[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 226 (Monday, November 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65875-65879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29419]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-890]


Notice of Request for Information and Extension of Time: Wooden 
Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China

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

ACTION: Notice of request for information and extension of time.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: November 24, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230. Inquiries regarding any 
information on this notice may be addressed by calling Import 
Administration at 202-482-3902, via fax at 202-482-9089, and via email 
to the following address: [email protected].

The Petition

    On October 31, 2003, the Department of Commerce (``Department'') 
received an antidumping duty petition (``Petition'') filed by the 
American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade and its 
individual members (``the Committee'') and the Cabinet Makers, Millmen, 
and Industrial Carpenters Local 721 (``Local 721'') (``collectively, 
Petitioners''). The Petitioners are domestic producers of wooden 
bedroom furniture.

Scope of the Petition

    The following language describes the imported merchandise from the 
People's Republic of China (``PRC'') that Petitioners intend to be 
included in the scope of the investigation:
    The merchandise subject to this investigation is wooden bedroom 
furniture (i.e., subject merchandise). Wooden bedroom furniture is 
generally, but not exclusively, designed, manufactured, and offered for 
sale in coordinated groups, or bedrooms, in which all of the individual 
pieces are of approximately the same style and approximately the same 
material and/or finish. The subject merchandise are made substantially 
of wood products, including both solid wood and also engineered wood 
products made from wood particles, fibers, or other wooden materials 
such as plywood, oriented strand board, particleboard, and fiberboard; 
with or without wood veneers, wood overlays, or laminates; with or 
without non-wood components or trim such as metal, marble, leather, 
glass, plastic, or other resins; and whether or not assembled, 
completed, or finished.
    The subject merchandise includes (1) wooden beds such as loft beds, 
bunk beds, and other beds; (2) wooden headboards for beds (whether 
stand-alone or attached to side rails), wooden footboards for beds, 
wooden side rails for beds, and wooden canopies for beds; (3) night 
tables, night stands, dressers, commodes, bureaus, mule chests, 
gentlemen's chests, bachelor's chests, lingerie chests, wardrobes, 
vanities, chessers, chifforobes, and wardrobe-type cabinets; (4) 
dressers with framed glass mirrors that are attached to, incorporated 
in, sit on, or hang over the dresser; (5) chests-on-chests \1\, 
highboys \2\, lowboys \3\, chests of drawers \4\, chests \5\, door 
chests \6\, chiffoniers \7\, hutches \8\, and armoires \9\; (6) desks, 
computer stands, filing cabinets, book cases, or writing tables that 
are attached to or incorporated in the subject merchandise; and (7) 
other bedroom furniture consistent with the above list.
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    \1\ A chest-on-chest is typically a tall chest-of-drawers in two 
or more sections (or appearing to be in two or more sections), with 
one or two sections mounted (or appearing to be mounted) on a 
slightly larger chest; also known as a tallboy.
    \2\ A highboy is typically a tall chest of drawers usually 
composed of a base and a top section with drawers, and supported on 
four legs or a small chest (often 15 inches or more in height).
    \3\ A lowboy is typically a short chest of drawers, not more 
than four feet high, normally set on short legs.
    \4\ A chest of drawers is typically a case containing drawers 
for storing clothing.
    \5\ A chest is typically a case piece taller than it is wide 
featuring a series of drawers and with or without one or more doors 
for storing clothing. The piece can either include drawers or be 
designed as a large box incorporating a lid.
    \6\ A door chest is typically a chest with hinged doors to store 
clothing, whether or not containing drawers. The piece may also 
include shelves for televisions and other entertainment electronics.
    \7\ A chiffonier is typically a tall and narrow chest of drawers 
normally used for storing undergarments and lingerie, often with 
mirror(s) attached.
    \8\ A hutch is typically an open case of furniture with shelves 
that typically sits on another piece of furniture and provides 
storage for clothes.
    \9\ An armoire is typically a tall cabinet or wardrobe 
(typically 50 inches or taller), with doors, and with one or more 
drawers (either exterior below or above the doors or interior behind 
the doors), shelves, and/or garment rods or other apparatus for 
storing clothes. Bedroom armoires may also be used to hold 
television receivers and/or other audio-visual entertainment 
systems.
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    The scope of the petition excludes (1) seats, chairs, benches, 
couches, sofas, sofa beds, stools, and other seating furniture; (2) 
mattresses, mattress supports (including box springs), infant cribs, 
water beds, and futon frames; (3) office furniture, such as desks, 
stand-up desks, computer cabinets, filing cabinets, credenzas, and 
bookcases; (4) dining room or kitchen furniture such as dining tables, 
chairs, servers, sideboards, buffets, corner cabinets, china cabinets, 
and china hutches; (5) other non-bedroom furniture, such as television 
cabinets, cocktails tables, end tables, occasional tables, wall 
systems, book cases, and entertainment systems; (6) bedroom furniture 
made primarily of wicker, cane, osier, bamboo or rattan; (7) side rails 
for beds made of metal if sold separately from the headboard and 
footboard; and (8) bedroom furniture in which bentwood parts 
predominate.\10\
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    \10\ As used herein, bentwood means solid wood made pliable. 
Bentwood is wood that is brought to a curved shape by bending it 
while made pliable with moist heat or other agency, and then set by 
cooling or drying. See Customs' Headquarters' Ruling Letter 043859, 
dated may 17, 1976.
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    Imports of subject merchandise are classified under statistical 
category 9403.50.9040 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (``HTSUS'') as ``wooden * * * beds'' and under statistical 
category 9403.50.9080 of the HTSUS as `` other * * * wooden furniture 
of a kind used in the bedroom.'' In addition, wooden headboards for 
beds, wooden footboards for beds, wooden side rails for beds, and 
wooden canopies for beds may also be entered under statistical category 
9403.50.9040 of the HTSUS as ``parts of wood'' and framed glass mirrors 
may also be entered under statistical category 7009.92.5000 of the 
HTSUS as ``glass mirrors * * * framed.'' This investigation covers all 
wooden bedroom furniture meeting the above description, regardless of 
tariff classification. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope 
of this proceeding is dispositive.

Domestic Like Product

    Pursuant to Section 771(10) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(``the

[[Page 65876]]

Act'') and the Petitioners, the product that is, ``like, or in the 
absence of like, most similar in characteristics and uses with the 
article subject to investigation'' is wooden bedroom furniture.

Determination of Industry Support for the Petition

    Section 732(b)(1) of the Act requires that a petition be filed on 
behalf of the domestic industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act 
provides that the Department's industry support determination be based 
on whether a minimum percentage of the relevant industry supports the 
petition. A petition meets this requirement if the domestic producers 
or workers who support the petition account for: (i) At least 25 
percent of the total production of the domestic like product; and (ii) 
more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like product 
produced by that portion of the industry expressing support for, or 
opposition to, the petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act 
provides that, if the petition does not establish support of domestic 
producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of the total 
production of the domestic like product, the Department shall: (i) Poll 
the industry or rely on other information in order to determine if 
there is support for the petition, as required by subparagraph (A), or 
(ii) determine industry support using a statistically valid sampling 
method to poll the industry.

Request for Information

    Because the Petition has not established that domestic producers or 
workers accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production of 
the domestic like product support the petition, we must ``poll or 
otherwise determine industry support for the petition by the 
industry.''
    In accordance with section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act and in order to 
determine whether the petition establishes support of domestic 
producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of the total 
production of the domestic like product, we are hereby requesting that 
all domestic producer/manufacturers of the wooden bedroom furniture 
submit to the Department a response to the questions in Appendix I of 
this notice.

Filing Requirements

    Given the very short period in which we must determine industry 
support, the number of potential responses, and the fact that industry 
support may not be re-examined after initiation, we are waiving the 
filing requirements set forth in 19 CFR 351.303 for certain parties 
submitting information on industry support. This waiver of the filing 
requirements will not apply to: 1) the submission of documents that are 
not in response to the information requested in this notice or 2) 
parties that are familiar with the conduct of antidumping and 
countervailing proceedings through prior involvement in such 
proceedings (e.g., parties represented by law firms that are involved 
in other AD/CVD cases).
    This limited waiver is applicable only until November 26, 2003, the 
deadline for submitting the information requested in this notice. This 
waiver is intended to expedite the receipt of information that is 
essential to our analysis of industry support by providing information 
on the production of the domestic like product by petitioning and non-
petitioning companies. By avoiding delays in the receipt of such 
information, we will have more time to analyze whether the statutory 
requirements concerning industry support for the above-referenced 
petitions have been met.
    All parties submitting any information must include the following 
statement in their response: ``I, (name and title), currently employed 
by (person), certify that (1) I have read the attached submission, and 
(2) based on the information made available to me by (person), I have 
no reason to believe that this submission contains any material 
misrepresentation or omission of fact.'' All information received by 
the Department will be treated as business proprietary information as 
outlined in our regulations (19 CFR 351.304-306), unless otherwise 
noted. Please note that all company names will be treated as public 
information. In addition, note that all business proprietary documents 
received by the Department in response to this notice will be served to 
those individuals with access to business proprietary information under 
the Administrative Protective Order (``APO''). All public documents may 
be made available to those parties on the public service list. The APO 
service lists and the public service lists are available on Import 
Administration's Web site: http://ia.ita.doc.gov.
    Information submitted to the Department in response to this notice 
should be faxed to the following number: 202-482-9089. Furthermore, all 
such information will be placed on the official record of the 
proceeding. Responses to this notice are due no later than November 26, 
2003. Responses after this date may not be reviewed by the Department 
and therefore, not included in the analysis.

Extension of Time

    Section 732(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act provides that within 20 days of 
the filing of an antidumping duty petition, the Department will 
determine, inter alia, whether the petition has been filed by or on 
behalf of the U.S. industry producing the domestic like product. 
Section 732(c)(1)(B) provides that the deadline for the initiation 
determination can be extended by 20 days in any case in which the 
Department must ``poll or otherwise determine support for the petition 
by the industry * * *.''
    We will require additional information from the petitioners and the 
domestic producers of wooden bedroom furniture in order to make our 
determination regarding industry support and/or time to analyze the 
petitioners' responses to our requests for information. See Memorandum 
to Joseph A. Spetrini, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import 
Administration, Group III from Edward C. Yang, Office Director, AD/CVD 
Enforcement III, Office IX, regarding Antidumping Duty Petition on 
Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People's Republic of China: Extension 
of Deadline for Determining Industry Support, dated November 13, 2003. 
Therefore, it is necessary to extend the deadline for decision on 
initiation for a period not to exceed 40 days from the filing of the 
petition. As a result, the initiation determination is due no later 
than December 10, 2003.

International Trade Commission Notification

    Because the Department has extended the deadline of the initiation 
determination, the Department will contact the Commission and will make 
this extension notice available to the Commission.

    Dated: November 19, 2003.
Edward C. Yang,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, Group III.
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[FR Doc. 03-29419 Filed 11-21-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-C