[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 17, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-11972]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: May 17, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[C-549-401]

 

Certain Apparel From Thailand; Scope Amendment

AGENCY: International Trade Administration/Import Administration, 
Commerce.

ACTION: Certain Apparel From Thailand: Notice of Amendment to the 
Existing Conversion of the Scope of the Order From the Tariff Schedules 
of the United States Annotated to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.

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SUMMARY: On January 1, 1989, the United States fully converted to the 
international harmonized system of tariff classification. On January 
11, 1989, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the 
Conversion to Use of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of Classifications 
for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings (54 FR 993; January 
11, 1989) (1989 Conversion) for all antidumping and countervailing duty 
orders in effect or investigations in progress as of January 1, 1989. 
On July 26, 1993 (58 FR 39789), the Department published a proposed 
amendment to the conversion. Interested parties were invited to comment 
on this proposed amended conversion. Based on our analysis of the 
comments received, the Department is now publishing an amended 
conversion of the scope of the countervailing duty order on certain 
apparel from Thailand.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 17, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Givens or Kelly Parkhill, Office 
of Countervailing Compliance, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 
20230, telephone (202) 482-2786.

Background

    In 1985, the Department issued a countervailing duty order on 
Certain Apparel from Thailand (C-549-401) (50 FR 9818; March 12, 1985). 
The scope of this order was originally defined solely in terms of the 
Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA) item numbers; 
no narrative product description was provided. On January 1, 1989, the 
United States fully converted from the TSUSA to the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule (HTS). Section 1211 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness 
Act of 1988 directed the Department to ``take whatever actions are 
necessary to conform, to the fullest extent practicable, with the 
tariff classification system of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule [for] 
all * * * orders * * *'' in effect at the time of the implementation of 
the HTS.
    Accordingly, on January 11, 1989, after reviewing comments received 
from the public, the Department published the 1989 Conversion for all 
antidumping and countervailing duty orders in effect or investigations 
in progress as of January 1, 1989 (54 FR 993). That notice also 
included the conversion of the scope of the Thai apparel order from 
TSUSA to HTS item numbers. The 1989 Conversion was based on a one-to-
one correspondence of the TSUSA and HTS item numbers. In the notice, 
the Department stated that it would review the HTS classifications at 
any time during a proceeding upon receipt of new information or 
additional comments.
    Subsequently, as a result of comments submitted to the Department 
by the importing public and advice received from the U.S. Customs 
Service, the Department determined that the 1989 Conversion did not 
accurately reflect the scope of the order on certain apparel from 
Thailand and, therefore, that the 1989 Conversion should be amended. On 
September 15, 1992, the Department published a proposed amendment to 
the 1989 Conversion and invited interested parties to comment (57 FR 
42545). The Department did not receive any comments with respect to the 
amendment concerning the order on certain apparel from Thailand.
    On January 13, 1993, the Department published the amended 1989 
Conversion (Amended 1989 Conversion) (58 FR 4151). On March 10, 1993, 
the Customs Service began liquidating, without regard to countervailing 
duties, all unliquidated entries of the subject merchandise not covered 
in the Amended 1989 Conversion that were exported on or after January 
1, 1989. Customs also began liquidating at the appropriate rate all 
unliquidated entries of the subject merchandise covered in the Amended 
1989 Conversion that were exported on or after January 1, 1989.
    Thereafter, the Department discovered that the Amended 1989 
Conversion was based on an inaccurate HTS list. On April 23, 1993, 
after being notified by the Department of the error, Customs resumed 
suspending liquidation according to the original 1989 Conversion (54 FR 
993).
    To rectify the error in the Amended 1989 Conversion, the 
Department, with the assistance of the U.S. Customs Service and the 
U.S. International Trade Commission, again compared the TSUSA-defined 
scope and the HTS-defined scope provided in the 1989 Conversion, and 
identified those HTS numbers that reasonably correspond with the TSUSA-
defined scope of the Certain Apparel from Thailand countervailing duty 
order. On July 26, 1993, the Department published a new Proposed 
Amended Conversion (58 FR 39789) and invited interested parties to 
comment on this proposed amendment. Based on our analysis of the 
comments received, the Department has again amended the 1989 Conversion 
governing the countervailing duty order on certain apparel from 
Thailand. The HTS numbers included in this order are listed in the 
attached Appendix.

Analysis of Comments Received

    Comment 1: Stearns Manufacturing Company points out that the 
Proposed Amended Conversion includes female garments fabricated out of 
PVC coated polyester and PVC coated nylon (HTS 6210.50.10.10) but does 
not include male garments composed of these same fabrics (HTS 
6210.40.10.10). Stearns argues that neither female nor male garments 
made of this fabric should be included because neither was included in 
the original 1985 countervailing duty order.
    Department's Position: We agree. Because PVC rainwear was not 
included in the 1985 order, it should not be included in the Amended 
Conversion. Accordingly, we are deleting from the Amended Conversion 
the 8-digit subheading number 6210.50.10 and replacing it with the 10-
digit number 6210.50.10.20, which does not include PVC rainwear.
    Comment 2: Southern Trading Company contends that the scope of the 
Proposed Amended Conversion is inconsistent because certain female 
garments are included while the equivalent male garment is excluded. 
Southern argues that similar garments should be treated in the same 
manner without regard to gender.
    Department's Position: We disagree. The purpose of the new Amended 
Conversion is to make the scope of the order, as converted to HTS 
classifications, match the scope of the original order using TSUSA 
classifications as closely as reasonably possible. Because the original 
TSUSA-defined order reflected gender, the HTS order should as well.
    In addition to the changes we are making in response to interested 
party comments, we are also making the following changes. First, we are 
adding HTS item number 6113.00.00.30 to the Amended Conversion to make 
it more closely match the scope of the original order. This HTS item 
number covers certain women's and girls' knitted, coated coats and 
jackets. Second, the Proposed Amended Conversion includes various 
ornamented garments that were not included in the original 1985 TSUSA 
order. Therefore, we are limiting the application of the following HTS 
headings in the Amended Conversion as follows:

6101.20.00, 6103.42.10, 6104.51.00, 6104.52.00, 6104.62.20, 6109.90.10, 
6111.30.40
    Coverage excludes garments having embroidery or permanently affixed 
applique work on the outer surface.
6103.43.15, 6103.49.10
    Coverage excludes shorts having embroidery or permanently affixed 
applique work on the outer surface.
6104.53.20, 6104.59.10
    Coverage excludes girls' skirts and divided skirts not having 
embroidery or permanently affixed applique work on the outer surface.
6110.20.20
    Coverage excludes mens' or boys' garments having embroidery or 
permanently affixed applique work on the outer surface.
6204.43.40
    Coverage excludes women's dresses of fabrics of multicolored yarns.
6212.10.10
    Coverage is limited to brassieres of man-made fibers.

    All of these changes are reflected in the new Amended Conversion. 
The attached Appendix incorporates all of these amendments.

Instructions to Customs

    The Department will instruct the Customs Service to liquidate 
without regard to countervailing duties all unliquidated entries of 
merchandise not covered by the attached Appendix that were exported on 
or after January 1, 1989. The Department will also instruct the Customs 
Service to liquidate at the appropriate rate all unliquidated entries 
of the subject merchandise covered in the attached appendix that were 
exported on or after January 1, 1989, but not after December 31, 1993, 
except for entries made between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 1991. 
Entries made between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 1991 will be 
liquidated following the completion of the administrative review that 
has been requested for that time period.
    In addition, we are instructing the Customs Service to terminate 
the suspension of liquidation for all entries of merchandise not 
covered in the attached Appendix, that are entered or withdrawn from 
the warehouse on or after the date of publication of this notice. The 
Department will also instruct the Customs Service to continue to 
suspend liquidation and collect the appropriate cash deposit of 
estimated countervailing duties for the subject merchandise listed in 
the attached Appendix, entered or withdrawn from the warehouse, on or 
after the date of publication of this notice.

    Dated: May 9, 1994.
Susan G. Esserman,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix: Amended HTS List for Certain Apparel From Thailand (C-549-
401)

4202.1240, 4202.2270, 4202.3295, 4202.9260, 6102.1000, 6103.2200\1\, 
6103.4315\4\, 6104.1915, 6104.2910\1\, 6104.3910, 6104.5100\3\, 
6104.5910\5\, 6105.1000, 6109.1000, 6111.3010, 6111.3050, 6111.9040, 
6112.2010, 6114.3030, 6202.1220, 6202.9350, 6203.2920\1\, 
6204.1200\1\, 6204.3220, 6204.4340\7\, 6204.5930, 6205.2020, 
6208.9200, 6209.2050, 6212.1020, 4202.1280, 4202.1260, 4202.9215, 
4202.9290, 6102.3010, 6103.2300\1\, 6103.4910\4\, 6104.2100\1\, 
6104.3100, 6104.4200, 6104.5200\3\, 6104.6220\3\, 6105.2020, 
6109.9010\3\, 6111.3020, 6111.9010, 6111.9050, 6113.00.00.30, 
6201.1220, 6202.1340, 6203.1910\1\, 6203.4240, 6204.2230\1\, 
6204.3350, 6204.4440, 6204.6240, 6206.3030, 6209.2010, 6210.3010, 
4202.2245, 4202.2280, 4202.9220, 6101.2000\3\, 6102.3020, 
6103.2910\1\, 6104.1200\1\, 6104.2200\1\, 6104.3310, 6104.4320, 
6104.5310, 6104.6320, 6106.1000, 6110.2020\6\, 6111.3030, 6111.9020, 
6112.1200, 6114.2000, 6201.1340, 6202.9220, 6203.2230\1\, 6203.4340, 
6204.2300\1\, 6204.3930, 6204.5220\2\, 6204.6335, 6206.4030, 
6209.2020, 6210.50.10.20, 4202.2260, 4202.3240, 4202.9230, 
6101.3020, 6103.1920\1\, 6103.4210\3\, 6104.1320, 6104.2300\1\, 
6104.3320, 6104.4420, 6104.5320\5\, 6104.6920, 6106.2020, 6110.3030, 
6111.3040\3\, 6111.9030, 6112.1910, 6114.3010, 6201.9220, 6202.9345, 
6203.2300\1\, 6203.4920, 6204.2920\1\, 6204.4230, 6204.5330, 
6204.6925, 6208.2200, 6209.2030, 6212.1010\8\.
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    \1\Coverage limited to garments that would be covered by this 
order if separately entered.
    \2\Coverage excludes garments of denim or of pile fabrics.
    \3\Coverage excludes garments having embroidery or permanently 
affixed applique work on the outer surface.
    \4\Coverage excludes shorts having embroidery or permanently 
affixed applique work on the outer surface.
    \5\Coverage excludes girls' skirts and divided skirts not having 
embroidery or permanently affixed applique work on the outer 
surface.
    \6\Coverage excludes men's or boys' garments having embroidery 
or permanently affixed applique work on the outer surface.
    \7\Coverage excludes women's dresses of fabrics of multicolored 
yarns.
    \8\Coverage is limited to brassieres of man-made fibers.

[FR Doc. 94-11972 Filed 5-16-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P