[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48581-48584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23215]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-485-803]


Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Romania: 
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.

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SUMMARY: In response to a request from one respondent and the 
petitioners, the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting 
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain cut-
to-length carbon steel plate from Romania. This review covers one 
manufacturer/exporter of the subject merchandise. The period of review 
(POR) is August 1, 1997 through July 31, 1998.
    We preliminarily determine that sales have been made below normal 
value (NV). If these preliminary results are adopted in our final 
results of administrative review, we will instruct the U.S. Customs 
Service to assess antidumping duties equal to the difference between 
export price (EP) and NV.
    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.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 7, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Baker or Robert James, 
Enforcement Group III--Office 8, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone (202) 482-
2924 (Baker), (202) 482-5222 (James).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute

    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 references to the Department's regulations are 
to Part 351 of 19 CFR (1998).

Background

    The Department published an antidumping duty order on certain cut-
to-length carbon steel plate from Romania on August 19, 1993 (58 FR 
44167). The Department published a notice of ``Opportunity to Request 
an Administrative Review'' of the antidumping duty order for the 1997/
98 review period on August 11, 1998 (63 FR 42821). On August 31, 1998, 
respondents Windmill International

[[Page 48582]]

PTE Ltd. of Singapore, Windmill International Romania Branch, and 
Windmill International Ltd. (USA), (collectively ``Windmill'') 
requested that the Department conduct an administrative review. On 
August 31, 1998, we also received a request for an administrative 
review from Bethlehem Steel Corporation and U.S. Steel Group, a Unit of 
USX Corporation (petitioners). We published a notice of initiation of 
the review on September 29, 1998 (63 FR 51893).
    Under the Act, the Department may extend the deadline for 
completion of administrative reviews if it determines that it is not 
practicable to complete the review within the statutory time limit of 
365 days. On March 26, 1999, the Department extended the time limit for 
the preliminary results in this case. See Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel 
Plate from Romania; Extension of Time Limits for Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 64 FR 14689.
    The Department is conducting this administrative review in 
accordance with section 751(a) of the Act.

Scope of the Review

    The products covered in this review include hot-rolled carbon steel 
universal mill plates (i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces 
or in a closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 millimeters but not 
exceeding 1,250 millimeters and of a thickness of not less than 4 
millimeters, not in coil and without patterns in relief), of 
rectangular shape, neither clad, plated nor coated with metal, whether 
or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic 
substances; and certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat-rolled products in 
straight lengths, of rectangular shape, hot rolled, neither clad, 
plated, nor coated with metal, whether or not painted, varnished, or 
coated with plastics or other nonmetallic substances, 4.75 millimeters 
or more in thickness and of a width which exceeds 150 millimeters and 
measures at least twice the thickness, as currently classifiable in the 
HTS under item numbers 7208.31.0000, 7208.32.0000, 7208.33.1000, 
7208.33.5000, 7208.41.0000, 7208.42.0000, 7208.43.0000, 7208.90.0000, 
7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 7211.11.0000, 7211.12.0000, 7211.21.0000, 
7211.22.0045, 7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, and 
7212.50.0000. Included in this review are flat-rolled products of 
nonrectangular 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 from this review is grade X-
70 plate.
    These HTS item numbers are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes. The written description remains dispositive.
    The POR is August 1, 1997 through July 31, 1998. This review covers 
sales of certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate by Windmill 
International PTE Ltd. of Singapore (Windmill Singapore.) Windmill's 
supplier during the POR was the unaffiliated producer C.S. Sidex S.A 
(Sidex).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified information 
provided by the respondent using standard verification procedures, 
including on-site inspection of the manufacturer's facilities, the 
examination of relevant sales and financial records, and selection of 
original documentation containing relevant information. Our 
verification results are outlined in the public version of the 
Department's Verification of the Information Submitted by Windmill 
International PTE Ltd., Windmill International Romania Branch, and 
Windmill USA in the 1997-98 Administrative Review of the Antidumping 
Duty Order on Cut-to Length Carbon Steel Plate from Romania Report 
(Verification Report) dated August 31, 1999, on file in room B-099 of 
the Department of Commerce Building.

Separate Rates Determination

    Windmill International Romania Branch (Windmill Romania) is a 
liaison office wholly-owned by Windmill Singapore. It is registered by 
the Romanian government as a branch office of Windmill Singapore, not 
authorized to trade for its own account, but only to support Windmill 
Singapore's foreign trade activities. It does not keep its own 
financial records, and has no financial statements or chart of 
accounts. All of its costs are included in Windmill Singapore's 
accounting records. Furthermore, it makes its sales through Windmill 
Singapore. Moreover, there is no Romanian ownership of Windmill 
Romania. Therefore, we determine that no separate rates analysis is 
required for this third-country reseller because we consider the 
Singapore-based parent to be the respondent exporter in the proceeding 
and because it is beyond the jurisdiction of the Romanian government. 
See, e.g., Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: 
Porcelain on Steel Cookware from the People's Republic of China; 63 FR 
27262, 27263 (May 18, 1998) and Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Disposable Pocket Lighters from the People's Republic 
of China; 60 FR 22359, 22361 (May 5, 1995) and Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Melamine Institutional Dinnerware 
Products from the People's Republic of China; 62 FR 1708, 1709 (January 
13, 1997).

Export Price

    We calculated the price of United States sales based on EP, in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. We based EP on the price 
from Windmill to its unaffiliated U.S. customer, because Sidex sold the 
merchandise to Windmill without knowing that the ultimate destination 
of the merchandise was the United States.
    We calculated EP based on packed prices to unaffiliated customers 
in the United States. Where appropriate, we made deductions from the 
starting price for foreign inland freight, international freight, 
marine insurance, shipment inspection fee, other U.S. transportation 
expenses, and U.S. Customs Service duty. The foregoing expenses were 
all reported by Windmill in its questionnaire response. We also made an 
adjustment for four additional expenses not reported by Windmill that 
we found at the verification. These four expenses were: (1) A bank fee 
and ``miscellaneous expense'' associated with the foreign inland 
freight; (2) payment of a bank fee associated with the shipment 
inspection; (3) an expense recorded in a miscellaneous account; and (4) 
the purchase of a Customs bond for exporting the merchandise to the 
United States. For a description of these four expenses, see the 
Verification Report, at pages 22, 26, 28, and 29, respectively.
    Windmill reported the invoice date (as kept in the ordinary course 
of business) as the date of sale. However, that invoice date was after 
the date of shipment and the contract date, and we found no evidence 
suggesting that the terms of sale were altered between the contract 
date and the invoice date. Therefore, we used the contract date as the 
date of sale because the terms of sale did not change after that date.

Normal Value

    For merchandise exported from an NME country, section 773(c)(1) of 
the Act provides that the Department shall determine normal value (NV) 
using a factors of production method if (1) the merchandise is exported 
from an NME and (2) available information does not permit the 
calculation of NV using

[[Page 48583]]

home market or third-country prices under section 773(a) of the Act. 
The Department has treated Romania as an NME country in all previous 
antidumping cases. In accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, 
any determination that a foreign country is an NME shall remain in 
effect until revoked by the administering authority. None of the 
parties to this proceeding has contested such treatment in this review. 
Moreover, parties to this proceeding have not argued that the Romanian 
steel industry is a market-oriented industry. Consequently, we have no 
basis to determine that the available information would permit the 
calculation of NV using Romanian prices or costs. Therefore, we 
calculated NV based on factors of production in accordance with 
sections 773(c)(3) and (4) of the Act and section 351.408(c) of our 
regulations.
    Under the factors of production method, we are required to value 
the NME producer's inputs in a comparable market economy country that 
is a significant producer of comparable merchandise. We determined that 
Indonesia is at a level of economic development comparable to that of 
Romania. We also found that Indonesia is a significant producer of cut-
to-length carbon steel plate. Therefore, for this review, we have used 
Indonesian prices to value the factors of production except where the 
factor was purchased from a market economy supplier and paid for in a 
market economy currency. For a further discussion of the Department's 
selection of a surrogate country, see the memorandum from Jeff May to 
Richard O. Weible: ``Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate (``CLCSP'') from 
Romania: Nonmarket Economy Status and Surrogate Country Selection,'' 
dated March 1, 1999 and the memorandum from Jeff May to Richard O. 
Weible: ``Your Request for Additional Surrogate Countries in the 
Administrative Review of Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate (``CLCSP'') 
from Romania'' dated April 27, 1999.
    We selected, where possible, publicly available values from 
Indonesia which were: (1) average non-export values; (2) representative 
of a range of prices within the POR or most contemporaneous with the 
POR; (3) product specific; and (4) tax-exclusive. We valued the factors 
of production as follows:
     Raw Materials. We valued low volatile coking coal, medium 
volatile coking coal, high volatile coking coal, lime, limestone, iron 
ore fines, iron ore lumps, iron ore pellets, iron ore concentrate, 
dolomite, and coke fines using U.N. Commodity Trade Statistics. We did 
not use the barter transactions provided by Windmill to value medium 
volatile coking coal, high volatile coking coal, iron ore fines, and 
iron ore lumps because Windmill could not specifically quantify the 
value of the items that it bartered for those production inputs. (See 
Verification Report at pages 18-20.)
     Labor. Section 351.408(c)(3) of our regulations requires 
the use of a regression-based wage rate. We have used the regression-
based wage rate listed for Romania on Import Administration's internet 
website at www.ita.doc.gov/import__admin/records/wages. The source for 
the wage rate data used in the regression analysis is ``Expected Wages 
of Selected NME Countries--1997 Income Data,'' 1998 Year Book of Income 
Data, International Labor Office, (Geneva: 1998) Chapter 5B: Wages in 
Manufacturing.
     Energy. We valued electricity and natural gas using the 
International Energy Agency's Asia Electric Study (1997).
     Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (SG&A), 
Overhead, and Profit. We calculated SG&A, overhead, and profit based on 
information obtained from the 1997 annual report of PT Krakatau Steel, 
the largest integrated steel producer in Indonesia. From this statement 
we were able to calculate factory overhead as a percentage of the total 
cost of manufacturing, SG&A as a percentage of the total cost of 
manufacturing, and the profit rate as a percentage of the cost of 
manufacturing plus SG&A.
    For a complete description of the factor values used, see the 
preliminary results analysis memorandum dated August 31, 1999, a public 
version of which is available in the public file.
    We also made an offset, where appropriate, for byproducts sold. 
However, we denied Windmill's claimed offset adjustments for sinterized 
dolomite, recovered lime, lime powder, carbon dioxide, raw water, and 
industrial water because we found at the verification that these 
products were not byproducts of the production process of subject 
merchandise, but were products held in inventory for use in the 
production process. Thus, the sales of such products constituted sales 
of excess inventory, and not sales of byproducts.

Currency Conversion

    We made currency conversions in accordance with Section 773A(a) of 
the Act. For currency conversions involving the Indonesian rupiah, we 
used exchange rates published in the International Monetary Fund in 
International Financial Statistics. For all other conversions, we used 
daily exchange rates published by the Federal Reserve.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that a 
weighted-average dumping margin of 20.62 percent exists for Windmill 
for the period August 1, 1997 through July 31, 1998.
    Within five days of the date of publication of this notice, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224, the Department will disclose its 
calculations. Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days 
of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 44 days after 
the date of publication, or the first working day thereafter. 
Interested parties may submit written comments (case briefs) no later 
than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal comments (rebuttal 
briefs), which must be limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may 
be filed no later than 37 days after the date of publication of this 
notice. Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
proceeding are requested to submit with each argument (1) a statement 
of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument, not to exceed 
five pages in length. The Department will publish a notice of the final 
results of the administrative review, which will include the results of 
its analysis of issues raised by the parties, within 120 days of 
publication of these preliminary results.

Assessment and Cash Deposit

    The Department shall determine, and the U.S. Customs Service shall 
assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. Upon completion 
of this review, the Department will issue appraisement instructions 
directly to the U.S. Customs Service. The final results of this review 
shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries 
covered by this review and for future deposits of estimated duties. We 
will instruct the Customs Service to assess antidumping duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review if any assessment rate 
calculated in the final results of this review is above de minimis 
(i.e., at or above 0.5 percent) (see 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2)). For 
assessment purposes, if applicable, we intend to calculate an importer-
specific assessment rate by aggregating the dumping margins calculated 
for all U.S. sales and dividing by the total quantity sold.
    Furthermore, the following cash deposit requirements will be 
effective upon publication of the final results of this administrative 
review for all shipments of the subject merchandise

[[Page 48584]]

entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
publication date, as provided for by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: 
(1) the cash deposit rate for Windmill will be the rate established in 
the final results of this administrative review; (2) for all other 
Romanian exporters, the cash deposit rate will be the Romania-wide rate 
made effective by the final determination in the less-than-fair-value 
investigation (see Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Romania, 58 FR 
37209 (July 9, 1993)); (3) for non-Romanian exporters of subject 
merchandise from Romania, the cash deposit rate will be the rate 
applicable to the Romanian supplier of that exporter.
    These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect 
until publication of the final results of the next administrative 
review.
    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) 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.

    Dataed: August 31, 1999.
Richard W. Moreland,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-23215 Filed 9-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P