[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 192 (Thursday, October 3, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62111-62112]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24789]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-427-823]


Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain 
Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From France

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

ACTION: Notice of final affirmative determination in a countervailing 
duty investigation.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has made a final determination that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to certain producers and 
exporters of certain cold-rolled carbon steel flat products from 
France. For information on the estimated countervailing duty rates, 
please see the ``Suspension of Liquidation'' section, below.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 3, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suresh Maniam at (202) 482-0176; 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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. In addition, unless otherwise 
indicated, all citations to the Department of Commerce's (the 
``Department'') regulations are references to the provisions codified 
at 19 CFR part 351 (April 2001).

Petitioners

    The petition in this investigation was filed by Bethlehem Steel 
Corp., United States Steel LLC., LTV Steel Co., Inc., Steel Dynamics, 
Inc., National Steel Corp., Nucor Corp., WCI Steel, Inc., and Weirton 
Steel Corp. (collectively, ``the petitioners'').

Case History

    Since the publication of the preliminary determination in the 
Federal Register (see Notice of Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty 
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determinations: Certain Cold-
Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from France, 67 FR 9662 (March 4, 
2002) (``Preliminary Determination'')), the following events have 
occurred:
    From April 15, 2002 to April 19, 2002, we conducted a verification 
of the questionnaire responses submitted by the Government of France 
(``GOF'') and Usinor.
    On May 24 and 31, 2002, we received case briefs and rebuttals, 
respectively, from the petitioners and Usinor/GOF. On June 4, 2002, we 
held a public hearing at the request of both the petitioners and 
Usinor/GOF.
    With respect to scope, in the preliminary LTFV determinations in 
the companion cold-rolled steel investigations, the Department 
preliminarily excluded certain porcelain enameling steel from the scope 
of these investigations. See Notice of Preliminary Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat 
Products from Argentina, 67 FR 31181, 31192 (May 9, 2002). On June 13, 
2002, we issued a preliminary decision on the remaining 75 scope 
exclusion requests filed in a number of the on-going cold-rolled steel 
investigations (see Memorandum to Bernard T. Carreau, dated June 13, 
2002, `` Preliminary Scope Rulings in the Antidumping Investigations on 
Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, 
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, the 
Netherlands, New Zealand, the People's Republic of China, the Russian 
Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and 
Venezuela, and in the Countervailing Duty Investigations of Certain 
Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, Brazil, France, 
and Korea'' (Preliminary Scope Rulings), which is on file in the 
Department's Central Records Unit (``CRU''), room B-099 of the main 
Department building). We gave parties until June 20, 2002, to comment 
on the Preliminary Scope Rulings, and until June 27, 2002, to submit 
rebuttal comments. We received comments and/or rebuttal comments from 
petitioners and respondents from various countries subject to these 
investigations of cold-rolled steel. In addition, on June 13, 2002, 
North American Metals Company (an interested party in the Japanese 
proceeding) filed a request that the Department issue a ``correction'' 
for an already excluded product. On July 8, 2002, the petitioners 
objected to this request.
    At the request of multiple respondents, the Department held a 
public hearing with respect to the Preliminary Scope Rulings on July 1, 
2002. The Department's final decisions on the scope exclusion requests 
are addressed in the ``Scope of Investigation'' section below.

Scope of Investigation

    For purposes of this investigation, the products covered are 
certain cold-rolled (cold-reduced) flat-rolled carbon-quality steel 
products. A full description of the scope of this investigation is 
contained in the ``Scope Appendix'' attached to the Notice of 
Correction to Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Australia, 67 FR 
52934 (August 14, 2002). For a complete discussion of the comments 
received on the Preliminary Scope Rulings, see Memorandum to Bernard T. 
Carreau, dated July 10, 2002, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Scope Rulings in the Antidumping Duty Investigations on Certain 
Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, Australia, 
Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, 
New Zealand, the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, 
South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela, 
and in the Countervailing Duty Investigations of Certain Cold-Rolled 
Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, Brazil, France, and Korea,'' 
which is on file in the CRU.

Injury Test

    Because France is a ``Subsidies Agreement Country'' within the 
meaning of section 701(b) of the Act, the U.S. International Trade 
Commission (``ITC'') is required to determine whether imports of the 
subject merchandise from France materially injure, or threaten material 
injury to, a U.S. industry. On November 19, 2001, the ITC published its 
preliminary determination finding a reasonable indication of material 
injury or threat of material injury to an industry in the United States 
by reason of imports of certain cold-rolled carbon steel flat products 
from France. See Certain Cold-Rolled Steel Products from Argentina, 
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, 
Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Spain Sweden, 
Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela, 66 FR 57985 (November 19, 
2001).

[[Page 62112]]

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation for which we are measuring subsidies is 
the calendar year 2000.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to 
this investigation are addressed in the ``Issues and Decision 
Memorandum'' from Susan H. Kuhbach, Senior Office Director, Import 
Administration to Faryar Shirzad, Assistant Secretary, Import 
Administration, dated September 23, 2002 (``Decision Memorandum''), 
which is hereby adopted by this notice. Attached to this notice as 
Appendix I is a list of the issues which parties have raised and to 
which we have responded in the Decision Memorandum. Parties can find a 
complete discussion of all issues raised in this investigation and the 
corresponding recommendations in this public memorandum which is on 
file in the CRU, room B-099 of the main Department building. In 
addition, a complete version of the Decision Memorandum can be accessed 
directly on the Internet at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/ under the 
heading ``France.'' The paper copy and electronic version of the 
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Suspension of Liquidation

    As a result of our Preliminary Determination, we instructed the 
Customs Service to suspend liquidation of all entries of certain cold-
rolled carbon steel flat products from France which were entered or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after March 4, 2002, 
the date of the publication of the Preliminary Determination in the 
Federal Register. In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, we 
instructed Customs to discontinue the suspension of liquidation for 
merchandise for countervailing duty purposes entered on or after July 
2, 2002, but to continue the suspension of liquidation of entries made 
from March 4, 2001 through July 1, 2001.
    We have calculated an individual net subsidy rate for each 
manufacturer of the subject merchandise pursuant to section 
705(c)(1)(B)(i) of the Act. In accordance with sections 777A(e)(2)(B) 
and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, we have set the ``all others'' rate as 
Usinor's rate. We determine the total estimated net countervailable 
subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Net subsidy
                     Producer/exporter                           rate
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Usinor.....................................................         1.27
All Others.................................................         1.27
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We will issue a countervailing duty order and reinstate the 
suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of the Act if the ITC 
issues a final affirmative injury determination and will require a cash 
deposit of estimated countervailing duties for such entries of 
merchandise in the amounts indicated above. If the ITC determines that 
material injury, or threat of material injury, does not exist, this 
proceeding will be terminated and all estimated duties deposited or 
securities posted as a result of the suspension of liquidation will be 
refunded or canceled.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our determination. In addition, we are making available to the 
ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information related to this 
investigation. We will allow the ITC access to all privileged and 
business proprietary information in our files, provided the ITC 
confirms that it will not disclose such information, either publicly or 
under an Administrative Protective Order (``APO''), without the written 
consent of the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury 
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties 
subject to an APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction of 
proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305(a)(3). Failure to comply is a violation of the APO.
    This determination is published pursuant to sections 705(d) and 
777(i) of the Act.

    September 23, 2002.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix I--List of Comments and Issues in the Decision Memorandum

Comment 1: Post-Privatization Treatment of Usinor's Pre-
Privatization Benefits
Comment 2: Appropriate AUL for Usinor
Comment 3: SODI Advances
Comment 4: Funding for Electric Arc Furnace and Myosotis Projects
Comment 5: ECSC Article 56 Funding
Comment 6: Appropriate Sales Value
Comment 7: 1995 Capital Increase
Comment 8: ECSC Article 55 Benefits and Professional Training Grant

[FR Doc. 02-24789 Filed 10-2-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P