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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 [www.gpo.gov]
[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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