[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 117 (Thursday, June 18, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33350-33351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16273]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-475-059]


Pressure Sensitive Plastic Tape From Italy; Preliminary Results 
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of antidumping duty 
administrative review of pressure sensitive plastic tape from Italy.

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SUMMARY: In response to a request from an importer, Horizon Plastics, 
the Department of Commerce is conducting an administrative review of 
the antidumping duty finding on pressure sensitive plastic tape from 
Italy. The period of review is October 1, 1996 through September 30, 
1997. This review covers products manufactured and exported by 
N.A.R.S.p.A. We have preliminarily found that sales of subject 
merchandise have been made below normal value. If these preliminary 
results are adopted in our final results, we will instruct the Customs 
Service to assess antidumping duties based on the difference between 
the export price or constructed export price and normal value.
    Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results. Parties who submit arguments are requested to submit with the 
argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the 
argument. We will issue the final results not later than 120 days from 
the date of publication of this notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 18, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Todd Peterson or Thomas Futtner, AD/CVD Enforcement Office 4, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20230; telephone (202) 482-4195, and 482-3814, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The 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 of Commerce's (the 
Department's) regulations refer to the regulations codified at 19 CFR 
Part 351 (62 FR 27296, May 19, 1997).

Background

    On October 21, 1997, the Department published in the Federal 
Register (42 FR 56110) the antidumping duty finding on pressure 
sensitive plastic tape (PSPT) from Italy. On October 31, 1997, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(b), an interested party and importer of 
the subject merchandise, Horizon Plastics, Inc., requested that the 
Department conduct an administrative review of N.A.R.S.p.A. exports of 
subject merchandise to the United States. We published the notice of 
initiation of this review on November 26, 1997 (62 FR 63069).

Scope of the Review

    Imports covered by the review are shipments of PSPT measuring 1\3/
8\ inches in width and not exceeding 4 mils in thickness. During the 
period of review (POR), the above described PSPT was classified under 
HTS subheadings 3919.90.20 and 3919.90.50. The HTS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and for U.S. Customs purposes. The written 
description remains dispositive as to the scope of the product 
coverage.

Use of Facts Otherwise Available

    We preliminarily determine that, in accordance with section 
776(a)(2)(A) of the Act, the use of facts available is

[[Page 33351]]

appropriate for N.A.R.S.p.A. because this firm did not respond to the 
Department's antidumping questionnaire. In addition, there is no 
information on the record within the meaning of section 782(e) of the 
Act with regard to sales by N.A.R.S.p.A. and therefore no information 
to consider as an alternative to facts available in determining the 
margin for N.A.R.S.p.A.
    The Department finds that, in not responding to the questionnaire, 
this firm failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its ability 
to comply with requests for information from the Department. Where the 
Department must base the entire dumping margin for a respondent in an 
administrative review on the facts available because the respondent 
failed to cooperate, section 776(b) authorizes the Department to use an 
inference adverse to the interests of the respondent in choosing the 
facts available. Section 776(b) also authorizes the Department to use 
as adverse facts available information derived from the petition, the 
final determination, a previous administrative review, or other 
information placed on the record.
    As adverse facts available, we have used the highest rate from any 
prior segment of the proceeding, 12.66 percent. This rate was 
calculated in the Final Results of Administrative Review of Antidumping 
Finding (48 FR 35666), covering the period February 18, 1977 through 
September 30, 1980. Information from prior segments of the proceeding 
constitutes ``secondary information'' within the meaning of section 
776(c) of the Act. Section 776(c) provides that the Department shall, 
to the extent practicable, corroborate secondary information by 
comparing it with independent sources reasonably at its disposal. The 
Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) provides that corroborate 
means simply that the Department will satisfy itself that the secondary 
information to be used has probative value.
    To corroborate secondary information, the Department will, to the 
extent practicable, examine the reliability and relevance of the 
information to be used. However, unlike other types of information, 
such as input costs or selling expenses, there are no independent 
sources for calculated dumping margins. The only source for margins is 
administrative determinations. Thus, in an administrative review, if 
the Department chooses as total adverse facts available a calculated 
dumping margin from a prior segment of the proceeding, it is not 
necessary to question the reliability of the margin for that time 
period. With respect to the relevance aspect of corroboration, however, 
the Department will consider information reasonably at its disposal as 
to whether there are circumstances that would render a margin not 
relevant. Where circumstances indicate that the selected margin is not 
appropriate as adverse facts available, the Department will disregard 
the margin and determine an appropriate margin (see, e.g., Fresh Cut 
Flowers from Mexico; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review (60 FR 49567), where the Department disregarded 
the highest margin as averse facts available because the margin was 
based on another company's uncharacteristic business expense resulting 
in an unusually high margin). No such circumstances exist in this case 
which would cause the Department to disregard a prior margin.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that the 
following margin exists for the period October 1, 1996, through 
September 30, 1997:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin  
                   Manufacturer/exporter                      (percent) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
N.A.R.S.p.A................................................        12.66
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parties to the proceeding may request disclosure within five days 
of the date of publication of this notice. Interested parties may also 
request a hearing within ten days of publication. If requested, a 
hearing will be held as early as convenient for the parties but not 
later than 39 days after the date of publication of the first work day 
thereafter. Interested parties may submit case briefs not later than 30 
days after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, 
which must be limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed 
not later than 37 days after the date of publication of this notice. 
The Department will issue a notice of the final results of this 
administrative review, which will include the results of its analysis 
of issues raised in any such briefs, within 120 days from the 
publication of these preliminary results.
    The Department shall determine, and the Customs Service shall 
assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. Furthermore, the 
following deposit requirements will be effective upon completion of the 
final results of this administrative review for all shipments of 
pressure sensitive plastic tape from Italy entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 
751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for the reviewed 
company will be the rate established in the final results of this 
administrative review (except no cash deposit will be required where 
weighted-average margin is de minimis, i.e., less than 0.5 percent); 
(2) for merchandise exported by manufacturers or exporters not covered 
in this review but covered in the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV) 
investigation or a previous review, the cash deposit will continue to 
be the most recent rate published in the final determination or final 
results for which the manufacturer or exporter received an individual 
rate; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a 
previous review, or the original investigation, but the manufacturer 
is, the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most 
recent period for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) if 
neither the exporter nor the manufacturer is a firm covered in this or 
any previous reviews or the original investigation, the cash deposit 
rate will be 12.66 percent, the ``new shipper'' rate established in the 
first notice of final results of administrative review published by the 
Department (48 FR 35686, August 5, 1983).
    This notice serves as a preliminary 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 administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: June 11, 1998.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary, Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-16273 Filed 6-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M