[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 146 (Thursday, July 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40698-40699]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-20416]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-423-805]
Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Belgium
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of final court decision and amended final determination
of sales at less than fair value.
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SUMMARY: On March 12, 1998, the Court of International Trade vacated
the amended final rate for respondent Fabrique de Fer de Charleroi S.A.
and
[[Page 40699]]
affirmed the margin calculated for this company in the final
determination of sales at less than fair value in certain cut-to-length
carbon steel plate from Belgium. As there is now a final and conclusive
court decision in this action, we are amending our final determination
of sales at less than fair value and we will instruct the Customs
Service to change cash deposit rates, where appropriate.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 30, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sanjay Mullick or Kris Campbell,
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0588 or 482-3813,
respectively.
Applicable Statute
Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act), are references to the provisions in effect
as of December 31, 1994. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all
citations to the Department of Commerce's (the Department's)
regulations are to the regulations as codified at 19 CFR part 353
(April 1, 1997).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 9, 1993, the Department published the final determination
of sales at less than fair value (LTFV) in the investigation of certain
cut-to-length carbon steel plate from Belgium.1 The
antidumping duty rate calculated for respondent Fabrique de Fer de
Charleroi S.A. (FFC) was 3.65 percent.
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\1\ Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Belgium, 58 FR 37083
(July 9, 1993).
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On August 19, 1993, the Department published an amended final
determination, in which we corrected a ministerial error by
recalculating the profit rate used in determining FFC's constructed
value (CV).2 The recalculation included profit on home
market sales of `Z-type' steel, which is within the general class or
kind of merchandise, but which was not sold in the United States during
the period of investigation and was not used for matching purposes. The
amended final determination rate for FFC was 13.31 percent.
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\2\ Antidumping Duty Order and Amendment to Final Determination
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel
Plate from Belgium, 58 FR 44164 (August 19, 1993).
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On January 16, 1998, the Court of International Trade (CIT) issued
a remand concerning this segment of the proceeding, in which the CIT
found the Department's calculation of the CV profit rate for FFC in the
amended final determination to be erroneous. 3 The CIT
agreed with the Department that section 773(e)(1) of the Act requires
the calculation of CV profit based on sales of the ``general class or
kind'' of merchandise, which includes Z-type steel. 4
However, the Court held that, in the Department's amended
determination, the profits on Z-type sales were ``extrapolated out of
realistic and rational proportion.'' 5 Accordingly, the CIT
issued the following instructions:
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\3\ Fabrique de Fer de Charleroi S.A. v. United States, Slip Op.
98-4 (CIT January 16, 1998) (``Fabrique'').
\4\ Fabrique at 8-9.
\5\ Id. at 12.
The ITA may have 45 days from the date hereof to consider and
report whether, in the exercise of its sound discretion, factoring
plaintiff's (FFC) profit on home-market sales of Z-type product in a
manner more reflective of the record leads to a weighted-average
margin percentage greater than the 3.65 reported at 58 Fed. Reg.
37,091 for FFC. If the court does not receive an affirmative report
to this effect by the end of this period, that original margin will
be affirmed. 6
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\6\ Id. at 13.
The Department did not issue an affirmative report to the Court. On
March 12, 1998, the Court vacated the amended final rate for FFC (13.31
percent) and affirmed the margin calculated for this company in the
final determination (3.65 percent). 7 The period to appeal
has expired and no appeal was filed. Therefore, as there is now a final
and conclusive court decision in this action, we are amending our final
determination of sales at LTFV.
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\7\ Fabrique de Fer de Charleroi S.A. v. United States, Slip Op.
98-26 (CIT March 12, 1998).
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Amendment to Final Determination
Pursuant to section 516A(e) of the Act, we are now amending the
final determination of sales at LTFV of certain cut-to-length carbon
steel plate from Belgium with respect to exports by FFC. In addition,
as a result of the change in FFC's margin, we are recalculating the
``All-Others'' rate. The revised weighted-average percentage dumping
margins are as follows:
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Manufacturer/exporter Percentage
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Fabrique de Fer de Charleroi S.A........................... 3.65
All Others................................................. 6.75
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The above rate listed for FFC will not affect that company's
deposit or assessment rates for any segment of this proceeding. Since
publication of the first amended LTFV final determination and order,
the Department has completed, pursuant to section 751 of the Act, an
administrative review of the antidumping order covering FFC's entries
for the period August 1, 1995 through July 31, 1996. 8 That
review established FFC's assessment rates for that period, and also
established its current weighted-average deposit rate. Any entries made
prior to that review period were subject to automatic liquidation
pursuant to 19 C.F.R. 353.22 (e). However, the Department will instruct
the Customs Service to change the cash deposit requirements for
producers/exporters subject to the ``All-Others'' rate to 6.75 percent.
9
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\8\ Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Belgium: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 63 FR 2959
(January 20, 1998).
\9\ The current ``All-Others'' rate is 6.84 percent.
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This notice is published in accordance with section 735(d) of the
Act and 19 CFR 353.21.
Dated: July 23, 1998.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-20416 Filed 7-29-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P