[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75921-75923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-30955]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-823-805]


Suspension Agreement on Silicomanganese from Ukraine; Preliminary 
Results of Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of the administrative review of 
the suspension agreement on silicomanganese from Ukraine.

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SUMMARY: In response to a request from Eramet Marietta Inc. 
(petitioner), the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is 
conducting an administrative review of the suspension agreement on 
silicomanganese from Ukraine (``the Agreement'') for the period 
November 1, 1998 through October 31, 1999, to review the current status 
of, and compliance with, the Agreement. For the reasons stated in this 
notice, the Department preliminarily determines that the Government of 
Ukraine (``the GOU'') is not in compliance with the Agreement. The 
preliminary results are listed in the section titled ``Preliminary 
Results of Review,'' infra. Interested parties are invited to comment 
on these preliminary results. Parties who submit comments are requested 
to submit with the argument: (1) A statement of the issues, and (2) a 
brief summary of the arguments.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 5, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Kemp or Carrie Blozy, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-4037 or (202) 482-0165, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 (``Act'') by the 
Uruguay Round Agreements Act (``URAA''). In addition, unless otherwise 
indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are to 19 CFR 
Part 351 (2000).

Background

    On October 31, 1994, the Department signed an agreement with the 
Government of Ukraine which suspended the antidumping investigation on 
silicomanganese from Ukraine. See Silicomanganese from Ukraine; 
Suspension of Investigation, 59 FR 60951 (November 29, 1994). In 
accordance with section 734(g) of the Act, on December 6, 1994, the 
Department published its final determination of sales at less than fair 
value in this case. See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Silicomanganese From Ukraine, 59 FR 62711 (December 6, 
1994).
    On November 30, 1999, petitioner submitted a request for an 
administrative review pursuant to the notice of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation; 
Opportunity to Request Administrative Review, 64 FR 62167 (November 16, 
1999). On December 28, 1999, the Department initiated a review of the 
Agreement. See Notice of Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Administrative Reviews (``Initiation Notice''), 64 FR 72644 
(December 28, 1999).
    On August 4, 2000, the Department extended the time limit for the 
preliminary results of review by 120 days. See Notice of Extension of 
Time

[[Page 75922]]

Limits for the Preliminary Results of Administrative Review of the 
Suspension Agreement on Silicomanganese From Ukraine, 65 FR 47959 
(August 4, 2000). On October 6, 2000, petitioner submitted a letter to 
the Department requesting that the Department determine within the 
administrative review that the Government of Ukraine has violated the 
Agreement. On November 14, 2000, the Department placed on the record of 
this administrative review a copy of the public version of all sales 
reports filed by the GOU which cover the reporting periods during the 
period of review.
    The Department is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1) of the Act.

Scope of Review

    The merchandise covered by this agreement is silicomanganese. 
Silicomanganese, which is sometimes called ferrosilicon manganese, is a 
ferroalloy composed principally of manganese, silicon, and iron, and 
normally containing much smaller proportions of minor elements, such as 
carbon, phosphorous and sulfur. Silicomanganese generally contains by 
weight not less than 4 percent iron, more than 30 percent manganese, 
more than 8 percent silicon and not more than 3 percent phosphorous. 
All compositions, forms and sizes of silicomanganese are included 
within the scope of this agreement, including silicomanganese slag, 
fines and briquettes. Silicomanganese is used primarily in steel 
production as a source of both silicon and manganese. This agreement 
covers all silicomanganese, regardless of its tariff classification. 
Most silicomanganese is currently classifiable under subheading 
7202.30.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(``HTS''). Some silicomanganese may also currently be classifiable 
under HTS subheading 7202.99.5040. Although the HTS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description 
of the scope is dispositive.

Period of Review

    The period of review (``POR'') is November 1, 1998 through October 
31, 1999.

Preliminary Results of Review

    Section 751(a)(1)(C) of the Act specifies that the Department shall 
``review the current status of, and compliance with, any agreement by 
reason of which an investigation was suspended.* * *'' In this case the 
Department and the GOU signed the Agreement suspending the antidumping 
duty investigation on silicomanganese from Ukraine on October 31, 1994. 
In order to effectively restrict the volume of exports of 
silicomanganese from Ukraine to the United States, the Agreement 
provides for the implementation by the GOU of certain provisions 
(Article VII). Moreover, Article IX of the Agreement (Monitoring) 
requires the GOU to ``provide to the Department such information as is 
necessary and appropriate to monitor the implementation of and 
compliance with the terms of {the} Agreement.'' One of the tools the 
Department uses to monitor the Agreement is sales reports filed by the 
GOU. Specifically, the GOU is required to collect and provide to the 
Department sales data on silicomanganese from Ukraine to the United 
States, in the home market, and to countries other than the United 
States in the format specified in Appendix B. Although the Agreement 
specifies that these sales reports are to be submitted to the 
Department on a semi-annual basis, subsequent to the signing of the 
Agreement the GOU agreed to submit the sales reports on a quarterly 
basis. See Paris Minutes, Memorandum of Consultations Regarding 
Administration of the Silicomanganese Suspension Agreement, (May 28, 
1998), which are attached as exhibit 1 to petitioner's October 6, 2000 
letter.
    For the first three reporting periods of the POR, the GOU timely 
submitted their sales reports; however, to date, the GOU has not filed 
a sales report for the fourth reporting period of the POR.\1\ In their 
October 6, 2000 letter, which was filed on the record of this 
administrative review, petitioner, arguing that the GOU has violated 
the Agreement and that the Agreement can no longer be effectively 
monitored, calls for the Department to cancel the Agreement, issue the 
antidumping duty order and take the other actions required by law when 
a suspension agreement has been violated. Specifically, as evidence 
that the GOU has violated the Agreement, petitioner cites the failure 
by the GOU to file a sales report for the last four reporting periods 
\2\ as well as other alleged sales reporting and implementation 
violations, which were alleged in a February 3, 1998 letter to the 
Department, a copy of which is attached as an exhibit to the October 6, 
2000 letter.
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    \1\ The report covering the period August 1, 1999 to October 31, 
1999 was due on December 1, 1999.
    \2\ This includes three reporting periods outside of the POR.
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    It is indisputable that the GOU failed to file a required sales 
report for the last period of the POR. Although parties may dispute 
whether this omission alone constitutes non-compliance with the 
Agreement, absent complete and verifiable information on sales of 
silicomanganese from Ukraine during the POR, the Department cannot 
conclusively determine whether the GOU has complied with the provisions 
of the Agreement restricting the price and volume of direct and 
indirect exports of silicomanganese from Ukraine to the United States 
over the POR. Therefore, we preliminarily determine that the GOU has 
not been in compliance with the Agreement during the POR. Nevertheless, 
at this time we are not reaching a determination on petitioner's 
allegation that the Agreement has been violated. As stated at the 
beginning of this section, the purpose of this administrative review is 
to ``review the current status of, and compliance with'' the Agreement. 
Consequently, within this administrative review, the Department will 
determine the status of the Agreement and whether the GOU was in 
compliance with the Agreement over the POR. If the Department makes a 
final determination of non-compliance, it will then be necessary to 
determine whether this non-compliance rises to the level of a violation 
as defined in Article XII of the Agreement.
    Therefore, to provide all interested parties an opportunity to 
address our preliminary finding of non-compliance and whether such non-
compliance constitutes a violation, we are extending the deadline for 
submission of factual information, other than the reports required 
under the Agreement, until 30 days after publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register.

Public Comment

    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing, or to participate 
if one is requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 
1870, within 60 days of the date of publication of this notice. 
Requests should contain: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone 
number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to 
be discussed. At the hearing, each party may make an affirmative 
presentation only on issues raised in that party's case brief, and may 
make rebuttal presentations only on arguments included in that party's 
rebuttal brief. See 19 C.F.R. 351.310(c).
    Any hearing, if requested, will be held 67 days after the date of 
publication or the first business day thereafter. Case

[[Page 75923]]

briefs from interested parties may be submitted not later than 60 days 
after publication. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case 
briefs, may be filed not later than five days after the date of filing 
of case briefs. If this review proceeds normally, the Department will 
publish the final results of this administrative review, including its 
analysis of issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs, not later 
than 120 days after the date of publication of this notice.
    This notice is published in accordance with sections 751(a) and 
777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: November 29, 2000.
Troy H. Cribb,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-30955 Filed 12-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P