[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7166-7167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3001]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-428-811]


Certain Hot-Rolled Lead and Bismuth Carbon Steel Products From 
Germany; Initiation of Anticircumvention Inquiry of Antidumping Duty 
Order

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

ACTION: Notice of initiation of anticircumvention inquiry.

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SUMMARY: On the basis of a petition filed with the Department of 
Commerce (the Department), we are initiating an anticircumvention 
inquiry to determine whether imports of certain hot-rolled lead and 
bismuth carbon steel products from the Netherlands are circumventing 
the antidumping duty order on certain hot-rolled lead and bismuth 
carbon steel products from Germany (58 FR 15324 (March 22, 1993)).

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 7, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas O. Barlow or Wendy J. Frankel, 
Office of Antidumping Compliance, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
5253.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 23, 1994, Inland Steel Bar Company and USS Kobe Steel 
Company (hereafter, petitioners) filed a petition, pursuant to section 
781(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, (the Tariff Act) and 19 
CFR 353.29 (b) and (f), requesting the Department to investigate 
whether imports of certain leaded steel products from the Netherlands 
are circumventing the antidumping duty order issued against certain 
hot-rolled lead and bismuth carbon steel products from Germany.
    Petitioners allege that Thyssen AG, a German steel producer, is 
shipping leaded steel billets to its wholly-owned subsidiary Nedstahl 
BV (Nedstahl), located in the Netherlands, hot-rolling the billets into 
bars and rods and then exporting them from the Netherlands to the 
United States. Petitioners assert that Thyssen's actions warrant an 
affirmative determination of circumvention under the Tariff Act.
    On August 29, 1994, the law firm of Sharretts, Paley, Carter & 
Blauvelt filed a letter of appearance on behalf of Thyssen, and an 
application for administrative protective order.
    On December 9, 1994, petitioners submitted additional information 
in support of its allegation of circumvention.

Initiation of Anticircumvention Inquiry

    Section 781(b) of the Tariff Act and 19 CFR 353.29(f) authorize the 
Department to include merchandise within the scope of an existing 
antidumping duty order if: (A) The merchandise imported into the United 
States is of the same class or kind as the merchandise subject to the 
order; (B) before importation into the United States, such imported 
merchandise is completed or assembled in a third country from 
merchandise which (i) is subject to an order, or (ii) is produced in 
the foreign country with respect to which such order applies; (C) the 
difference between the value of such merchandise imported into the 
United States and the value of the merchandise from the country subject 
to the order which was completed or assembled in the third country is 
small, and (D) the Department determines that action is appropriate to 
prevent evasion of such order.
    In determining whether to include merchandise assembled or 
completed in a third country in an order, the Department must take into 
account such factors as; (a) the pattern of trade, (b) whether the 
manufacturer or exporter of the merchandise from the country subject to 
the order is related to the [[Page 7167]] person in the third country 
who completes or assembles the merchandise that is subsequently 
imported into the United States, and (c) whether imports into the third 
country of the merchandise from the order country have increased after 
the issuance of such order.
    After taking into account any advice provided by the International 
Trade Commission (ITC), the Department may include such imported 
merchandise within the scope of such order at any time such order is in 
effect.
    Our analysis of petitioners' submission according to the above 
criteria leads the Department to conclude that: (1) There is evidence 
that leaded steel rod imported into the United States from the 
Netherlands is of the same class or kind as that covered by the German 
antidumping duty order; (2) the leaded steel rod imported into the 
United States is completed from leaded steel billets produced in 
Germany, the country subject to the antidumping duty order; (3) the 
difference in value is arguably ``small''. Petitioners' evidence on the 
third factor, combined with other evidence on the record, provides a 
reasonable basis to initiate an anticircumvention inquiry. In the 
context of the inquiry, the Department will determine whether inclusion 
of such imported products within the order is appropriate to prevent 
evasion of the order.
    Our analysis of the information in petitioners' submission leads us 
to conclude that: (1) U.S. import statistics evidence a shift in the 
pattern of trade subsequent to issuance of the order; (2) Nedstahl, the 
entity in the third country who completes or assembles the merchandise 
that is subsequently imported into the United States, is 100 percent 
owned by Thyssen, the manufacturer or exporter of the merchandise from 
the country subject to the order, and therefore, is related; and (3) 
the data with respect to imports of subject merchandise into the 
Netherlands from Germany evidences such an increase. Consideration of 
the other factors identified above strengthens petitioners' position 
that the order is being circumvented. For further analysis, see 
Memorandum from Joseph A. Spetrini for Susan G. Esserman, dated January 
29, 1995. Based on this information, we are initiating an 
anticircumvention inquiry of the antidumping duty order on certain hot-
rolled lead and bismuth carbon steel products from Germany, case number 
A-428-811.
    The Department will not suspend liquidation at this time. However, 
the Department will instruct the U.S. Customs Service to suspend 
liquidation in the event of an afirmative preliminary determination of 
circumvention.
    This notice is published in accordance with 781(b) of the Tariff 
Act (19 U.S.C. 1677j(b)) and 19 CFR 353.29.


    Dated: January 30, 1995.
Susan G. Esserman,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 95-3001 Filed 2-6-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P