OCTG Austria/Taiwan/UAE: AD LTFV prelims

Commerce issued affirmative preliminary less-than-fair-value (LTFV) determinations on certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Austria, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates. The three notices (FR Docs. 2026-22531, 2026-22532, 2026-22534; cases A-433-814, A-583-881, A-520-812) are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on November 4, 2026 (public-inspection PDFs linked in sources). All three are dated October 29, 2026, Scot Fullerton. Commerce will direct CBP to suspend liquidation and collect cash deposits for entries on or after the Federal Register publication date.

Prelim margins: Austria 47.21%; Taiwan up to 54.74%; UAE up to 68.88%. Austria and Taiwan finals postponed to no later than March 19, 2027 by our count. UAE final no later than January 12, 2027 by our count.

Investigations and POI

Commerce initiated these LTFV investigations on April 28, 2026 (91 FR 22806). Preliminaries were postponed August 28, 2026 (91 FR 55517) to October 29, 2026. The period of investigation is April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. These are new OCTG investigations on Austria, Taiwan, and the UAE. They sit alongside existing OCTG orders on other countries covered in OCTG five-country AD/CVD second sunset continuation and the Ukraine OCTG admin review prelims (Ukraine OCTG AD admin review prelims). A separate LTFV postponement on welded stainless line and pressure pipe from India, Turkiye, and the UAE is covered in Welded stainless pipe LTFV: India/Turkiye/UAE postponed.

Preliminary margins and cash deposits

Austria: voestalpine Tubulars GmbH & Co. KG 47.21%; All Others 47.21%. The Austria cash deposit rate is also 47.21%. The companion Austria CVD preliminary (91 FR 56618, September 3, 2026) found no export subsidies, so Commerce made no AD cash-deposit offset.

Taiwan: Shin Yang Steel Co. Ltd. 51.19%; Tension Steel Industries Co., Ltd. 54.74%; All Others 52.43%. UAE: Ajmal Steel Tubes and Pipes Industries, LLC 68.88%; Universal Tube and Pipe Industries FZE and THL Pipe and Tube Industries LLC (treated preliminarily as a single entity) 61.45%; All Others 68.23%. ACCESS hosts the preliminary decision memoranda (access.trade.gov).

Scope clarification on mechanical pipe

Commerce preliminarily clarifies that mechanical pipe for oilfield tools, mechanical pipe for perforating guns, and expandable mechanical pipe are outside the scope of these investigations, consistent with a preliminary scope ruling in the Argentina and Mexico OCTG AD orders. Commerce is not modifying the initiation-notice scope language; this is a clarification. The Argentina/Mexico mechanical-pipe scope inquiry's final is scheduled no later than December 22, 2026, and Commerce intends to consider that final when making a final scope ruling here. Scope case briefs are due 30 days after the preliminary determination; scope rebuttals five days later.

Final clocks differ by country

Austria (voestalpine request October 27, 2026) and Taiwan (respondents' request September 8, 2026): finals postponed to no later than 135 days after Federal Register publication of the preliminaries, which by our count is March 19, 2027, with provisional measures extended to not more than six months. UAE is not postponed in its notice: final no later than 75 days after the October 29, 2026 signature date, by our count January 12, 2027. Hearing requests are due within 30 days after publication (by our count December 4, 2026). Non-scope case briefs are due seven days after the last verification report. If Commerce's final is affirmative, the ITC makes its final injury determination.

Action items

• Check supplier country and producer/exporter pair against the Austria, Taiwan, and UAE rate tables before budgeting November 4 entries.
• Budget AD cash deposits on OCTG entries from these three countries on or after Federal Register publication (by our reading November 4, 2026).
• Confirm whether mechanical pipe for oilfield tools, perforating guns, or expandable mechanical pipe falls under the preliminary out-of-scope clarification.
• Watch Austria/Taiwan finals (by our count March 19, 2027) and the earlier UAE final (by our count January 12, 2027); hearing requests by our count December 4, 2026.

Antidumping cash deposits are not drawback-eligible (19 U.S.C. 1677h; see AD/CVD duties are excluded from drawback). Ordinary customs duties on the same entries can still be drawback-eligible when merchandise is exported or destroyed (or used to manufacture exported goods) and the claim otherwise qualifies (how to file a duty drawback claim).

This article is for general information and is not legal or tax advice. Drawback eligibility depends on your specific facts, and final refunds are determined by CBP at liquidation. Consult a licensed customs broker or attorney for your situation.