2021-21852. Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes From the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2019-2020

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that the producers/exporters subject to this administrative review made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR) September 1, 2019, through August 31, 2020. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES:

Applicable October 6, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alice Maldonado or Jacob Garten, AD/CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone] or [phone], respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On October 30, 2020, based on timely requests for review, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(c)(1)(i), we initiated an administrative review on heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Korea.^[1] This review covers two producers and exporters of the subject merchandise.^[2] Commerce selected Dong-A Steel Company (DOSCO) and HiSteel Co., Ltd, (HiSteel) for individual examination.

On May 7, 2021, Commerce extended the preliminary results of this review by 120 days, until September 30, 2021.^[3] For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.^[4]

Scope of the Order

The products covered by the order are certain heavy walled rectangular welded steel pipes and tubes from the Republic of Korea (Korea). Products subject to the order are currently classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) item number 7306.61.1000. Subject merchandise may also be classified under 7306.61.3000. Although the HTSUS numbers and ASTM specification are provided for convenience and for customs purposes, the written product description remains dispositive.^[5]

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 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 our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of the 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 on file electronically 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 can be accessed directly at https://enforcement.trade.gov/​frn/​.

Preliminary Results of the Review

As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that the following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period September 1, 2019, through August 31, 2020:

Producers/exporters	Weighted- average dumping margin (percent)
Dong-A Steel Co., Ltd 6	1.62
HiSteel Co., Ltd	10.24

Disclosure and Public Comment

Commerce intends to disclose the calculations performed in connection with these preliminary results to interested parties within five days after the date of publication of this notice.^[7] Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to Commerce. A timeline for the submission of case briefs and written comments will be provided to interested parties at a later date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no later than seven days after the deadline for filing case briefs.^[8] Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of authorities.^[9] Case and rebuttal briefs should be filed using ACCESS.^[10]

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, U.S. Department of Commerce, filed electronically via ACCESS within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.^[11] 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. If a request for a hearing is made, Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a date and time to be determined.^[12] Parties should confirm the date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.

An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the established deadline.

Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative review, including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any written briefs, not later than 120 days after the date of publication of this notice, unless otherwise extended.^[13]

Assessment Rates

Upon completion of the administrative review, Commerce shall determine, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries.^[14] If the weighted average dumping margin for DOSCO or HiSteel is not zero or de minimis ( i.e., less than 0.5 percent), we will calculate importer-specific ad valorem antidumping duty assessment rates 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).^[15] Where the respondent did not report entered value, we will calculate the entered value in order to calculate the assessment rate. If the weighted-average dumping margin for the respondents listed above is zero or de minimis in the final results, or an importer-specific assessment rate is zero or de minimis in the final results, we will instruct CBP not to assess antidumping duties on any of their entries in accordance with the Final Modification for Reviews.^[16]

Commerce's “automatic assessment” will apply to entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by companies included in these final results of review for which the reviewed companies did not know that the merchandise they sold to the intermediary ( e.g., a reseller, trading company, or exporter) was destined for the United States. In such instances, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.^[17]

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 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 exporters 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 companies not participating in this review, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific cash deposit rate published for the most recently completed segment; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, or a previous segment, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be the cash deposit rate established for the most recently completed segment for the producer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers or exporters will continue to be 3.24 percent, the all-others rate established in the less-than-fair-value investigation.^[18] These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) 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 double 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.

Dated: September 30, 2021.

Christian Marsh,

Acting 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

IV. Discussion of the Methodology

V. Currency Conversion

VI. Recommendation

Footnotes

1.   See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 85 FR 68840 (October 30, 2020).

2.  We received a timely submission withdrawing all review requests for 27 companies; we rescinded the review with respect to these companies. See Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from the Republic of Korea: Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2019-2020, in Part, 86 FR 14075 (March 12, 2021).

3.   See Memorandum, “Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from the Republic of Korea: Extension of Deadline for Preliminary Results of the 4th Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,” dated May 7, 2021.

4.   See Memorandum, “Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of the 2019-2020 Administrative Review of the Antidumping Duty Order on Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from the Republic of Korea,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).

5.  For a complete description of the scope of the order, see Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

6.  In the prior administrative review, Commerce collapsed Dong-A Steel Co., Ltd., with its affiliated producer SeAH Steel Corporation, and we continue to treat these companies as a single entity, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.401(f). See Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from the Republic of Korea: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2018-2019, 86 FR 35060, 35061 (July 1, 2021).

7.   See 19 CFR 351.224(b).

8.  Commerce is exercising its discretion, under 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1), to alter the time limit for filing of rebuttal briefs.

9.   See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).

10.   See 19 CFR 351.303.

11.   See 19 CFR 351.310(c).

12.   See 19 CFR 351.310(d).

13.   See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

14.   See 19 CFR 351.212(b).

15.  In these preliminary results, Commerce applied the assessment rate calculation method adopted in Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping Proceedings: Final Modification, 77 FR 8101 (February 14, 2012) ( Final Modification for Reviews ).

16.   Id. at 8102.

17.  For a full discussion of this practice, see Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).

18.   See Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from the Republic of Korea, Mexico, and the Republic of Turkey: Antidumping Duty Orders, 81 FR 62865, 62866 (September 13, 2016).