[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77227-77230]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-31626]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-854]


Certain Tin Mill Products From Japan: Preliminary Results of 
Changed Circumstances Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On October 28, 2002, the Department of Commerce (``the 
Department'') published a notice of initiation of a changed 
circumstances review with the intent to revoke, in part, the 
antidumping duty order on certain tin mill products from Japan with 
respect to certain laminated tin-free steel, as described below. See 
Certain Tin Mill Products From Japan: Notice of Initiation of Changed 
Circumstances Antidumping Duty Review, 67 FR 65783 (October 28, 2002) 
(``Initiation Notice''). In our Initiation Notice we invited interested 
parties to comment. On October 29, 2002, Nippon Steel Corporation 
(``NSC'') filed a letter on behalf of Ohio Coatings Company (``Ohio 
Coatings'') stating that Ohio Coatings does not oppose the exclusion of 
certain laminated tin-free steel from the antidumping duty order. We 
now preliminarily revoke this order, in part, with respect to future 
entries of certain laminated tin-free steel described below, based on 
the fact that domestic parties have expressed no interest in the 
continuation of the order with respect to certain laminated tin-free 
steel.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 17, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Ferrier, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-1394.

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, as amended 
(``the Act''), by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. In addition, unless 
otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are 
to the regulations as codified at 19 CFR part 351 (2002).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 28, 2000, the Department published in the Federal 
Register the antidumping duty order on certain tin

[[Page 77228]]

mill products from Japan. See Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Certain 
Tin Mill Products from Japan 65 FR 52067 (August 28, 2000) (TMP Order). 
On September 6, 2002, Nippon Steel Corporation (``Nippon''), an 
exporter and manufacturer of the subject merchandise requested that the 
Department revoke, in part, the antidumping duty order on certain tin 
mill products from Japan. Specifically, Nippon requested that the 
Department revoke the order with respect to imports meeting the 
following specifications: Tin-free steel laminated on one or both sides 
of the surface with a polyester film, consisting of two layers (an 
amorphous layer and an outer crystal layer), that contains no more than 
the indicated amounts of the following environmental hormones: 1 mg/kg 
BADGE (BisPhenol--A Di-glycidyl Ether), 1 mg/kg BFDGE (BisPhenol--F Di-
glycidyl Ether), and 3 mg/kg BPA (BisPhenol--A). Nippon included 
letters from Weirton Steel Corporation, United States Steel 
Corporation, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, USS-Posco Industries, and 
National Steel Corporation, in its request for the changed 
circumstances review stating their support for the exclusion of the 
laminated tin-free steel, as described above. However, the Department 
had no information on the record that these domestic producers of tin 
mill products, account for substantially all, or at least 85 percent, 
of the production of the domestic like product (See Oil Country Tubular 
Goods From Mexico: Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 64 FR 14213 (March 24, 1999). 
Therefore, we did not combine this initiation with the preliminary 
determination, which is our normal practice under section 
351.221(c)(3)(ii) of the Department's regulations.
    On October 28, 2002, the Department published a notice of 
initiation of a changed circumstances review of the antidumping duty 
order on certain tin mill products from Japan with respect to certain 
laminated tin-free steel. See Initiation Notice. In the Initiation 
Notice, we indicated that interested parties could submit comments for 
consideration in the Department's preliminary results not later than 14 
days after publication of the initiation of the review, and submit 
responses to those comments no later than 7 days following the 
submission of comments. On October 29, 2002, Nippon filed a letter on 
behalf of Ohio Coatings stating that Ohio Coatings does not oppose the 
exclusion of certain laminated tin-free steel from the antidumping duty 
order on tin mill products from Japan. We did not receive any other 
comments, nor any rebuttal comments.

Scope of Review

    The products covered by this antidumping order are tin mill flat-
rolled products that are coated or plated with tin, chromium or 
chromium oxides. Flat-rolled steel products coated with tin are known 
as tin plate. Flat-rolled steel products coated with chromium or 
chromium oxides are known as tin-free steel or electrolytic chromium-
coated steel. The scope includes all the noted tin mill products 
regardless of thickness, width, form (in coils or cut sheets), coating 
type (electrolytic or otherwise), edge (trimmed, untrimmed or further 
processed, such and scroll cut), coating thickness, surface finish, 
temper, coating metal (tin, chromium, chromium oxide), reduction 
(single- or double-reduced), and whether or not coated with a plastic 
material. All products that meet the written physical description are 
within the scope of this order unless specifically excluded. The 
following products, by way of example, are outside and/or specifically 
excluded from the scope of this order:

--Single reduced electrolytically chromium coated steel with a 
thickness 0.238 mm (85 pound base box) (10%) or 0.251 mm (90 
pound base box) (10%) or 0.255 mm (10%) with 770 mm 
(minimum width) (1.588 mm) by 900 mm (maximum length if 
sheared) sheet size or 30.6875 inches (minimum width) ( 1/16 
inch) and 35.4 inches (maximum length if sheared) sheet size; with type 
MR or higher (per ASTM) A623 steel chemistry; batch annealed at T2 1/2 
anneal temper, with a yield strength of 31 to 42 kpsi (214 to 290 Mpa); 
with a tensile strength of 43 to 58 kpsi (296 to 400 Mpa); with a 
chrome coating restricted to 32 to 150 mg/m2; with a chrome 
oxide coating restricted to 6 to 25 mg/m2 with a modified 7B 
ground roll finish or blasted roll finish; with roughness average (Ra) 
0.10 to 0.35 micrometers, measured with a stylus instrument with a 
stylus radius of 2 to 5 microns, a trace length of 5.6 mm, and a cut-
off of 0.8 mm, and the measurement traces shall be made perpendicular 
to the rolling direction; with an oil level of 0.17 to 0.37 grams/base 
box as type BSO, or 2.5 to 5.5 mg/m2 as type DOS, or 3.5 to 
6.5 mg/m2 as type ATBC; with electrical conductivity of 
static probe voltage drop of 0.46 volts drop maximum, and with 
electrical conductivity degradation to 0.70 volts drop maximum after 
stoving (heating to 400 degrees F for 100 minutes followed by a cool to 
room temperature).
--Single reduced electrolytically chromium- or tin-coated steel in the 
gauges of 0.0040 inch nominal, 0.0045 inch nominal, 0.0050 inch 
nominal, 0.0061 inch nominal (55 pound base box weight), 0.0066 inch 
nominal (60 pound base box weight), and 0.0072 inch nominal (65 pound 
base box weight), regardless of width, temper, finish, coating or other 
properties.
--Single reduced electrolytically chromium coated steel in the gauge of 
0.024 inch, with widths of 27.0 inches or 31.5 inches, and with T-1 
temper properties.
--Single reduced electrolytically chromium coated steel, with a 
chemical composition of 0.005% max carbon, 0.030% max silicon, 0.25% 
max manganese, 0.025% max phosphorous, 0.025% max sulfur, 0.070% max 
aluminum, and the balance iron, with a metallic chromium layer of 70-
130 mg/m2, with a chromium oxide layer of 5-30 mg/
m2, with a tensile strength of 260-440 N/mm2 , 
with an elongation of 28-48%, with a hardness (HR-30T) of 40-58, with a 
surface roughness of 0.5-1.5 microns Ra, with magnetic properties of Bm 
(KG)10.0 minimum, Br (KG) 8.0 minimum, Hc (Oe) 2.5-3.8, and MU 1400 
minimum, as measured with a Riken Denshi DC magnetic characteristic 
measuring machine, Model BHU-60.
--Bright finish tin-coated sheet with a thickness equal to or exceeding 
0.0299 inch, coated to thickness of 3/4 pound (0.000045 inch) and 1 
pound (0.00006 inch).
--Electrolytically chromium coated steel having ultra flat shape 
defined as oil can maximum depth of 5/64 inch (2.0 mm) and edge wave 
maximum of 5/64 inch (2.0 mm) and no wave to penetrate more than 2.0 
inches (51.0 mm) from the strip edge and coilset or curling 
requirements of average maximum of 5/64 inch (2.0 mm) (based on six 
readings, three across each cut edge of a 24 inches (61 cm) long sample 
with no single reading exceeding 4/32 inch (3.2 mm) and no more than 
two readings at 4/32 inch (3.2 mm)) and (for 85 pound base box item 
only: crossbuckle maximums of 0.001 inch (0.0025 mm) average having no 
reading above 0.005 inch (0.127 mm)), with a camber maximum of 1/4 inch 
(6.3 mm) per 20 feet (6.1 meters), capable of being bent 120 degrees on 
a 0.002 inch radius without cracking, with a chromium

[[Page 77229]]

coating weight of metallic chromium at 100 mg/m2 and 
chromium oxide of 10 mg/m2, with a chemistry of 0.13% 
maximum carbon, 0.60% maximum manganese, 0.15% maximum silicon, 0.20% 
maximum copper, 0.04% maximum phosphorous, 0.05% maximum sulfur, and 
0.20% maximum aluminum, with a surface finish of Stone Finish 7C, with 
a DOS-A oil at an aim level of 2 mg/square meter, with not more than 15 
inclusions/foreign matter in 15 feet (4.6 meters) (with inclusions not 
to exceed 1/32 inch (0.8 mm) in width and 3/64 inch (1.2 mm) in 
length), with thickness/temper combinations of either 60 pound base box 
(0.0066 inch) double reduced CADR8 temper in widths of 25.00 inches, 
27.00 inches, 27.50 inches, 28.00 inches, 28.25 inches, 28.50 inches, 
29.50 inches, 29.75 inches, 30.25 inches, 31.00 inches, 32.75 inches, 
33.75 inches, 35.75 inches, 36.25 inches, 39.00 inches, or 43.00 
inches, or 85 pound base box (0.0094 inch) single reduced CAT4 temper 
in widths of 25.00 inches, 27.00 inches, 28.00 inches, 30.00 inches, 
33.00 inches, 33.75 inches, 35.75 inches, 36.25 inches, or 43.00 
inches, with width tolerance of \1/8\ inch, with a thickness 
tolerance of 0.0005 inch, with a maximum coil weight of 20,000 
pounds (9071.0 kg), with a minimum coil weight of 18,000 pounds (8164.8 
kg) with a coil inside diameter of 16 inches (40.64 cm) with a steel 
core, with a coil maximum outside diameter of 59.5 inches (151.13 cm), 
with a maximum of one weld (identified with a paper flag) per coil, 
with a surface free of scratches, holes, and rust.
--Electrolytically tin coated steel having differential coating with 
1.00 pound/base box equivalent on the heavy side, with varied coating 
equivalents in the lighter side (detailed below), with a continuous 
cast steel chemistry of type MR, with a surface finish of type 7B or 
7C, with a surface passivation of 0.7 mg/square foot of chromium 
applied as a cathodic dichromate treatment, with coil form having 
restricted oil film weights of 0.3-0.4 grams/base box of type DOS-A 
oil, coil inside diameter ranging from 15.5 to 17 inches, coil outside 
diameter of a maximum 64 inches, with a maximum coil weight of 25,000 
pounds, and with temper/coating/dimension combinations of : (1) CAT 4 
temper, 1.00/.050 pound/base box coating, 70 pound/base box (0.0077 
inch) thickness, and 33.1875 inch ordered width; or (2) CAT5 temper, 
1.00/0.50 pound/base box coating, 75 pound/base box (0.0082 inch) 
thickness, and 34.9375 inch or 34.1875 inch ordered width; or (3) CAT5 
temper, 1.00/0.50 pound/base box coating, 107 pound/base box (0.0118 
inch) thickness, and 30.5625 inch or 35.5625 inch ordered width; or (4) 
CADR8 temper, 1.00/0.50 pound/base box coating, 85 pound/base box 
(0.0093 inch) thickness, and 35.5625 inch ordered width; or (5) CADR8 
temper, 1.00/0.25 pound/base box coating, 60 pound/base box (0.0066 
inch) thickness, and 35.9375 inch ordered width; or (6) CADR8 temper, 
1.00/0.25 pound/base box coating, 70 pound/base box (0.0077 inch) 
thickness, and 32.9375 inch, 33.125 inch, or 35.1875 inch ordered 
width.
--Electrolytically tin coated steel having differential coating with 
1.00 pound/base box equivalent on the heavy side, with varied coating 
equivalents on the lighter side (detailed below), with a continuous 
cast steel chemistry of type MR, with a surface finish of type 7B or 
7C, with a surface passivation of 0.5 mg/square foot of chromium 
applied as a cathodic dichromate treatment, with ultra flat scroll cut 
sheet form, with CAT 5 temper with 1.00/0.10 pound/base box coating, 
with a lithograph logo printed in a uniform pattern on the 0.10 pound 
coating side with a clear protective coat, with both sides waxed to a 
level of 15-20 mg/216 sq. in., with ordered dimension combinations of 
(1) 75 pound/base box (0.0082 inch) thickness and 34.9375 inch x 31.748 
inch scroll cut dimensions; or (2) 75 pound/base box (0.0082 inch) 
thickness and 34.1875 inch x 29.076 inch scroll cut dimensions; or (3) 
107 pound/base box (0.0118 inch) thickness and 30.5625 inch x 34.125 
inch scroll cut dimension.
--Tin-free steel coated with a metallic chromium layer between 100-200 
mg/m2 and a chromium oxide layer between 5-30 mg/
m2; chemical composition of 0.05% maximum carbon, 0.03% 
maximum silicon, 0.60% maximum manganese, 0.02% maximum phosphorous, 
and 0.02% maximum sulfur; magnetic flux density (``Br'') of 10 kg 
minimum and a coercive force (``Hc'') of 3.8 Oe minimum.

    The merchandise subject to this order is classified in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS''), under 
HTSUS subheadings 7210.11.0000, 7210.12.0000, 7210.50.0000, 
7212.10.0000, and 7212.50.0000 if of non-alloy steel and under HTSUS 
subheadings 7225.99.0090, and 7226.99.0000 if of alloy steel. Although 
the subheadings are provided for convenience and Customs purposes, our 
written description of the scope of this review is dispositive.

Preliminary Results of Review and Intent to Revoke in Part the 
Antidumping Duty Order

    Pursuant to sections 751(d)(1) of the Act, the Department may 
revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order, in whole or in 
part, based on a review under section 751(b) of the Act (i.e., a 
changed circumstances review). Section 751(b)(1) of the Act requires a 
changed circumstances review to be conducted upon receipt of a request 
which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review. 
Section 351.222(g) of the Department's regulations provides that the 
Department will conduct a changed circumstances administrative review 
under 19 CFR 351.216, and may revoke an order (in whole or in part), if 
it determines that (i) producers accounting for substantially all of 
the production of the domestic like product to which the order pertains 
have expressed a lack of interest in the relief provided by the order, 
in whole or in part, or (ii) if other changed circumstances sufficient 
to warrant revocation exist. Since the Department did not receive any 
comments during the comment period opposing the exclusion of certain 
laminated tin-free steel from the antidumping duty order, the 
Department is preliminarily revoking the order on certain tin mill 
products from Japan, in part, for all future entries with regard to the 
products which meet the specifications above.
    Interested parties wishing to comment on these results may submit 
briefs to the Department no later than 14 days after the publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register. Parties will have five days 
subsequent to this due date to submit rebuttal comments, limited to the 
issues raised in those comments. Parties who submit comments or 
rebuttal comments in this proceeding are requested to submit with the 
argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the 
argument (no longer than five pages, including footnotes). Any requests 
for hearing must be filed within 14 days of the publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register.
    All written comments must be submitted in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.303, and must be served on all interested parties on the 
Department's service list. The Department will also

[[Page 77230]]

issue its final results of review within 270 days after the date on 
which the changed circumstances review is initiated, in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.216(e), and will publish these results in the Federal 
Register. While the changed circumstances review is underway, the 
current requirement for a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties 
on all subject merchandise, including the merchandise that is the 
subject of this changed circumstances review, will continue unless and 
until it is modified pursuant to the final results of this changed 
circumstances review or an administrative review.
    This notice is in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.222 of the Department's 
regulations.

    Dated: December 10, 2002.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-31626 Filed 12-16-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P