[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1948-1950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-775]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

(A-588-806)


Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide From Japan: Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of antidumping duty 
administrative review.

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SUMMARY: Based on a request by a Japanese producer, Tosoh Corporation, 
the Department of Commerce is conducting an administrative review of 
the antidumping duty order on electrolytic manganese dioxide from 
Japan. This review covers imports of electrolytic manganese dioxide 
from one producer/exporter during the period of review, April 1, 1999, 
through December 31, 1999.
    We have preliminarily determined that sales by Tosoh Corporation 
have not been made below normal value. If these preliminary results are 
adopted in our final results of administrative review, we will instruct 
the Customs Service to liquidate without regard to antidumping duties 
all entries of electrolytic manganese dioxide from Tosoh Corporation 
during the period of review.
    We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary 
results.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 10, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karin Ryerson or Richard Rimlinger, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3174 or (202) 482-4477, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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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 19 CFR part 351 (2000).

Background

    On April 17, 1989, the Department published in the Federal Register 
(54 FR 15243) the antidumping duty order on electrolytic manganese 
dioxide (EMD) from Japan. On April 12, 2000, the Department published 
in the Federal Register a notice advising of the opportunity to request 
an administrative review of this order for the period April 1, 1999, 
through December 31, 1999 (65 FR 19736). Tosoh Corporation, a Japanese 
producer, requested an administrative review on April 27, 2000. In 
response to this request, the Department published a notice of 
initiation of administrative review on June 2, 2000, in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.213(b) (65 FR 35320. The Department is conducting this 
administrative review in accordance with section 751 of the Act.
    On April 20, 2000, the International Trade Commission (ITC), 
pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act, determined that revocation of 
the antidumping order on EMD from Japan would not be likely to lead to 
continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably 
foreseeable time. As a result of this determination the Department 
revoked the antidumping order on EMD from Japan. The Department 
published the revocation in the Federal Register on May 31, 2000, with 
an effective date of January 1, 2000 (65 FR 34661). Therefore, the 
period covered by this administrative review is April 1, 1999, through 
December 31, 1999, rather than April 1, 1999, through March 31, 2000.

Scope of Review

    Imports covered by this review are shipments of EMD from Japan. EMD 
is manganese dioxide (MnO2) that has been refined in an electrolysis 
process. The subject merchandise is an intermediate product used in the 
production of dry-cell batteries. EMD is sold in three physical forms, 
powder, chip or plate, and two grades, alkaline and zinc-chloride. EMD 
in all three forms and both grades is included in the scope of the 
order. This merchandise is currently classifiable under item number 
2820.10.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). The HTSUS number is provided for convenience and customs 
purposes. It is not determinative of the products subject to the order. 
The written product description remains dispositive.

Constructed Export Price

    In calculating the price to the United States, we used constructed 
export price (CEP) as defined in section 772(b) of the Act because 
Tosoh Corporation makes its sales of the subject merchandise through an 
affiliated company in the United States. We calculated CEP based on the 
packed, delivered price to an unaffiliated purchaser in the United 
States. We made deductions for any movement expenses in accordance with 
section 772(c)(2)(A) of the Act.
    In accordance with section 772(d)(1) of the Act and the Statement 
of Administrative Action (SAA), H. Doc. 103-316, vol. 1, 822-825 
(1994), we calculated the CEP by deducting selling expenses associated 
with economic activities occurring in the United States, including 
direct selling expenses and indirect selling expenses.
    With respect to CEP profit, section 772(d)(3) of the Act requires 
the Department, in determining CEP, to identify and deduct from the 
starting price in the U.S. market an amount for profit allocable to 
selling and further-manufacturing activities in the United States. 
Section 772(f) of the Act provides the rule for determining the amount 
of CEP profit to deduct from the CEP starting price. Since we do not 
have any cost information to calculate CEP profit in this review, we 
determined pursuant to subsection 772(f)(2)(D), that the best available 
sources of profit information are the 1999 financial statements which 
the respondent and its U.S. affiliate submitted in their responses to 
our questionnaires. See Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide from Japan--
Tosoh Corporation, Analysis Memo dated December 18, 2000. We made 
adjustments, where appropriate, for domestic inland freight, 
warehousing expenses, international freight, and brokerage and handling 
in accordance with section 772(c)(2)(A) of the Act. In accordance with 
19 CFR 351.401(i), we used the invoice date as the date of sale for the 
U.S. market.
    Finally, in accordance with section 772(d)(1)(B) of the Act, we 
made an additional adjustment to CEP. Because of the business-
proprietary nature of the adjustment, please see our December 18, 2000, 
Analysis Memo.

Normal Value

    In order to determine whether there is a sufficient volume of sales 
in the home market to serve as a basis for calculating normal value, we 
compare the respondent's volume of home-market sales of the foreign 
like product to the volume of U.S. sales of the subject merchandise in 
accordance with section 773(a) of the Act. Because the aggregate volume 
of home-market sales of the foreign like product is greater than five 
percent of the aggregate volume of U.S. sales of the subject 
merchandise, we determined that the home market provides a viable basis 
for calculating normal value. Therefore, in accordance with section 
773(a)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we based normal value on the price at which 
the foreign like product was first sold to unaffiliated customers for 
consumption in the exporting country in the usual commercial quantities 
and in the ordinary course of trade. We matched CEP to normal value at 
the same level of trade in the home market and made no level-of-trade 
adjustment (see Level of Trade discussion below).
    We calculated monthly weighted-average normal values based on the 
packed, delivered prices of the foreign like product to unaffiliated 
purchasers in the exporting country. Where applicable, we made 
adjustments for differences in packing and for movement expenses in 
accordance with sections 773(a)(6)(A) and (B) of the Act. We also made 
adjustments for differences in circumstances of sale (COS) in 
accordance with section 773(a)(6)(C)(iii) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.410. With respect to our comparisons to CEP, we made COS 
adjustments by deducting home-market direct selling expenses from 
normal value.

Level of Trade

    To the extent practicable, we determine normal value for sales at 
the same level of trade as that in the United States in accordance with 
section 773(a)(1)(B) of the Act. The normal value level of trade is 
that of the starting-price for sales in the home market. See 19 CFR 
351.412(c)(iii). For CEP sales, the U.S. level of trade is the level of 
the constructed sale from the exporter to the importer.
    To determine whether home-market sales are at a different level of 
trade than those in the United States, we examined stages in the 
marketing process and selling functions along the chain of distribution 
between the producer and the unaffiliated customer. Tosoh Corporation 
reported two channels of distribution (trading company/

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distributor and end user) in the home market. We examined the 
differences in selling activities Tosoh Corporation reported in its 
responses to our requests for information. We found that the selling 
activities associated with sales to trading companies/distributors were 
not fewer and did not differ from activities associated with sales to 
end-users in terms of various selling activities. For example, Tosoh 
Corporation reported that under distribution channel 1, (sales to 
trading company/distributor) and channel 2 (sales to end users), it 
provided sales strategy and information on market potential and 
customers. In addition, Tosoh Corporation reported that it provided 
selling activities such as scheduling production and delivery, 
analyzing and producing orders, and pricing for both channels 1 and 2. 
According to the respondent's submission, there were no differences 
between the two channels in terms of technical service, administrative 
support, and freight/delivery to customer. Based on these sales 
activities, we found that the two home-market channels constitute one 
level of trade.
    Because Tosoh Corporation made CEP sales in the United States, we 
identified the level of trade based on the price after the deduction of 
expenses and profit under section 772(d) of the Act and pursuant to 19 
CFR 351.412(c)(ii). As a result of our examination of the record, we 
found that the respondent's information did not indicate that there 
were significant differences between the selling activities associated 
with the home-market level of trade and those associated with the CEP 
level of trade. Moreover, the respondent indicated in its June 30, 
2000, submission that it was not requesting a level-of-trade 
adjustment. Therefore, we have determined that the U.S. sale was made 
at the same level of trade as the home-market level of trade and, 
therefore, no level-of-trade or CEP-offset adjustment was necessary.

Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine a weighted-
average dumping margin of 0.00 percent for the period April 1, 1999, 
through December 31, 1999, for Tosoh Corporation.
    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of 
publication of this notice. Hearing requests should specify the number 
of participants and provide a list of the issues to be discussed. Any 
hearing, if requested, will be held 40 days after the date of 
publication of this notice, or the first workday thereafter. Issues 
raised in hearings will be limited to those raised in the respective 
case and rebuttal briefs. Interested parties may submit case briefs 
within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal 
briefs, which must be limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may 
be filed not later than 37 days after the date of publication of this 
notice.
    Parties who submit arguments are requested to submit with the 
arguments (1) a table of contents, (2) a statement of the issue, (3) a 
list of authorities used, and (4) an executive summary of issues. 
Executive summaries should be limited to five pages total, including 
footnotes.
    All memoranda to which we refer in this notice can be found in the 
public reading room located in the Central Records unit, room B-099 of 
the main Department of Commerce building.
    The Department will publish the final results of this 
administrative review, including the results of its analysis of issues 
raised in any such written briefs or hearing. The Department will issue 
final results of this review within 120 days of publication of these 
preliminary results.
    Upon completion of the final results of this administrative review, 
if there is no change from our preliminary results, we will instruct 
the Customs Service to liquidate all appropriate entries without regard 
to antidumping duties.
    Effective January 1, 2000, this order was revoked. (65 FR 26570, 
May 8, 2000). As a result, no cash deposits of estimated antidumping 
duties are required on imports of EMD from Japan after January 1, 2000.
    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) 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 Department's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    We are issuing and publishing this determination in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: January 2, 2001.
Troy H. Cribb,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-775 Filed 1-9-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P