[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 31, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15458-15459]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7535]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-475-822]


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

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 31, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lesley Stagliano or Rick Johnson, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0190 or (202) 482-3818, 
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 
Italy 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 Italy, 63 
FR 59530 (November 4, 1998) (``Preliminary Determination'')). On 
November 16, 1998, Acciai Speciali Terni SpA (``AST'') 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 section 735(a)(2)(A) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(2)(ii) and 351.210(e)(2). Because our 
Preliminary Determination was affirmative, and AST is a producer/
exporter that accounts for a significant proportion of exports from 
Italy 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. No interested parties have provided comments on 
the Preliminary Determination and no request for a hearing has been 
received by the Department.

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 
(HTSUS) 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 HTSUS 
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

    Section 776(a)(2) of the Act provides that if an interested party 
or any other person (A) withholds information that has been requested 
by the administering authority; (B) fails to provide such information 
by the deadlines for the submission of the information or in the form 
and manner requested, subject to subsections (c)(1) and (e) of section 
782 of the Act; (C) significantly impedes a proceeding under the 
antidumping statute; or (D) provides such information but the 
information cannot be verified as provided in section 782(i) of the 
Act, the administering authority shall, subject to section 782(d) of 
the Act, use the facts otherwise available in reaching the applicable 
determination. As discussed above, AST failed to respond to the 
Department's questionnaire. Accordingly, as in the Preliminary 
Determination, we have determined,

[[Page 15459]]

under section 776(a)(2)(A) of the Act, that we must base our 
determination for that company on the facts available.
    Section 776(b) of the Act further provides that adverse inferences 
may be used for a party that has failed to cooperate by not acting to 
the best of its ability to comply with a request for information (see 
also the Statement of Administrative Action (``SAA''), accompanying the 
URAA, H. Doc. No. 316, 103rd Cong., 2d Sess. 870). Given its refusal to 
comply with the Department's request for information, AST has failed to 
cooperate to the best of its ability in this investigation. Therefore, 
the Department has determined that an adverse inference is warranted 
with respect to AST. As in the Preliminary Determination, the 
Department selected a margin of 45.09 percent, which was based on the 
highest margin alleged in the petition for any Italian producer. As 
discussed in the Preliminary Determination, the Department has, to the 
extent practicable, corroborated the information used as adverse facts 
available. Furthermore, no record evidence or argument has been 
submitted that would cause the Department to call into question the 
accuracy of the data in the petition. Therefore, we determine that the 
use of this margin as facts available for AST is appropriate.
    For further discussion regarding the Department's use, and 
selection, of facts available for AST in this investigation, see 
Preliminary Determination, 63 FR at 59531-32.

The All Others Rate

    The foreign manufacturer/exporter in this investigation is being 
assigned a dumping margin entirely on the basis of facts otherwise 
available. Section 735(c)(5)(B) 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, including weight averaging zero and de minimis rates with 
the margins based on facts available. In this case, the margin assigned 
to the only company investigated is based on adverse facts available. 
Therefore, as stated in the Preliminary Determination, and consistent 
with the SAA at 873, we are using an alternative method. As our 
alternative, we are basing the All Others rate on a simple average of 
the margins in the petition, based both on price-to-price comparisons 
and constructed value. As a result, the All Others rate is 39.69 
percent.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(1) and 735(c)(4)(A) of the Act, 
we are directing the U.S. Customs Service (``Customs'') to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all entries of SSPC from Italy, 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 Customs to 
require a cash deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the percentage 
margins, as indicated in the chart below. These suspension-of-
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice. 
The dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin
                   Exporter/manufacturer                      percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acciai Speciali Terni SpA (AST)............................       45.09%
All Others.................................................       39.69%
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: March 19, 1999.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-7535 Filed 3-30-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P