumping duty orders under review became effective. In the review 
concerning the countervailing duty order on OCTG from Italy, the Order 
Date is August 10, 1995. In the reviews concerning the antidumping duty 
orders on OCTG from Argentina, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Mexico, the 
Order Date is August 11, 1995.
    (6) 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 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's designated agency ethics 
official has advised that a 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

[[Page 41089]]

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 August 22, 2000. 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 September 18, 2000. 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. 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

    Please provide the requested information separately for each 
Domestic Like Product, as defined by the Commission in its original 
determinations, and for each of the products identified by Commerce as 
Subject Merchandise. 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 
countervailing duty and 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 the 
Subject Countries that currently export or have exported Subject 
Merchandise to the United States or other countries since 1994.
    (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 1999 (report quantity data in short tons 
and value data in thousands of 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 1999 (report quantity data in short tons 
and value data in thousands of 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)

[[Page 41090]]

of U.S. imports and, if known, an estimate of the percentage of total 
U.S. imports of Subject Merchandise from the Subject Countries 
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 the Subject Countries; 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 the Subject Countries.
    (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 1999 (report quantity 
data in short tons and value data in thousands of 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 the Subject 
Countries 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 the Subject Countries 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 since the Order Dates, 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: June 23, 2000.

    By order of the Commission.
Donna R. Koehnke,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-16672 Filed 6-30-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P