[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 200 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61142-61143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26520]



[[Page 61142]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-428-827]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Stainless Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings From Germany

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 16, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carrie Blozy, Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-0165.

The 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 
regulations at 19 CFR part 351 (April 1999).

Final Determination

    We determine that stainless steel butt-weld pipe fittings from 
Germany are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at 
less than fair value (``LTFV''), as provided in section 733 of the Act. 
The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the ``Continuation 
of Suspension of Liquidation'' section of this notice.

Case History

    The preliminary determination in this investigation was published 
on August 2, 2000. See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings from 
Germany, 65 FR 47384 (August 2, 2000) (``Preliminary Determination''). 
No interested parties have provided comments on the Preliminary 
Determination and no request for a hearing has been received by the 
Department.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is October 1, 1998 through September 
30, 1999.

Scope of Investigation

    For purposes of this investigation, the product covered is certain 
stainless steel butt-weld pipe fittings. Certain stainless steel butt-
weld pipe fittings are under 14 inches in outside diameter (based on 
nominal pipe size), whether finished or unfinished. The product 
encompasses all grades of stainless steel and ``commodity'' and 
``specialty'' fittings. Specifically excluded from the definition are 
threaded, grooved, and bolted fittings, and fittings made from any 
material other than stainless steel.
    The fittings subject to this investigation are generally designated 
under specification ASTM A403/A403M, the standard specification for 
Wrought Austenitic Stainless Steel Piping Fittings, or its foreign 
equivalents (e.g., DIN or JIS specifications). This specification 
covers two general classes of fittings, WP and CR, of wrought 
austenitic stainless steel fittings of seamless and welded construction 
covered by the latest revision of ANSI B16.9, ANSI B16.11, and ANSI 
B16.28. Pipe fittings manufactured to specification ASTM A774, or its 
foreign equivalents, are also covered by this investigation.
    This investigation does not apply to cast fittings. Cast austenitic 
stainless steel pipe fittings are covered by specifications A351/A351M, 
A743/743M, and A744/A744M.
    The stainless steel butt-weld pipe fittings subject to this 
investigation are currently classifiable under subheading 7307.23.0000 
of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). 
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the written description of the scope of this investigation is 
dispositive.

Facts Available

    In the Preliminary Determination, the Department based the margins 
for Hage Fittings GmbH (``Hage Fittings'') and Nirobo 
Metalverarbeitungs GmbH (``Nirobo Metalverarbeitungs'') on facts 
otherwise available under sections 776(a)(2)(A) and (C) of the Act 
because Hage Fittings and Nirobo Metalverarbeitungs failed to respond 
to our questionnaires, thus significantly impeding the investigation, 
and because subsection 782(d) of the Act therefore did not apply. See 
Preliminary Determination at 65 FR 47385. Also, in the Preliminary 
Determination, the Department based the margin for Wilh. Schulz GmbH 
(``Schulz'') on facts otherwise available under sections 776(a)(2)(A) 
and (C) of the Act because the Department had no data on the record for 
Schulz upon which to base its margin calculation since the Department 
returned all of Schulz's business proprietary information at Schulz's 
request. Id.
    Section 776(b) of the Act provides that, in selecting from among 
the facts available, the Department may employ adverse inferences when 
an interested party has failed to cooperate by not acting to the best 
of its ability to comply with requests for information. See also 
``Statement of Administrative Action'' accompanying the URAA, H.R. Rep. 
No. 103-316, 870 (1994) (``SAA''). Based on the failure of Hage 
Fittings and Nirobo Metalverarbeitungs to respond to the Department's 
antidumping questionnaire and Schulz's subsequent withdrawal of its 
business proprietary data, we have determined that Hage Fittings, 
Nirobo Metalverarbeitungs, and Schulz have not acted to the best of 
their ability to comply with the Department's information requests.
    Therefore, pursuant to 776(b) of the Act, we used an adverse 
inference in selecting a margin from the facts available. As adverse 
facts available, the Department has applied a margin of 76.24 percent, 
the highest margin alleged in the petition. As discussed in the 
Preliminary Determination, the Department has, to the extent 
practicable, corroborated the information used as adverse facts 
available. Id., at 65 FR 47385-86. Since then, no interested parties 
have provided comments on the Preliminary Determination and no request 
for a hearing has been received by the Department. Therefore, we are 
continuing to use as adverse facts available the highest margin alleged 
by petitioners.

Critical Circumstances

    No comments were received regarding the Department's preliminary 
critical circumstances determination, and the Department has not made 
any changes to this determination. For the reasons given in the 
Preliminary Determination, the Department continues to find that 
critical circumstances exist with respect to stainless steel butt-weld 
pipe fittings imported from Hage Fittings, Nirobo Metalverarbeitungs, 
and Schulz, in accordance with section 733(e)(1) of the Act. Id., at 65 
FR 47386. As set forth in our Preliminary Determination, because the 
massive imports criterion necessary to find critical circumstances has 
not been met with respect to firms other than Hage Fittings, Nirobo 
Metalverarbeitungs, and Schulz, the Department continues to find, for 
the purposes of this final determination, that critical circumstances 
do not exist for imports of stainless steel butt-weld pipe fittings for 
the ``all others'' category in this case.

The All-Others Rate

    No interested parties have filed case briefs or rebuttal briefs on 
this issue.

[[Page 61143]]

Accordingly, the Department is continuing to base the all-others rate 
on a weighted-average of all the margins alleged in the petition. As a 
result, the all-others rate is 51.34 percent.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act for Hage 
Fittings, Nirobo Metalverarbeitungs and Schulz we are directing the 
Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of 
subject merchandise from Germany that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date 90 days prior date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. 
For all other companies, we are directing the Customs Service to 
continue suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise from 
Germany that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption 
on or after August 2, 2000 (the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register). We will instruct the Customs 
Service to require a cash deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the 
weighted-average amount by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. 
price, as indicated in the chart below. These suspension-of-liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice. The weighted-
average dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Weighted-
                                                               average
                   Exporter/manufacturer                        margin
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hage Fittings..............................................        76.24
Nirobo Metalverarbeitungs..................................        76.24
Schulz.....................................................        76.24
All Others.................................................        51.34
------------------------------------------------------------------------

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the 
International Trade Commission (``ITC'') of our determination. As our 
final determination is affirmative, the ITC will, within 45 days, 
determine whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten 
material injury to, the U.S. industry. If the ITC determines that 
material injury, or threat of material injury does not exist, the 
proceeding will be terminated and all securities posted will be 
refunded or canceled. If the ITC determines that such injury does 
exist, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order directing 
Customs officials to assess antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered for consumption on or after the effective 
date of the suspension of liquidation.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: October 10, 2000.
Troy H. Cribb,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-26520 Filed 10-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P