[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 228 (Monday, November 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59861-59863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30044]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-533-809]


Certain Forged Stainless Steel Flanges From India; Preliminary 
Results of New Shipper Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews

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

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of new shipper antidumping duty 
administrative reviews.

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SUMMARY: In response to requests by two manufacturer/exporters, Isibars 
Ltd. (Isibars) and Patheja Forgings and Auto Parts Ltd. (Patheja), the 
Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting new shipper 
administrative reviews of the antidumping duty order on certain forged 
stainless steel flanges (flanges) from India. The review covers sales 
during the period September 1, 1995 through February 29, 1996. We have 
preliminarily determined that Isibars sold subject merchandise at not 
less than normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR), and that 
Patheja has a dumping margin of 4.80%. Interested parties are invited 
to comment on these preliminary results. Parties who submit argument in 
this proceeding are requested to submit with the argument (1) a 
statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 25, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Killiam or John Kugelman, 
Office of AD/CVD Enforcement, Group III, Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-2704 or 482-0649, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute and Regulations

    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). In addition, unless otherwise 
indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are to the 
current regulations, as amended by the interim regulations published in 
the Federal Register on May 11, 1995 (60 FR 25130).

Background

    Isibars, by letters dated February 29, April 12, and April 22, 
1996, and Patheja, by a letter dated February 28, 1996, each requested 
a new shipper review pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act and 
section 353.22(h) of the Department's interim regulations, which govern 
determinations of antidumping duties for new shippers. These provisions 
state that, among other requirements, a producer or exporter requesting 
a new shipper review must include with its request the date on which 
the merchandise was first entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption, or, if it cannot certify as to the date of first entry, 
the date on which it first shipped the merchandise for export to the 
United States (interim regulations, section 353.22(h)(2)(i)).
    Neither respondent was able to provide the shipment date at the 
time of their requests for review because the shipments had not yet 
occurred. However, both companies did certify that the shipments were 
imminent. Based on the information which the respondents provided in 
their requests we determined that the requirements cited above were 
adequately fulfilled. The respondents later provided the shipment dates 
in their questionnaire responses.
    On May 6, 1996, the Department published a notice of initiation 
these new shipper reviews of Isibars and Patheja (61 FR 20223). The 
Department is now conducting these reviews in accordance with section 
751 of the Act and section 353.22 of its interim regulations.

Scope of the Reviews

    The products covered by this order are certain forged stainless 
steel flanges both finished and not finished, generally manufactured to 
specification ASTM A-182, and made in alloys such as 304, 304L, 316, 
and 316L. The scope includes five general types of flanges. They are 
weld neck, used for butt-weld line connection; threaded, used for 
threaded line connections; slip-on and lap joint, used with stub-ends/
butt-weld line connections; socket weld, used to fit pipe into a 
machined recession; and blind, used to seal off a line. The sizes of 
the flanges within the scope range generally from one to six inches; 
however, all sizes of the above-described merchandise are included in 
the scope. Specifically excluded from the scope of this order are cast 
stainless steel flanges. Cast stainless steel flanges generally are 
manufactured to specification ASTM A-351. The flanges subject to this 
order are currently classifiable under subheadings 7307.21.1000 and 
7307.21.5000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). The HTSUS

[[Page 59862]]

subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes. The 
written description of the scope of this order remains dispositive.
    The reviews cover two Indian manufacturers/exporters, Isibars and 
Patheja, and the period September 1, 1995 through February 29, 1996.

Export Price (EP)

    We used EP, in accordance with section 772(a) of the Act, based on 
the price from the respondents because the sales were made prior to 
importation into the United States, and constructed export price was 
not otherwise indicated.
    We based date of sale on the date of the purchase order, because 
respondents have provided clear evidence that sale terms were agreed to 
in writing in the purchase order. Moreover, because respondents 
produced the subject merchandise to order, renegotiation of material 
terms was unlikely.
    In accordance with section 772(c)(2) of the Act, we made 
deductions, where appropriate, for movement expenses, which were 
comprised of customs brokerage and handling expenses, home market 
inland freight, international freight, and insurance. No other 
adjustments were claimed or allowed.

Normal Value (NV)

A. Viability

    For Isibars, in order to determine whether there was a sufficient 
volume of sales in the home market to serve as a viable basis for 
calculating NV, we compared Isibars--volume of home market sales of the 
foreign like product to the volume of U.S. sales of the subject 
merchandise, in accordance with section 773(a)(1)(C) of the Act. 
Because Isibars--aggregate volume of home market sales of the foreign 
like product was greater than five percent of its aggregate volume of 
U.S. sales of the subject merchandise, we determined that the home 
market provides a viable basis for calculating NV.
    Patheja had no domestic or third country sales of flanges during 
the POR. Therefore, in accordance with section 773(a)(4) of the Act, we 
used constructed value for comparison with EP.

B. Level of Trade

    As set forth in section 773(a)(1)(B)(i) of the Act and in the 
Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) accompanying the Uruguay Round 
Agreements Act, at 829-831, to the extent practicable, the Department 
will calculate NV based on sales at the same level of trade (LOT) as 
the U.S. sales. Isibars did not request an adjustment for LOT. To 
ensure that no such adjustment was necessary, we requested and examined 
information on the selling activities associated with each phase of 
marketing in each of Isibars's markets; since there were no differences 
in such selling activities in either market, and since all sales in 
both markets were at a single LOT, we compared sales at this sole LOT.

C. Constructed Value (CV)

    For Patheja, in accordance with section 773(e) of the Act, we 
calculated CV based on Patheja's cost of materials and fabrication 
employed in producing the subject merchandise, selling, general and 
administrative expenses (SG&A) incurred in connection with the 
production and sale of the foreign like product, credit expenses on 
U.S. sales, and U.S. packing costs. We used the costs of materials, 
fabrication, SG&A, and profit as reported in the CV portion of 
Patheja's questionnaire response. We based Patheja's profits on the 
amounts it realized in connection with the production and sale in India 
of merchandise in the same general category of products as the subject 
merchandise, in accordance with Section 773(e)(1)(B) of the Act. Since 
payment had not been made, in calculating credit expenses on Patheja's 
U.S. sale, we used the number of days between shipment from the factory 
and the date of the supplemental questionnaire response, the latest 
date for which we have information on the record concerning the sale in 
question. We used the U.S. packing costs reported in the U.S. sales 
portion of Patheja's questionnaire response.

D. Price-to-Price Comparisons

    For Isibars, for price-to-price comparisons, we based NV on the 
prices at which the foreign like products were first sold for 
consumption in the home market to an unaffiliated party, in the usual 
commercial quantities, in the ordinary course of trade, and at the same 
level of trade as the EP, in accordance with section 773(a)(1)(B) of 
the Act. Isibars made all home market and EP sales of subject 
merchandise at the same level of trade.
    Pursuant to section 777A(d)(2) of the Act, for Isibars we compared 
the EPs of individual U.S. transactions to the average prices of 
contemporaneous sales of the foreign like product. We calculated NV 
based on FOB factory as reported. There were no packing costs on home 
market sales. Prices were reported net of value-added taxes (VAT) and, 
therefore, no adjustment for VAT was necessary. We made circumstance-
of-sale adjustments, where appropriate, for differences in credit 
expenses. We added U.S. packing expenses to Isibars' home market 
prices. No other adjustments were claimed or allowed.

Preliminary Results of the Reviews

    As a result of our comparison of EP to NV, we preliminarily 
determine that the following weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Margin 
           Manufacturer/exporter                   Period        percent
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isibars....................................     9/1/95-2/29/96      0.00
Patheja....................................     9/1/95-2/29/96      4.80
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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. Any hearing, if 
requested, will be held 34 days after the date of publication, or the 
first workday thereafter. Case briefs from interested parties may be 
submitted not later than 20 days after the date of publication. 
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be 
filed not later than 27 days after the date of publication. Parties who 
submit argument in this proceeding are requested to submit with the 
argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the 
argument. The Department will issue the final results of the new 
shipper administrative reviews, including the results of its analysis 
of issues raised in any case or rebuttal briefs, within 90 days of 
issuance of these preliminary results.
    Upon completion of these new shipper reviews, the Department will 
issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service. The 
results of these reviews shall be the basis for the assessment of 
antidumping duties on entries of merchandise sold during the POR and 
covered by the determination and for future deposits of estimated 
duties.
    Furthermore, upon completion of these reviews, the posting of a 
bond or security in lieu of a cash deposit, pursuant to section 
751(a)(2)(B)(iii) of the Act and section 353.22(h)(4) of the 
Department's interim regulations, will no longer be permitted and, 
should the final results yield a margin of dumping, a cash deposit will 
be required for each entry of the merchandise. The following deposit 
requirements will be effective upon publication of the final results of 
these new shipper antidumping duty administrative reviews for all 
shipments of flanges from India manufactured by Isibars or Patheja, 
entered, or withdrawn

[[Page 59863]]

from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as 
provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for 
the reviewed companies will be those established in the final results 
of these new shipper administrative reviews; (2) for exporters not 
covered in these reviews, but covered in previous reviews or the 
original less-than-fair-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 these 
reviews, 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 
continue to be 162.14 percent, the all others rate established in the 
LTFV investigation (59 FR 5994, February 9, 1994).
    These requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
publication of the final results of the next administrative reviews.
    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.
    These new shipper administrative reviews and this notice are in 
accordance with section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 
1675(a)(2)(B)) and 19 CFR 353.22(h).

    Dated: November 1, 1996.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-30044 Filed 11-22-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P