[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13496-13497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5440]



[[Page 13496]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-810]


Stainless Steel Bar from India: Preliminary Results of New 
Shipper Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of new shipper antidumping duty 
administrative review: stainless steel bar from India.

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SUMMARY: In response to a request from Snowdrop Trading PVT. LTD., the 
Department of Commerce is conducting a new shipper administrative 
review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel bar from India. 
This review covers sales of the subject merchandise to the United 
States during the period February 1 through September 30, 2000.
    We have preliminarily determined that Snowdrop Trading PVT. LTD. 
has not made sales of subject merchandise below normal value. If these 
preliminary results are adopted in our final results, we will instruct 
the Customs Service not to assess antidumping duties.
    Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 6, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blanche Ziv, Office 1, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington DC 
20230; telephone (202) 482-4207.

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. In addition, all 
references to the Department of Commerce's (``the Department's'') 
regulations are to 19 CFR part 351 (April 2000).

Background

    On August 3, 2000, the Department received a request from Snowdrop 
Trading PVT. LTD. (``Snowdrop'') to conduct a new shipper 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel 
bar from India. The Department published in the Federal Register, on 
September 11, 2000, a notice of initiation of a new shipper 
administrative review of Snowdrop covering the period February 1 
through July 31, 2000 (65 FR 54840). See 351.214(g)(1)(A).
    On September 28, 2000, the Department issued an antidumping 
questionnaire to Snowdrop. We received a response on October 19, 2000. 
We issued a supplemental questionnaire on January 22, 2001, to which we 
received a response on January 31, 2001.
    The Department expanded the POR through September 30, 2000, in 
order to capture the sale and corresponding entry made by Snowdrop to 
the United States (see the memorandum from team to Susan Kuhbach, dated 
February 15, 2001).

Scope of Review

    Imports covered by this review are shipments of stainless steel bar 
(``SSB''). SSB 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 these orders 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.

Treatment of Sales of Tolled Merchandise

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.401(h), the Department will not consider a 
toller or subcontractor to be a manufacturer or producer when the 
toller or subcontractor does not acquire ownership of the finished 
products and does not control the relevant sales of the subject 
merchandise and the foreign like product. In determining whether a 
company that uses a subcontractor in a tolling arrangement is a 
producer pursuant to 19 CFR 351.401(h), we examine all relevant facts 
surrounding a tolling agreement. Snowdrop claims that under the tolling 
arrangement with its unaffiliated subcontractor, Snowdrop is the 
producer of the subject merchandise at issue. In support of this claim, 
Snowdrop reports that it: (1) Purchases all of the inputs, (2) pays the 
subcontractor a processing fee, and (3) maintains ownership at all 
times of the inputs as well as the final product. Based on this 
evidence, we preliminarily determine that Snowdrop is the producer of 
the tolled merchandise and, hence, the appropriate respondent.

United States Price

    In calculating the price to the United States, we used export price 
(``EP''), in accordance with section 772(a) of the Act, because the 
subject merchandise was sold directly to the first unaffiliated 
purchaser in the United States prior to importation into the United 
States and the use of constructed export price was not otherwise 
indicated.
    We calculated EP based on the CIF price to the United States. In 
accordance with section 772(c)(2) of the Act, we made deductions, as 
appropriate, for foreign inland freight, international freight, marine 
insurance, and brokerage and handling.

Normal Value

    Snowdrop reported no home market sales or third country sales 
during the POR. Therefore, we based normal value on constructed value 
(``CV''). In accordance with section 773(e) of the Act, we calculated 
CV for Snowdrop based on the sum of the respondent's cost of materials, 
labor, overhead, general and administrative expenses (``GNA''), profit, 
and U.S. packing costs. With respect to G&A, we used the amounts 
reported by Snowdrop in its

[[Page 13497]]

October 19, 2000 response. We calculated profit using the 1999-2000 
financial statements submitted by Snowdrop (see calculation memo to the 
file dated February 28, 2001).

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of our comparison of EP and CV, we preliminarily 
determine the following weighted-average dumping margin:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Margin
           Manufacturer/exporter            Period of  review  (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snowdrop Trading PVT. LTD.................     2/1/00-9/30/00       0.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The above deposit rate will be effective upon publication of the 
final results of this new shipper review for all shipments of SSB from 
India entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the publication date, as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act.

Public Comment

    Interested parties may request a hearing within 30 days of the date 
of publication of this notice. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 
two days after the scheduled date for submission of rebuttal briefs 
(see below). Interested parties may submit written arguments in case 
briefs within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice. 
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be filed 
no later than five days after the date of filing the case briefs. 
Parties who submit briefs in these proceedings should provide a summary 
of the arguments not to exceed five pages and a table of statutes, 
regulations, and cases cited. Copies of case briefs and rebuttal briefs 
must be served on interested parties in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.303(f)(3).
    The Department will issue the final results of this administrative 
review within 90 days from the issuance of these preliminary results.
    This notice also serves as a preliminary 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 new shipper review and notice are in accordance with sections 
751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act. Effective January 20, 2001, Bernard 
T. Carreau is fulfilling the duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Import Administration.

    Dated: February 28, 2001.
Bernard T. Carreau,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-5440 Filed 3-5-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P