[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 55 (Monday, March 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13872-13873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7423]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigations Nos. 701-TA-373 (Final) and 731-TA-769-775 (Final)]


Stainless Steel Wire Rod From Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, 
Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Scheduling of the final phase of countervailing duty and 
antidumping investigations.

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SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives notice of the scheduling of the 
final phase of countervailing duty investigation No. 701-TA-373 (Final) 
under section 705(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1671d(b)) 
(the Act) and the final phase of antidumping investigations Nos. 731-
TA-769-775 (Final) under section 735(b) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1673d(b)) 
to determine whether an industry in the United States is materially 
injured or threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an 
industry in the United States is materially retarded, by reason of 
subsidized and less-than-fair-value imports from Germany, Italy, Japan, 
Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan of stainless steel wire rod, provided 
for in subheading 7221.00.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States.1
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    \1\ For purposes of these investigations, Commerce has defined 
the subject merchandise as articles of stainless steel that are hot-
rolled or hot-rolled annealed and/or pickled and/or descaled rounds, 
squares, octagons, hexagons, or other shapes, in coils, that may 
also be coated with a lubricant containing copper, lime, or oxalate. 
Stainless steel wire rod is made of alloy steels containing, by 
weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or more of 
chromium, with or without other elements. It is manufactured only by 
hot-rolling or hot-rolling, annealing, and/or pickling and/or 
descaling, is normally sold in coiled form, and is of solid cross-
section. Most stainless steel wire rod sold in the United States is 
round in cross-sectional shape, annealed and pickled, and later 
cold-finished into stainless steel wire or small-diameter bar. The 
most common size for stainless steel wire rod is 5.5 millimeters or 
0.217 inch in diameter. The range of stainless steel wire rod sizes 
normally sold in the United States is between 0.20 inch (5.08 
millimeters) and 1.312 inches (33.32 millimeters) in diameter. Two 
stainless steel grades, SF20T and K-M35FL, are excluded from the 
scope of the investigations.
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    For further information concerning the conduct of this phase of the 
investigations, hearing procedures, and rules of general application, 
consult the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 201, 
subparts A through E (19 CFR part 201), and part 207, subparts A and C 
(19 CFR part 207).

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 5, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie Noreen (202-205-3167), Office 
of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street 
SW, Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain 
information on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal 
on 202-205-1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need 
special assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact 
the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information 
concerning the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its 
internet server (http://www.usitc.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The final phase of these investigations is being scheduled as a 
result of affirmative preliminary determinations by the Department of 
Commerce that certain benefits which constitute subsidies within the 
meaning of section 703 of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1671b) are being provided 
to manufacturers, producers, or exporters in Italy of stainless steel 
wire rod, and that such products from Germany, Italy, Japan,

[[Page 13873]]

Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan are being sold in the United States at 
less than fair value within the meaning of section 733 of the Act (19 
U.S.C. 1673b). The investigations were requested in a petition filed on 
July 30, 1997, by Al Tech Specialty Steel Corp., Dunkirk, NY; Carpenter 
Technology Corp., Reading, PA; Republic Engineered Steels, Massillon, 
OH; Talley Metals Technology, Inc., Hartsville, SC; and the United 
Steelworkers of America, AFL- CIO/CLC.

Participation in the Investigations and Public Service list

    Persons, including industrial users of the subject merchandise and, 
if the merchandise is sold at the retail level, representative consumer 
organizations, wishing to participate in the final phase of these 
investigations as parties must file an entry of appearance with the 
Secretary to the Commission, as provided in section 201.11 of the 
Commission's rules, no later than 21 days prior to the hearing date 
specified in this notice. A party that filed a notice of appearance 
during the preliminary phase of the investigations need not file an 
additional notice of appearance during this final phase. The Secretary 
will maintain a public service list containing the names and addresses 
of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties to the 
investigations.

Limited Disclosure of Business Proprietary Information (BPI) Under 
an Administrative Protective Order (APO) and BPI Service List

    Pursuant to section 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the 
Secretary will make BPI gathered in the final phase of these 
investigations available to authorized applicants under the APO issued 
in the investigations, provided that the application is made no later 
than 21 days prior to the hearing date specified in this notice. 
Authorized applicants must represent interested parties, as defined by 
19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to the investigations. A party 
granted access to BPI in the preliminary phase of the investigations 
need not reapply for such access. A separate service list will be 
maintained by the Secretary for those parties authorized to receive BPI 
under the APO.

Staff Report

    The prehearing staff report in the final phase of these 
investigations will be placed in the nonpublic record on July 9, 1998, 
and a public version will be issued thereafter, pursuant to section 
207.22 of the Commission's rules.

Hearing

    The Commission will hold a hearing in connection with the final 
phase of these investigations beginning at 9:30 a.m. on July 22, 1998, 
at the U.S. International Trade Commission Building. Requests to appear 
at the hearing should be filed in writing with the Secretary to the 
Commission on or before July 15, 1998. A nonparty who has testimony 
that may aid the Commission's deliberations may request permission to 
present a short statement at the hearing. All parties and nonparties 
desiring to appear at the hearing and make oral presentations should 
attend a prehearing conference to be held at 9:30 a.m. on July 17, 
1998, at the U.S. International Trade Commission Building. Oral 
testimony and written materials to be submitted at the public hearing 
are governed by sections 201.6(b)(2), 201.13(f), and 207.24 of the 
Commission's rules. Parties must submit any request to present a 
portion of their hearing testimony in camera no later than 7 days prior 
to the date of the hearing.

Written Submissions

    Each party who is an interested party shall submit a prehearing 
brief to the Commission. Prehearing briefs must conform with the 
provisions of section 207.23 of the Commission's rules; the deadline 
for filing is July 16, 1998. Parties may also file written testimony in 
connection with their presentation at the hearing, as provided in 
section 207.24 of the Commission's rules, and posthearing briefs, which 
must conform with the provisions of section 207.25 of the Commission's 
rules. The deadline for filing posthearing briefs is July 29, 1998; 
witness testimony must be filed no later than three days before the 
hearing. In addition, any person who has not entered an appearance as a 
party to the investigations may submit a written statement of 
information pertinent to the subject of the investigations on or before 
July 29, 1998. On August 18, 1998, the Commission will make available 
to parties all information on which they have not had an opportunity to 
comment. Parties may submit final comments on this information on or 
before August 20, 1998, but such final comments must not contain new 
factual information and must otherwise comply with section 207.30 of 
the Commission's rules. All written submissions must conform with the 
provisions of section 201.8 of the Commission's rules; any submissions 
that contain BPI must also conform with the requirements of sections 
201.6, 207.3, and 207.7 of the Commission's rules.
    In accordance with sections 201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's 
rules, each document filed by a party to the investigations must be 
served on all other parties to the investigations (as identified by 
either the public or BPI service list), and a certificate of service 
must be timely filed. The Secretary will not accept a document for 
filing without a certificate of service.

    Authority: These investigations are being conducted under 
authority of title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is 
published pursuant to section 207.21 of the Commission's rules.

    Issued: March 17, 1998.

    By order of the Commission.
Donna R. Koehnke,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-7423 Filed 3-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P