[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48579-48581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23209]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-588-824]


Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products From 
Japan: Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed 
Circumstances Review and Intent to Revoke Antidumping Order in Part

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

ACTION: Notice of initiation and preliminary results of changed 
circumstances review, and intent to revoke antidumping order in part.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(b), Taiho Corporation of 
America (Taiho America) requested a changed circumstances review of the 
antidumping order on Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat 
Products from Japan. In response to Taiho's request, the Department of 
Commerce (the Department) is initiating a changed circumstances review 
and issuing a notice of intent to revoke in part the antidumping duty 
order on

[[Page 48580]]

certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Japan. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 7, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Ellerman or Maureen Flannery, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4106, (202) 482-3020, 
respectively.

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. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, 
all citations to the Department's regulations are to the regulations as 
codified at 19 CFR Part 351 (1998).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 27, 1999, Taiho America requested that the Department 
revoke in part the antidumping duty order on certain corrosion-
resistant carbon steel flat products from Japan. Specifically, Taiho 
America requested that the Department revoke the order with respect to 
imports of the following merchandise: (1) Carbon steel flat products 
measuring 0.97 mm in thickness and 20 mm in width consisting of carbon 
steel coil (SAE 1008) with a two-layer lining, the first layer 
consisting of a copper-lead-tin alloy powder that is balance copper, 
9%-11% tin, 9%-11% lead, less than 1% zinc, less than 1% other 
materials and meeting the requirements of SAE standard 792 for Bearing 
and Bushing Alloys, the second layer consists of 45%-55% lead, 38%-50% 
polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) and 3%-5% molybdenum disulfide and less 
than 2% other materials; and (2) carbon steel flat products measuring 
1.84 mm in thickness and 43.6 mm or 16.1 mm in width consisting of 
carbon steel coil (SAE 1008) clad with an aluminum alloy that is 
balance aluminum, 20% tin, 1% copper, 0.3% silicon, 0.15% nickel less 
than 1% other materials and meeting the requirements of SAE standard 
783 for Bearing and Bushing Alloys. Taiho America, a domestic 
manufacturer of plain sleeve bushings, is an importer of the products 
in question.

Scope of Antidumping Order

    This antidumping duty order on certain corrosion-resistant steel 
flat products covers flat-rolled carbon steel products, of rectangular 
shape, either clad, plated, or coated with corrosion-resistant metals 
such as zinc, aluminum, or zinc-, aluminum-, nickel-or iron-based 
alloys, whether or not corrugated or painted, varnished or coated with 
plastics or other nonmetallic substances in addition to the metallic 
coating, in coils (whether or not in successively superimposed layers) 
and of a width of 0.5 inch or greater, or in straight lengths which, if 
of a thickness less than 4.75 millimeters, are of a width of 0.5 inch 
or greater and which measures at least 10 times the thickness or if of 
a thickness of 4.75 millimeters or more are of a width which exceeds 
150 millimeters and measures at least twice the thickness, as currently 
classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) under item numbers 
7210.30.0030, 7210.30.0060, 7210.41.0000, 7210.49.0030, 7210.49.0090, 
7210.61.0000, 7210.69.0000, 7210.70.6030, 7210.70.6060, 7210.70.6090, 
7210.90.1000, 7210.90.6000, 7210.90.9000, 7212.20.0000, 7212.30.1030, 
7212.30.1090, 7212.30.3000, 7212.30.5000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 
7212.50.0000, 7212.60.0000, 7215.90.1000, 7215.90.3000, 7215.90.5000, 
7217.20.1500, 7217.30.1530, 7217.30.1560, 7217.90.1000, 7217.90.5030, 
7217.90.5060, and 7217.90.5090. Included are flat-rolled products of 
non-rectangular cross-section where such cross-section is achieved 
subsequent to the rolling process (i.e., products which have been 
``worked after rolling'')--for example, products which have been 
bevelled or rounded at the edges. Excluded are flat-rolled steel 
products either plated or coated with tin, lead, chromium, chromium 
oxides, both tin and lead (``terne plate''), or both chromium and 
chromium oxides (``tin-free steel''), whether or not painted, varnished 
or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic substances in addition to 
the metallic coating. Also excluded are clad products in straight 
lengths of 0.1875 inch or more in composite thickness and of a width 
which exceeds 150 millimeters and measures at least twice the 
thickness. Also excluded are certain clad stainless flat-rolled 
products, which are three-layered corrosion-resistant carbon steel 
flat-rolled products less than 4.75 millimeters in composite thickness 
that consist of a carbon steel flat-rolled product clad on both sides 
with stainless steel in a 20%-60%-20% ratio. The HTS item numbers are 
provided for convenience and Customs purposes. The written description 
remains dispositive of the scope of this review.
    Also excluded are certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat 
products meeting the following specifications: (1) widths ranging from 
10 millimeters (0.394 inches) through 100 millimeters (3.94 inches); 
(2) thicknesses, including coatings, ranging from 0.11 millimeters 
(0.004 inches) through 0.60 millimeters (0.024 inches); and (3) a 
coating that is from 0.003 millimeters (0.00012 inches) through 0.005 
millimeters (0.000196 inches) in thickness and that is comprised of 
either two evenly applied layers, the first layer consisting of 99% 
zinc, 0.5% cobalt, and 0.5% molybdenum, followed by a layer consisting 
of chromate, or three evenly applied layers, the first layer consisting 
of 99% zinc, 0.5% cobalt, and 0.5% molybdenum followed by a layer 
consisting of chromate, and finally a layer consisting of silicate.

Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 
and Intent To Revoke Order in Part

    Pursuant to sections 751(d)(1) and 782(h)(2) of the Act, the 
Department may revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order, in 
whole or in part, based on a review under section 751(b) of the Act 
(i.e., a changed circumstances review). Section 751(b)(1) of the Act 
requires a changed circumstances review to be conducted upon receipt of 
a request which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a 
review. Section 351.222(g) of the Department's regulations provides 
that the Department will conduct a changed circumstances review under 
19 CFR 351.216, and may revoke an order (in whole or in part), if it 
determines that producers accounting for substantially all of the 
production of the domestic like product have expressed a lack of 
interest in the relief provided by the order, in whole or in part, or 
if other changed circumstances sufficient to warrant revocation exist. 
In addition, in the event that the Department concludes that expedited 
action is warranted, 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii) permits the Department to 
combine the notices of initiation and preliminary results.
    In accordance with sections 751(d)(1) and 782(h)(2) of the Act, and 
19 CFR 351.216 and 351.222(g), based on affirmative statements by 
domestic producers of the like product, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 
Ispat Inland Steel Industries, Inc, LTV Steel Co., Inc., National Steel 
Corporation,

[[Page 48581]]

and U.S. Steel Group, a unit of USX Corporation, of no further interest 
in continuing the order with respect to corrosion-resistant carbon 
steel flat products measuring 0.97 mm in thickness and 20 mm in width 
consisting of carbon steel coil, SAE 1010 or 1012, with a two-layer 
lining, the first layer consisting of a copper-lead-tin alloy powder 
that is 76%-80% copper, 9%-11% tin, 9%-11% lead, and under 1% zinc and 
meeting the requirements of SAE standard 792 for Bearing and Bushing 
Alloys, the second layer consisting of 45%-55% lead, 38%-50% PTFE, and 
3%-5% molybdenum disulfide, we are initiating this changed 
circumstances review. We are also initiating a changed circumstances 
review, based on affirmative statements, by the domestic producers 
listed above, of no further interest in continuing the order with 
respect to corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products measuring 
1.84 mm in thickness and 43.6 mm or 16.1 mm in width consisting of 
carbon steel coil (SAE 1008) clad with an aluminum alloy that is 
balance aluminum, 20% tin, 1% copper, 0.3% silicon, 0.15% nickel less 
than 1% other materials and meeting the requirements of SAE standard 
783 for Bearing and Bushing Alloys. Furthermore, we determine that 
expedited action is warranted, and we preliminarily determine that 
continued application of the order with respect to corrosion-resistant 
carbon steel flat products falling within the descriptions above is no 
longer of interest to domestic interested parties. Because we have 
concluded that expedited action is warranted, we are combining these 
notices of initiation and preliminary results. Therefore, we are hereby 
notifying the public of our intent to revoke in part the antidumping 
duty order on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products 
from Japan with respect to imports of the above-specified products.
    If the final revocation, in part, occurs, we intend to instruct the 
U.S. Customs Service (Customs) to liquidate without regard to 
antidumping duties, as applicable, and to refund any estimated 
antidumping duties collected for all unliquidated entries of corrosion-
resistant carbon steel flat products, with the dimensions and chemical 
composition of coatings indicated above, not subject to final results 
of administrative review as of the date of publication in the Federal 
Register of the final results of this changed circumstances review in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.222. We will also instruct Customs to pay 
interest on such refunds in accordance with section 778 of the Act. The 
current requirement for a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties 
on corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products, with the dimensions 
and coatings indicated above, will continue unless and until we publish 
a final determination to revoke in part.

Public Comment

    Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results. Parties who submit argument in this proceeding are requested 
to submit with the argument (1) a statement of the issue, and (2) a 
brief summary of the argument. Parties to the proceedings may request a 
hearing within 14 days of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will 
be held no later than 2 days after the deadline for the submission of 
rebuttal briefs, or the first workday thereafter. Case briefs may be 
submitted by interested parties not later than 14 days after the date 
of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to the issues 
raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than 5 days after the 
deadline for submission of case briefs. All written comments shall be 
submitted in accordance with 19 CFR 351.303 and shall be served on all 
interested parties on the Department's service list in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.303. Persons interested in attending the hearing should 
contact the Department for the date and time of the hearing. The 
Department will publish the final results of this changed circumstances 
review, including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any 
written comments.
    This notice is published in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.222.

    Dated: August 30, 1999.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-23209 Filed 9-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P