[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24436-24439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-11352]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-122-839]


Final Results of Countervailing Duty Expedited Reviews: Certain 
Softwood Lumber Products from Canada

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

ACTION: Notice of Final Results of Countervailing Duty Expedited 
Reviews.

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SUMMARY: On August 14, 2002, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published in the Federal Register its preliminary results 
of 18 expedited reviews of the countervailing duty order on certain 
softwood lumber products from Canada for the period April 1, 2000 
through March 31, 2001. See Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty 
Expedited Reviews: Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada, 67 FR 
52945 (August 14, 2002) (Preliminary Results). On November 5, 2002, the 
Department published its final results for 13 of these 18 expedited 
reviews. See Final Results and Partial Recission of Countervailing Duty 
Expedited Reviews: Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada (67 FR 
67388; November 5, 2002) (Final Results). Based on our analysis of 
additional information and verification of the questionnaire responses, 
we have made changes to the estimated net subsidy rates determined in 
the Preliminary Results for an additional three companies in their 
expedited reviews. Therefore, these final results for these three 
expedited reviews differ from the preliminary results. For information 
on estimated net subsidies, please see the ``Final Results of Reviews'' 
section of this notice. In accordance with these final results of 
reviews, we will instruct the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection 
(BCBP) to refund all collected cash deposits and waive future cash 
deposits requirements for each reviewed company as detailed in the 
``Final Results of Reviews'' section of this notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 7, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gayle Longest, Office of AD/CVD 
Enforcement VI, Group II, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 
482-3338.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 22, 2002, the Department published in the Federal Register 
its amended final affirmative countervailing duty determination and 
countervailing duty order on certain softwood lumber products (subject 
merchandise) from Canada (67 FR 36070), as amended (67 FR 37775; May 
30, 2002). On July 17, 2002, the Department published a Notice of 
Initiation of Expedited Reviews which covered 73 companies that filed 
complete and timely review applications. (See Notice of Initiation of 
Expedited Reviews of the Countervailing Duty Order: Certain Softwood 
Lumber Products from Canada, (67 FR 46955; July 17, 2002) (Notice of 
Initiation).)
    As explained in the Notice of Initiation, we segregated the 73 
applicants into two groups. Group 1 consists of 45 companies that 
obtain the majority of their wood (over 50 percent of their inputs) 
from the United States, the Maritime Provinces, Canadian private lands, 
and Canadian companies excluded from the order, as well as companies 
that source less than a majority of their wood from these sources and 
do not have tenure. Group 2 includes 28 companies that source less than 
a majority of their wood from these sources and have acquired Crown 
timber through their own tenure contracts.
    In our review of the applications in Group 1, we noted that, in 
order to conduct our analysis, we required only minimal supplemental 
data for 24 of the 45 companies. The other Group 1 companies required 
additional information and more extensive analysis. Rather than 
delaying the process to provide all Group 1 companies the opportunity 
to submit the necessary information, we issued a short questionnaire to 
the 24 companies requiring only minimal information and set a short 
deadline for the response. Of the 24 companies, 18 were able to supply 
the information by the deadline. We completed our preliminary analysis 
of those 18 companies, using the Group 1 methodology (see 
``Methodology'' section below). See Preliminary Results.
    On September 6, 2002, petitioners filed comments to the Preliminary 
Results. Two companies subsequently requested an analysis of whether 
they benefited from subsidies bestowed on their inputs: Les Bois 
d'Oeuvre Beaudoin & Gauthier Inc. and Meunier Lumber Company Ltd. Three 
other companies, Interbois Inc. (Interbois), Les Moulures Jacomau 2000, 
Inc. (Jacomau), and Richard Lutes Cedar, Inc. (RLC), were verified 
subsequent to the

[[Page 24437]]

preliminary results of expedited reviews. We provided these three 
companies and petitioners with an opportunity to comment on the 
verification reports. We received comments on the verification reports 
from petitioners on October 31, 2002 and rebuttal comments from 
respondents on November 7, 2002, and November 22, 2002.
    During the comment period for these three companies, the Department 
issued the Final Results for 13 of the 18 companies that were included 
in the Preliminary Results. We are continuing to process the other 
applications in Groups 1 and 2, and have issued questionnaires to both 
groups. This notice includes the final results of expedited reviews for 
Interbois, Jacomau and RLC.

Scope of the reviews

    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 moldings 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 
BCBP 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) (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 BCBP's 
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, and if included in the purchase 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 BCBP 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 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 BCBP 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

[[Page 24438]]

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.
    In addition, this scope language has been further clarified to now 
specify that all softwood lumber products entered from Canada claiming 
non-subject status based on U.S. country of origin will be treated as 
non-subject U.S.-origin merchandise under the countervailing duty 
order, provided that these softwood lumber products meet the following 
condition: upon entry, the importer, exporter, Canadian processor and/
or original U.S. producer establish to BCBP's satisfaction that the 
softwood lumber entered and documented as U.S.-origin softwood lumber 
was first produced in the United States as a lumber product satisfying 
the physical parameters of the softwood lumber scope.\2\ The 
presumption of non-subject status can, however, be rebutted by evidence 
demonstrating that the merchandise was substantially transformed in 
Canada.
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    \2\ See the scope clarification message ( 3034202), 
dated February 3, 2003, to the BCBP, regarding treatment of U.S. 
origin lumber on file in the Central Records Unit, Room B-099 of the 
main Commerce Building.
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Verification

    The Department verified Interbois, Jacomau, and RLC from September 
30, 2002, through October 3, 2002. On October 22, 2002, we issued the 
following reports: Verification of Interbois, Inc. in the 
Countervailing Duty Expedited Review of Certain Softwood Lumber 
Products from Canada (Interbois Verification Report), Verification of 
Les Moulures Jacomau 2000, Inc. in the Countervailing Duty Expedited 
Review of Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada (Jacomau 
Verification Report), and Verification of Richard Lutes Cedar, Inc. in 
the Countervailing Duty Expedited Review of Certain Softwood Lumber 
Products from Canada (RLC Verification Report). We provided these 
companies and petitioners with an opportunity to comment on the 
verification reports. We received comments from petitioners and 
rebuttal comments from respondents.

Methodology

    These final results include companies that obtain the majority of 
their wood (over 50 percent of their inputs) from the United States, 
the Maritime Provinces, Canadian private lands, and/or Canadian 
companies excluded from the order. We calculated company-specific rates 
based on the Group 1 methodology described in the notice of preliminary 
results. To obtain the company-specific stumpage benefit, we multiplied 
the quantity of lumber inputs (except for those specified below) by the 
province-specific stumpage benefit calculated in the underlying 
investigation, i.e., the average per-unit differential between the 
calculated adjusted stumpage fee for the relevant province and the 
appropriate benchmark for that province. For those provinces, such as 
British Columbia and Ontario, for which we calculated more than one 
per-unit benefit in the investigation, we calculated one province-wide 
per-unit benefit by weight-averaging the previously calculated values 
by the corresponding volumes of harvested softwood. As indicated in the 
Notice of Initiation, we have not attributed a benefit to (1) logs or 
lumber acquired from the Maritime Provinces, (2) logs or lumber of U.S. 
origin, (3) lumber produced by mills excluded in the investigation, or 
(4) logs from Canadian private land. We divided the stumpage benefit by 
the appropriate value of the company's sales to determine the company's 
estimated subsidy rate from stumpage and then added any benefit from 
other programs to obtain the cash deposit rate for the company.

Analysis of Comments Received

    The issues raised in the comments on the verification reports by 
interested parties are addressed in the ``Issues and Decision 
Memorandum: Final Results of Expedited Review of 3 Companies Covered by 
the August 14, 2002 Notice of Preliminary Results of the Countervailing 
Duty Expedited Reviews of Certain Softwood Lumber Products from 
Canada'' (Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with this notice, 
which is hereby adopted by this notice. As noted in the Decision 
Memorandum, we are addressing in these final results those issues that 
are related to the three companies included in this notice. Other 
issues, related for instance to whether certain companies benefitted 
from subsidies bestowed on their inputs or Group 2 methodology, will be 
addressed in the context of subsequent reviews. 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 Appendix 
I. The Decision Memorandum is on file in the Central Records Unit in 
room B-099 of the Main Commerce Building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the 
World Wide Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov, under the heading ``Federal 
Register Notices.'' The paper copy and electronic version of the 
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Results

    We amended data for Interbois, Jacomau and RLC based on information 
obtained during verification. See the Interbois Verification Report, 
Jacomau Verification Report, and RLC Verification Report for a further 
discussion of such revisions.

Final Results of Review

    We have calculated an individual subsidy rate for each producer/
exporter subject to these expedited reviews. For the period April 1, 
2000 to March 31, 2001, we determine the net subsidy to be as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Net Subsidy
        Net Subsidies - Producer/[chyph]Exporter              Rate %
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Interbois Inc...........................................           0.88%
Les Moulures Jacomau....................................           0.75%
Richard Lutes Cedar Inc.................................           0.12%
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    Because the rates for these companies are less than one percent ad 
valorem, which is de minimis, we determine that these companies are 
excluded from the countervailing duty order. We will instruct the BCBP 
to refund all cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties 
collected on all shipments of the subject merchandise produced and 
exported by these three reviewed companies. In addition, we will 
instruct the BCBP to waive cash deposit requirements of estimated 
countervailing duties on all shipments of the subject merchandise 
produced and exported by these three companies, entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of 
the final results of these reviews.
    This notice covers only those three companies that we have 
specifically identified herein. We will instruct the BCBP to continue 
collecting cash deposits for all non-reviewed companies

[[Page 24439]]

at the cash deposit rates established in the amended final 
determination on softwood lumber from Canada, 67 FR 36070 (May 22, 
2002), and/or the final results of expedited reviews, 67 FR 67388 
(November 5, 2002).
    These expedited reviews and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with section 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended, (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1) and 19 U.S.C. 1677(f)(I)).

    Dated: April 29, 2003.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix I - Issues and Decision Memorandum

Summary and Background

Analysis of Comments Received

Comment 1: Verification of RLC's Estimated Input Data
Comment 2: Verification of the Origin of RLC's Logs and Lumber
Comment 3: Verification of RLC's Estimated Sales Data
Comment 4: Interbois' Lumber Output
[FR Doc. 03-11352 Filed 5-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S