[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 54 (Friday, March 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14907-14908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06483]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-580-877]


Welded Line Pipe From the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Negative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination 
With Final Antidumping Duty Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that de minimis countervailable subsidies are being provided 
to producers and exporters of welded line pipe from the Republic of 
Korea (Korea). The period of investigation is January 1, 2013, through 
December 31, 2013. Interested parties are invited to comment on this 
preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective March 20, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca Trainor or Reza Karamloo, AD/
CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4007 or (202) 482-4470, respectively.

Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty (CVD) Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty (AD) Determination

    On the same day the Department initiated this CVD investigation, 
the Department also initiated a CVD investigation of welded line pipe 
from the Republic of Turkey (Turkey) and AD investigations of welded 
line pipe from Korea and Turkey.\1\ The CVD and AD investigations cover 
the same merchandise. On February 27, 2015, in accordance with section 
705(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (Act), the petitioners 
\2\ requested alignment of the final CVD determination with the final 
AD determination of welded line pipe from Korea. Therefore, in 
accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), 
we are aligning the

[[Page 14908]]

final CVD determination with the final AD determination. Consequently, 
the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the 
final AD determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no 
later than July 28, 2015, unless postponed.
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    \1\ See Welded Line Pipe From the Republic of Korea and the 
Republic of Turkey: Initiation of Countervailing Duty 
Investigations, 79 FR 67419 (November 13, 2014). See also Welded 
Line Pipe From the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Turkey: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 79 FR 68213 
(November 14, 2014).
    \2\ The petitioners in this investigation are American Cast Iron 
Pipe Company, Energex (a division of JMC Steel Group), Maverick Tube 
Corporation, Northwest Pipe Company, Stupp Corporation (a division 
of Stupp Bros., Inc.), Tex-Tube Company, TMK IPSCO, and Welspun 
Tubular LLC USA.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of the investigation covers welded line pipe, which is 
carbon and alloy steel pipe of a kind used for oil or gas pipelines, 
not more than 24 inches in nominal outside diameter. For a complete 
description of the scope of the investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the 
investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. For discussion 
of those comments, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\
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    \3\ See Memorandum from Gary Taverman, Associate Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, regarding ``Countervailing Duty Investigation of Welded 
Line Pipe from the Republic of Korea: Decision Memorandum for the 
Negative Preliminary Determination,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this countervailing duty (CVD) 
investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 
as amended (the Act). For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document 
and is on file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service 
System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Central 
Records Unit, room 7046 of the main Department of Commerce building. In 
addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can 
be accessed directly on the Internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum and the electronic 
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.

Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated a CVD rate for each individually investigated producer/
exporter of the subject merchandise. Consistent with section 
703(b)(4)(A) of the Act, we have disregarded de minimis rates and 
preliminarily determine that countervailable subsides are not being 
provided with respect to the manufacture, production or exportation of 
the subject merchandise. Consistent with section 703(d) of the Act, we 
have not calculated an all-others rate because we have not reached an 
affirmative preliminarily determination. We preliminarily determine the 
countervailable subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Company                           Subsidy rate
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SeAH Steel Corporation....................  0.52 percent (de minimis).
NEXTEEL Co., Ltd..........................  0.47 percent (de minimis).
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    Because we preliminarily determine that the CVD rates in this 
investigation are de minimis, we will not direct U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection to suspend liquidation of entries of subject 
merchandise.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we intend to verify 
the information submitted by the respondents prior to making our final 
determination.

International Trade Commission

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our determination. In addition, 
we are making available to the ITC all non-privileged and non-
proprietary information relating to this investigation. We will allow 
the ITC access to all privileged and business proprietary information 
in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not disclose such 
information, either publicly or under an administrative protective 
order, without the written consent of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance.
    In accordance with section 705(b)(3) of the Act, if our final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will make its final determination 
within 75 days after we make our final determination.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with this preliminary 
determination within five days of its public announcement.\4\ 
Interested parties may submit case briefs, rebuttal briefs, and hearing 
requests.\5\ For a schedule of the deadlines for filing case briefs, 
rebuttal briefs, and hearing requests, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \4\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)-(d), 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

     Dated: March 16, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is circular welded 
carbon and alloy steel (other than stainless steel) pipe of a kind 
used for oil or gas pipelines (welded line pipe), not more than 24 
inches in nominal outside diameter, regardless of wall thickness, 
length, surface finish, end finish, or stenciling. Welded line pipe 
is normally produced to the American Petroleum Institute (API) 
specification 5L, but can be produced to comparable foreign 
specifications, to proprietary grades, or can be non-graded 
material. All pipe meeting the physical description set forth above, 
including multiple-stenciled pipe with an API or comparable foreign 
specification line pipe stencil is covered by the scope of this 
investigation.
    The welded line pipe that is subject to this investigation is 
currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) under subheadings 7305.11.1030, 7305.11.5000, 
7305.12.1030, 7305.12.5000, 7305.19.1030, 7305.19.5000, 
7306.19.1010, 7306.19.1050, 7306.19.5110, and 7306.19.5150. The 
subject merchandise may also enter in HTSUS 7305.11.1060 and 
7305.12.1060. While the HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Injury Test
VI. Use of Facts Otherwise Available
VII. Subsidies Valuation
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. ITC Notification
X. Disclosure and Public Comment
XI. Verification
XII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2015-06483 Filed 3-19-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P