[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1592-1593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-631]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-201-802]


Gray Portland Cement and Clinker From Mexico: Notice of 
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Changed-Circumstances Review

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

ACTION: Notice of initiation of antidumping duty changed-circumstances 
review.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(b), Cementos de Chihuahua, 
S.A. de C.V., an interested party in this proceeding, requested a 
changed-circumstances review. In response to this request, the 
Department of Commerce is initiating a changed-circumstances review on 
gray portland cement and clinker from Mexico.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 11, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Copper or Davina Hashmi, Office 
3, AD/CVD Enforcement Group I, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0090 or (202) 482-5760, respectively.

The 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's (the 
Department's) regulations are to the regulations at 19 CFR Part 351 
(1998).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In its November 24, 1999 letter, Cementos de Chihuahua, S.A. de 
C.V. (CDC), requested that the Department conduct an expedited changed-
circumstances review pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Act. CDC 
states that, effective December 1, 1999, GCC Cementos, S.A. de C.V. 
(GCCC), will be the successor in interest to CDC due to a corporate 
reorganization. On December 13, 1999, the petitioners submitted a 
letter requesting that the Department reject CDC's request for an 
expedited review.

Scope of Review

    The products covered by this review include gray portland cement 
and clinker. Gray portland cement is a hydraulic cement and the primary 
component of concrete. Clinker, an intermediate material product 
produced when manufacturing cement, has no use other than of being 
ground into finished cement. Gray portland cement is currently 
classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) item number 
2523.29 and cement clinker is currently classifiable under number 
2523.10. Gray portland cement has also been entered under number 
2523.90 as ``other hydraulic cements.''
    The HTS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes only. Our written description remains dispositive as to the 
scope of the product coverage.

Initiation of Antidumping Duty Changed-Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Act, the Department will 
conduct a changed-circumstances review upon receipt of information 
concerning, or a request from an interested party of, an antidumping 
duty order which shows changed-circumstances sufficient to warrant a 
review of the order.
    In its request for a changed-circumstances review, CDC indicated 
that, effective December 1, 1999, GCCC will be the successor in 
interest to CDC due to a corporate reorganization. In accordance with 
section 751(b)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(b) and 351.221(b)(1), 
we are initiating a changed-circumstances review based upon the 
information contained in CDC's November 24, 1999, request for this 
review.
    CDC also requested that the Department expedite the review process 
by issuing preliminary results in conjunction with the notice of 
initiation. However, CDC's request for review was not accompanied by 
any documentation supporting CDC's description of its corporate 
reorganization. In making a successor-in-interest determination, the 
Department examines several factors including, but not limited to, the 
following changes: (1) Management; (2) production facilities; (3) 
supplier relationships; (4) customer base. See, e.g., Brass Sheet and 
Strip from Canada; Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 57 FR 20460 (May 13, 1992) (Canadian Brass). Although CDC 
states that the corporate reorganization meets the standards 
established in cases such as Canadian Brass, CDC has not provided any 
supporting documentation relevant to the factors described above. 
Furthermore, on December 13, 1999, the petitioners submitted a letter 
objecting to the initiation of an expedited changed-circumstances 
review on the grounds that the sole basis for CDC's request consists of 
unsupported statements. Based upon these considerations, we will seek 
additional information concerning CDC's corporate reorganization. 
Accordingly, we conclude that it would be inappropriate to expedite 
this action pursuant to 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii) by issuing preliminary 
results prior to receiving such information. Therefore, we are not 
expediting this changed-circumstances review and are not issuing 
preliminary results at this time.1
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    \1\ As the petitioners noted in their December 13 letter, the 
Department has rejected requests for expedited reviews previously 
under similar circumstances. See Certain Welded Stainless Steel Pipe 
from Korea; Initiation of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 62 FR 31789 (June 11, 1997); Certain Welded 
Stainless Steel Pipe from Taiwan; Initiation of Changed 
Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 62 FR 30567 
(June 4, 1997).
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    We will publish in the Federal Register a notice of preliminary 
results of antidumping duty changed-circumstances review, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4) and 351.221(c)(3)(i), which will set forth 
the factual and legal conclusions upon which our preliminary results 
are based and a description of any action proposed based on those 
results. The Department will issue its final results of review not 
later than 270 days after publication of this notice of initiation. All 
written comments must be submitted to the Department and served on all 
interested parties on the Department's service list in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.303.
    During the course of this changed-circumstances review, the current 
requirement for a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties on all 
subject merchandise, including the merchandise subject to this changed-

[[Page 1593]]

circumstances review, will continue unless and until it is modified 
pursuant to the final results of this changed-circumstances review.
    This notice is in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221.

    Dated: January 4, 2000.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-631 Filed 1-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P