Steel Propane Cylinders From Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

AGENCY:

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

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that steel propane cylinders from Thailand are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV).

DATES:

Applicable June 21, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cindy Robinson or Stephanie Moore, AD/CVD Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3797 or (202) 482-3692, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On December 27, 2018, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination of sales at LTFV of steel propane cylinders from Thailand. On June 3, 2019, a public hearing was held at Commerce. A complete summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final determination, may be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is available 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 to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B-8024 of Commerce's main building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Issues and Decision Memorandum and electronic version are identical in content.

Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by the partial federal government closure from December 22, 2018 through the resumption of operations on January 29, 2019. If the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the next business day. The revised deadline for the final determination of this investigation is now June 17, 2019.

Period of Investigation (POI)

The POI is April 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018.

Scope of the Investigation

The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel propane cylinders from Thailand. For a complete discussion of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I of this notice.

Scope Comments

During the course of this investigation and the concurrent countervailing duty (CVD) investigation, Commerce received scope comments from interested parties. Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum, which was issued concurrently with the Preliminary Determination. We did not receive any scope comments after the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum; therefore, the preliminary scope determination remains unchanged in the final determination.

Verification

As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), Commerce verified the sales and cost data reported by Sahamitr Pressure Container Public Company Limited (SMPC) for use in our final determination. We used standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original source documents provided by the respondent.

Analysis of Comments Received

All issues raised in the case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted by interested parties in this proceeding are discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues raised by parties and responded to by Commerce are in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, attached at Appendix II.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations for SMPC since the Preliminary Determination. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated weighted-average dumping margin for all-other producers and exporters not individually investigated shall be equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for individually investigated exporters and producers, excluding any margins that are zero or de minimis or any margins determined entirely under section 776 of the Act. SMPC is the only respondent for which Commerce calculated an estimated weighted-average dumping margin that is not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available. Therefore, for purposes of determining the “all-others” rate, and pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, we are using the estimated weighted-average dumping margin calculated for SMPC, as referenced in the “Final Determination” section below.

Final Determination

Commerce determines that the following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period April 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018:

Disclosure

We will disclose the calculations performed within five days of public announcement of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue the suspension of liquidation of all appropriate entries of steel propane cylinders from Thailand, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after December 27, 2018, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination of this investigation in the Federal Register.

Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit for such entries of merchandise equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the respondent listed above will be equal to the respondent-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin determined in this final determination; (2) if the exporter is not a respondent identified above but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the respondent-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated weighted-average dumping margin. These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this proceeding is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports, or sales (or the likelihood of sales) for importation of steel propane cylinders from Thailand no later than 45 days after our final determination. If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will be terminated, and all cash deposits will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of liquidation.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely notification of the return or destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an APO is a violation subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice in accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(c).

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel cylinders for compressed or liquefied propane or other gases (steel propane cylinders) meeting the requirements of, or produced to meet the requirements of, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Specifications 4B, 4BA, or 4BW, or Transport Canada Specification 4BM, 4BAM, or 4BWM, or United Nations pressure receptacle standard ISO 4706 and otherwise meeting the description provided below. The scope includes steel propane cylinders regardless of whether they have been certified to these specifications before importation. Steel propane cylinders range from 2.5 pound nominal gas capacity (approximate 6 pound water capacity and approximate 4-6 pound tare weight) to 42 pound nominal gas capacity (approximate 100 pound water capacity and approximate 28-32 pound tare weight). Steel propane cylinders have two or fewer ports and may be imported assembled or unassembled (i.e., welded or brazed before or after importation), with or without all components (including collars, valves, gauges, tanks, foot rings, and overfill prevention devices), and coated or uncoated. Also included within the scope are drawn cylinder halves, unfinished propane cylinders, collars, and foot rings for steel propane cylinders.

An “unfinished” or “unassembled” propane cylinder includes drawn cylinder halves that have not been welded into a cylinder, cylinders that have not had flanges welded into the port hole(s), cylinders that are otherwise complete but have not had collars or foot rings welded to them, otherwise complete cylinders without a valve assembly attached, and cylinders that are otherwise complete except for testing, certification, and/or marking.

This investigation also covers steel propane cylinders that meet, are produced to meet, or are certified as meeting, other U.S. or Canadian government, international, or industry standards (including, for example, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), or American National Standard Institute (ANSI)), if they also meet, are produced to meet, or are certified as meeting USDOT Specification 4B, 4BA, or 4BW, or Transport Canada Specification 4BM, 4BAM, or 4BWM, or a United Nations pressure receptacle standard ISO 4706.

Subject merchandise also includes steel propane cylinders that have been further processed in a third country, including but not limited to, attachment of collars, foot rings, or handles by welding or brazing, heat treatment, painting, testing, certification, or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope steel propane cylinders.

Specifically excluded are seamless steel propane cylinders and propane cylinders made from stainless steel (i.e., steel containing at least 10.5 percent chromium by weight and less than 1.2 percent carbon by weight), aluminum, or composite fiber material. Composite fiber material is material consisting of the mechanical combination of two components: Fiber (typically glass, carbon, or aramid (synthetic polymer)) and a matrix material (typically polymer resin, ceramic, or metallic).

The merchandise subject to this investigation is properly classified under statistical reporting numbers 7311.00.0060 and 7311.00.0090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS statistical reporting numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Scope of the Investigation

IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

V. Discussion of the Issues

Comment 1: Nominal Gas Capacity (CAPACITY) vs. Sahamitr Pressure Container Public Company Limited's (SMPC's) Water-Converted Gas Capacity

Comment 2: Zinc Coating as a Separate Product Characteristic

Comment 3: Tare Weight Basis

Comment 4: Numeric Coding for Product Characteristics VALVE and VALVETYPE

Comment 5: Identity of Certain U.S. Customers for Differential Pricing Analysis

Comment 6: Deletion of a U.S. Sale and All Sales With a CAPACITY Code of 250

Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Apply Adverse Facts Available (AFA) for SMPC's Home Market Credit Expenses

Comment 8: Whether SMPC's Method for Reporting its Cost Data Warrants Application of Total AFA

Comment 8(a): Whether SMPC Withheld Information Regarding the Availability of a Certain Production Metric Used to Allocate Conversion Costs and Relied Instead on Data from 2010

Comment 8(b): Whether SMPC Failed to Report Control Number (CONNUM)-Specific Costs

Comment 9: Whether SMPC's Manufacturing Costs are Understated

Comment 10: SMPC's Scrap Offset

VI. Recommendation