[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 121 (Friday, June 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33525-33526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-15741]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-841-804]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bars from Moldova

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 22, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nithya Nagarajan or Michele Mire at 
(202) 482-5253 or (202) 482-4711, respectively, AD/CVD Enforcement, 
Office 4, Group II, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 Department of Commerce (the 
Department) regulations are to 19 CFR part 351 (April 2000).

Final Determination

    We determine that steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) from 
Moldova is being sold, or is likely to be sold, in the United States at 
less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 735 of the Act. The 
estimated margin of sales at LTFV is shown in the Final Determination 
of Investigation section of this notice.

Case History

    On January 30, 2001, the Department published the preliminary 
determination of the antidumping investigation of rebar from Moldova. 
See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bars from Moldova, 66 FR 8333 
(January 30, 2001) (Preliminary Determination). We conducted 
verification of the questionnaire responses of the respondent, JV CJSC 
Moldova Steel Works (MSW), during the week of March 18, 2001. We gave 
interested parties an opportunity to comment on our Preliminary 
Determination and our findings at verification. On April 26, 2001, MSW 
and the petitioner, the Rebar Trade Action Coalition \1\, submitted 
case briefs; and on May 1, 2001, both parties submitted rebuttal 
briefs. The Department received no requests for a public hearing.
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    \1\ The petitioner in this investigation is the Rebar Trade 
Action Coalition (RTAC), and its individual members, AmeriSteel, 
Auburn Steel Co., Inc., Birmingham Steel Corp., Border Steel, Inc., 
Marion Steel Company, Riverview Steel, and Nucor Steel and CMC Steel 
Group.
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    Section 734(m) of the Act states that in the case of regional 
industry investigations, the administering authority shall offer 
exporters the opportunity to enter into suspension agreements. Proposed 
and finalized agreements in these cases must comport with the 
requirements set forth under section 734 of the Act for the suspension 
of antidumping duty investigations. The exporter participating in the 
instant investigation was aware of its opportunity to propose a 
suspension agreement. However, the Department did not accept a 
suspension agreement in this proceeding. See Memorandum from Holly A. 
Kuga to The File, dated March 30, 2001.
    The Department has conducted this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act.

Scope of Investigation

    For purposes of this investigation, the product covered is all 
steel concrete reinforcing bars (rebar) sold in straight lengths, 
currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS) under item number 7214.20.00 or any other tariff item 
number. Specifically excluded are plain rounds (i.e., non-deformed or 
smooth bars) and rebar that has been further processed through bending 
or coating. HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and Customs 
purposes only. The written description of the scope of this proceeding 
is dispositive.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 1999, through March 
31, 2000. This period corresponds to the two most recent fiscal 
quarters prior to the month of the filing of the petition (i.e., June 
2000).

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to 
this proceeding and to which we have responded are listed in the 
Appendix to this notice and addressed in the ``Issues and Decision 
Memorandum'' (Decision Memorandum), dated June 14, 2001, which is 
hereby adopted by this notice. Parties can find a complete discussion 
of the issues raised in this investigation and the corresponding 
recommendations in this public memorandum which is on file in the 
Central Records Unit, room B-099 (B-099) of the main Department 
building. In addition, a complete version of the Decision Memorandum 
can be accessed directly on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov. The paper 
copy and electronic version of the Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our findings at verification, and analysis of comments 
received, we have made adjustments to the preliminary determination 
calculation methodologies in calculating the final dumping margin in 
this proceeding. While we continued to use India as the surrogate 
country, we made the following changes: (1) We valued oxygen and 
nitrogen based upon MSW's reported factors of production, which were 
omitted inadvertently from the preliminary determination; (2) we valued 
lime and argon using United

[[Page 33526]]

Nations (UN) Commodity Trade Statistics for 1998; (3) we corrected the 
inflator for brokerage and handling expenses; (4) we corrected clerical 
errors in the calculations of surrogate financial ratios; and, (5) we 
based the date of sale on the date of beginning of production rather 
than the date of the commercial sales invoice. These adjustments are 
discussed in the Decision Memorandum.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified the 
information submitted by the respondent for use in our final 
determination. We used standard verification procedures including 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original 
source documents provided by the respondent.

Critical Circumstances

    In a letter filed on August 22, 2000, the petitioners alleged that 
there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that critical 
circumstances exist with respect to imports of rebar from Moldova. On 
November 27, 2000, the Department published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary determination that critical circumstances exist for imports 
of rebar from Moldova.
    See Preliminary Determinations of Critical Circumstances: Steel 
Concrete Reinforcing Bars From Ukraine and Moldova, 65 FR 70696 
(November 27, 2000).
    Since the preliminary determination, we received MSW's shipment 
data and, based upon these data, we find that critical circumstances do 
not exist for imports of rebar from Moldova. This determination is 
discussed in detail in the Decision Memorandum and in the Memorandum 
from Holly Kuga to Bernard T. Carreau, ``Antidumping Duty 
Investigations of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Moldova--Final 
Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances,'' dated June 14, 
2001.

Final Determination of Investigation

    We determine that the following weighted-average percentage margin 
exists for the period October 1, 1999 through March 31, 2000:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin
                    Manufacturer/exporter                      (percent)
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Moldova-Wide Rate...........................................      232.86
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    The Moldova-wide rate applies to all entries of the subject 
merchandise from Moldova.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we are instructing the 
U.S. Customs Service (Customs) to continue to suspend liquidation of 
all entries of rebar from Moldova that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after January 30, 2001 (the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register). 
Customs shall continue to require a cash deposit or the posting of a 
bond equal to the estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds 
the U.S. price as shown above. The suspension of liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
    In addition, since we have determined that critical circumstances 
do not exist for imports of rebar from Moldova, we are also instructing 
Customs to terminate the suspension of liquidation of, and refund all 
cash deposits and release all bonds collected on, entries of rebar from 
Moldova entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption from 
November 1, 2000 (90 days prior to the publication of the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register) to January 29, 2001.

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 determine, within 45 days, 
whether these imports are causing material injury, or threat of 
material injury, to an industry in the United States. If the ITC 
determines that material injury, or threat of 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 order directing Customs 
officials to assess antidumping duties on all imports of the subject 
merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse 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: June 14, 2001.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix--Issues in Decision Memorandum

    1: Whether India is a Significant Producer of Comparable 
Merchandise
    2: Quality of Surrogate Values for India
    3: Selection of Surrogate to Value Selling, General, and 
Administrative (SG&A) Expenses and Profit
    4: Market-Oriented Industry (MOI)
    5: Separate Rates
    6: Date of Sale
    7: Sales Database Errors
    8: Adjustments to Factors of Production (FOP)
    9: Calculation of Financial Ratios
[FR Doc. 01-15741 Filed 6-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P