[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 80 (Monday, April 27, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20572-20574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11001]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-580-815, A-580-816]


Notice of Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Reviews: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products 
From Korea; Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products From 
Korea

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


[[Page 20573]]


ACTION: Notice of amendment to final results of antidumping duty 
administrative reviews.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) is amending its 
final results of reviews, published on March 18, 1998, of the 
antidumping duty orders on cold-rolled and corrosion-resistant carbon 
steel flat products from Korea, to reflect the correction of 
ministerial errors in those final results. The period covered by these 
amended final results is the period August 1, 1995 through July 31, 
1996.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 27, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Bezirganian, Thomas Killiam, 
Fred Baker, or Alain Letort, AD/CVD Enforcement Group III--Office 8, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230, telephone 202/482-0162 (Bezirganian), 202/482-
2924 (Baker), 202/482-2704 (Killiam) or 202/482-4243 (Letort), fax 202/
482-1388.

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 
references to the provisions codified at 19 CFR Part 353 (April 1997). 
Although the Department's new regulations, codified at 19 CFR 351 (62 
FR 27296--May 19, 1997) do not govern these proceedings, citations to 
those regulations are provided, where appropriate, to explain current 
departmental practice.

Background

    On March 18, 1998, the Department published the final results of 
its administrative reviews of the antidumping duty orders on certain 
cold-rolled and corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from 
Korea, for the period August 1, 1995 through July 31, 1996 (63 FR 
13170). The reviews covered shipments of the merchandise from Korea by 
Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd. (Dongbu), Union Steel Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 
(Union), and Pohang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (POSCO). (POSCO and the 
companies collapsed with POSCO (Pohang Coated Steel Co., Ltd. (POCOS) 
and Pohang Steel Industries Co., Ltd. (PSI)), are collectively referred 
to below as the POSCO Group.)
    On March 23, 1998, the POSCO Group and Dongbu submitted clerical 
error allegations. On March 25, 1998, petitioners responded to Dongbu's 
allegation. On March 31, 1998, petitioners alleged that the Department 
had made a ministerial error with respect to the POSCO Group. On April 
3, 1998, the POSCO Group responded to the petitioners' allegation.

Clerical Error Allegations

    The POSCO Group alleged that the Department had made three 
ministerial errors. We disagree with two of those allegations, both of 
which involved expenses which the POSCO Group asserted should not have 
been included in the calculation of the U.S. indirect selling expense 
variable (INDIRSU). We discuss the basis for our determination with 
respect to those two allegations in the analysis memorandum from Steve 
Bezirganian to Richard Weible dated April 15, 1998. Dongbu alleged that 
the Department had made one clerical error by allegedly using the wrong 
date as the U.S. date of sale. We disagree with that allegation, and 
discuss our basis in the analysis memorandum from Fred Baker to Richard 
Weible dated April 15, 1998. We address herein the remaining 
allegations from the POSCO Group and the petitioners. Additional 
discussion of the allegations received from POSCO appears in the 
aforementioned analysis memorandum from Steve Bezirganian to Richard 
Weible.
    Comment 1: The POSCO Group argues that the Department erred in its 
calculations for corrosion-resistant products by failing to deduct home 
market freight expenses from normal value.

Department's Position

    We agree, and have corrected this error in these amended final 
results.
    Comment 2: Petitioners assert that the Department erred in its 
calculations for the POSCO Group by not including various POSAM and BUS 
expenses in the numerators of its calculations of U.S. indirect selling 
expenses (INDIRSU). They note that the Department's analysis memorandum 
stated explicitly that the only expenses not to be included in the 
calculation were ``freight out.''
    The POSCO Group argues that it is not the Department's practice to 
include the expenses in question in the calculation of indirect selling 
expenses, and to the extent they are relevant for the Department's 
analysis they are accounted for in another variable reported by POSCO.

Department's Position

    We agree with petitioners. It was not our intent to omit the 
expenses at issue from the calculation of total indirect selling 
expenses. Therefore, this omission constitutes a ministerial error. 
Furthermore, upon review of this issue, we determined that we had also 
inadvertently failed to include certain POSAM income in the denominator 
of the calculation of INDIRSU for POSAM. See the April 15, 1998, 
memorandum from Steve Bezirganian for Richard Weible. Therefore, we 
have corrected both the ministerial error noted by petitioners and the 
additional ministerial error that we subsequently discovered.

Amended Final Results of Review

    As a result of the correction, we have determined that the 
following weighted-average margins exists for the period August 1, 1995 
through July 31, 1996:

             Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products             
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-  
             Manufacturer/producer/exporter1              average margin
                                                             (percent)  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The POSCO Group.........................................            5.72
Dongbu..................................................           1.21 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Union had no shipments of cold-rolled products during the period of 
  review.                                                               


         Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products         
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Weighted-  
             Manufacturer/producer/exporter               average margin
                                                             (percent)  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The POSCO Group.........................................            1.46
Dongbu..................................................            0.60
Union...................................................            0.39
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department shall determine, and the United States Customs 
Service shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. 
The Department shall issue appraisement instructions directly to the 
Customs Service.
    Furthermore, the following deposit requirements shall be effective 
upon publication of this notice for all shipments of the subject 
merchandise from Korea that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption, on or after the date of publication of this notice, as 
provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit for the 
reviewed companies will be the rates stated above, except for Union, 
which had a de minimis margin, and whose cash deposit rate is therefore 
zero; (2) for merchandise exported by manufacturers or exporters not 
covered in these

[[Page 20574]]

reviews, but covered in a previous segment of these proceedings, the 
cash deposit rates shall continue to be the company-specific rates 
published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm 
covered in these reviews, or the original investigations, but the 
manufacturer is, the cash deposit rates shall be those established for 
the manufacturer of the merchandise in the most recently completed 
segment of these proceedings; and (4) if neither the exporter nor the 
manufacturer is a firm covered in these or any previous reviews, the 
cash deposit rate will continue to be 14.44 percent (for certain cold-
rolled carbon steel flat products) and 17.70 percent (for certain 
corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products), which were the ``all 
others'' rates in the LTFV investigations.
    These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect 
until publication of the final results of the next administrative 
review.
    This notice also serves as final reminder to importers of their 
responsibility 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 notice also is the only reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 353.34(d). Failure to 
comply is a violation of the APO.
    These amended final results of administrative review and notice are 
in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: April 17, 1998.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-11001 Filed 4-24-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P