1. On 07/28/2016, Commerce published in the Federal Register its initiation of the antidumping duty investigation of finished carbon steel flanges from Italy (81 FR 49619).

2. The scope of this investigation covers finished carbon steel flanges. Finished carbon steel flanges differ from unfinished carbon steel flanges (also known as carbon steel flange forgings) in that they have undergone further processing after forging, including, but not limited to, beveling, bore threading, center or step boring, face machining, taper boring, machining ends or surfaces, drilling bolt holes, and/or de-burring or shot blasting. Any one of these post-forging processes suffices to render the forging into a finished carbon steel flange for purposes of this investigation. However, mere heat treatment of a carbon steel flange forging (without any other further processing after forging) does not render the forging into a finished carbon steel flange for purposes of this investigation.

While these finished carbon steel flanges are generally manufactured to specification ASME 816.5 or ASME 816.47 series A or series 8, the scope is not limited to flanges produced under those specifications. All types of finished carbon steel flanges are included in the scope regardless of pipe size (which may or may not be expressed in inches of nominal pipe size), pressure class (usually, but not necessarily, expressed in pounds of pressure, e.g., 150, 300, 400, 600, 900, 1500, 2500, etc.), type of face (e.g., flat face, full face, raised face, etc.), configuration (e.g., weld neck, slip on, socket weld, lap joint, threaded, etc.), wall thickness (usually, but not necessarily, expressed in inches), normalization, or whether or not heat treated. These carbon steel flanges either meet or exceed the requirements of the ASTM A105, ASTM A694, ASTM A181, ASTM A350 and ASTM A707 standards (or comparable foreign specifications). The scope includes any flanges produced to the above-referenced ASTM standards as currently stated or as may be amended. The term “carbon steel” under this scope is steel 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) 0.87 percent of aluminum;
(ii) 0.0105 percent of boron;
(iii) 10.10 percent of chromium;
(iv) 1.55 percent of columbium;
(v) 3.10 percent of copper;
(vi) 0.38 percent of lead;
(vii) 3.04 percent of manganese;
(viii) 2.05 percent of molybdenum;
(ix) 20.15 percent of nickel;
(x) 1.55 percent of niobium;
(xi) 0.20 percent of nitrogen;
(xii) 0.21 percent of phosphorus;
(xiii) 3.10 percent of silicon;
(xiv) 0.21 percent of sulfur;
(xv) 1.05 percent of titanium;
(xvi) 4.06 percent of tungsten;
(xvii) 0.53 percent of vanadium; or
(xviii) 0.015 percent of zirconium.

Finished carbon steel flanges are currently classified under subheadings 7307.91.5010 and 7307.91.5050 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). They may also be entered under HTSUS subheadings 7307.91.5030 and 7307.91.5070. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes; the written description of the scope is dispositive.

3. This investigation has been assigned investigation number A-475-835.

4. If there are any questions by the importing public regarding this message, please contact the Call Center for the Office of AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce at (202) 482-0984. CBP ports should submit their inquiries through authorized CBP channels only. (This message was generated by OVI:MYS.)

5. There are no restrictions on the release of this information.

Alexander Amdur