[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 11, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64017-64019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30605]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-831]


Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From the Republic of Korea; Final 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of final results of antidumping duty administrative 
review of stainless steel plate in coils from the Republic of Korea.

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SUMMARY: On June 7, 2001, the Department of Commerce (``the 
Department'') published in the Federal Register the preliminary results 
of its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on stainless 
steel plate in coils from the Republic of Korea (66 FR 30699). This 
review covers imports of subject merchandise from Pohang Iron & Steel 
Co., Ltd. (``POSCO''). The period of review (``POR'') is November 4, 
1998 through April 30, 2000.
    Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made 
changes in the margin calculations. Therefore, the final results differ 
from the preliminary results of review. The final weighted-average 
dumping margin is listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results 
of the Review.''

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 11, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brandon Farlander or Laurel LaCivita, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0182 or (202) 482-4243, 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 (``the Act'') by 
the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. In addition, unless otherwise 
indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are to the 
regulations at 19 CFR part 351 (2001).

Background

    On June 7, 2001, the Department published Stainless Steel Plate in 
Coils From the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review, 66 FR 30699 (June 7, 2001) (``Preliminary 
Determination''). We invited parties to comment on these preliminary 
results. The review covers imports of subject merchandise from POSCO. 
The period of review (``POR'') is November 4, 1998 through April 30, 
2000. We received written comments on July 9, 2001 from petitioners 
(Allegheny Ludlum, AK Steel Corporation (formerly Armco, Inc.), J&L 
Specialty Steel, Inc., North American Stainless, Butler-Armco 
Independent Union, Zanesville Armco Independent Union, and the United 
Steelworkers of America, (AFL-CIO/CLC)) and POSCO. On July 23, 2001, we 
received rebuttal comments from petitioners and POSCO. We have now 
completed the administrative review in accordance with section 751 of 
the Act.

Scope of the Review

    For purposes of this administrative review, the product covered by 
this order is certain stainless steel plate in coils. Stainless steel 
is an alloy steel containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon 
and 10.5 percent or more of chromium, with or without other elements. 
The subject plate products are flat-rolled products, 254 mm or over in 
width and 4.75 mm or more in thickness, in coils, and annealed or 
otherwise heat treated and pickled or otherwise descaled. The subject 
plate may also be further processed (e.g., cold-rolled, polished, etc.) 
provided that it maintains the specified dimensions of plate following 
such processing. Excluded from the scope of this order is the 
following: (1) Plate not in coils, (2) plate that is not annealed or 
otherwise heat treated and pickled or otherwise descaled, (3) sheet and 
strip, and (4) flat bars. In addition, certain cold-rolled stainless 
steel plate in coils is also excluded from the scope of this order. The 
excluded cold-rolled stainless steel plate in coils is defined as that 
merchandise which meets the physical characteristics described above 
that has undergone a cold-reduction process that reduced the thickness 
of the steel by 25 percent or more, and has been annealed and pickled 
after this cold reduction process.
    The merchandise subject to this order is currently classifiable in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) at 
subheadings:

[[Page 64018]]

7219.11.00.30, 7219.11.00.60, 7219.12.00.06, 7219.12.00.21, 
7219.12.00.26, 7219.12.00.51, 7219.12.00.56, 7219.12.00.66, 
7219.12.00.71, 7219.12.00.81, 7219.90.00.10, 7219.90.00.20, 
7219.90.00.25, 7219.90.00.60, 7219.90.00.80, 7220.11.00.00, 
7220.90.00.10, 7220.90.00.15, 7220.90.00.60, and 7220.90.00.80. 
Although the HTS subheadings are provided for convenience and Customs 
purposes, the written description of the scope of the orders is 
dispositive.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to 
this administrative review are addressed in the ``Issues and Decision 
Memorandum'' (``Decision Memorandum'') from Joseph A. Spetrini, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Import Administration, to Bernard Carreau, Acting 
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, dated December 4, 2001, 
which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues which 
parties have raised and to which we have responded, all of which are in 
the Decision Memorandum, is attached to this notice as an Appendix. 
Parties can find a complete discussion of all issues raised in this 
review and the corresponding recommendations in this public 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/frn/frnhome.htm. The paper copy and electronic version 
of the Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Results

    Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made changes in 
the margin calculations. The changes are listed below:
     We adjusted POSCO's reported costs to include an amortized 
portion of its deferred foreign exchange losses.
     We adjusted POSCO's reported foreign exchange ratio to 
include gains and losses associated with cash, A/P, ``other'' accounts, 
and loans payable in the numerator.
     We reversed our position on affiliated party inputs from 
the preliminary results and, for these final results, we are not making 
an adjustment to POSCO's costs for an affiliated party input.
     We revised POSCO's per-unit G&A expense to apply POSCO's 
G&A ratio to the sum of the revised cost of manufacturing plus packing.
     We calculated an adjustment for warranty expense and 
included it as an adjustment to U.S. price.
     We have recalculated home market credit for POSCO's U.S. 
dollar home market sales using POSAM's U.S. dollar interest rate 
instead of POSCO's Korean won interest rate.
     We have recalculated POSAM's indirect selling expenses to 
adjust the amount of interest expense applicable to U.S. sales of 
subject merchandise and to take into account an offset for imputed 
credit.

Final Results of Review

    We determine that the following percentage margin exists for the 
period November 4, 1998 through April 30, 2000:

                Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From Korea
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Margin
              Manufacturer/exporter/reseller                  (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSCO.....................................................         1.19
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department shall determine, and U.S. Customs Service shall 
assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. The Department 
will issue appraisement instructions directly to the U.S. Customs 
Service. For duty-assessment purposes, we will calculate importer-
specific assessment rates by dividing the dumping margins calculated 
for each importer by the total entered value of sales for each importer 
during the period of review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the notice of the final results of this administrative 
review for all shipments of stainless steel plate in coils from the 
Republic of Korea entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption 
on or after the date of publication, as provided by section 751(a)(1) 
of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for the reviewed company will be 
the rate listed above; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated 
companies not listed above, the cash deposit rate will continue to be 
the company-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if 
the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or 
the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation, but the 
manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for 
the most recent period for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) 
the cash deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will 
continue to be the ``all others'' rate of 16.26 percent, which is the 
all others rate established in the LTFV investigation.
    These deposit requirements shall remain in effect until publication 
of the final results of the next administrative review.

Notification of Interested Parties

    This notice also serves as a final 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 Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of the antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (``APOs'') of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305, which continues 
to govern business proprietary information in this segment of the 
proceeding. Timely written notification of the return/destruction of 
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO 
is a violation which is subject to sanction.
    We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 771(i) of the Act.

    Dated: December 4, 2001.
Bernard Carreau,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

 Appendix 1--Issues in Decision Memorandum

Comment 1: Costs for Certain Products that were Reported in a 
Distortive Manner
Comment 2: Reporting of Home Market Sales
Comment 3: Home Market Credit
Comment 4: Indirect Selling Expenses for POSAM
Comment 5: Unrecognized Bad Debt
Comment 6: Duty Drawback
Comment 7: Export Warranty Expenses
Comment 8: G&A Calculation
Comment 9: Valuation of Re-introduced Scrap
Comment 10: Cost for Affiliate-supplied Inputs
Comment 11: POSCO's L-grade Adjustment
Comment 12: Energy cost
Comment 13: Financial Expenses
Comment 14: Imputed Credit Expenses in the Calculation of Indirect 
Selling Expenses

[[Page 64019]]

Comment 15: Deferred foreign exchange losses

[FR Doc. 01-30605 Filed 12-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P