[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 248 (Wednesday, December 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-31963]


[Federal Register: December 28, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-583-806]


Certain Small Business Telephone Systems and Subassemblies 
Thereof From Taiwan; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Partial Termination of Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 28, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David J. Goldberger or Lou Apple, Office of Antidumping Investigations, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department 
of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-4136 or (202) 482-1769, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On December 4, 1992 (57 FR 57419), the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published in the Federal Register a notice of ``Opportunity 
to Request an Administrative Review'' of the Antidumping Duty Order on 
Certain Small Business Telephone Systems and Subassemblies from Taiwan 
(December 11, 1989, 54 FR 50790). The review covers the period December 
1, 1991 through November 30, 1992. In accordance with 19 CFR 
353.22(a)(2), on December 28 and 30, 1992, respectively, Bitronic 
Telecoms Co., Ltd., (``Bitronic'') and Tecom Co., Ltd. (``Tecom'') each 
requested an administrative review of the antidumping order. The 
Department initiated the administrative review on February 23, 1993 (58 
FR 11026) and is conducting the administrative review in accordance 
with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).
    On March 17, 1993, Tecom withdrew its request for an administrative 
review.
    On February 17, 1994, the Department issued a questionnaire to 
Bitronic. Bitronic submitted its questionnaire response on April 18, 
1994. On May 20, 1994, the Department issued a supplemental 
questionnaire which identified deficiencies in Bitronic's response. 
Bitronic submitted its supplemental questionnaire response on June 23, 
1994, and amendments to its supplemental response on July 8, 1994.

Partial Termination of Review

    Because Tecom withdrew its request within 90 days of publication of 
notice of initiation of the review, in accordance with 19 CFR 
353.22(a)(5), we are terminating this review with respect to Tecom.

Scope of the Review

    Imports covered by this review are shipments of certain small 
business telephone systems and subassemblies thereof, currently 
classifiable under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) item 
numbers: 8504.40.0004, 8504.40.0008, 8504.40.0010, 8504.40.0015, 
8517.10.0020, 8517.10.0040, 8517.10.0050, 8517.10.0070, 8517.10.0080, 
8517.30.2000, 8517.30.2500, 8517.30.3000, 8517.81.0010, 8517.81.0020, 
8517.90.1000, 8517.90.1500, 8517.90.3000, 8517.90.4000, and 
8518.30.1000. Although HTS item numbers are provided for convenience 
and Customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this 
proceeding is dispositive.
    Certain small business telephones and subassemblies thereof are 
telephone systems, whether complete or incomplete, assembled or 
unassembled, with intercom or internal calling capability and total 
non-blocking port capacities of between two and 256 ports, and discrete 
subassemblies designed for use in such systems. A subassembly is 
``designed'' for use in a small business telephone system if it 
functions to its full capability only when operated as part of a small 
business telephone system. These subassemblies are designed as follows:
    (1) Telephone sets and consoles, consisting of proprietary, corded 
telephone sets or consoles. A console has the ability to perform 
certain functions including: Answer all lines in the system, monitor 
the status of other phone sets, and transfer calls. The term 
``telephone sets and consoles'' is defined to include any combination 
of two or more of the following items, when imported or shipped in the 
same container, with or without additional apparatus: Housing, hand 
set, cord (line or hand set), power supply, telephone set circuit 
cards, or console circuit cards.
    (2) Control and switching equipment, whether denominated as a key 
service unit, control unit, or cabinet/switch. ``Control and switching 
equipment'' is defined to include the units described in the preceding 
sentence which consist of one or more circuit cards or modules 
(including backplane circuit cards) and one or more of the following 
items, when imported or shipped in the same container as the circuit 
cards or modules, with or without additional apparatus: Connectors to 
accept circuit cards or modules and building wiring.
    (3) Circuit cards and modules, including power supplies. These may 
be incorporated into control and switching equipment of telephone sets 
and consoles, or they may be imported or shipped separately. A power 
supply converts or divides input power of not more than 2400 watts into 
output power of not more than 1800 watts supplying DC power of 
approximately 5 volts, 24 volts, and 48 volts, as well as 90 volt AC 
ringing capability.
    The following merchandise is excluded from the scope of this order; 
(1) Nonproprietary industry-standard (``tip/ring'') telephone sets and 
other subassemblies that are not specifically designed for use in a 
covered system, even though a system may be adapted to use such 
nonproprietary equipment to provide some system functions; (2) 
telephone answering machines or facsimile machines integrated with 
telephone sets; and (3) adjunct software used on external data 
processing equipment.

Preliminary Results of Review

    While Bitronic responded to the Department's questionnaire and 
deficiency letter, major deficiencies remained in its U.S. sales 
response. These deficiencies included failure to report U.S. sales by a 
related subsidiary and failure to report U.S. customs entry 
information. Bitronic claimed that it was unable to report the 
subsidiary's sales because the subsidiary is no longer in business. 
Without complete U.S. sales reporting and customs entry data, the 
Department is unable to calculate a proper assessment rate, or apply a 
calculated rate to those sales which Bitronic reported.
    Because Bitronic failed to adequately produce the information 
requested, in accordance with section 776(c) of the Act, we have 
preliminarily determined that the use of best information available 
(BIA) is appropriate. Since Bitronic made substantial attempts to 
submit information to the Department in a timely manner, we consider it 
to be a cooperative respondent. Standard Department practice dictates 
that for a cooperative respondent, the Department will generally assign 
to that respondent the higher of (a) the highest rate ever applicable 
to that respondent for the same class or kind of merchandise from 
either the Less Than Fair Value (LTFV) investigation or a prior 
administrative review or, if the firm has never before been 
investigated or reviewed, the all others rate from the LTFV 
investigation; or (b) the highest calculated rate in this review for 
the class or kind of merchandise for any firm from the same country or 
origin (see, Final Results of Administrative Review: Antifriction 
Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts thererof from 
the Federal Republic of Germany, (56 FR 31705, July 11, 1991). This 
practice has been upheld in Allied Signal Aerospace Co. v. United 
States, 996 F.2nd 1195, 1191-92 (Fed. Cir. 1993), and Krup Stahl AG et. 
al. v. United States, 822 F. Supp 789 (CIT 1993).
    Therefore, since Bitronic was not a party to the LTFV investigation 
and there are no other firms in this review, we used as BIA the highest 
rate ever applicable to Bitronic--6.97 percent as determined in the 
August 3, 1989, through November 30, 1990, administrative review (57 FR 
29283, July 1, 1992).
    We preliminarily determine the dumping margin for the period 
December 1, 1991, to November 30, 1992, to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Margin 
                    Manufacturer/exporter                      (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bitronic Telecoms Co., Ltd...................................       6.97
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department shall determine, and the Customs Service shall 
assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. Individual 
differences between the United States price and the foreign market 
value may vary from the percentages stated above. Upon completion of 
this review, the Department will issue appraisement instructions 
concerning the respondent directly to the Customs Service.
    Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective 
upon publication of the final result of this administrative review for 
all shipments of small business telephone systems and subassemblies 
thereof from Taiwan, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the publication date of the final results of 
this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(1) of the 
Act: (1) The cash deposit rates for the reviewed company will be that 
established in the final results of this administrative review; (2) for 
merchandise exported by manufacturers or exporters not covered in this 
review but covered in the original LTFV investigation or previous 
reviews, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific 
rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a 
firm covered in this review or the original less than fair value 
investigation or previous reviews, but the manufacture is, the cash 
deposit rate will be the rate established for the manufacturer of the 
merchandise in the final results of this review or, if not covered in 
this review, the rate for the most recent period for the manufacturer; 
and (4) the cash deposit rate for any future entries from all other 
manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 0.00% percent, the ``all 
others'' rate established in the LTFV investigation of this case, in 
accordance with the Court of International Trade's (CIT's) decisions in 
Floral Trade Council v. United States, 822 F. Supp. 766 (CIT 1993), and 
Federal Mogul Corporation and the Torrington Company v. the United 
States 822 F. Supp. 782 (CIT 1993).
    These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect 
until publication of the final results of the next administrative 
review.
    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 353.26 to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to the 
liquidation of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure 
to comply with this requirement could result in the Secretary's 
presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the 
subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

Public Comment

    Interested parties may request disclosure within five days of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register and may request a 
hearing within 10 days of the date of publication. Interested parties 
may submit written comments (case briefs) on these preliminary results 
not later than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal comments 
(rebuttal briefs), limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be 
filed not later than 37 days after the date of publication. Any 
hearing, if requested, will be held 44 days after the date of 
publication. The Department will include its analysis of issues raised 
in any such written comments when it publishes the final results of 
this administrative review.
    This administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR 353.22.

    Dated: December 16, 1994.
Susan G. Esserman,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 94-31963 Filed 12-27-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M