[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 65 (Friday, April 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18917-18920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07044]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-489-502]
Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes From the Republic of
Turkey: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative
Review and Partial Rescission; Calendar Year 2018
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines
that exporters/producers of circular welded carbon steel pipes and
tubes from the Republic of Turkey (Turkey) received countervailable
subsidies during the period of review (POR), January 1, 2018 through
December 31, 2018, that were de minimis.
DATES: Applicable April 3, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jolanta Lawska, AD/CVD Operations,
Office III, Enforcement and Compliance,
[[Page 18918]]
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
8362.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 7, 1986, Commerce published in the Federal Register the
countervailing duty order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and
tubes from Turkey.\1\ On May 29, 2019, Commerce published a notice of
initiation of an administrative review of the Order covering 35
companies.\2\ On August 15, 2019, Commerce selected Borusan Companies
for individual examination as the sole mandatory respondent in this
administrative review.\3\ On November 12, 2019, Commerce extended the
due date of the preliminary results of this administrative review until
March 27, 2020.\4\
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\1\ See Countervailing Duty Order; Certain Welded Carbon Steel
Pipe and Tube Products from Turkey, 51 FR 7984 (March 7, 1986)
(Order).
\2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 84 FR 24743, 24748 (May 29, 2019).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Selection of Respondents for Individual
Examination,'' dated August 15, 2019.
\4\ See Memorandum, ``Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and
Tubes from Turkey: Extension of Deadline for Preliminary Results of
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated November 12,
2019.
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is
included at the 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 and is available to all
parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Commerce
building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum are identical in content.
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\5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review: Certain
Welded Carbon Steel Pipe and Tube Products from Turkey; 2018,''
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by the Order is circular welded carbon
steel pipes and tubes from Turkey. For a complete description of the
scope of the Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section
751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each
of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, we preliminarily
determine that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an
``authority'' that confers a benefit to the recipient, and that the
subsidy is specific.\6\ For a full description of the methodology
underlying our conclusions, see the accompanying Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.
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\6\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part and Non-Shipment Claims
On June 7, 20, and 25, 2019, Tos[ccedil]elik Profil ve Sac
End[uuml]strisi A.S., Tosyali Dis Ticaret A.S., Toscelik Metal Ticaret
A.[Scedil]. (collectively, Tos[ccedil]elik),\7\ HDM Celik Boru Sanayi
ve Ticaret A.S. (Celik),\8\ and [Ccedil]imta[scedil] Boru Imalatlari ve
Ticaret Ltd. Sirketi ([Ccedil]imta[scedil]) timely submitted no
shipment certifications.\9\ Because no evidence on the record
contradicts these certifications, we are rescinding this administrative
review with regard to Toscelik, Celik and Cimtas in accordance with 19
CFR 351.213(d)(3).\10\
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\7\ See Tos[ccedil]elik's Letter, ``Circular Pipe from Turkey;
Tos[ccedil]elik No-Shipments Letter,'' dated June 7, 2019.
\8\ See Celik's Letter, ``Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and
Tubes (C-489-502) Countervailing Duty Administrative Review (1/1/18-
12/31/18),'' dated June 20, 2019.
\9\ See Cimtas' Letter, ``Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and
Tubes (C-489-502) Countervailing Duty Administrative Review (1/1/18-
12/31/18),'' dated June 25, 2019.
\10\ See Memorandum, ``Results of Customs and Border Protection
Query Results,'' dated June 19, 2019; see also Memorandum, ``Second
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Query Results,'' dated July 26,
2019 (CBP Query Memorandum); and Memorandum, ``No-shipment inquiry
with Respect to Various Companies During the Period 01/01/2018
through 12/31/2018,'' dated March 27, 2020 (No Shipment Memorandum
for Various Companies).
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Additionally, on June 28, 2019, the Borusan Companies \11\
submitted a letter to Commerce timely certifying that affiliates
Borusan Istikbal Ticaret T.A.S. (Borusan Istikbal), Borusan Birlesik
Boru Fabrikalari San ve Tic. (Borusan Birlesik), Borusan Gemlik Boru
Tesisleri A.S. (Borusan Gemlik), Borusan Ihracat Ithalat ve Dagitim
A.S. (Borusan Ihracat), Tubeco Pipe and Steel Corporation (Tubeco), and
Borusan Lojistik Dagitim Depolama Tasimacilik ve Ticaret A.S (Borusan
Lojistik) had no entries, exports, or sales of subject merchandise into
the United States during the POR.\12\ Because no evidence on the record
contradicts these certifications, we are rescinding the administrative
review with regard to Borusan Birlesik, Borusan Gemlik, Borusan
Ihracat, Tubeco, and Borusan Lojistik in accordance with 19 CFR
351.213(d)(3).\13\ We are not rescinding the review for Istikbal
because we preliminarily determine that it is part of the cross-owned
entity referred to as the Borusan Companies, the mandatory respondent
in this review.
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\11\ The Borusan Companies consist of Borusan Holding A.S. (also
referred to as Borusan Holding), Borusan Mannesmann Yatirim Holding,
Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Borusan), and
Borusan Istikbal Ticaret T.A.S. (Istikbal) (collectively, the
Borusan Companies).
\12\ See Borusan's Letter, ``Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pines
and Tubes from Turkey. Case No. C-489-502: No Shipment Letter,''
dated June 28, 2019.
\13\ See No Shipment Memorandum for Various Companies.
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On June 7 and June 11, 2019, respectively, Cayirova Boru Sanayi ve
Ticaret A.S., Yucel Boru ve Profil Endustrisi A.S., and Yucelboru
Ihracat Ithalat ve Pazarlama A.S. (collectively, the Yucel Companies)
and Erbosan Erciyas Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Erbosan) timely filed
no shipments certifications.\14\ However, the results of the queries
Commerce performed on the trade database maintained by U.S. Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) indicated that shipments produced and/or
exported by the Yucel Companies and Erbosan entered the United States
during the POR.\15\ In comments filed on the record, the Yucel
Companies argued that Commerce should not conclude that it had
reviewable entries during the POR.\16\ In response to the Yucel
Companies' comments, we explained that ``Commerce's practice in
{countervailing duty{time} proceedings is to conduct reviews based on
merchandise that is `produced and/or exported' to the United States''
and Commerce need not consider ``whether the Yucel Companies
[[Page 18919]]
had knowledge of the shipments or whether the merchandise was shipped
directly from Tukey.'' \17\ Thus, consistent with the Respondent
Selection Memorandum, we preliminarily determine that subject
merchandise produced and/or exported by the Yucel Companies entered the
United States during the POR and, therefore, we are not rescinding the
review with regard to the Yucel Companies. Similarly, because Erbosan
did not contest the results of queries we performed on CBP's trade
database, we preliminarily determine that subject merchandise produced
and/or exported by Erbosan entered the United States during the POR
and, therefore, we are not rescinding the review with regard to
Erbosan.
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\14\ See Yucel's Letter, ``Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipe and
Tube from Turkey: Yucel No Shipment Letter,'' dated June 7, 2019;
see also Erbosan's Letter, ``No Shipment Certification of Erbosan
Erciyas Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Erbosan) in the 2018
Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty Order Involving
Certain Welded Carbon Steel Standard Pipe from Turkey,'' dated June
11, 2019.
\15\ See CBP Query Memorandum.
\16\ See Yucel's Letters, ``Y[uuml]cel reply comments re:
Independence Tube's comments on CBP data,'' dated June 30, 2019; and
``Y[uuml]cel comments on second CBP release,'' dated July 30, 2019.
\17\ See Respondent Selection Memorandum, at 4.
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Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review
The Act and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the
establishment of rates to be applied to companies not selected for
individual examination where Commerce limited its examination in an
administrative review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act.
However, Commerce normally determines the rates for non-selected
companies in reviews in a manner that is consistent with section
705(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the
all-others rate in an investigation. We also note that section
777A(e)(2) of the Act provides that ``{t{time} he individual
countervailable subsidy rates determined under subparagraph (A) shall
be used to determine the all-others rate under section 705(c)(5) {of
the Act{time} .'' Section 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act states that for
companies not investigated, in general, we will determine an all-others
rate by using the weighted-average countervailable subsidy rates
established for each of the companies individually investigated,
excluding zero and de minimis rates or any rates based solely on the
facts available. However, we preliminarily determine that the sole
mandatory respondent in this review, the Borusan Companies, received
countervailable subsidies that are de minimis. Therefore, in these
preliminary results, we are applying the net subsidy rate calculated
for the Borusan Companies to those firms subject to review that were
not selected for individual examination.
Preliminary Results of the Review
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we calculated an
individual subsidy rate for the Borusan Companies. For the period
January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018, we preliminarily determine
that the following net subsidy rates for the producers/exporters under
review to be as follows:
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Net subsidy rate
Company (% de minimis)
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Borusan Holding A.S. (also referred to as Borusan 0.37
Holding), Borusan Mannesmann Yatirim Holding,
Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.
(Borusan), and Borusan Istikbal Ticaret T.A.S.
(Istikbal) (collectively, the Borusan Companies)....
Borusan Ithicat ve Dagitim A.S....................... 0.37
Borusan Mannesmann................................... 0.37
Borusan Mannesmann Pipe US, Inc...................... 0.37
Cagil Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S................... 0.37
Eksen Makina......................................... 0.37
Erbosan Erciyas Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S........... 0.37
Guner Eksport........................................ 0.37
Guven Celik Born San. Ve Tic. Ltd.................... 0.37
Guven Steel Pipe..................................... 0.37
Kalibre Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret AS.................... 0.37
MTS Lojistik ve Tasimacilik Hizmetleri TIC A.S. 0.37
Istanbul............................................
Net Boru Sanayi ve Dis Ticaret Koll. Sti............. 0.37
Noksel Celik Boru Sanayi AS.......................... 0.37
Perfektup Ambalaj San. ve Tic. A.S................... 0.37
Schenker Arkas Nakliyat ve Ticaret A.S............... 0.37
Umran Celik Born Sanayii A.S......................... 0.37
Umran Steel Pipe Inc................................. 0.37
Vespro Muhendislik Mimarlik Danismanlik Sanayi ve 0.37
Ticaret AS..........................................
Yucel Boru ve Profil Endustrisi A.S., Yucelboru 0.37
Ihracat Ithalat ve Pazarlama A.S., and Cayirova Boru
Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Yucel Companies)............
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Assessment Rates
Consistent with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.212(b)(2), upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall
determine, and CBP shall assess, countervailing duties on all
appropriate entries covered by this review. We intend to issue
instructions to CBP 15 days after publication of the final results of
this review.
For the companies for which this review is rescinded, Commerce will
instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries
at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties
required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for
consumption, during the period January 1, 2018 through December 31,
2018, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i).
Cash Deposit Requirements
Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, upon issuance of the
final results, Commerce also intends to instruct CBP to collect cash
deposits of estimated countervailing duties for each of the companies
listed above on shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of
the final results of this administrative review, except, where the rate
calculated in the final results is zero or de minimis, no cash deposit
will be required. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP to
continue to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties at
the most recent company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the
company, as appropriate. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed,
shall remain in effect until further notice.
[[Page 18920]]
Disclosure and Public Comment
We will disclose to parties to this proceeding the calculations
performed in reaching the preliminary results within five days of the
date of publication of these preliminary results.\18\ Interested
parties may submit written arguments (case briefs) within 30 days of
publication of the preliminary results and rebuttal comments (rebuttal
briefs) within five days after the time limit for filing the case
briefs.\19\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(d)(2), rebuttal briefs may
respond only to issues raised in the case briefs. Parties who submit
arguments are requested to submit with the argument: (1) A statement of
the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of
authorities.\20\ Note that Commerce has temporarily modified certain of
its requirements for serving documents containing business proprietary
information, until May 19, 2020, unless extended. \21\
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\18\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
\19\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii) and 351.309(d)(1).
\20\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and 351.309(d)(2).
\21\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements
Due to COVID-19, 85 FR 17006 (March 26, 2020).
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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, U.S. Department of Commerce,
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\22\
Requests should contain the party's name, address, and telephone
number, the number of participants, and a list of the issues to be
discussed. Issues addressed during the hearing will be limited to those
raised in the briefs.\23\ If a request for a hearing is made, we will
inform parties of the scheduled date for the hearing, which will be
held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20230, at a time and location to be determined.\24\
Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the
hearing two days before the scheduled date.
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\22\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
\23\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
\24\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
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Parties are reminded that briefs and hearing requests are to be
filed electronically using ACCESS and that electronically filed
documents must be received successfully in their entirety by 5:00 p.m.
Eastern Time on the due date.
Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of
the Act, Commerce will issue the final results of this administrative
review, including the results of our analysis of the issues raised by
parties in their comments, within 120 days after issuance of these
preliminary results.
These preliminary results are issued and published in accordance
with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.221(b)(4).
Dated: March 27, 2020.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Non-Shipment Claims and Partial Rescission
IV. Period of Review
V. Scope of the Order
VI. Subsidy Valuation Information
VII. Non-Selected Rate
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2020-07044 Filed 4-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P