[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 139 (Monday, July 21, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38975-38976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19013]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-428-821, A-588-837]
Large Newspaper Printing Presses and Components Thereof (LNPP)
From Germany and Japan: Scope Inquiry Instructions and Revision of
Suspension of Liquidation Procedures for Entries of LNPP Elements
Outside the Scope of the Antidumping Duty Order
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 21, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Genovese, Office of Antidumping/
Countervailing Duty Enforcement, Import Administration, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone (202) 482-
4697.
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). In addition, unless otherwise
indicated, all references to the Department's regulations are to 19 CFR
Part 351, as published in the Federal Register on May 19, 1997 (62 FR
27296).
Background
On September 4, 1996, the Department published the antidumping duty
order on LNPP from Japan and Germany (61 FR 46,621 and 46,623,
respectively). The scope of the orders cover LNPP systems, additions
and five named components: printing units, reel tension pasters,
folders, conveyance and access apparatuses, and computerized control
systems. Also included in the scope are elements (i.e., parts and
subcomponents) of a LNPP system, addition or component, which taken
altogether, constitute at least 50 percent of the cost of manufacture
of any of the five major LNPP components of which they are a part.
These orders also contained instructions as to the suspension of
liquidation of subject merchandise. These liquidation instructions
directed the Customs Service to suspend liquidation and to require the
posting of cash deposits on entries of LNPP systems, additions and
components, and all elements imported to fulfill an LNPP contract. With
respect to elements, suspension of liquidation would be in effect until
the Department was able to make a determination as to whether a
specific element met the 50 percent threshold described above, which
would be decided after all entries of such merchandise had been made
and the component of which they are a part had been produced.
On September 24, 1996, Koenig & Bauer-Albert AG and KBA-Motter
Corp. (KBA), a German producer of LNPP and its affiliated U.S.
importer, asked the Department to reevaluate its liquidation
instructions. They argued that by requiring the suspension of
liquidation of all LNPP elements, the Department unlawfully encompassed
non-subject merchandise (i.e., elements that constitute less than 50
percent of the cost of manufacture of the component of which they are a
part) and unfairly imposed a financial burden on U.S. companies who
would have to post cash deposits on such non-subject merchandise until
the Department, at some future date, was able to make a determination
as to whether the imported elements met the 50 percent threshold
described above. The Department thereafter solicited comments from all
interested parties concerning the liquidation instructions as to
elements.
Scope Inquiry Procedures and Revision of Suspension of Liquidation
Instructions
Following are the scope inquiry procedures and revised suspension
of liquidation instructions that the Department and interested parties
agreed upon with regard to the importation of LNPP elements that
constitute less than 50 percent of the cost of manufacture of the
finished LNPP component of which they are a part.
1. Upon the request of an interested party (i.e., foreign
manufacturer/exporter or U.S. importer), the Department will initiate a
scope inquiry with respect to LNPP elements (i.e., parts and
subcomponents) to be imported into the United States in order to
fulfill a LNPP contract which are claimed to fall outside the scope of
the above-referenced AD orders. The Department will instruct the
Customs Service to suspend liquidation at a zero cash deposit rate if
the party can establish to the Department's satisfaction, through the
submission of certain factual information, that the sum of the LNPP
elements to be imported pursuant to a particular LNPP contract
represents less than 50 percent of the cost of manufacture of the LNPP
component of which they are a part. The deadline for requesting such an
inquiry is no later than 75 days prior to the intended date of entry of
the LNPP elements.
2. In such an inquiry, the interested party will: (1) Make a claim
that all of the elements to be imported into the United States from
Germany or Japan pursuant to a particular LNPP contract constitute less
than 50 percent of the cost of manufacture of the finished LNPP
component of which they are part and, thus, are not subject
merchandise; and (2) submit the documentation specified below to
substantiate its claim. The interested party is also required to serve
the submitted materials upon counsel for the petitioner on the earlier
of: (i) the same day they are filed with the Department, if an
applicable Administrative Protective Order (``APO'') is outstanding, or
(ii) within one day of the issuance of an applicable APO. Public
versions of such materials will be served upon counsel for the
petitioner in accordance with section 351.303(f) of the Department's
regulations. The petitioner will have 15 calendar days from the date of
receipt of such documents for review and the filing of comments.
3. The foreign manufacturer/exporter and U.S. importer are required
to
[[Page 38976]]
provide the following information to the Department:
--A list of the elements to be imported from Germany or Japan, and
other countries, and those to be sourced domestically pursuant to a
LNPP contract, including the component classification for each element;
--The LNPP contract and subsequent amendments;
--A diagram of the LNPP;
--A copy of the most recent cost estimate for the finished LNPP in the
United States on a component-specific basis;
--the actual or estimated cost (depending on what is available prior to
the time of importation of the German or Japanese elements into the
United States) of elements comprising the finished component by country
of origin (i.e., Japan, Germany, United States, other)
--Data on historical variances between estimated and actual costs of
production of LNPP merchandise;
--A financial statement for the business unit that produces LNPPs;
--A schedule of element importation and component production completion
in the United States.
If, after providing the above-specified information, the interested
party finds that the costs reported to the Department were understated
and that the cost of manufacture of the import elements will be over 50
percent of the cost of manufacture of the LNPP component of which they
are a part, the interested party must immediately inform the Department
of Commerce.
4. After the expiration of the 15-day comment period, the
Department will conduct its review of the submitted documentation and
will, to the extent practicable, make an expedited preliminary ruling
as to whether the merchandise falls outside of the scope of the orders.
If the Department determines preliminarily that such merchandise is
outside of the scope, for all such entries made pursuant to a
particular LNPP contract, the Department will instruct the Customs
Service to suspend liquidation at a zero deposit rate.
5. Pursuant to the Department's preliminary ruling, the U.S.
importer will be able to declare a zero deposit rate for the imported
merchandise at issue. Upon entry of the merchandise into the U.S.
Customs territory, the U.S. importer and/or foreign manufacturer/
exporter will be required to submit an appropriate certification to the
Department concerning the contents of the entry. An appropriate
certification would generally read as follows:
I, [Name and Title], hereby certify that the cost of the large
newspaper printing press (LNPP) parts contained in entry summary
number(s) ________ pursuant to contract number ________, constitute
less than 50 percent of the cost of manufacture of the complete LNPP
component of which they are a part.
6. The Department will make a final scope ruling within the context
of an administrative review, if requested by interested parties.
Verification of the submitted information will occur within the context
of such review, when appropriate. If the Department finds in its final
ruling that the imported merchandise falls below the 50 percent
threshold, then the Department will instruct the Customs Service to
liquidate the entries at issue without regard to antidumping duties.
Conversely, if the Department finds that the imported merchandise falls
within the scope of the orders (i.e., because the actual total cost of
the elements imported to fulfill a LNPP contract is 50 percent or more
of the cost of manufacture of the complete LNPP component of which they
are a part), then the U.S. importer will be subject to the assessment
of antidumping duties on the imported elements, together with any
applicable interest from the date of entry of such elements, at the
rate determined in the review.
Dated: July 14, 1997.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 97-19013 Filed 7-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P