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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Contingent Liabilities

The Company records an accrual for contingent liabilities when a loss is both probable and reasonably estimable. If some amount within a range of loss appears to be a better estimate than any other amount within the range, that amount is accrued. When no amount within a range of loss appears to be a better estimate than any other amount, the lowest amount in the range is accrued.

Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties

In June 2015, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“U.S. Customs”) sent us a Notice of Action that proposed to classify certain of our imports as subject to anti-dumping duties pursuant to a 2010 anti-dumping duty (“AD”) order on Oil Country Tubular Goods (“OCTG”) from China. A companion countervailing duty (“CVD”) order on the same product is in effect as well. The Notice of Action covered one entry of certain raw material steel mechanical tubing made in China and imported into the U.S. from Canada by our DynaEnergetics segment during 2015 for use in manufacturing perforating guns.

In July 2015, we sent a response to U.S. Customs outlining the reasons our mechanical tubing imports do not fall within the scope of the AD order on OCTG from China and should not be subject to anti-dumping duties. U.S. Customs proposed to take similar action with respect to other entries of this product and requested an approximately $1,100 cash deposit or bond for AD/CVD.

In August 2015, we posted the bond of approximately $1,100 to U.S. Customs. Subsequently, U.S. Customs declined to conclude on the Company’s assertion that the mechanical tubing the Company has been importing is not within the scope of the AD order on OCTG from China. As a result, on September 25, 2015 the Company filed a request for a scope ruling with the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce Department”).

On February 15, 2016, the Company received the Commerce Department’s scope ruling, which determined certain imports, primarily used for gun carrier tubing, are included in the scope of the AD/CVD orders on OCTG from China and thus are subject to AD/CVD. On March 11, 2016, the Company filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) related to the Commerce Department’s scope ruling. On February 7, 2017, the CIT remanded the scope ruling to the Commerce Department to reconsider its determination. The Commerce Department filed its remand determination with the CIT on June 7, 2017 continuing to find that the Company’s imports at issue are within the scope of the AD/CVD orders on OCTG from China. On March 16, 2018, the CIT issued its decision on the appeal and sustained the Commerce Department’s scope ruling. The Company did not appeal this ruling.

On December 27, 2016, we received notice from U.S. Customs that it may pursue penalties against us related to the AD/CVD issue and demanding tender of alleged loss of AD/CVD in an amount of $3,049, which had previously been accrued for in our financial statements. We filed a response to the notice on February 6, 2017. On February 16, 2017, we received notice that U.S. Customs was seeking penalties in the amount of $14,783. U.S. Customs also reasserted its demand for tender of alleged loss of AD/CVD in the amount of $3,049. We tendered $3,049 in AD amounts on March 6, 2017 into a suspense account pending ultimate resolution of the AD/CVD case. We submitted a petition for relief and mitigation of penalties on May 17, 2017.

On March 27, 2018, we received notice from U.S. Customs Headquarters that it intended to move forward with its pursuit of penalties. The Company engaged in discussions with U.S. Customs Headquarters regarding the scope of penalties asserted and the arguments set forth in the Company’s petition for relief and mitigation of penalties. Based on these discussions and the Company’s assessment of the probable ultimate penalty rate, the Company accrued $3,103 in the first quarter of 2018.

On October 11, 2018, we received a decision from U.S. Customs Headquarters in which a mitigated amount of $8,000 in penalties was asserted. In its financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, the Company accrued an additional $4,897 of penalties. On December 7, 2018, we submitted a supplemental petition requesting a waiver of the penalty under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act in lieu of tendering the penalty amount. On April 12, 2019, we received notice that our waiver request was denied and tendered the $8,000 during the second quarter of 2019.