Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations: Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe From Romania and South Africa

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-485-804, A-791-803]

Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations: Circular Welded

Non-Alloy Steel Pipe From Romania and South Africa

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 22, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Beck at (202) 482-3464 or

Jennifer Stagner at (202) 482-1673, Office of Antidumping

Investigations, Import Administration, International Trade

Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and

Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20230.

INITIATION OF INVESTIGATIONS:

The Applicable Statute

Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are

references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective

date of the amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Act) by the

Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA).

The Petitions

On April 26, 1995, the Department of Commerce (the Department)

received two petitions filed in proper form by Allied Tube and Conduit

Corporation, Sawhill Tubular Division, LTV Steel Tubular Products

Company, Sharon Tube Company, Laclede Steel Company, Wheatland Tube

Company, and Century Tube Corporation (the petitioners), seven U.S.

producers of circular welded non-alloy steel pipe. A supplement to the

petitions was filed on May 8, 1995.

In accordance with section 732(b) of the Act, the petitioners

allege that imports of circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from

Romania and South Africa are being, or are likely to be, sold in the

United States at less than fair value within the meaning of section 731

of the Act, and that such imports are materially injuring, or

threatening material injury to, a U.S. industry.

The petitioners state that they have standing to file the petitions

because they are interested parties, as defined under section 771(9)(C)

of the Act.

Determination of Industry Support for the Petitions

Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act requires the Department to

determine, prior to the initiation of an investigation, that a minimum

percentage of the domestic industry supports an antidumping petition. A

petition meets these minimum requirements if (1) the domestic producers

or workers who support the petition account for at least 25 percent of

the total production of the domestic like product; and (2) the domestic

producers or workers who support the petition account for more than 50

percent of the production of the domestic like product produced by that

portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the

petition.

A review of the production data provided in the petitions and other

information readily available to the Department indicates that the

petitioners account for more than 25 percent of the total production of

the domestic like product and for more than 50 percent of that produced

by companies expressing support for, or opposition to, the petitions.

The Department received no expressions of opposition to the petitions

from any interested party. Accordingly, the Department determines that

these petitions are supported by the domestic industry.

Scope of the Investigations

For purposes of these investigations, circular welded non-alloy

steel pipes (standard pipes) are all pipes and tubes, of circular

cross-section, not more than 406.4 mm (16 inches) in outside diameter,

regardless of wall thickness, surface finish (black, galvanized, or

painted), end finish (plain end, bevelled end, threaded, or threaded

and coupled), or industry specification (ASTM, proprietary, or other)

used in, or intended for use in, standard or structural pipe

applications.

The scope specifically includes, but is not limited to, all pipe

produced to the ASTM A-53, ASTM A-120, ASTM A-135, ASTM A-795, and BS-

1387 specifications. It also includes any pipe multiple-stencilled or

multiple-certified to one of the above-listed specifications and to any

other specification such as API-5L and API-5L X-42 specifications. Pipe

produced to proprietary specifications, the API-5L, the API-5L X-42, or

to any other non-listed specification is included within the scope of

these investigations if used or intended for use in a standard pipe

application, regardless of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United

States (HTSUS) category into which it was classified.

Standard pipe uses include the low-pressure conveyance of water,

steam, natural gas, air, and other liquids and gases in plumbing and

heating systems, air conditioning units, automatic sprinkler systems,

and other related uses. Standard pipe may carry liquids at elevated

temperatures but may not be subject to the application of external

heat. Standard or structural pipe uses also include load-bearing

applications in construction and residential and industrial fence

systems. Standard pipe uses also include shells for the production of

finished conduit and pipe used for the production of scaffolding.

These investigations do not cover: API line pipe that is used in

oil or gas pipelines; mechanical tubing, whether or not cold-drawn,

that enters the United States classified under HTSUS 7306.30.10 or

7306.30.50; tube and pipe hollows for redrawing that enter the United

States classified under HTSUS 7306.30.50.35; and finished electrical

conduit that enters the United States classified under HTSUS

7306.30.50.28. The investigation does cover conduit

[[Page 27079]] shells that enter the United States classified under

HTSUS 7306.30.50 including HTSUS 7306.30.50.28.

The scope of these investigations also covers pipe used for the

production of scaffolding, but does not cover finished scaffolding.

Pipe produced to the API specifications for oil country tubular goods

(API 5CT) is not covered by the scope of these investigations, unless

also certified to a listed standard pipe specification and used or

intended for use in a standard pipe application.

The merchandise under investigation is currently classifiable under

items 7306.30.10.00, 7306.30.50.25, 7306.30.50.32, 7306.30.50.40,

7306.30.50.55, 7306.30.50.85, and 7306.30.50.90 of the HTSUS. Although

the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs

purposes, our written description of the scope of these investigations

is dispositive.

Although the Department is including end-use language in the scope

for purposes of initiation, the Department intends to further consider

its appropriateness. The Department currently is conducting a scope

inquiry with respect to the antidumping duty orders on certain circular

welded non-alloy steel pipe from Brazil, the Republic of Korea, Mexico,

and Venezuela (see Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Scope

Inquiry on Antidumping Duty Orders on Certain Circular Welded Non-Alloy

Steel Pipe From Brazil, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, and Venezuela

(59 FR 1929, January 13, 1994)). The final determination of that scope

inquiry will affect the scope determination in these investigations.

The Department invites comments from interested parties addressing

``end-use'' as a scope criterion. Parties interested in commenting on

the scope of these investigations should submit their comments no later

than close of business June 30, 1995. Rebuttal comments will be

accepted no later than close of business July 7, 1995.

Export Price and Normal Value

Romania

The petitioners based export price on the reported customs value

for circular welded non-alloy steel pipe imported into the United

States from Romania during the fourth quarter of 1994. This information

was specific to standard pipe and not to a basket category of

merchandise. The petitioners made adjustments to the price for foreign

inland freight.

The petitioners assert that Romania is a non-market economy (NME)

within the meaning of section 771(18) of the Act. Accordingly, the

normal value of the product should be based on the producers' factors

of production, valued in a surrogate market economy country. In

previous investigations, the Department has determined that Romania is

an NME, and section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act provides that the

presumption of NME status continues for the initiation of this

investigation. See, e.g., Final Determination of Sales at Less Than

Fair Value: Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe from Romania 57 FR

42957 (September 17, 1992) (Standard Pipe from Romania). In the course

of this investigation, all parties will have the opportunity to provide

relevant information related to the issues of Romania's NME status and

the granting of separate rates to individual exporters. See, e.g.,

Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Silicon Carbide

from the PRC 59 FR 22585 (May 2, 1994).

In accordance with section 773(c)(3) of the Act, the petitioners

based the Romanian producers' factors of production (e.g., raw

materials, labor, energy) on adjusted data from the public version of

the information on the record in Standard Pipe from Romania. For the

valuation of certain factors (steel coil, labor, electricity, water,

and methane), the petitioners used surrogate information from Colombia

pursuant to section 773(c)(4) of the Act. The petitioners contend that

Colombia is the most appropriate surrogate country because it is

similar to Romania in terms of per-capita gross national product trends

and population levels and is a significant producer of steel pipe.

To value certain other minor factors, the petitioners used

information from Thailand because they could not obtain information

from Colombia. The petitioners used public surrogate information from

Thailand that was used in Standard Pipe from Romania because this

information was reasonably available to them. Where necessary, these

values were adjusted for inflation.

Based on a comparison of the export price to normal value, the

calculated dumping margin based on public information is 39.58 percent.

South Africa

The petitioners based export price on the reported customs value

for circular welded non-alloy steel pipe imported into the United

States from South Africa during the fourth quarter of 1994. This

information was specific to standard pipe and not to a basket category

of merchandise. The petitioners made no adjustments for foreign

movement charges and other selling expenses.

The petitioners based normal value on actual home market price

quotations from a South African distributor provided by a market

researcher. The petitioners converted the unit price quotes in South

African rand to U.S. dollars using the average exchange rate for the

fourth quarter of 1994 and then adjusted the dollar unit price, where

appropriate, for standard and early payment discounts.

Based on comparisons of export price to normal value, the

calculated dumping margins for circular welded non-alloy steel pipe

from South Africa range from 107.87 percent to 127.81 percent.

Fair Value Comparisons

Based on the data provided by the petitioners, there is reason to

believe that imports of circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from

Romania and South Africa are being, or likely to be, sold at less than

fair value. If it becomes necessary at a later date to consider these

petitions as a source of facts available under section 776 of the Act,

we may review further the calculations.

Initiation of Investigations

We have examined the petitions on circular welded non-alloy steel

pipe and have found that they meet the requirements of section 732 of

the Act, including the requirements concerning allegations of the

material injury or threat of material injury to the domestic producers

of a domestic like product by reason of the complained-of imports,

allegedly sold at less than fair value. Therefore, we are initiating

antidumping duty investigations to determine whether imports of

circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from Romania and South Africa are

being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair

value. Unless extended, we will make our preliminary determinations by

October 5, 1995.

Distribution of Copies of the Petitions

In accordance with section 732(b)(3)(A) of the Act, copies of the

public versions of the petitions have been provided to the

representatives of the governments of Romania and South Africa. We will

attempt to provide copies of the public versions of the petitions to

all the exporters named in the petitions.

International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

We have notified the ITC of our initiations, as required by section

732(d) of the Act. [[Page 27080]]

Preliminary Determination by the ITC

The ITC will determine by June 12, 1995, whether there is a

reasonable indication that imports of circular welded non-alloy steel

pipe from Romania and South Africa are causing material injury, or

threatening to cause material injury, to a U.S. industry. A negative

ITC determination on either investigation will result in the respective

investigation being terminated; otherwise, these investigations will

proceed according to statutory and regulatory time limits.

This notice is published pursuant to section 732(c)(2) of the Act.

Susan G. Esserman,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Dated: May 16, 1995.

[FR Doc. 95-12499 Filed 5-19-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P