[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7469-7471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4548]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-588-838]


Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Clad Steel Plate From Japan

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 28, 1996.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Grebasch or Erik Warga, Office 
of Antidumping Investigations, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3773 or (202) 482-0922, respectively.

The Applicable Statute:

    Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are 
references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective 
date of the amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Act) by the 
Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA).

Preliminary Determination:

    As explained in the memoranda from the Assistant Secretary for 
Import Administration dated November 22, 1995, and January 11, 1996, 
the Department of Commerce (the Department) has exercised its 
discretion to toll all deadlines for the duration of the partial 
shutdowns of the Federal Government from November 15 through November 
21, 1995, and December 16, 1995, through January 6, 1996. Thus, all 
deadlines in this investigation have been extended by 28 days, i.e., 
one day for each day (or partial day) the Department was closed. As 
such, the deadline for this preliminary determination was to be no 
later than April 4, 1996. However, because the sole respondent in the 
investigation 

[[Page 7470]]
failed to answer our questionnaire, we have expedited the 
determination.
    We preliminarily determine that clad steel plate from Japan is 
being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair 
value (LTFV), as provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act). The estimated margins are shown in the ``Suspension 
of Liquidation'' section of this notice.

Case History

    Since the initiation of this investigation on October 19, 1995, (60 
FR 54666, October 25, 1995), the following events have occurred:
    On November 13, 1995, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) 
notified the Department of its affirmative preliminary determination.
    On December 7, 1995, the Department issued the antidumping 
questionnaire to The Japan Steel Works Ltd. (JSW), the only known 
Japanese producer and exporter to the United States of Clad Steel 
Plate. JSW informed the Department on January 19, 1996, that it would 
not be responding to the antidumping questionnaire.

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation is all clad 1 steel plate of a 
width of 600 millimeters (``mm'') or more and a composite thickness of 
4.5mm or more. Clad steel plate is a rectangular finished steel mill 
product consisting of a layer of cladding material (usually stainless 
steel or nickel) which is metallurgically bonded to a base or backing 
of ferrous metal (usually carbon or low alloy steel) where the latter 
predominates by weight.

    \1\ Cladding is the association of layers of metals of different 
colors or natures by molecular interpenetration of the surfaces in 
contact. This limited diffusion is characteristic of clad products 
and differentiates them from products metalized in other manners 
(e.g., by normal electroplating). The various cladding processes 
include pouring molten cladding metal onto the basic metal followed 
by rolling; simple hot-rolling of the cladding metal to ensure 
efficient welding to the basic metal; any other method of deposition 
or superimposing of the cladding metal followed by any mechanical or 
thermal process to ensure welding (e.g., electro-cladding), in which 
the cladding metal (nickel, chromium, etc.) is applied to the basic 
metal by electroplating, molecular interpenetration of the surfaces 
in contact then being obtained by heat treatment at the appropriate 
temperature with subsequent cold-rolling. See Harmonized Commodity 
Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes, Chapter 72, General 
Note (IV) (C) (2) (e).
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    Stainless clad steel plate is manufactured to American Society for 
Testing and Materials (``ASTM'') specifications A263 (400 series 
stainless types) and A264 (300 series stainless types). Nickel and 
nickel-base alloy clad steel plate is manufactured to ASTM 
specification A265. These specifications are illustrative but not 
necessarily all-inclusive. Clad steel plate within the scope of this 
investigation is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (``HTSUS'') 7210.90.10.00. Although the HTSUS 
subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, our 
written description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation (POI) is September 1, 1994, through 
August 31, 1995.

Facts Available

    Pursuant to section 776 of the Act, the Department will use the 
facts otherwise available if necessary information is not available on 
the record, or if an interested party or any other person withholds 
requested information, fails to provide such information by the 
deadlines for submission of the information or in the form and manner 
requested, significantly impedes a proceeding, or provides such 
information but the information cannot be verified.
    In addition, section 776(b) of the Act provides that, if the 
Department finds that an interested party has failed to cooperate by 
not acting to the best of its ability to comply with a request for 
information, the Department may use information that is adverse to the 
interests of that party as the facts otherwise available. The statute 
also provides that such an adverse inference may be based on secondary 
information, including information drawn from the petition.
    Section 776(c) explains that where the Department relies on 
secondary information, the Department will, to the extent practicable, 
corroborate that information from independent sources reasonably at the 
Department's disposal. The Statement of Administrative Action (SAA), 
accompanying the URAA, clarifies that the petition is secondary 
information. See SAA, published in H. Doc. 103-316, 103d Cong., 2d 
Sess. at 807, 870. The SAA also clarifies that corroborate means to 
determine that the information used has probative value. However, where 
corroboration is not practicable, the Department may use the 
uncorroborated information.
    The Department finds that, because JSW has not answered our 
questionnaire, it has failed to cooperate to the best of its ability to 
comply with our request for information. Accordingly, the application 
of section 776(b) is warranted. In this case, the petition is the only 
information on the record which could form the basis for a dumping 
calculation. Therefore, the Department has based the margins for JSW on 
information in the petition.
    In accordance with section 776(c) of the Act, the Department 
attempted to corroborate the petition information by comparing the 
petition information on export price to U.S. Customs data and Japanese 
export statistics. Both of these sources record prices based on the 
HTSUS subheading 7210.90.10.00, and tend to corroborate the prices 
contained in the petition. (See memorandum dated February 16, 1996.)
    Because Lukens Steel Company (the petitioner) based the normal 
value calculation on constructed value in the petition, we were able to 
examine the supporting documentation regarding the valuation of 
variable costs for labor, electricity, natural gas, and other factors 
(principally backing steel and insert metal costs) in Japan and because 
that supporting information was from independent, public sources, we 
found that those costs have probative value.
    Accordingly, we have preliminarily relied upon the information 
contained in the petition, and have assigned to JSW a margin of 118.53 
percent.

All-Others Rate

    Under section 735(c)(5) of the Act, the ``all-others rate'' will 
normally be a weighted average of the weighted-average dumping margins 
established for all exporters and producers, but will exclude any zero 
or de minimis margins, or any margins based entirely on the facts 
available. However, this provision also states that if there are no 
margins other than those that are zero, de minimis, or based on the 
facts available, the Department may use other reasonable methods to 
calculate the all-others rate, including a weighted-average of such 
margins. In this case, as discussed above, the margin assigned to JSW 
is 118.53 percent based on the facts available, and there is no 
alternative method upon which to base the all others rate. Therefore, 
the Department determines the all-others rate to be 118.53 percent as 
well.

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d) of the Act, we are directing the 
Customs Service to suspend liquidation of all entries of Clad Plate 
Steel from Japan, that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for 
consumption, on or after the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register. The Customs Service shall require a cash deposit or 
posting of a bond equal to the estimated amount by which the normal 
value exceeds the export price as shown 

[[Page 7471]]
below. These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in 
effect until further notice.
    The dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin  
                    Exporter/manufacturer                     percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Japan Steel Company.....................................      118.53
All others..................................................      118.53
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The all others rate applies to all entries of subject merchandise 
except for entries from exporters that are identified above.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the 
ITC of our determination. If our final determination is affirmative, 
the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after the date of 
this preliminary determination or 45 days after our final determination 
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry.

Public Comment

    In accordance with 19 CFR 353.38, case briefs or other written 
comments in at least ten copies must be submitted to the Assistant 
Secretary for Import Administration no later than March 1, 1996, and 
rebuttal briefs, no later than March 8, 1996. A list of authorities 
used and a summary of arguments made in the briefs should accompany 
these briefs. The summary must be limited to five pages total, 
including footnotes. In accordance with 19 CFR 353.38, we will hold a 
public hearing, if requested, to afford interested parties an 
opportunity to comment on arguments raised in case or rebuttal briefs. 
Tentatively, the hearing will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday March 12, 
1996, at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 3606, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, D.C. 20230. Parties should confirm 
by telephone the time, date, and place of the hearing 48 hours before 
the scheduled time.
    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing, or to participate 
if one is requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 
B-099, within ten days of the publication of this notice. Requests 
should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; 
(2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to be 
discussed. In accordance with 19 CFR 353.38(b), oral presentations will 
be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If this investigation 
proceeds normally, we will make our final determination by May 1, 1996.
    This determination is published pursuant to section 733(f) of the 
Act.

    Dated: February 22, 1996.
Susan G. Esserman,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-4548 Filed 2-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P