[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 899-902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00083]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-520-807]


Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From the United Arab 
Emirates: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review; 2021-2022

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that producers/exporters of circular welded carbon-quality 
steel pipe (CWP) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) subject to this 
administrative review made sales of subject merchandise at less than 
normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR), December 1, 2021, 
through November 30, 2022. We invite interested parties to comment on 
these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable January 8, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca Janz or Sofia Pedrelli, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2972 or (202) 482-4301, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On December 19, 2016, Commerce published in the Federal Register 
the antidumping duty order on CWP from the UAE.\1\ On December 1, 2022, 
Commerce published in the Federal Register a notice of opportunity to 
request an administrative review of the Order.\2\ On February 2, 2023, 
based on timely requests for review, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.221(c)(1)(i), we initiated an administrative review of the Order 
with respect to seven companies.\3\ On March 14, 2023, Commerce 
selected Conares Metal Supply Limited (Conares) and Universal Tube and 
Plastic Industries, Ltd./THL Tube and Pipe Industries LLC/KHK 
Scaffolding and Formwork LLC (collectively, Universal) for individual 
examination as mandatory respondents in this administrative review.\4\ 
On April

[[Page 900]]

3, 2023, Commerce extended the preliminary results of this review until 
December 29, 2023.\5\
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    \1\ See Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the 
Sultanate of Oman, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates: Amended 
Final Affirmative Antidumping Duty Determination and Antidumping 
Duty Orders, 81 FR 91906 (December 19, 2016) (Order).
    \2\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review and Join Annual Inquiry Service List, 87 FR 73752, (December 
1, 2022).
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 7060 (February 2, 2023).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Selection of Respondents for Individual 
Examination,'' dated March 14, 2023, at 2. Commerce previously 
determined that Universal is a single entity consisting of the 
following three producers/exporters of subject merchandise: 
Universal Tube and Plastic Industries, Ltd.; KHK Scaffolding and 
Formwork LLC; and Universal Tube and Pipe Industries LLC. See 
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the United Arab 
Emirates: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 81 
FR 75030 (October 28, 2016), and accompanying Issues and Decision 
Memorandum. Additionally, we previously determined that THL Tube and 
Pipe Industries LLC is the successor-in-interest to Universal Tube 
and Pipe Industries LLC. See Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel 
Pipe from the United Arab Emirates: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review; 2016-2017, 84 FR 44845 (August 27, 
2019).
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,'' dated August 3, 
2023.
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Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the Order are CWP from the UAE. A full 
description of the scope of Order is contained in the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\6\
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022: 
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from the United Arab 
Emirates,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with sections 
751(a)(1)(B) and (2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). 
Export price and constructed export price are calculated in accordance 
with section 772 of the Act. NV is calculated in accordance with 
section 773 of the Act.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying these 
preliminary results, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of 
topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached as 
an appendix to this notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a 
public document and is made available to the public via Enforcement and 
Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic 
Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at 
https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is available at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Rate for Non-Examined Companies

    The Act and Commerce's regulations do not address the establishment 
of a rate to be applied to companies not selected for examination when 
Commerce limits its examination in an administrative review pursuant to 
section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. Generally, Commerce looks to section 
735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the 
all-others rate in a market economy investigation, for guidance when 
calculating the rate for companies which were not selected for 
individual examination in an administrative review. Under section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the all-others rate is normally an amount 
equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping 
margins established for exporters and producers individually 
investigated, excluding any zero or de minimis margins, and any margins 
determined entirely on the basis of facts available. In this 
administrative review, we preliminarily calculated weighted-average 
dumping margins for the mandatory respondents, Conares and Universal, 
that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on total facts 
available. Accordingly, Commerce is preliminarily assigning to the 
companies not individually examined, listed in the chart below, a 
margin of 1.06 percent which is the weighted-average of Conares' and 
Universal's calculated weighted-average dumping margins.\7\
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    \7\ For more information regarding the calculation of this 
margin, see Memorandum, ``Calculation of the Weighted-Average 
Dumping Margin for Non-Selected Companies for the Preliminary 
Results,'' dated concurrently with this notice. As the weighting 
factor, we relied on the publicly ranged sales data reported in the 
quantity and value charts submitted by Conares and Universal.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period December 1, 2021, 
through November 30, 2022:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-average
                  Exporter/producer                     dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
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Conares Metal Supply Limited........................                0.96
Universal Tube and Plastic Industries, Ltd; THL Tube                1.09
 and Pipe Industries LLC; KHK Scaffolding and
 Framework LLC......................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Review-Specific Average Rate Applicable to the Following Companies
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ajmal Steel Tubes & Pipes Ind., L.L.C...............                1.06
K.D. Industries Inc.................................                1.06
TSI Metal Industries L.L.C..........................                1.06
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties within 
five days after public announcement of the preliminary results.\8\ 
Interested parties may submit case briefs or other written comments to 
Commerce no later than 30 days after the date of publication of this 
notice.\9\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case 
briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the date for filing 
case briefs.\10\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal 
briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing 
each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\11\
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective 
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 
2023) (APO and Final Service Rule).
    \11\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an 
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In this administrative review, we instead 
request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their 
briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their 
briefs.\12\ Further, we request that interested parties limit their 
executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not 
including citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the 
basis of the comment summaries

[[Page 901]]

included in the issues and decision memorandum that will accompany the 
final determination in this investigation. We request that interested 
parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the executive 
summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain of its 
requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 
351.303(f).\13\
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    \12\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \13\ See APO and Final Service Rule.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via 
ACCESS. Hearing requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, 
and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of 
issues to be discussed. Oral presentations at the hearing will be 
limited to issues raised in the briefs. An electronically filed hearing 
request must be received successfully in its entirety by Commerce's 
electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. eastern time within 30 
days after the date of publication of this notice. 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.

Assessment Rates

    Upon completion of the final results of this administrative review, 
Commerce shall determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries of subject 
merchandise covered by this review.
    If a respondent's weighted-average dumping margin is not zero or de 
minimis (i.e., less than 0.50 percent) in the final results of this 
review, we intend to calculate an importer-specific assessment rate 
based on the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for each 
importer's examined sales to the total entered value of those same 
sales in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).\14\ If the respondent 
has not reported entered values, we will calculate a per-unit 
assessment rate for each importer by dividing the total amount of 
dumping calculated for the examined sales made to that importer by the 
total quantity associated with those sales. To determine whether an 
importer-specific, per-unit assessment rate is de minimis, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2), we also will calculate an 
importer-specific ad valorem ratio based on estimated entered values. 
If either of the respondents' weighted average dumping margin or an 
importer-specific assessment rate is zero or de minimis in the final 
results of review, we intend to instruct CBP to liquidate appropriate 
entries without regard to antidumping duties.\15\
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    \14\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-
Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping 
Proceedings: Final Modification, 77 FR 8101, 8103 (February 14, 
2012).
    \15\ Id., 77 FR at 8102-03; see also 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2).
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    For entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by each 
individually examined respondent for which the producer did not know 
that the merchandise was destined for the United States, we will 
instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at the all-others rate 
(5.95 percent) if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) 
involved in the transaction.\16\
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    \16\ See Order; see also Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 
2003).
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    For the companies identified above that were not selected for 
individual examination, we will instruct CBP to liquidate entries at 
the rate established after the completion of the final results of this 
review.
    The final results of this administrative review shall be the basis 
for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise 
covered by this review and for future deposits of estimated duties, 
where applicable.\17\
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    \17\ See section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act.
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    Commerce intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP no earlier 
than 35 days after the date of publication of the final results of this 
review in the Federal Register. If a timely summons is filed at the 
U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will 
direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties 
to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired (i.e., within 
90 days of publication).

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective for all 
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for the companies 
listed above will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margin 
established in the final results of this review, except if the rate is 
less than 0.50 percent and, therefore, de minimis within the meaning of 
19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), in which case the cash deposit rate will be zero; 
(2) for merchandise exported by companies not covered in this review 
but covered in a prior segment of this proceeding, the cash deposit 
rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published in the 
completed segment for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is 
not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the original 
less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation, but the producer is, then 
the cash deposit rate will be the rate established in the completed 
segment for the most recent period for the producer of the merchandise; 
and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will 
continue to be 5.95 percent, the all-others rate established in the 
LTFV investigation.\18\ These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, 
shall remain in effect until further notice.
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    \18\ See Order.
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Final Results of Review

    Unless the deadline is otherwise extended, Commerce intends to 
issue the final results of this administrative review, including the 
results of its analysis of issues raised by interested parties in the 
written comments, within 120 days after the date of publication of 
these preliminary results in the Federal Register.\19\
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    \19\ See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act; and 19 CFR 351.213(h).
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Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of doubled antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: December 29, 2023.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order

[[Page 902]]

IV. Discussion of the Methodology
V. Currency Conversion
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-00083 Filed 1-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P