[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 36 (Thursday, February 23, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10064-10065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4457]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-583-815]


Notice of Amended Final Determination and Antidumping Duty Order: 
Certain Welded Stainless Steel Pipe From the Republic of Korea

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 23, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Beck, Office of Antidumping Duty 
Investigations, Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230; 
telephone (202) 482-3464.

Scope of Order

    The merchandise subject to this amended final determination and 
antidumping duty order is welded austenitic stainless steel pipe (WSSP) 
that meets the standards and specifications set forth by the American 
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) for the welded form of 
chromium-nickel pipe designated ASTM A-312. The merchandise covered by 
the scope of the investigation also includes austenitic welded 
stainless steel pipes made according to the standards of other nations 
which are comparable to ASTM A-312.
    WSSP is produced by forming stainless steel flat-rolled products 
into a tubular configuration and welding along the seam. WSSP is a 
commodity product generally used as a conduit to transmit liquids or 
gases. Major applications for WSSP include, but are not limited to, 
digester lines, blow lines, pharmaceutical lines, petrochemical stock 
lines, brewery process and transport lines, general food processing 
lines, automotive paint lines and paper process machines.
    Imports of WSSP are currently classifiable under the following 
HTSUS subheadings: 7306.40.1000, 7306.40.5005, 7306.40.5015, 
7306.40.5040, 7306.40.5065, and 7306.40.5085. Although these 
subheadings include both pipes and tubes, the scope of this 
investigation is limited to welded austenitic stainless steel pipes. 
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, our written description of the scope of this investigation is 
dispositive.

Background

    On November 4, 1992, the Department of Commerce made its final 
determination that certain WSSP from the Republic of Korea (Korea) were 
being sold at less than fair value (57 FR 53693, November 12, 1992).
    On October 7, 1993, the CIT, in Federal-Mogul Corp. and the 
Torrington Co. v. United States, 834 F. Supp. 1391 (CIT 1993) (Federal-
Mogul), rejected the Department's methodology for calculating an 
addition to United States price (USP) under section 772(d)(1)(C) of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), to account for taxes that the 
exporting country would have assessed on the merchandise had it been 
sold in the home market. The CIT held that the addition to USP under 
section 772(d)(1)(C) of the Act should be the result of applying the 
foreign market tax rate to the price of the United States merchandise 
at the same point in the chain of commerce that the foreign market tax 
was applied to foreign market sales. Federal-Mogul, 834 F. Supp. at 
1397.
    On November 18, 1993, the CIT, in Avesta Sheffield, Inc., et al. v. 
United States, Slip Op. 93-217, Court No. 93-01-00062 remanded the 
final determination of WSSP from Korea to the Department for 
recalculation. In Avesta, the CIT remanded the Department's final 
determination to recalculate foreign market value (FMV) with no 
circumstance of sale adjustment for value added tax and to reconsider 
the Department's VAT U.S. price methodology for Sammi Metal Products 
Co., Ltd. and Pusan Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. (Slip Op. 93-217 at 17).

Final Remand Results

    In accordance with the Avesta and Federal-Mogul decisions, we 
conformed our tax methodology to the instructions of the CIT, and 
adjusted U.S. price for tax by multiplying the Korean tax rate by the 
price of the U.S. merchandise at the point in the U.S. chain of 
commerce that is analogous to the point in the Korean chain of commerce 
at which the Korean government applies the consumption tax.
    In this investigation, the tax levied on the subject merchandise in 
Korea is 10 percent. We calculated the appropriate tax adjustment to be 
10 percent of the price of the U.S. merchandise reflected on the 
invoice at the time of sale (which, in this case, is the point in the 
U.S. chain of commerce that is analogous to the point in the Korean 
market chain of commerce at which the Korean government applies the 
consumption tax). We then added this amount to the U.S. price. We also 
calculated the amount of the tax adjustment that was due solely to the 
inclusion of expenses in the original tax base that are later deducted 
from the price to calculate USP (i.e., 10 percent of the sum of any 
adjustments, expenses and charges that were deducted from the price of 
the U.S. merchandise). We reduced this tax adjustment to take into 
account the adjustment to U.S. price for duty drawback (i.e., 10 
percent of the duty drawback amount that was excluded from the tax 
base). We deducted this amount after all other additions and deductions 
had been made. By making this additional tax adjustment, we avoid a 
distortion that would cause the creation of a dumping margin even when 
pre-tax dumping is zero.
    We included in FMV the amount of the consumption tax collected in 
the Korean home market. We also calculated the amount of the tax that 
was due solely to the inclusion of expenses in the original tax base 
that are later deducted from home market price to calculate FMV (i.e., 
10 percent of the sum of any adjustments, expenses, charges, and 
offsets that were deducted from the home market price). We deducted 
this amount after all other additions and deductions were made. By 
making this additional tax adjustment, we avoid a distortion that would 
cause the creation of a dumping margin even when pre-tax dumping is 
zero. In addition, we calculated a re-adjustment of the amount of tax 
to take into account the amount of packing expenses added to FMV (i.e., 
10 percent of the packing expenses). [[Page 10065]] 

Final Results of Redetermination

    On June 14, 1994, the CIT affirmed our redetermination (Slip Op. 
94-99). In accordance with that affirmation, we are amending the final 
determination of sales at less than fair value and antidumping duty 
order. In accordance with section 736 of the Act, the Department will 
direct Customs to require, on entries of WSSP from Korea entered, or 
withdrawn, from warehouse for consumption on or after the date of this 
notice, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated 
duties, the following cash deposits:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin  
               Manufacturer/producer/exporter                 percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pusan Steel Pipe Co., Ltd...................................       2.67 
Sammi Metal Products Co., Ltd...............................       7.92 
All Others..................................................       7.00 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If entries of WSSP from Korea entered on or after June 25, 1994, 
the effective date of the CIT's decision, are liquidated without review 
pursuant to 19 CFR 353.22(e), the Department will direct Customs to 
liquidate such entries in accordance with these rates.
    This notice constitutes the amended final determination and 
antidumping duty order with respect to welded stainless steel pipe from 
the Republic of Korea. Interested parties may contact the Central 
Records Unit, Room B-099 of the Main Commerce Building, for copies of 
an updated list of antidumping duty orders currently in effect.
    This amended final determination and order is published in 
accordance with sections 735(a) and 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 
353.20(a)(4) and 353.21.

    Dated: February 16, 1995.
Barbara R. Stafford,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 95-4457 Filed 2-22-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P