2022-25401. Oil Country Tubular Goods From Argentina, Mexico, and the Russian Federation: Antidumping Duty Orders and Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Duty Determination for the Russian Federation

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing antidumping duty (AD) orders on oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Argentina, Mexico, and the Russian Federation (Russia). In addition, Commerce is amending its final determination with respect to OCTG from Russia to correct a ministerial error.

DATES:

Applicable November 21, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dmitry Vladimirov (Argentina), Yang Chun or Emily Bradshaw (Mexico), and George McMahon or Michael Heaney (Russia), AD/CVD Operations, Offices I and VI, 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

In accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), on October 5, 2022, Commerce published its affirmative final determinations in the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigations of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia.^[1] In the investigation of OCTG from Russia, JSC Vyksa Steel Works (OMK/VSW) submitted a timely allegation that Commerce made a ministerial error in the final AD determination.^[2] We reviewed the allegation and determined that we made a ministerial error in the final AD determination on OCTG from Russia. See “Amendment to the Final Determination for Russia” section below for further discussion. On November 14, 2022, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determinations, pursuant to section 735(d) of the Act, that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of LTFV imports of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia.^[3]

Scope of the Orders

The products covered by these orders are OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia. For a complete description of the scope of these orders, see the appendix to this notice.

Amendment to the Final Determination for Russia

On September 30, 2022, OMK/VSW timely alleged that Commerce made a certain ministerial error in the Russia Final Determination with respect to the dumping margin assigned to OMK/VSW.^[4] No other party made an allegation of ministerial errors or submitted a rebuttal to OMK/VSW's ministerial error allegation under 19 CFR 351.224(c)(3). Commerce reviewed the record and, on October 26, 2022, agreed that the error alleged by OMK/VSW constituted a ministerial error within the meaning of section 735(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.224(f).^[5] Specifically, Commerce found that it made an inadvertent error in not converting into U.S. dollars a certification expense reported by OMK/VSW in Russian rubles.^[6] Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce is amending the Russia Final Determination to reflect the correction of the ministerial error, as described in the Ministerial Error Memorandum.^[7] Based on the correction, OMK/VSW's final dumping margin changed from 12.84 to 12.01 percent. As a result, we are also revising the all-others rate from 12.84 to 12.01 percent. The amended estimated weighted-average dumping margins are listed in the “Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margins” section below.

Antidumping Duty Orders

On November 14, 2022, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determinations in these investigations, in which it found that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of imports of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia. Therefore, in accordance with section 735(c)(2) of the Act, Commerce is issuing these AD orders. Because the ITC determined that imports of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment of ADs.

Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, ADs equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price (or constructed export price) of the merchandise, for all relevant entries of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia. With the exception of entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations, as further described below, antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after May 11, 2022, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determinations.^[8]

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits

Except as noted in the “Provisional Measures” section of this notice, in accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation on all relevant entries of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia. These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.

Commerce will also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins indicated in the tables below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication in the Federal Register of the notice of the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations, CBP will require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties on subject merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the rates listed in the table below. The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed, as appropriate.

Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margins

The estimated weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

Exporter or producer	Estimated weighted-average dumping margin (percent)
Argentina:
Siderca S.A.I.C	78.30
All Others	78.30
Mexico:
Tubos de Acero de Mexico, S.A	44.93
All Others	44.93
Exporter or producer	Estimated weighted- average dumping margin (percent)	Cash deposit rate (adjusted for subsidy offset(s)) (percent)
Russia:
JSC Vyksa Steel Works	12.01	11.70
Volzhsky Pipe Plant, Joint Stock Company; Public Joint-Stock Company Trubnaya Metallurgicheskaya Kompaniya; Sinarsky Pipe Plant, Joint Stock Company; Seversky Pipe Plant, Joint Stock Company; Taganrog Metallurgical Plant, Joint Stock Company; Pervouralsk Pipe Plant, Joint Stock Company; Chelyabinsk Pipe Plant, Joint Stock Company; Orsky Machine Building Plant, Joint Stock Company *	184.21	184.21
All Others	12.01	11.87
* Rate based on adverse facts available.

Provisional Measures

Section 733(d) of the Act states that suspension of liquidation pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four months, except where exporters representing a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise request that Commerce extend the four-month period to no more than six months. At the request of exporters that account for a significant proportion of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia, Commerce extended the four-month period to six months in each of these investigations. Commerce published the Preliminary Determinations on May 11, 2022.^[9]

The extended provisional measures period, beginning on the date of publication of the Preliminary Determinations, ended on November 6, 2022. Therefore, in accordance with section 733(d) of the Act and our practice,^[10] Commerce will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, unliquidated entries of OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia entered or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption after November 6, 2022, the final day on which the provisional measures were in effect, until and through the day preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations in the Federal Register . Suspension of liquidation and the collection of cash deposits will resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determinations in the Federal Register .

Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service Lists

On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the final rule titled “ Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws” in the Federal Register .^[11] On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the notice titled “ Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions” in the Federal Register .^[12] The Final Rule and Procedural Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same country of origin.^[13]

In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at https://access.trade.gov, within five business days of publication of the notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type called “AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.” ^[14]

Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30 days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance, the new annual inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when the Opportunity Notice for the anniversary month of the order is published.

Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the ACCESS website at https://access.trade.gov.

Special Instructions for Petitioners and Foreign Governments

In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, “after an initial request and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry service list in the years that follow.” ^[15] Accordingly, as stated above, the petitioners and foreign governments should submit their initial entry of appearance after publication of this notice in order to appear in the first annual inquiry service list. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioners and foreign governments will not need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to be included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioners and foreign governments are responsible for making amendments to their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.

Notification to Interested Parties

This notice constitutes the AD orders with respect to OCTG from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of AD orders currently in effect at https://www.trade.gov/​data-visualization/​adcvd-proceedings.

The amended Russia final determination and these AD orders are published in accordance with sections 735(e) and 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.224(e) and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

Dated: November 16, 2022

Lisa W. Wang,

Assistant Secretary,for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix—Scope of the Orders

The merchandise covered by these orders is certain OCTG, which are hollow steel products of circular cross-section, including oil well casing and tubing, of iron (other than case iron) or steel (both carbon and alloy), whether seamless or welded, regardless of end finish ( e.g., whether or not plain end, threaded, or threaded and coupled) whether or not conforming to American Petroleum Institute (API) or non-API specifications, whether finished (including limited service OCTG products) or unfinished (including green tubes and limited service OCTG products), whether or not thread protectors are attached. The scope of these orders also covers OCTG coupling stock.

Subject merchandise includes material matching the above description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed in a third country, including by performing any heat treatment, cutting, upsetting, threading, coupling, or any other finishing, packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of these orders if performed in the country of manufacture of the OCTG.

Excluded from the scope of these orders are: casing, tubing, or coupling stock containing 10.5 percent or more by weight of chromium; drill pipe; unattached couplings; and unattached thread protectors.

The merchandise subject to these orders is currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item numbers: 7304.29.1010, 7304.29.1020, 7304.29.1030, 7304.29.1040, 7304.29.1050, 7304.29.1060, 7304.29.1080, 7304.29.2010, 7304.29.2020, 7304.29.2030, 7304.29.2040, 7304.29.2050, 7304.29.2060, 7304.29.2080, 7304.29.3110, 7304.29.3120, 7304.29.3130, 7304.29.3140, 7304.29.3150, 7304.29.3160, 7304.29.3180, 7304.29.4110, 7304.29.4120, 7304.29.4130, 7304.29.4140, 7304.29.4150, 7304.29.4160, 7304.29.4180, 7304.29.5015, 7304.29.5030, 7304.29.5045, 7304.29.5060, 7304.29.5075, 7304.29.6115, 7304.29.6130, 7304.29.6145, 7304.29.6160, 7304.29.6175, 7305.20.2000, 7305.20.4000, 7305.20.6000, 7305.20.8000, 7306.29.1030, 7306.29.1090, 7306.29.2000, 7306.29.3100, 7306.29.4100, 7306.29.6010, 7306.29.6050, 7306.29.8110, and 7306.29.8150.

The merchandise subject to these orders may also enter under the following HTSUS item numbers: 7304.39.0024, 7304.39.0028, 7304.39.0032, 7304.39.0036, 7304.39.0040, 7304.39.0044, 7304.39.0048, 7304.39.0052, 7304.39.0056, 7304.39.0062, 7304.39.0068, 7304.39.0072, 7304.39.0076, 7304.39.0080, 7304.59.6000, 7304.59.8015, 7304.59.8020, 7304.59.8025, 7304.59.8030, 7304.59.8035, 7304.59.8040, 7304.59.8045, 7304.59.8050, 7304.59.8055, 7304.59.8060, 7304.59.8065, 7304.59.8070, 7304.59.8080, 7305.31.4000, 7305.31.6090, 7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5090, 7306.50.5050, and 7306.50.5070.

The HTSUS subheadings and specifications above are provided for convenience and customs purposes only. The written description of the scope of these orders is dispositive.

Footnotes

1.   See Oil Country Tubular Goods from Argentina: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances,87 FR 59054 (September 29, 2022); Oil Country Tubular Goods from Mexico: Final Affirmative Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Critical Circumstances,87 FR 59041 (September 29, 2022); and Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Russian Federation: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Final Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, in Part,87 FR 59045 (September 29, 2022) ( Russia Final Determination).

2.   See OMK/VSW's Letter, “Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Russian Federation: OMK's Ministerial Error Comments,” dated September 30, 2022 (Ministerial Error Allegation).

3.   See ITC's Letter, Investigation Nos. 701-TA-671-672 and 731-TA-1571-1573 (Final), dated November 14, 2022.

4.   See Ministerial Error Allegation.

5.   See Memorandum, “Antidumping Duty Investigation of Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Russian Federation: Allegation of Ministerial Error in the Final Determination,” dated October 26, 2022 (Ministerial Error Memorandum).

6.   See Memorandum, “Amended Final Analysis Memorandum for JSC Vyksa Steel Works,” dated October 26, 2022.

7.   Id.

8.   See Oil Country Tubular Goods from Argentina: Preliminary Affirmative Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Critical Circumstances, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 87 FR 28801 (May 11, 2022); Oil Country Tubular Goods from Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Critical Circumstances, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures,87 FR 28808 (May 11, 2022); and Oil Country Tubular Goods from the Russian Federation: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Negative Critical Circumstances Determination, Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures,87 FR 28804 (May 11, 2022) (collectively, Preliminary Determinations).

9.   Id.

10.   See, e.g., Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from India, India, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan: Amended Final Affirmative Antidumping Determination for India and Taiwan, and Antidumping Duty Orders,81 FR 48390, 48392 (July 25, 2016).

11.   See Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws,86 FR 52300 (September 20, 2021) ( Final Rule).

12.   See Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions,86 FR 53205 (September 27, 2021) ( Procedural Guidance).

13.   Id.

14.  This segment will be combined with the ACCESS Segment Specific Information (SSI) field, which will display the month in which the notice of the order or suspended investigation was published in the Federal Register , also known as the anniversary month. For example, for an order under case number A-000-000 that published in the Federal Register in January, the relevant segment and SSI combination will appear in ACCESS as “AISL-January Anniversary.” Note that there will be only one annual inquiry service list segment per case number, and the anniversary month will be pre-populated in ACCESS.

15.   See Final Rule, 86 FR at 52335.