[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 121 (Friday, June 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33528-33529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-15743]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-822-804]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bars From Belarus

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 22, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexander Amdur or Karine Gziryan at 
(202) 482-5346 or (202) 482-4081, respectively, AD/CVD Enforcement, 
Group II, Office 4 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 the Department's regulations are 
to 19 CFR part 351 (April 2000).

Final Determination

    We determine that steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) from 
Belarus 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 steel concrete 
reinforcing bars from Belarus. See Notice of Preliminary Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bars from 
Belarus, 66 FR 8329 (January 30, 2001) (Preliminary Determination). We 
conducted verification of the questionnaire responses of the 
respondent, Byelorussian Steel Works (BSW), during the week of March 
11, 2001. We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on our 
preliminary determination and the findings at verification. On April 
25, 2001, BSW and the petitioner, the Rebar Trade Action Coalition, \1\ 
submitted case briefs; and on April 30, 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

[[Page 33529]]

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. 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 the public Decision Memorandum which is on file in 
the Central Records Unit, room 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 our analysis of comments 
received, we have made adjustments to the preliminary determination 
calculation methodologies in calculating the final dumping margin in 
this proceeding. The summary of these adjustments is discussed below:
    1. We recalculated BSW's factors of production based on the actual 
factors consumed by BSW during the POI. For further details, see 
Comments 3 and 5 in the Decision Memorandum for the instant 
investigation.
    2. We excluded sales outside the POI from our calculations. For 
further details, see Comment 4 in the Decision Memorandum for the 
instant investigation.
    3. Based on our verification findings, we corrected: (1) the 
reported quantity for one sale; and (2) the distances used in the 
freight valuation for scrap steel.
    4. We used the updated 1999 Thai import values that were placed on 
the record since the preliminary determination, where appropriate, to 
value factors of production.
    For further details of our calculations, see Memorandum on Factors 
of Production Valuation and Calculation dated June 14, 2001.

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 petitioner alleged that 
there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that critical 
circumstances exist with respect to imports of rebar from Belarus. On 
January 30, 2001, the Department published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary determination that critical circumstances do not exist for 
imports of rebar from Belarus. See Preliminary Determination, 66 FR at 
8329-8330, see also Memorandum from Tom Futtner to Holly A. Kuga, 
``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bars 
from Belarus--Preliminary Negative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances,'' dated January 16, 2001.
    Since the preliminary determination, we have received comments on 
the issue of critical circumstances from the petitioner and BSW. After 
consideration of these comments, which are discussed in detail in the 
Decision Memorandum, we find that critical circumstances do not exist 
for imports of rebar from Belarus. This determination is discussed in 
detail in the Decision Memorandum and in the Memorandum from Holly A. 
Kuga to Bernard T. Carreau, ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel 
Concrete Reinforcing Bars from Belarus--Final Negative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances,'' dated June 14, 2001.

Final Determination of Investigation

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin
                    Manufacturer/exporter                      (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belarus-Wide Rate...........................................      114.53
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    The Belarus-wide rate applies to all entries of the subject 
merchandise from Belarus.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we are instructing the 
U.S. Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries 
of rebar from Belarus 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). The Customs 
Service 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.

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 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 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. The Surrogate Market Economy Country for Belarus
    2. The Surrogate Values for Factory Overhead, SG&A Expenses, and 
Profit
    3. Reporting Period for Factors of Production
    4. Sales Outside of the Period of Investigation
    5. The Valuation of Pig Iron and Iron Pellets
    6. Critical Circumstances

[FR Doc. 01-15743 Filed 6-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P