Commerce Reduces Thai Pipe Company's AD Rate to Zero After CIT Rebuke
The Commerce Department slashed antidumping duty respondent Saha Thai Steel Pipe's antidumping duty rate to zero percent on remand in a case on the administrative review of the AD order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Thailand for the 2018-19 review period. The case was remanded after the Court of International Trade said Commerce failed to notify Saha Thai of supposed deficiencies in its submissions (see 2212020060) (PT. Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co. v. United States, CIT # 21-00049).
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During the review, Saha Thai got hit with a 37.55% dumping rate due to its alleged failure to submit U.S. sales of subject merchandise and the results of an Enforce and Protect Act proceeding that found that Saha Thai colluded with Blue Pipe to evade duties by selling standard pipe in the U.S. The respondent said it didn't report its sales of line pipe as part of its U.S. sales database, based on its understanding that line pipe was not subject merchandise. Commerce later asked the respondent to report its subject and non-subject merchandise, finding that dual-stenciled pipe was included in the order.
The agency ultimately used AFA based on the fact that Saha Thai didn't report its U.S. sales of dual-stenciled pipe. The trade court held that Commerce had an obligation to notify Saha Thai of its alleged deficiencies.
On remand, Commerce reopened the record and solicited a full revised questionnaire response from Saha Thai. The agency then issued a supplemental questionnaire. Based on the respondent's responses, the agency calculated a zero percent dumping margin for Saha Thai.
In the remand results, Commerce also addressed, for the first time, a petition that a particular market situation existed in Thailand during the review period with respect to hot-rolled coil, which is the largest input of circular welded pipe. The petitioner argued that the PMS requires an upward adjustment to Saha Thai's purchase costs of hot-rolled coil in calculating the margin.
The agency ultimately held that a PMS exists, quantifying the impact of the PMS by calculating an "upward adjustment of 8.81 percent to be made limited to where normal value has been calculated based on constructed value."