[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 217 (Thursday, November 7, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57628-57629]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-28678]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-583-009]


Color Television Receivers, Except for Video Monitors, From 
Taiwan; Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review 
Pursuant to Court Remand

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

ACTION: Notice of amendment to final results of antidumping duty 
administrative review pursuant to Court remand.

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SUMMARY: On September 19, 1996, in the case of Zenith Electronics 
Corporation v. United States, AOC International, Inc. et al., 
Consolidated Court No. 87 F.3d 426 (Fed. Cir. 1996) (Zenith), the 
United States Court of International Trade (CIT) affirmed the 
Department of Commerce's (the Department) results of redetermination on 
remand demand September 3, 1996.
    On February 12, 1996, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 
(CAFC) upheld the Department's methodology for determining direct and 
indirect warranty expenses for purposes of making a circumstance-of-
sale (COS) adjustment in calculating AOC International Inc.'s (AOC) 
final margin for the first administrative review of color television 
receivers, except for video monitors, from Taiwan, for the period 
October 19, 1983 through March 31, 1985 (see Color Television 
Receivers, Except for Video Monitors, from Taiwan; Final Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, (CTVs from Taiwan) 51 FR 46895 
(1986). Subsequently, the CAFC remanded the case to the CIT for 
recalculation of dumping margins in a manner consistent with the CAFC's 
affirmation in Zenith of the Department's definition of ``direct'' as 
those expenses that vary with the quantity sold and ``indirect'' as 
those expenses that do not vary with the quantity sold. This CAFC 
decision reversed the CIT's first remand of September 11, 1989, wherein 
it ordered the Department to make reasonable allowances for differences 
between warranty expenses in the U.S. and home markets. In accordance 
with that order, which was subsequently reversed by the February 12, 
1996 CAFC decision, the Department treated all home market warranty 
expenses as direct expenses.
    On July 18, 1996, the CIT remanded the case to the Department to 
recalculate AOC's dumping margin in accordance with the CAFC's February 
12, 1996 ruling in Zenith. In response to the CIT's remand, the 
Department recalculated AOC's dumping margin in accordance with Zenith 
and filed the remand determination with the CIT on September 3, 1996. 
The CIT subsequently affirmed the remand determination on September 19, 
1996.
    These amended final results for AOC and the subsequent liquidation 
instructions to the U.S. Customs Service (Customs Service) mark the 
conclusion of the first administrative review of CTVs from Taiwain.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 7, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Maureen McPhillips or John Kugelman, AD/CVD Enforcement, Group III, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 482-3019 or (202) 482-0649, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 29, 1986, the Department published in the Federal 
Register the final results of the first administrative review of the 
antidumping duty order on CTVs from Taiwan (51 FR 46895) for the period 
of review (POR) October 19, 1983 through March 31, 1985, and announced 
its intent to instruct the Customs Service to assess antidumping duties 
on all appropriate entries.
    Subsequent to the Department's final results, four of the reviewed 
companies and a domestic producer, Zenith, filed lawsuits with the CIT 
challenging these results. Thereafter, on September 11, 1989, the CIT 
issued an order and opinion remanding the Department's determination so 
that the Department could, among other issues, make reasonable 
allowances for ``bona fide differences in warranty expenses between the 
United States and the home market.'' On January 31, 1991, the 
Department filed its first remand results

[[Page 57629]]

with the CIT (see Zenith Electronics Corporation v. United States, 770 
F.Supp. 648 (CIT 1991)).
    On January 17, 1995, the Department, consistent with the decision 
of the CAFC in Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 (Fed. Cir. 
1990), published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it would 
not order the liquidation of the subject merchandise entered or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption prior to a ``final and 
conclusive'' decision in this case. On June 20, 1996, the Department 
published amended final results of the first administrative review for 
those respondents not affected by the direct/indirect warranty issue 
(61 FR 31507).
    On February 12, 1996, in Zenith, the CAFC upheld the Department's 
methodology for determining direct and indirect warranty expenses for 
purposes of making a COS adjustment in calculating AOC's final margin. 
The CAFC upheld the Department's practice of limiting adjustments to 
expenses that were reasonable identifiable, quantifiable, and directly 
related to the sales under consideration. It affirmed the Department's 
definition of ``direct'' as those expenses that vary with the quantity 
sold and ``indirect'' as those expenses that do not vary with the 
quantity sold. Id. (Citing Koyo Seiko Co. v. United States, 36 F.3d 
1565, 1569 n.4 (Fed. Cir. 1994); Torrington Co. v. United States, 44 
F.3d 1572, 1579 (Fed. Cir. 1995); Consumer Prods. Div., SCM Corp. v. 
Silver Reed America, Inc., 753 F.2d 1033, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1995)). In 
this instance, the CAFC concluded that evidence in the record failed to 
demonstrate that AOC's in-house warranty labor expenses varied with the 
quantity of CTVs sold. On July 18, 1996, the CIT remanded the case to 
the Department to recalculate AOC's dumping margin in accordance with 
the CAFC's February 12, 1996 opinion. The Department recalculated AOC's 
warranty expenses in response to the CIT's remand and in accordance 
with the CAFC's February 12, 1996 ruling, and filed the redetermination 
with the CIT on September 3, 1996.
    As a result of the Department's recalculation of AOC's warranty 
expenses, designating in-house labor expenses incurred in the home 
market as indirect and the cost of parts as direct, the Department has 
determined the weighted-average dumping margin for CTVs from Taiwan, 
manufactured/exported by AOC, during the period October 19, 1983 
through March 31, 1995, to be 0.17%. The CIT affirmed the Department's 
remand determination on September 19, 1996.
    Accordingly, the Department will determine, and the Customs Service 
will assess, appropriate antidumping duties on entries of the subject 
merchandise made by AOC during the period October 19, 1983 through 
March 31, 1985. The Department will issue appraisement instructions 
directly to the Customs Service.
    This amendment of final results of review and notice are in 
accordance with section 751(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(19 U.S.C. 1675 (f)) and 19 CFR Sec. 353.28(c).

    Dated: October 31, 1996.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-28678 Filed 11-6-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M