[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 135 (Thursday, July 13, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43290-43292]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17760]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-803]


Notice of Final Results and Partial Recission of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Reviews: Heavy Forged Hand Tools From the People's 
Republic of China

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

ACTION: Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Reviews.

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SUMMARY: On March 8, 2000, the Department of Commerce (``the 
Department'') published the preliminary results of the administrative 
reviews of the antidumping duty orders on heavy forged hand tools 
(``HFHTs'') from the People's Republic of China (65 FR 12202). The 
reviews cover five manufacturer/exporters, Fujian Machinery & Equipment 
Import & Export Corporation (``FMEC''), Liaoning Machinery Import & 
Export Corporation (``LMC''), Shandong Machinery Import & Export 
Corporation (``SMC''), Shandong Huarong General Group Corporation 
(``Shandong Huarong''), and Tianjin Machinery Import & Export 
Corporation (``TMC''). The period of review (``POR'') is February 1, 
1998 through January 31, 1999.
    The final weighted-average dumping margins for the reviewed firms 
are listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of the 
Reviews.'' The final margins differ from those published in the 
preliminary results due to changes that we made since the preliminary 
results. For details regarding these changes, see the section of the 
notice entitled ``Changes Since the Preliminary Results of the 
Reviews.''

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 13, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lyman Armstrong or James Terpstra, AD/
CVD Enforcement Group II, Office IV, Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone 
(202) 482-3601 or (202) 482-3965 respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute

    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 (``URAA''). In addition, unless 
otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are 
to the current regulations at 19 CFR part 351 (1998).

Background

    Since the publication of the preliminary results, the following 
events have occurred. The Department issued supplemental questionnaires 
to TMC, LMC, and Shandong Huarong on March 9, 2000, and received 
responses to those questionnaires on March 17, 2000, and March 20, 
2000. On March 28, 2000, and April 3, 2000, the respondents submitted 
publicly available information and comments regarding factor valuation. 
In response to the Department's invitation to comment on the 
preliminary results of these reviews, the respondents filed case briefs 
on April 10, 2000, and the petitioner filed a rebuttal brief on April 
14, 2000. The respondents requested a public hearing on March 28, 2000 
and a public hearing was held on April 19, 2000.
    The Department has conducted these administrative reviews in 
accordance with section 751 of the Act.

Partial Recission

    At the preliminary results of these reviews, we preliminarily 
rescinded the reviews of Shandong Huarong with respect to hammers/
sledges and picks/mattocks, and for LMC with respect to hammers/
sledges, picks/mattocks, and axes/adzes classes because they had no 
shipments of products in these classes or kinds of merchandise. We have 
received no comment on this from interested parties, nor has any 
additional information been put on the record in these reviews. 
Therefore, we are making these rescissions final.

Scope of Reviews

    Imports covered by these reviews are shipments of HFHTs from the 
PRC comprising the following classes or kinds of merchandise: (1) 
Hammers and sledges with heads over 1.5 kg (3.33 pounds) (hammers/
sledges); (2) bars over 18 inches in length, track tools and wedges 
(bars/wedges); (3) picks/mattocks; and (4) axes/adzes.
    HFHTs include heads for drilling, hammers, sledges, axes, mauls, 
picks, and mattocks, which may or may not be painted, which may or may 
not be finished, or which may or may not be imported with handles; 
assorted bar products and track tools including wrecking bars, digging 
bars and tampers; and steel wood splitting wedges. HFHTs are 
manufactured through a hot forge operation in which steel is sheared to 
required length,

[[Page 43291]]

heated to forging temperature, and formed to final shape on forging 
equipment using dies specific to the desired product shape and size. 
Depending on the product, finishing operations may include shot-
blasting, grinding, polishing and painting, and the insertion of 
handles for handled products. HFHTs are currently classifiable under 
the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings: 8205.20.60, 
8205.59.30, 8201.30.00, and 8201.40.60. Specifically excluded are 
hammers and sledges with heads 1.5 kg (3.33 pounds) in weight and 
under, hoes and rakes, and bars 18 inches in length and under. Although 
the HTS subheadings are provided for convenience and Customs purposes, 
our written description of the scope of these orders is dispositive.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we conducted 
verifications of the information provided by the trading companies SMC 
and TMC, as well as the information provided by their suppliers (the 
manufacturers of the subject merchandise). We used standard 
verification procedures including on-site inspection of the 
manufacturers' facilities, examination of relevant sales and financial 
records, and selection of relevant source documentation as exhibits. 
Our verification findings are detailed in the memoranda dated February 
28, 2000, the public versions of which are on file in the Central 
Records Unit, Room B099 of the Main Commerce building (CRU-Public 
File). See SMC's Sales Verification Report (February 28, 2000), TMC's 
Sales Verification Report (February 28, 2000), SMC's Cost Verification 
Report (February 28, 2000), and TMC's Cost Verification Report 
(February 28, 2000).

Use of Facts Available

    At the preliminary results of these reviews, we applied adverse 
facts available to Shandong Huarong with respect to axes/adzes; and to 
the PRC-wide entity (including FMEC) with respect to hammers/sledges, 
picks/mattocks, bars/wedges, and axes/adzes because they failed to 
provide certain information that was requested by the Department. We 
have received no comment on this issue from interested parties, nor has 
any additional information been put on the record in these reviews. 
Therefore, for the reasons stated in the preliminary results, we are 
using adverse facts available for Shandong Huarong with respect to the 
axes/adzes class or kind of merchandise and for the PRC-wide entity for 
all classes or kinds of subject merchandise for these final results. 
See the ``Facts Available'' section of the Department's ``Issues and 
Decision Memorandum'' (``Decision Memorandum'') from Holly A. Kuga, 
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Important Administration, to Troy H. 
Cribb, Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, dated July 
6, 2000.
    For a discussion of our use of facts available in regards to SMC, 
see Comments 1, 2 and 3 of the Decision Memorandum.

Corroboration

    Section 776(c) of the Act provides that when the Department selects 
from among the facts otherwise available and relies on ``secondary 
information,'' the Department shall, to the extent practicable, 
corroborate that information from independent sources reasonably at the 
Department's disposal. The Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) 
(H.R. Doc. 103-316 (2nd Sess. 1994)) states that ``corroborate'' means 
to determine that the information used has probative value. See SAA at 
870. To corroborate secondary information, the Department will, to the 
extent practicable, examine the reliability and relevance of the 
information to be used. However, unlike other types of information, 
such as input costs or selling expenses, there are no independent 
sources for calculated dumping margins. The only source for margins is 
administrative determinations. Thus, in an administrative review, if 
the Department chooses as total adverse facts available a calculated 
dumping margin from a prior segment of the proceeding, it is not 
necessary to question the reliability of the margin for that time 
period. See Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel From Italy; Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 61 FR 36551, 36552 
(July 11, 1996). With respect to the relevance aspect of corroboration, 
however, the Department will consider information reasonably at its 
disposal to determine whether a margin continues to have relevance. 
Accordingly, for each class or kind of HFHTs for which we have resorted 
to adverse facts available, we have used the highest margin from this 
or any prior segment of the proceeding as the margin for these final 
results because there is no evidence on the record indicating that such 
margins are not appropriate as adverse facts available.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to 
these administrative reviews are addressed in the Decision Memorandum, 
which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues which 
parties have raised and to which we have responded, all of which are in 
the Decision Memorandum, is attached to this notice as an Appendix. 
Parties will find a complete discussion of all issues raised in these 
reviews and the corresponding recommendations in this public memorandum 
which is on file in the CRU-Public File. In addition a complete version 
of the Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the Web at 
www.ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/. The paper copy and electronic version of the 
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Results of the Reviews

    The Department, at verification, found certain errors in TMC's 
reported consumption of paint, electricity, packing materials, and 
coal. See TMC's Cost Verification Report (February 28, 2000) at 2. In 
addition, the Department made clerical errors in calculating the 
surrogate values for steel scrap, pallets, inland and ocean freight. 
The Department corrected for the errors in these final results of these 
administrative reviews. See TMC's Final Calculation Memorandum (July 
06, 2000); see also LMC's Final Calculation Memorandum (July 06, 2000); 
see also Shandong Huarong's Final Calculation Memorandum (July 06, 
2000). No other changes were made to our margin calculation programs.

Final Results of the Reviews

    We determine that the following percentage weighted-average margins 
exist for the period February 1, 1999, through January 31, 1999:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin
                   Manufacturer/exporter                      (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shandong Huarong General Group Corporation:
  Axes/Adzes...............................................        41.12
  Bars/Wedges..............................................        23.99
Liaoning Machinery Import & Export Corporation:
  Bars/Wedges..............................................        17.91
Tianjin Machinery Import & Export Corporation:
  Axes/Adzes...............................................        41.12
  Bars/Wedges..............................................        91.45
  Hammers/Sledges..........................................        32.51
  Picks/Mattocks...........................................         2.34
Shandong Machinery Import & Export Corporation:
  Axes/Adzes...............................................        41.12
  Bars/Wedges..............................................        91.45
  Hammers/Sledges..........................................        32.51
  Picks/Mattocks...........................................        98.77
PRC-wide rates:
  Axes/Adzes...............................................        41.12

[[Page 43292]]

 
  Bars/Wedges..............................................        91.45
  Hammers/Sledges..........................................        32.51
  Picks/Mattocks...........................................        98.77
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department shall determine, and Customs shall assess, 
antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. In accordance with 19 
CFR 351.212(b), we have calculated an importer-specific duty assessment 
rate. With respect to both export price and constructed export price 
sales, we divided total dumping margins for the reviewed sales by the 
total entered value of those reviewed sales for each importer. We will 
direct Customs to assess the resulting percentage margins against the 
entered Customs values for the subject merchandise on each of that 
importer's entries under the order during the review period.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of this notice of final results of administrative reviews 
for all shipments of HFHTs from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication, as 
provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rates 
for the reviewed companies will be the rates shown above; (2) for 
companies previously found to be entitled to a company-specific rate 
and for which no review was requested, the cash deposit rates will 
continue to be the company-specific rates published for the most recent 
period reviewed; (3) for all other PRC exporters of subject 
merchandise, the cash deposit rates will be the PRC country-wide rate 
indicated above; and (4) the cash deposit rate for non-PRC exporters of 
subject merchandise from the PRC will be the rates applicable to the 
PRC supplier of that exporter. These deposit requirements shall remain 
in effect until publication of the final results of the next 
administrative reviews.
    This notice also 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 doubled antidumping duties.
    This notice also serves as the only reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (``APOs'') of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under an APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305 or conversion 
to judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply 
with the regulations and terms of an APO is a violation which is 
subject to sanction.
    We are issuing and publishing these determinations and this notice 
in accordance with sections section 751(a)(1) and 771(i) of the Act.

    Dated: July 6, 2000.
Troy H. Cribb,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix--Issues in Decision Memorandum Comments and Responses

1. Whether Shandong Machinery Import & Export Company (``SMC'') 
Failed Verification for Hammers/Sledges
2. Whether the Application of Adverse Facts Available is Warranted 
for SMC's Sales of Hammers/Sledges
3. Whether the Application of Adverse Facts Available is Warranted 
for SMC's Axes/Adzes, Picks/Mattocks, and Bars/Wedges
4. Factory A's Unreported Factors of Production: Resin and Tape
5. Calculation of Hammer Weight Loss for SMC
6. Surrogate Value for Steel Bar
7. Surrogate Value for Steel Billet
8. Surrogate Value for Steel Scrap
9. Surrogate Value for Pallets
10. Truck Freight
11. The ``Sigma'' Rule/Inland Freight
12. Ocean Freight Rate
13. Tianjin Machinery Import & Export Corporation (``TMC'') 
Verification and Adjustment Issues
14. Preliminary Adjustments Noted in the Calculation Memorandums

[FR Doc. 00-17760 Filed 7-12-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P