[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 31, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15457-15458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7534]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-122-830]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from Canada

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 31, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Kramer or Linda Ludwig, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-0405 or (202) 482-3833, respectively.

Applicable Statute and Regulations

    Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (``the Act''), are references to the provisions 
effective January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to 
the Act by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (``URAA''). In addition, 
unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department of Commerce 
(``Department'') regulations are to the regulations at 19 CFR part 351 
(1998).

Final Determination

    We determine that Stainless Steel Plate in Coils (``SSPC'') from 
Canada is being sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(``LTFV''), as provided in section 735 of the Act. The estimated 
margins are shown in the Suspension of Liquidation section of this 
notice.

Case History

    The preliminary determination in this investigation was published 
on November 4, 1998. See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from Canada, 63 
FR 59527 (November 4, 1998) (``Preliminary Determination''). On 
November 5, 1998, Atlas Stainless Steels (``Atlas'') requested a 
postponement of the final determination to 135 days after publication 
of the preliminary determination and an extension of the provisional 
measures to no more than six months, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii) and 351.210(e)(2). Because our preliminary 
determination was affirmative, and Atlas is a producer/exporter that 
accounts for a significant proportion of exports from Canada of the 
subject merchandise, the Department postponed the final determination 
until March 19, 1999. Notice of postponement was published in the 
Federal Register on December 18, 1998. See Postponement of Final 
Antidumping Determinations: Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from Canada, 
Italy, Republic of Korea, South Africa and Taiwan, 63 FR 70101.

Scope of Investigation

    For purposes of this investigation, the product covered is certain 
stainless steel plate in coils. Stainless steel is an alloy steel 
containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent 
or more of chromium, with or without other elements. The subject plate 
products are flat-rolled products, 254 mm or over in width and 4.75 mm 
or more in thickness, in coils, and annealed or otherwise heat treated 
and pickled or otherwise descaled. The subject plate may also be 
further processed (e.g., cold-rolled, polished, etc.) provided that it 
maintains the specified dimensions of plate following such processing. 
Excluded from the scope of this investigation are the following: (1) 
Plate not in coils, (2) plate that is not annealed or otherwise heat 
treated and pickled or otherwise descaled, (3) sheet and strip, and (4) 
flat bars.
    The merchandise subject to this investigation is currently 
classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTS) at subheadings: 7219.11.00.30, 7219.11.00.60, 7219.12.00.05, 
7219.12.00.20, 7219.12.00.25, 7219.12.00.50, 7219.12.00.55, 
7219.12.00.65, 7219.12.00.70, 7219.12.00.80, 7219.31.00.10, 
7219.90.00.10, 7219.90.00.20, 7219.90.00.25, 7219.90.00.60, 
7219.90.00.80, 7220.11.00.00, 7220.20.10.10, 7220.20.10.15, 
7220.20.10.60, 7220.20.10.80, 7220.20.60.05, 7220.20.60.10, 
7220.20.60.15, 7220.20.60.60, 7220.20.60.80, 7220.90.00.10, 
7220.90.00.15, 7220.90.00.60, and 7220.90.00.80. Although the HTS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and Customs purposes, the 
written description of the merchandise under investigation is 
dispositive.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation (``POI'') is January 1 through December 
31, 1997.

Facts Available

    In the Preliminary Determination, the Department based the margin 
on facts otherwise available under section 776(a)(2) of the Act because 
Atlas refused to respond to the Department's cost questionnaire. The 
Department also used an adverse inference under section 776(b) of the 
Act and used the highest rate alleged in the petition because Atlas did 
not cooperate to the best of its ability. Since then, no interested 
parties have provided comments on the Preliminary Determination and no 
request for a hearing has been received by the Department. Therefore, 
we are continuing to use as adverse facts available the highest rate 
alleged by petitioners.

The All Others Rate

    The foreign manufacturer/exporter in this investigation is being 
assigned a dumping margin on the basis of adverse facts available. 
Section 735(c)(5) of the Act provides that, where the dumping margins 
established for all exporters and producers individually investigated 
are determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, the Department 
may use any reasonable method to establish the estimated All Others 
rate for exporters and producers not individually investigated. 
Therefore, consistent with the Statement of Administrative Action 
(``SAA'') at 873, we are using an alternative method to establish the 
estimated All Others rate. In the Preliminary Determination, as an 
alternative, we based the All Others rate on a simple average of the 
margins in the petition. We received no comments on this issue, and 
therefore continue to use this basis for the final determination. As a 
result, the All Others rate is 11.10 percent.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(1) and 735(c)(4)(B) of the Act, 
we are directing the Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation 
of all entries of SSPC from Canada, that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after November 4, 1998 (the date of 
publication of the preliminary determination in the Federal Register). 
We will instruct the Customs Service to require a cash deposit equal to 
the percentage margins, as indicated below. These suspension-of-
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice. 
The dumping margins are as follows:

[[Page 15458]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin
                   Exporter/manufacturer                      percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlas Stainless Steel (Sammi Atlas)........................        15.35
All Others.................................................        11.10
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The All Others rate, which we derived from the average of the 
margins calculated in the petition, applies to all entries of subject 
merchandise other than those exported by the named respondent.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our determination. As our final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will, within 45 days, determine 
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry. If the ITC determines that material 
injury, or threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding 
will be terminated and all securities posted will be refunded or 
canceled. If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the 
Department will issue an antidumping duty order directing Customs 
officials to assess antidumping duties on all imports of the subject 
merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the effective date of the suspension of liquidation.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: March 19, 1999.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-7534 Filed 3-30-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P