[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 47 (Friday, March 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9425-9426]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5425]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-427-098]


Anhydrous Sodium Metasilicate From France; Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review.

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SUMMARY: In response to a request by the petitioner, the PQ 
Corporation, the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting 
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on anhydrous 
sodium metasilicate (ASM) from France. This review covers Rhone Poulenc 
Chimie de Base (Rhone Poulenc), a manufacturer/exporter of this 
merchandise to the United States, and the period January 1, 1994 
through December 31, 1994. The firm failed to submit a response to our 
questionnaire. As a result, we have preliminarily determined to use 
facts otherwise available for cash deposit and appraisement purposes.
    Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results.
    Parties who submit argument in this proceeding are requested to 
submit with each argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief 
summary of the argument.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 8, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mark Ross or Richard Rimlinger, 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) 482-4733.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 12, 1995, the Department published in the Federal 
Register (60 FR 7995) a notice of ``Opportunity to Request an 
Administrative Review'' of the antidumping duty order on ASM from 
France. On January 18, 1995, the petitioner, PQ Corporation, requested 
an administrative review of Rhone Poulenc, a manufacturer/exporter of 
this merchandise to the United States. We initiated the review on 
February 15, 1995 (60 FR 8629). The Department is now conducting this 
review in accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (the Tariff Act).

Scope of the Review

    Imports covered by the review are shipments of ASM, a crystallized 
silicate (NA2 SiO3) which is alkaline and readily soluble in 
water. Applications include waste paper de-inking, ore-flotation, 
bleach stabilization, clay processing, medium or heavy duty cleaning, 
and compounding into other detergent formulations. This merchandise is 
classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedules (HTS) item numbers 
2839.11.00 and 2839.19.00. The HTS item numbers are provided for 
convenience and Customs purposes. The written description remains 
dispositive.
    The review covers Rhone Poulenc and the period January 1, 1994 
through December 31, 1994 (POR).

Use of Facts Otherwise Available

    Following the initiation of this review, the Department sent Rhone 
Poulenc, the only known manufacturer/exporter of this merchandise to 
the United States, a questionnaire seeking information necessary to 
conduct a review of any shipments that firm may have made to the United 
States during the 1994 POR. Rhone Poulenc did not respond to the 
questionnaire. Because necessary information is not available on the 
record for the 1994 POR as a result of Rhone Poulenc withholding the 
requested information, we must make our preliminary determination based 
on facts otherwise available (section 776(a) of the Tariff Act).
    The Department finds that, in not responding to the questionnaire, 
Rhone Poulenc failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its 
ability to comply with a request for information from the Department. 
Therefore, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Tariff Act, we may, in 
making our determination, use an adverse inference in selecting from 
the facts otherwise available. This adverse inference may include 
reliance on data derived from the petition, a previous determination in 
an investigation or review, or any other information placed on record. 
Accordingly, in this case, we preliminary assign to Rhone Poulenc a 
margin of 60 percent, the margin calculated in the original 
investigation using information provided by Rhone Poulenc (see 
Anhydrous Sodium Metasilicate From France--Final Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value, 45 FR 77498 (Nov. 24, 1980)).
    Because the margin selected for this review is based on information 
obtained in the course of an earlier segment of the proceeding, the 
Department is required, pursuant to section 776(c) of the Tariff Act, 
to corroborate this information to the extent practicable. This means 
that the Department must satisfy itself that the secondary information 
used has probative value (See Statement of Administrative Action 
accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreement Act, published in H. Doc. 103-
106, 103d Cong., 2d Sess. at 870). In this case, the margin assigned to 
Rhone Poulenc is credible and relevant because it is based on data from 
the same producer to which the margin is being applied. This margin is 
also credible because it is reasonable to believe that, had Rhone 
Poulenc been selling in the United States at a lower margin of dumping, 
it would have provided the requested information. Finally, it is 
necessary to use this information because no other suitable information 
is available. This is a case-specific determination. Cases 

[[Page 9426]]
involving other circumstances may require other approaches to 
corroboration.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that a margin 
of 60 percent exists for Rhone Poulenc for the period January 1, 1994 
through December 31, 1994.
    Parties to the proceeding may request disclosure within five days 
of the date of publication of this notice. Any interested party may 
request a hearing within 10 days of publication. Case briefs and/or 
written comments from interested parties may be submitted not later 
than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal briefs and 
rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues raised in the case 
briefs and comments, 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, or the first workday thereafter. The 
Department will publish the final results of the administrative review, 
including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any such 
written comments or at a hearing.
    Upon completion of this administrative review, the Department will 
issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service.
    Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective 
upon publication of the final results of administrative review for all 
shipments of ASM from France, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the publication date, as provided by section 
751(a0(1) of the Tariff Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for the reviewed 
company will be that established in the final results of this 
administrative review; (2) for exporters not covered in this review, 
but covered in previous reviews or the original less-than-value (LTFV) 
investigation, 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, previous reviews, or the original 
LTFV investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will 
be that established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of 
the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other 
manufacturers or exporters will be 60 percent.
    Because this proceeding is governed by an antidumping duty order 
(46 FR 1667, January 7, 1981), the ``all others'' rate for the purposes 
of this review will be 60 percent, the ``all others'' rate established 
in the final notice of the LTFV investigation (45 FR 77498, November 
24, 1980).
    These requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
publication of the final results of the next administrative review.
    This notice 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 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.
    This administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR 
353.22.

    Dated: February 28, 1996.
Paul L. Joffe,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-5425 Filed 3-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M