[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13717-13718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-6264]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-833]


Stainless Steel Bar From Japan: Final Results of Antidumping 
Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of final results of antidumping administrative review.

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SUMMARY: On November 8, 1999, the Department of Commerce published the 
preliminary results of its administrative review of the antidumping 
duty order on stainless steel bar from Japan. This review covers one 
producer/exporter, Aichi Steel Corporation, during the period February 
1, 1998, through January 31, 1999.
    Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made changes in 
the margin calculations. Therefore the final results differ from the 
preliminary results. The final weighted-average dumping margin is 
listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of the Review.''

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 14, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Minoo Hatten or Robin Gray, Office 3 
AD/CVD Enforcement, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-1690 
or (202) 482-4023, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The 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 citations to the Department of Commerce's (the 
Department's) regulations are to 19 CFR part 351 (1998).

Background

    On November 9, 1999, the Department published in the Federal 
Register the preliminary results of administrative review of the 
antidumping duty order on stainless steel bar from Japan. Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Stainless Steel Bar 
from Japan, 64 FR 60788 (preliminary results). Al Tech Specialty Steel 
Corp., Dunkirk, NY; Carpenter Technology Corp., Reading, PA; Republic 
Engineered Steels, Inc., Massillon, OH; Slater Steels Corp., Fort 
Wayne, IN; Talley Metals Technology, Inc., Hartsville, SC; and the 
United Steel Workers of America, AFL-CIO/CLC, collectively petitioners 
in the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation (hereafter 
petitioners), submitted their case brief on December 8, 1999. Aichi 
Steel Corporation (Aichi), respondent in this review, also submitted 
its case brief on December 8, 1999. The petitioners and Aichi submitted 
rebuttal briefs on December 13, 1999. The Department has conducted this 
administrative review in accordance with section 751 of the Act.

Scope of Review

    The merchandise covered by this review is stainless steel bar 
(SSB). For purposes of this review, the term ``stainless steel bar'' 
means articles of stainless steel in straight lengths that have been 
either hot-rolled, forged, turned, cold-drawn, cold-rolled or otherwise 
cold-finished, or ground, having a uniform solid cross section along 
their whole length in the shape of circles, segments of circles, ovals, 
rectangles (including squares), triangles, hexagons, octagons or other 
convex polygons. SSB includes cold-finished SSBs that are turned or 
ground in straight lengths, whether produced from hot-rolled bar or 
from straightened and cut rod or wire, and reinforcing bars that have 
indentations, ribs, grooves, or other deformations produced during the 
rolling process.
    Except as specified above, the term does not include stainless 
steel semi-finished products, cut-length flat-rolled products (i.e., 
cut-length rolled products which if less than 4.75 mm in thickness have 
a width measuring at least 10 times the thickness or if 4.75 mm or more 
in thickness having a width which exceeds 150 mm and measures at least 
twice the thickness), wire (i.e., cold-formed products in coils, of any 
uniform solid cross section along their whole length, which do not 
conform to the definition of flat-rolled products), and angles, shapes 
and sections.
    The SSB subject to this order is currently classifiable under 
subheadings 7222.10.0005, 7222.10.0050, 7222.20.0005, 7222.20.0045, 
7222.20.0075, and 7222.30.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope 
of this order is dispositive.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by interested 
parties to this administrative review are addressed in the ``Issues and 
Decision Memorandum'' (Decision Memo) from Richard W. Moreland, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Import Administration, to Robert S. La Russa, 
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, dated March 6, 2000, 
which is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference into this notice. 
A list of the issues which parties have raised and to which we have 
responded, all of which are in the Decision Memo, is attached to this 
notice as an Appendix. Parties can find a complete discussion of all 
issues raised in this review and the corresponding recommendations in 
this public memorandum which is on file in B-099. In addition, a 
complete version of the Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on 
the Web at www.ita.doc.gov/import__admin/records/frn/. The paper copy 
and electronic version of the Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.

Sales Below Cost in the Home Market

    The Department disregarded Aichi's home-market below-cost sales 
which failed the cost test in these final results of review.

[[Page 13718]]

Changes Since the Preliminary Results

    Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made certain 
changes in the margin calculations. We have also corrected certain 
programming and clerical errors in our preliminary results, where 
applicable. We discuss any alleged programming or clerical errors with 
which we do not agree in the relevant sections of the ``Decision 
Memorandum,'' accessible in B-099 and on the Web at www.ita.doc.gov/
import__admin/records/frn/.

Final Results of Review

    As a result of our analysis of the comments received, we determine 
a final weighted-average margin of 1.24 percent for Aichi for the 
period February 1, 1998, through January 31, 1999.
    The Customs Service will assess antidumping duties on all 
appropriate entries. The Department will issue appraisement 
instructions directly to the Customs Service. We have calculated an 
exporter/customer-specific assessment value for subject merchandise 
based on the ratio of the total amount of antidumping duties calculated 
for the examined sales to the total quantity sold.

Cash-Deposit Requirements

    The following deposit requirement shall be effective upon 
publication of this notice of final results of review for all shipments 
of SSB from Japan, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the publication date, as provided for by 
section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) The cash-deposit rate for Aichi Steel 
Corporation will be 1.24 percent; (2) for previously investigated or 
reviewed companies not listed above, the cash-deposit rate will 
continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recent 
period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this or any 
previous reviews or the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV) 
investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash-deposit rate will be 
the rate established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of 
the merchandise; and (4) if neither the exporter nor the manufacturer 
is a firm covered in this or any previous review, the cash-deposit rate 
will continue to be 61.47 percent, the ``all-others'' rate established 
in the LTFV investigation (59 FR 66930, December 28, 1994).
    The deposit requirements shall remain in effect until publication 
of the final results of the next administrative review.
    This notice serves as a final 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 notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely notification of return/
destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order 
is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the 
terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
    We are issuing and publishing this determination in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: March 7, 2000.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix--List of Issues

1. U.S. Date of Sale
2. Model Match
3. Level of Trade
4. Duty Drawback
5. U.S. Credit Expenses
6. Home Market Credit Expense
7. Cost of Production and Constructed Value
    A. Losses on Scrap Inventory
    B. Understatement of Costs
    C. General, Selling and Administrative Expenses
    D. Interest Expense
[FR Doc. 00-6264 Filed 3-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P