[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 99 (Wednesday, May 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36069-36070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-12988]



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Part II





Department of Commerce





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International Trade Administration



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Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value 
and Antidumping Duty Order and Amended Final Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination and Countervailing Duty Order; Certain Softwood 
Lumber Products From Canada

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  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 99 / Wednesday, May 22, 2002 / 
Notices  
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-122-838]


Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Softwood Lumber Products From 
Canada

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 22, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Constance Handley or Charles Riggle, 
Office of AD/CVD Enforcement 2, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0631 or (202) 482-0650, respectively.

The Applicable Statute and Regulations

    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 (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise 
indicated, all citations to Department of Commerce (the Department) 
regulations refer to the regulations last codified at 19 CFR part 353 
(April 1, 2001).

Scope of the Order

    The products covered by this order are softwood lumber, flooring 
and siding (softwood lumber products). Softwood lumber products include 
all products classified under headings 4407.1000, 4409.1010, 4409.1090, 
and 4409.1020, respectively, of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS), and any softwood lumber, flooring and siding 
described below. These softwood lumber products include:
    (1) Coniferous wood, sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, 
whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, of a thickness 
exceeding six millimeters;
    (2) coniferous wood siding (including strips and friezes for 
parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, 
rabbeted, chamfered, v-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) 
along any of its edges or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or 
finger-jointed;
    (3) other coniferous wood (including strips and friezes for parquet 
flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, 
rabbeted, chamfered, v-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) 
along any of its edges or faces (other than wood mouldings and wood 
dowel rods) whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed; and
    (4) coniferous wood flooring (including strips and friezes for 
parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, 
rabbeted, chamfered, v-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) 
along any of its edges or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or 
finger-jointed.
    Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
U.S. Customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise 
subject to this order is dispositive.
    As specifically stated in the Issues and Decision Memorandum 
accompanying the Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada, 67 FR 15539 
(April 2, 2002) (Final Determination) (see comment 53, item D, page 
116, and comment 57, item B-7, page 126), available at 
WWW.IA.ITA.DOC.GOV, drilled and notched lumber and angle cut lumber are 
covered by the scope of this order.
    The following softwood lumber products are excluded from the scope 
of this order provided they meet the specified requirements detailed 
below :
    (1) Stringers (pallet components used for runners): if they have at 
least two notches on the side, positioned at equal distance from the 
center, to properly accommodate forklift blades, properly classified 
under HTSUS 4421.90.98.40.
    (2) Box-spring frame kits: if they contain the following wooden 
pieces--two side rails, two end (or top) rails and varying numbers of 
slats. The side rails and the end rails should be radius-cut at both 
ends. The kits should be individually packaged, they should contain the 
exact number of wooden components needed to make a particular box 
spring frame, with no further processing required. None of the 
components exceeds 1'' in actual thickness or 83'' in length.
    (3) Radius-cut box-spring-frame components, not exceeding 1'' in 
actual thickness or 83'' in length, ready for assembly without further 
processing. The radius cuts must be present on both ends of the boards 
and must be substantial cuts so as to completely round one corner.
    (4) Fence pickets requiring no further processing and properly 
classified under HTSUS heading 4421.90.70, 1'' or less in actual 
thickness, up to 8'' wide, 6' or less in length, and have finials or 
decorative cuttings that clearly identify them as fence pickets. In the 
case of dog-eared fence pickets, the corners of the boards should be 
cut off so as to remove pieces of wood in the shape of isosceles right 
angle triangles with sides measuring \3/4\ inch or more.
    (5) U.S. origin lumber shipped to Canada for minor processing and 
imported into the United States, is excluded from the scope of this 
order if the following conditions are met: (1) The processing occurring 
in Canada is limited to kiln-drying, planing to create smooth-to-size 
board, and sanding, and (2) if the importer establishes to Customs' 
satisfaction that the lumber is of U.S. origin.
    (6) Softwood lumber products contained in single family home 
packages or kits,\1\ regardless of tariff classification, are excluded 
from the scope of this order if the importer certifies to items 6 A, B, 
C, D, and requirement 6 E is met:
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    \1\ To ensure administrability, we clarified the language of 
exclusion number 6 to require an importer certification and to 
permit single or multiple entries on multiple days as well as 
instructing importers to retain and make available for inspection 
specific documentation in support of each entry.
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    A. The imported home package or kit constitutes a full package of 
the number of wooden pieces specified in the plan, design or blueprint 
necessary to produce a home of at least 700 square feet produced to a 
specified plan, design or blueprint;
    B. The package or kit must contain all necessary internal and 
external doors and windows, nails, screws, glue, sub floor, sheathing, 
beams, posts, connectors, contract decking, trim, drywall and roof 
shingles specified in the plan, design or blueprint;
    C. Prior to importation, the package or kit must be sold to a 
retailer of complete home packages or kits pursuant to a valid purchase 
contract referencing the particular home design plan or blueprint, and 
signed by a customer not affiliated with the importer;
    D. Softwood lumber products entered as part of a single family home 
package or kit, whether in a single entry or multiple entries on 
multiple days, will be used solely for the construction of the single 
family home specified by the home design matching the entry.
    E. For each entry, the following documentation must be retained by 
the importer and made available to the U.S. Customs Service upon 
request:
    i. A copy of the appropriate home design, plan, or blueprint 
matching the entry;
    ii. A purchase contract from a retailer of home kits or packages 
signed by a customer not affiliated with the importer;
    iii. A listing of inventory of all parts of the package or kit 
being entered that

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conforms to the home design package being entered;
    iv. In the case of multiple shipments on the same contract, all 
items listed in E(iii) which are included in the present shipment shall 
be identified as well.
    Lumber products that the Customs Service may classify as stringers, 
radius cut box-spring-frame components, and fence pickets, not 
conforming to the above requirements, as well as truss components, 
pallet components, and door and window frame parts, are covered under 
the scope of this order and may be classified under HTSUS subheadings 
4418.90.45.90, 4421.90.70.40, and 4421.90.97.40.
    Finally, as clarified throughout the course of the investigation, 
the following products, previously identified as Group A, remain 
outside the scope of this order. They are:
    1. Trusses and truss kits, properly classified under HTSUS 4418.90;
    2. I-joist beams;
    3. Assembled box spring frames;
    4. Pallets and pallet kits, properly classified under HTSUS 
4415.20;
    5. Garage doors;
    6. Edge-glued wood, properly classified under HTSUS item 
4421.90.98.40;
    7. Properly classified complete door frames;
    8. Properly classified complete window frames;
    9. Properly classified furniture.

Amended Final Determination

    On March 21, 2002, in accordance with section 735(a) of the Act, 
the Department made a final determination that certain softwood lumber 
products from Canada are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United 
States at less than fair value. See Final Determination (April 2, 
2002). Five of the six respondents \2\ and the petitioners \3\ filed 
timely allegations that the Department had made ministerial errors in 
its final determination.
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    \2\ The six respondents are identified below. Of these 
companies, only Canfor did not allege that the Department had made 
ministerial errors.
    \3\ The petitioners are the coalition for Fair Lumber Imports 
Executive Committee, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and 
Joiners, and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy 
Workers International Union.
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    We have determined, in accordance with 19 CFR 353.28, that certain 
ministerial errors were made in the final determination. For Abitibi 
Consolidated, we re-coded certain grades for the dumping margin 
computer program (computer program) and corrected our treatment of 
freight rebates, a mistaken freight figure reported by the company, and 
the exchange rate conversions for packing expenses, early payment 
discounts and billing adjustments.
    For Slocan Forest Products Limited, we regrouped a grade of 
structural lumber and adjusted the computer program to prevent it from 
matching products across grade groupings.
    For Tembec Corporation, we corrected a coding error which had 
prevented price-to-price comparisons of spruce-pine-fir products. We 
adjusted the computer program to prevent it from matching products 
across grade groups. We also corrected our treatment of billing 
adjustments, which affected several data fields, included random width 
and length sales in the calculation of the final margin, and corrected 
the company's credit expense.
    For West Fraser Mills Ltd., we corrected packing and U.S. inventory 
carrying costs and certain credit expense ratios. We also adjusted the 
computer program to prevent it from matching products across grade 
classifications. Finally, we adjusted the costs allocated to species 
and grade groupings to remove costs for groupings that were not present 
in the company's sales file.
    For Weyerhaeuser, we excluded sales of merchandise not produced by 
the company and revised the variable and total cost-of-manufacturing 
data fields to conform with the costs as recalculated for the final 
determination. We also disaggregated certain products with different 
machine stress ratings to give these products different grades. 
Finally, we corrected the computer program to include Weyerhaeuser's 
re-packing expenses, to correct the currency conversion for the level-
of trade adjustment, and to recalculate certain warehousing expenses.
    For a detailed discussion of the Department's analysis of the 
parties' allegations of ministerial errors, see Memorandum to Farrar 
Shirzad, Assistant Secretary, Import Administration, from Christopher 
Smith, AD/CVD Office 5, Ministerial Error Allegations, dated April 25, 
2002. Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR 353.28(c), we are amending 
the final determination of the antidumping duty investigation of 
certain softwood lumber products from Canada to correct these 
ministerial errors.
    The revised final weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

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                                                                                    Original         Amended
                                                                                   weighted-        weighted-
                             Exporter/manufacturer                               average margin   average margin
                                                                                   percentage       percentage
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Abitibi (and its affiliates Produits Forestiers Petit Paris Inc., Produits                14.60            12.44
 Forestiers La Tuque Inc., Scieries Saguenay Ltee., Societe En Commandite
 Sciere Opticwan).............................................................
Canfor (and its affiliated Lakeland Mills Ltd., The Pas Lumber Company Ltd.,               5.96           * 5.96
 Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Limited Partnership)...............................
Slocan........................................................................             7.55             7.71
Tembec (and its affiliates Marks Lumber Ltd., Excel Forest Products)..........            12.04            10.21
West Fraser (and its affiliates West Fraser Forest Products Inc., Seehta                   2.26             2.18
 Forest Products Ltd.)........................................................
Weyerhaeuser (and its affiliates Monterra Lumber Mills Ltd., Weyerhaeuser                 15.83            12.39
 Saskatchewan Ltd.)...........................................................
All Others....................................................................             9.67            8.43
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* No change.

Antidumping Duty Order

    On May 16, 2002, pursuant to section 735(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act, 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) notified the Department of its 
final determination that the industry in the United States producing 
softwood lumber products is threatened with material injury by reason 
of imports of the subject merchandise from Canada.
    In accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, the Department 
will direct the Customs Service to assess, upon further advice by the 
administering authority, antidumping duties equal to the amount by 
which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price or 
constructed export price of the merchandise for all entries of softwood 
lumber products from Canada. In accordance with section 736(b)(2) of 
the

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Act, duties shall be assessed on subject merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of the ITC's notice of final determination if that 
determination is based on the threat of material injury and is not 
accompanied by a finding that injury would have resulted but for the 
imposition of suspension of liquidation of entries since the 
Department's preliminary determination. In addition, section 736(b)(2) 
of the Act requires the Customs Service to refund any cash deposits or 
bonds of estimated antidumping duties posted since the Department's 
preliminary antidumping determination if the ITC's final determination 
is based on a threat of material injury.
    Because the ITC's final determination in this case is based on the 
threat of material injury and is not accompanied by a finding that 
injury would have resulted but for the imposition of suspension of 
liquidation of entries since the Department's preliminary 
determination, section 736(b)(2) is applicable to this order. 
Therefore, the Department will direct the Customs Service to assess, 
upon further advice, antidumping duties on all unliquidated entries of 
softwood lumber products from Canada entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the 
ITC's notice of final determination of threat of material injury in the 
Federal Register and terminate the suspension of liquidation for 
entries of softwood lumber products from Canada entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption prior to that date. The Department will 
also instruct the Customs Service to refund any cash deposits made, or 
bonds posted, between the publication date of the Department's 
preliminary antidumping determination and the publication of the ITC's 
final determination.
    On or after the date of publication of the ITC's notice of final 
determination in the Federal Register, the Customs Service will 
require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated 
duties, cash deposits for the subject merchandise equal to the amended 
weighted-average antidumping margins noted above.
    Pursuant to section 735(a) of the Act, this notice constitutes the 
antidumping duty order with respect to Certain Softwood Lumber Products 
from Canada.
    This order is published pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.211.

    Dated: May 17, 2002.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-12988 Filed 5-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P