Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from India, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam - Inv. No. 701-482-485

INSTRUCTION BOOKLET

GENERAL INFORMATION, INSTRUCTIONS, AND
DEFINITIONS FOR COMMISSION FOREIGN
PRODUCER/EXPORTER QUESTIONNAIRES

CIRCULAR WELDED CARBON-QUALITY STEEL PIPE FROM INDIA,
OMAN, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, AND VIETNAM
Investigation Nos. 701-TA-482-485 and 731-TA-1191-1194 (Preliminary)

Further information.--If you have any questions concerning the enclosed
questionnaire(s) or other matters related to this proceeding, you may contact
the following member of the Commission=s staff (Fax 202-205-3205):
Keysha Martinez, investigator (202-205-2136; E-mail keysha.martinez@USITC.GOV)

GENERAL INFORMATION
Background.--This proceeding was instituted in response to a petition filed on October 26, 2011,
by Allied Tube and Conduit, Harvey, IL; JMC Steel Group, Chicago, IL; Wheatland Tube, Sharon,
PA; and United States Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA. Countervailing and antidumping duties
may be assessed on the subject imports as a result of this proceeding if the Commission makes an
affirmative determination of injury, threat, or material retardation, and if the U.S. Department of
Commerce makes an affirmative determination of subsidization and/or dumping.
Questionnaires and other information pertinent to this proceeding are available at
http://usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/investigations/2011/circular_welded_pipe/p
relimphase.htm. Address all correspondence to the United States International Trade
Commission, Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired individuals can obtain information
regarding this proceeding via the Commission=s TDD terminal (202-205-1810).
Due date of questionnaire(s).--Please submit the completed questionnaire(s) to the United States
International Trade Commission so as to be received by no later than November 9, 2011.
Because Commission staff might contact you with questions during the course of the proceeding,
save the final version of the document(s) and retain all files and worksheets associated with the
completed questionnaire(s). Please also retain a copy of any paper original document that you
submit.
Service of questionnaire response(s).--In the event that your firm is a party to this proceeding,
you are required to serve a copy of the questionnaire(s), once completed, on parties to the
proceeding that are subject to administrative protective order (see 19 CFR ' 207.7). A list of such
parties is maintained by the Commission=s Secretary and may be obtained by calling
202-205-1803. A certificate of service must accompany the copy of the completed questionnaire(s)
you submit (see 19 CFR ' 207.7).
Confidentiality.--The commercial and financial data furnished in response to the enclosed
questionnaire(s) that reveal the individual operations of your firm will be treated as confidential by
the Commission to the extent that such data are not otherwise available to the public and will not
be disclosed except as may be required by law (see 19 U.S.C. ' 1677f). Such confidential
information will not be published in a manner that will reveal the individual operations of your
firm; however, nonnumerical characterizations of numerical business proprietary information
(such as discussion of trends) will be treated as confidential business information only at the
request of the submitter for good cause shown.
Verification.--The information submitted in the enclosed questionnaire(s) is subject to audit
and verification by the Commission. To facilitate possible verification of data, please keep
all your workpapers and supporting documents used in the preparation of the questionnaire
response(s).

2

GENERAL INFORMATION--Continued
Release of information.--The information provided by your firm in response to the
questionnaire(s), as well as any other business proprietary information submitted by your firm to
the Commission in connection with the proceeding, may become subject to, and released under,
the administrative protective order provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. ' 1677f) and
section 207.7 of the Commission=s Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR ' 207.7). This means
that certain lawyers and other authorized individuals may temporarily be given access to the
information for use in connection with this proceeding or other import-injury proceedings
conducted by the Commission on the same or similar merchandise; those individuals would be
subject to severe penalties if the information were divulged to unauthorized individuals.
INSTRUCTIONS
Answer all questions.--Do not leave any question or section blank unless a questionnaire
expressly directs you to skip over certain questions or sections. If the answer to any question is
Anone,@ write Anone.@ If information is not readily available from your records in exactly the
form requested, furnish carefully prepared estimates--designated as such by the letter
AE@--and explain the basis of your estimates. Answers to questions and any necessary
comments or explanations should be supplied in the space provided or on separate sheets attached
to the appropriate page of the questionnaire(s). If your firm is completing more than one
questionnaire in connection with this proceeding (i.e., a producer, importer, purchaser, and/or
foreign producer questionnaire), you need not respond to duplicated questions in the
questionnaires.
Consolidate all establishments in India, Oman, United Arab Emirates, or Vietnam.--Report the
requested data for your establishment(s) located in India, Oman, United Arab Emirates, or
Vietnam. Firms operating more than one establishment should combine the data for all
establishments into a single report.
Filing instructions.—Questionnaires may be filed either in paper form or electronically.
Electronic completion.--Your firm is encouraged to complete the questionnaire electronically in
MS Word format. The MS Word versions of all the questionnaires in this proceeding are available
online at the ITC web page or may be obtained directly from the Commission’s Investigator,
Keysha Martinez (keysha.martinez@usitc.gov, or 202-205-2136).
Electronic submission.--To the degree that it is possible and not overly burdensome, the
Commission requests that responding firms submit their questionnaire responses electronically in
MS Word format. The submission of questionnaire responses in the MS Word format allows the
Commission to compile, assess, and analyze submitted data more promptly. There are three
electronic submissions options detailed below. Paper submissions are also accepted.

3

INSTRUCTIONS--Continued
OPTIONS FOR FILING
This questionnaire is available as a “fillable” form in MS Word format on the
Commission’s website
http://usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/investigations/2011/circular_
welded_pipe/prelimphase.htm. Please do not attempt to modify the format or
permissions of the questionnaire document. You may complete the questionnaire
and submit it, electronically, or you may print it out and submit it in paper form, as
described below:
• Upload via Secure Drop Box.—Upload the completed questionnaire in MS Word format along
with a scanned copy of the signed certification page (page 1) through the Commission’s secure
upload facility:
Web address: https://dropbox.usitc.gov/oinv/

Pin: cwpipe

• E-mail.—E-mail your questionnaire to the investigator identified on page 1 of the Instruction
Booklet; include a scanned PDF of the signed certification page (page 1). Type the following in
the e-mail subject line: BPI Questionnaire, INV. NOS. 701-TA-482-485 and 731-TA-1191-1194
(Preliminary). Please note that submitting your questionnaire by e-mail may subject your firm’s
business proprietary information to transmission over an unsecure environment and to possible
disclosure. If you choose this option, the Commission warns you that any risk involving possible
disclosure of such information is assumed by the submitter and not by the Commission.
• Compact disc (CD).—Copy your questionnaire onto a CD, include a signed certification page
(page 1) (either in paper form or scanned PDF copied onto CD), and mail to the address above. It
is strongly recommended that you use an overnight mail service. U.S. mail sent to government
offices undergoes additional processing which not only results in substantial delays in delivery but
may also damage CDs.
• Fax.—Fax to 202.205.3205.
• Overnight mail service.—Mail to the following address:
United States International Trade Commission
Office of Investigations, Room 615
500 E Street SW
Washington, DC 20024
• U.S. mail.—Mail to the address above, but use zip code 20436. This option is not recommended.
U.S. mail sent to government offices undergoes additional processing to screen for hazardous
materials; this additional processing results in substantial delays in delivery.
Note: If you are a party to the proceeding, and service of the questionnaire is required, such service
should be made in paper form.

4

DEFINITIONS
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe (“Circular Welded Pipe”)— Welded carbon quality
steel pipes and tube, of circular cross-section, with an outside diameter not more than 16 inches
(406.4mm), regardless of wall thickness, surface finish (black, galvanized, or painted), end finish
(plain end, beveled end, threaded, or threaded and coupled), or industry specification (e.g. ASTM,
proprietary, or other) generally known as standard pipe, fence pipe and tube, sprinkler pipe, and
structural pipe (although they may also be referred to as mechanical tubing). Specifically, the term,
“carbon quality” includes products in which: (a) iron predominates, by weight, over each of the
other contained elements; (b) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight; and (c) none of the
elements listed below exceeds the quantity, by weight, as indicated: (i) 1.80 percent of manganese;
(ii) 2.25 percent of silicon; (iii) 1.00 percent of copper; (iv) 0.50 percent of aluminum; (v) 1.25
percent of chromium; (vi) 0.30 percent of cobalt; (vii) 0.40 percent of lead; (viii) 1.25 percent of
nickel; (ix) 0.30 percent of tungsten; (x) 0.15 percent of molybdenum; (xi) 0.10 percent of niobium;
(xii) 0.41 percent of titanium; (xiii) 0.15 percent of vanadium; (xiv) 0.15 percent of zirconium.
Standard pipe is ordinarily made to ASTM specifications A53, A135, and A795, but can
also be made to other specifications. Structural pipe is made primarily to ASTM specifications
A252 and A500. Standard and structural pipe may also be produced to proprietary specifications
rather than to industry specifications. This is often the case, for example, with fence tubing. Fence
tubing is included in the scope regardless of certification to a specification listed in the exclusions
below, and can also be made to include A513. Sprinkler pipe is designed for sprinkler fire
suppression systems and may be made to industry specifications such as A53 or to proprietary
specifications. These products are generally made to standard O.D. and wall combinations. Pipe
multi-stenciled to a standard and/or structural specification and to other specifications, such as
American Petroleum Institute (“API”) API-5L specification, is also covered by the scope of this
investigation when it meets the physical description set forth above, and also has one or more of
the following characteristics: is 32 feet in length or less; is less than 2.0 inches (50mm) in outside
diameter; has a galvanized and/or painted (e.g. polyester coated) surface finish; or has a threaded
and/or coupled end finish.
The scope of this proceeding does not include: (a) pipe suitable for use in boilers,
superheaters, heat exchangers, refining furnaces and feedwater heaters, whether or not cold drawn;
(b) mechanical tubing, whether or not cold-drawn. However, products certified to ASTM
mechanical tubing specifications are not excluded as mechanical tubing if they otherwise meet the
standard sizes (e.g. outside diameter and wall thickness) of standard, structural, fence and
sprinkler pipe;1 (c) finished scaffolding;2 (d) tube and pipe hollows for redrawing; (e) oil country
tubular goods produced to API specifications; and (f) line pipe produced to only API
specifications.
The pipe subject to this proceeding are currently imported under the following HTSUS
statistical reporting numbers:

1

In addition to the standard sizes in the ASTM specifications, the attachment at the end of this booklet contains the
industry standard fence O.D. and gage combinations.
2
Finished scaffolding is defined as component parts of a final, finished scaffolding that enters the United States
unassembled as a “kit.” A “kit” is understood to mean a packaged combination of component parts that contain, at the
time of importation, all the necessary component parts to fully assemble a final, finished scaffolding.

5

DEFINITIONS--Continued
Standard/structural/fence/sprinkler tubular products-- 7306.30.1000, 7306.30.5025, 7306.30.5032,
7306.30.5040, 7306.30.5055, 7306.30.5085, 7306.30.5090.
Under certain circumstances, “circular welded pipe” as defined above might also enter the United
States under HTS statistical reporting numbers that cover a broader range of tubular products:
1. API-stenciled tubular products (generally line pipe) that are multiple-stenciled to
standard/structural specifications and meet the physical descriptions provided above-7306.19.1010, 7306.19.1050, 7306.19.5110, 7306.19.5150
2. “Micro-alloy” standard/structural/fence/sprinkler tubular products (i.e., those that exceed
the chemistry specifications for non-alloy pipe but do not exceed the chemistry
specifications provided above)-- 7306.50.1000, 7306.50.5050, and 7306.50.5070.
However, the product description, and not the harmonized tariff schedule of the United States
(“HTSUS”) classification, is dispositive of whether the merchandise imported into the United
States falls within the scope of the investigation.
Firm.--An individual proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation
(including any subsidiary corporation), business trust, cooperative, trustee in bankruptcy, or
receiver under decree of any court.
Related firm.--A firm that your firm solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise controlled; a
firm that solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise controlled your firm; and/or a firm that
was solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise controlled by a firm that also solely or jointly
owned, managed, or otherwise controlled your firm.
Establishment.--Each facility of a firm in India, Oman, United Arab Emirates, or Vietnam
involved in the production of circular welded pipe (as defined above), including auxiliary facilities
operated in conjunction with (whether or not physically separate from) such facilities.
United States.--For purposes of this proceeding, the 50 States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands,
and the District of Columbia.
Importer.--Any person or firm engaged, either directly or through a parent company or subsidiary,
in importing circular welded pipe (as defined above) into the United States from a foreign
manufacturer or through its selling agent.
Average production capacity.--The level of production that your establishment(s) could
reasonably have expected to attain during the specified periods. Assume normal operating
conditions (i.e., using equipment and machinery in place and ready to operate; normal operating
levels (hours per week/weeks per year) and time for downtime, maintenance, repair, and cleanup;
and a typical or representative product mix).

6

DEFINITIONS—Continued
Production.--All production in your establishment(s) in India, Oman, United Arab Emirates, or
Vietnam, including production consumed internally within your firm.
Shipments.--Shipments of products produced in your establishment(s) in India, Oman, United
Arab Emirates, or Vietnam. Quantities reported should be net of returns.
Home market commercial shipments.--Shipments, other than internal consumption and
transfers to related firms, within India, Oman, United Arab Emirates, or Vietnam.
Home market internal consumption/transfers to related firms.--Shipments made to
related firms in India, Oman, United Arab Emirates, or Vietnam, including product
consumed internally by your firm.
Export shipments.--Shipments to destinations outside India, Oman, United Arab Emirates,
or Vietnam, including shipments to related firms.
Inventories.--Finished goods inventory, not raw materials or work-in-progress.

7