The US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced Friday that it has initiated an anti-circumvention investigation regarding the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on drill pipe from China. Specifically, the investigation will focus on the Hilong Group of Companies Co., Ltd. to determine whether pipe and tool joints which are produced in China and then friction-welded together in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are circumventing the AD and CVD orders.
The DOC's action follows receipt of a request from three domestic producers: VAM Drilling USA, Texas Steel Conversion Inc. and Rotary Drilling Tools.
In their request, the US domestic producers alleged that Hilong's drill pipe facility in China exports pipe and tool joints to AlMansoori / Hilong in the UAE, which friction-welds the pipe to the tool joints and then exports them to Hilong USA, which enters and sells the drill pipe as UAE-origin merchandise. The US producers argue that, because Hilong's Chinese-produced pipe and tool joints are assembled in the UAE and enter the US as UAE-origin merchandise which is of the same class or kind as the merchandise covered by the AD and CVD orders on China, the operations in the UAE constitute a "minor or insignificant process" which results in circumvention of the orders on drill pipe from China.
The DOC will establish a schedule for questionnaires and comments on the issues in this anti-circumvention investigation.
The subject products are currently classified in the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) categories: 7304.22.0030, 7304.22.0045, 7304.22.0060, 7304.23.3000, 7304.23.6030, 7304.23.6045, 7304.23.6060, 8431.43.8040 and may also enter under 8431.43.8060, 8431.43.4000, 7304.39.0028, 7304.39.0032, 7304.39.0036, 7304.39.0040, 7304.39.0044, 7304.39.0048, 7304.39.0052, 7304.39.0056, 7304.49.0015, 7304.49.0060, 7304.59.8020, 7304.59.8025, 7304.59.8030, 7304.59.8035, 7304.59.8040, 7304.59.8045, 7304.59.8050 and 7304.59.8055.