[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)
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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