[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 192 (Thursday, October 3, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62114-62116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24791]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-427-822]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value; 
Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From France

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 3, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angelica Mendoza, John Drury or 
Abdelali Elouaradia at (202) 482-3019, (202) 482-0195 and (202) 482-
1374, respectively; AD/CVD Enforcement,

[[Page 62115]]

Office 8, Group III, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.

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

Final Determination

    We determine that certain cold-rolled carbon steel flat products 
(cold-rolled steel) from France are being sold, or are likely to be 
sold, in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided 
in section 735 of the Act. The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are 
shown in the ``Suspension of Liquidation'' section of this notice.

Case History

    On May 4, 2001, the Department issued its negative preliminary 
determination in this proceeding. See Notice of Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Not Less than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled 
Carbon Steel Flat Products from France, 67 FR 31204 (May 9, 2002) 
(Preliminary Determination). That preliminary determination covered the 
following manufacturer/exporter, Usinor Group (Usinor). Since the 
publication of the Preliminary Determination the following events have 
occurred.
    On May 21, 2002, the Department published in the Federal Register 
its amended preliminary determination. See Notice of Amended 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain 
Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from France, 67 FR 37387 (May 
29, 2002) (Amended Prelim).
    On May 23, 2002, Usinor requested that the Department postpone its 
final determination until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination in the Federal Register 
and requested an extension of the provisional measures. On June 6, 
2002, we extended the final determination until not later than 135 days 
after the publication of the preliminary determination in the Federal 
Register. See Notice of Postponement of Final Determination of 
Antidumping Duty Investigation: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat 
Products from France, 67 FR 40911-01 (June 14, 2002).
    The Department verified sections A and B of Usinor's responses from 
May 13, 2002, through May 24, 2002, at Usinor's facilities in Florange 
(for Sollac Atlantique S.A., Sollac Lorraine, S.A., and Usinor 
Packaging, S.A.), Montataire (Soci[eacute]t[eacute] Lorraine de 
Produits Metallurgiques (SLPM)), and Rheims, France (Produits d'Usines 
Metallurgiques (PUM)). From June 17, 2002, through June 19, 2002, the 
Department verified section C of Usinor's responses at Usinor Steel 
Corporation, Inc.'s (USC), its U.S. affiliate, headquarters in New 
York, New York. The Department also verified section D of Usinor's 
responses from June 19, 2002, through June 28, 2002, at Usinor's 
facilities in Florange, France. See Memorandum For the File; ``Home 
Market Sales Verification of Section B Questionnaire Responses 
Submitted by Usinor in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain 
Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products,'' July 25, 2002 (Verification 
Report), to Richard Weible, Director, Office 8; ``United States Sales 
Verification of Section C Questionnaire Responses Submitted by Usinor 
in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon 
Steel Flat Products from France,'' July 24, 2002 (U.S. Verification 
Report), to Neal M. Halper, Director, Office of Accounting; 
``Verification Report on the Cost of Production and Constructed Value 
Data Submitted by Usinor,'' July 17, 2002 (Cost Verification Report). 
Public versions of these, and all other Departmental memoranda referred 
to herein, are on file in the Central Records Unit, room B-099 of the 
main Commerce building.
    On May 20, 2002, one of the petitioners (Nucor Corporation) 
requested a public hearing in this investigation. The remaining 
petitioners (Bethlehem Steel Corporation, National Steel Corporation, 
United States Steel Corporation, Steel Dynamics, Inc., WCI Steel, Inc., 
and Weirton Steel Corporation) requested a public hearing on June 10, 
2002. We did not receive a request for hearing from Usinor. On August 
9, 2002, the petitioner which first requested a public hearing withdrew 
its request for a public hearing. On August 12, 2002, the remaining 
petitioners withdrew their request for a public hearing. On August 7, 
2002, we received case briefs from Usinor and petitioners. We received 
rebuttal briefs from all parties on August 12, 2002.
    With respect to scope, in the preliminary LTFV determinations in 
these cases, the Department preliminarily excluded certain porcelain 
enameling steel from the scope of these investigations. See Scope 
Appendix to the Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from 
Argentina, 67 FR 31181 (May 9, 2002) (Scope Appendix--Argentina 
Preliminary LTFV Determination). 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 the 
June 13, 2002, memorandum regarding ``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.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2000, through June 30, 
2001.

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'' (Decision Memorandum) from Joseph A. Spetrini, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Import Administration, to Faryar Shirzad, 
Assistant Secretary for Import

[[Page 62116]]

Administration, dated September 23, 2002, 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 B-099.
    In addition, a complete version of the Decision Memorandum can be 
accessed directly on the World Wide Web at http://www.ia.ita.doc.gov/frn. The paper copy and electronic version of the Decision Memorandum 
are identical in content.

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 ``Appendix I'' 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 the memorandum regarding ``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,'' dated July 10, 2002, which is on file in the CRU.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of comments received and findings at 
verification, we have made certain changes in the margin calculations. 
These changes are noted in various sections of the Decision Memorandum, 
accessible in B-099 and on the Web at http://www.ia.ita.doc.gov/frn.

Use of Facts Available

    In accordance with section 776 of the Act, we have determined that 
the use of facts available is appropriate for certain portions of our 
analysis of Usinor. For a discussion of our determination with respect 
to these matters, see the Decision Memorandum.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, for Usinor, 
we are directing the Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation 
of all entries of subject merchandise from France that are entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouses, for consumption on or after May 29, 2002, 
the date of publication of the Amended Preliminary Determination in the 
Federal Register. The Customs Service shall continue to require a cash 
deposit or posting of a bond equal to the estimated amount by which the 
normal value exceeds the U.S. price as shown below. This suspension-of-
liquidation instruction will remain in effect until further notice.
    We determine that the following weighted-average dumping margins 
exist for the period July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2002:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin
                   Manufacturer/exporter                      (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Usinor Group...............................................        11.59
All Others.................................................        11.59
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Appendix I--Issues in Decision Memorandum

1. Downstream Sales to Affiliated Parties
2. Collapsing of Downstream Producers
3. ``Exempted'' Steel Service Centers that Failed the Arm's-Length 
Test
4. Constructed Export Price (CEP) Offset
5. CEP Profit
6. Home Market Indirect Selling Expenses
7. Home Market Credit Expense
8. Home Market Credit Expense for Sales by SLPM
9. Home Market Inventory Carrying Cost
10. Home Market Movement Expenses
11. Home Market Warranty Expense
12. Home Market Adjustment to Normal Value
13. Commissions Paid to Affiliated Parties
14. Inland Freight to Warehouse Expense for Sales by SLPM
15. U.S. Indirect Selling Expense
16. USC's Accounts Receivables Securitization Program
17. U.S. Credit Expense Calculation
18. U.S. Movement Expenses
19. U.S. Sales Not Previously Reported
20. U.S. Sales of ``Non-Prime'' Merchandise
21. Weighted-Average Margin Calculation--Zeroing Negative Margins
22. Unreconcilable Differences
23. By-Product Offset
24. Rail Rental Revenues
25. Major Input Rule--Sales to Affiliated Resellers
26. Major Input Rule--Usinor Purchases from Affiliates
27. Disregarded Transactions
28. Miscellaneous Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Related 
Accruals and Provisions
29. SG&A Expenses--Accelerated Tax Depreciation
30. SG&A Expenses--Foreign Exchange Losses

[FR Doc. 02-24791 Filed 10-2-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P