[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 905-907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-331]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-412-822]


Stainless Steel Bar From the United Kingdom: Preliminary Results 
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of antidumping duty 
administrative review.

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SUMMARY: In response to timely requests by one manufacturer/exporter 
and the petitioners,\1\ the Department of Commerce is conducting an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel 
bar from the United Kingdom with respect to one company. The period of 
review is August 2, 2001, through January 28, 2002, and March 8, 2002, 
through February 28, 2003.\2\
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    \1\ The petitioners are Carpenter Technology Corporation; 
Crucible Specialty Metals Division, Crucible Materials Corporation; 
Electralloy Corporation, a Division of G.O. Carlson, Inc., and 
Slater Steels Corporation, Specialty Alloys Division.
    \2\ The review period does not include January 29, 2002, through 
March 7, 2002, for reasons explained in our Notice of Amended 
Antidumping Duty Orders: Stainless Steel Bar from France, Germany, 
Italy, Korea, and the United Kingdom, 68 FR 58660 (October 10, 
2003).
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    We preliminarily determine that sales have been made below normal 
value. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results. If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results 
of administrative review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 7, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca Trainor or Kate Johnson, 
Office 2, AD/CVD Enforcement Group I, Import Administration--Room B099, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-4007 or (202) 482-4929, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 7, 2000, the Department published in the Federal Register 
an antidumping duty order on stainless steel bar from the United 
Kingdom (67 FR 10381). On October 10, 2003, we published an amended 
antidumping duty order (68 FR 58660).
    On March 3, 2003, we published a notice advising of the opportunity 
to request an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on 
stainless steel bar from the United Kingdom (68 FR 9974). In response 
to timely requests by two manufacturers/exporters, Corus Engineering 
Steels Limited (CES) and Firth Rixson Special Steels Limited (FRSS), 
and the petitioners, the Department published a notice of initiation of 
an administrative review with respect to two companies: CES and FRSS 
(68 FR 19498 (April 21, 2003)).
    On May 7, 2003, the Department issued antidumping duty 
questionnaires to the above-mentioned companies. On June 11, 2003, FRSS 
requested that the Department limit its request for information 
concerning sales in the United Kingdom and its request for information 
concerning the cost of production for those sales. On July 8, 2003, we 
granted FRSS's request to limit its reporting of home market sales and 
the associated cost of production for those sales.
    On June 26, 2003, CES timely withdrew its request for an 
administration review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel 
bar from the United Kingdom for the above-referenced review period. On 
July 10, 2003, we published a Notice of Partial Rescission of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review with respect to CES (68 FR 
41112).
    We received FRSS's response to the questionnaire on July 25, 2003. 
We issued supplemental questionnaires in August, September and October 
2003, and received responses during the period August through November 
2003.
    On October 27, 2003, we received notification from counsel for FRSS 
that the company did not intend to participate any further in the 
administrative review. For further discussion, see the ``Use of Facts 
Available (FA)'' section of this notice.

Scope of the Order

    For purposes of this order, the term ``stainless steel bar'' 
includes articles of stainless steel in straight lengths that have been 
either hot-rolled, forged, turned, cold-drawn, cold-rolled or otherwise 
cold-finished, or ground, having a uniform solid cross section along 
their whole length in the shape of circles, segments of circles, ovals, 
rectangles (including squares), triangles, hexagons, octagons, or other 
convex polygons. Stainless steel bar includes cold-finished stainless 
steel bars that are turned or ground in straight lengths, whether 
produced from hot-rolled bar or from straightened and cut rod or wire, 
and reinforcing bars that have indentations, ribs, grooves, or other 
deformations produced during the rolling process.
    Except as specified above, the term does not include stainless 
steel semi-finished products, cut length flat-rolled products (i.e., 
cut length rolled products which if less than 4.75 mm in thickness have 
a width measuring at least 10 times the thickness, or if 4.75 mm or 
more in thickness having a width which exceeds 150 mm and measures at 
least twice the thickness), products that have been cut from stainless 
steel sheet, strip or plate, wire (i.e., cold-formed products in coils, 
of any uniform solid cross section along their whole length, which do 
not conform to the definition of flat-rolled products), and angles, 
shapes and sections.
    The stainless steel bar subject to this order is currently 
classifiable under subheadings 7222.11.00.05, 7222.11.00.50, 
7222.19.00.05, 7222.19.00.50, 7222.20.00.05, 7222.20.00.45, 
7222.20.00.75, and 7222.30.00.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (``HTSUS''). Although the HTSUS subheadings are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description 
of the scope of this order is dispositive.

Use of Facts Available

    On October 27, 2003, two weeks prior to the Department's planned 
verification of FRSS's submitted cost and sales information, FRSS 
notified the Department that it no longer intended to participate in 
this administrative review (see printed electronic message from William 
L. Matthews to LaVonne

[[Page 906]]

Jackson on file in the Central Records Unit, Room B-099 of the Commerce 
Department.) Section 776(a)(2)(D) of the Act provides that, if an 
interested party provides information that cannot be verified, the 
Department shall use, subject to sections 782(d) and (e) of the Act, 
facts otherwise available in reaching the applicable determination.
    Once we determine that the use of facts available is warranted, 
section 776(b) of the Act further permits us to apply an adverse 
inference if we make the additional finding that ``[a respondent] has 
failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its ability to comply 
with a request for information.'' By ceasing to participate in the 
review, effectively cancelling the Department's planned verification of 
FRSS's submitted cost and sales information, FRSS did not act to the 
best of its ability as required by section 776(b) of the Act. 
Consequently, we have determined to make an adverse inference in 
determining a dumping margin for FRSS.
    (See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Polyvinyl Alcohol From the Republic of Korea, 68 FR 47540 
(August 11, 2003).)
    Section 776(b) of the Act authorizes the Department to use as 
adverse facts available (AFA) information derived from the petition, 
the final determination from the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) 
investigation, a previous administrative review, or any other 
information placed on the record. As AFA, we have assigned to FRSS the 
highest margin found in any segment of the proceeding, which in this 
case is the highest margin calculated in the petition, and used as AFA 
in the LTFV investigation. See Notice of Final Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Bar from the United Kingdom, 
67 FR 3146 (January 23, 2002). See also Notice of Preliminary Results 
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Foundry Coke from the 
People's Republic of China, 68 FR 57869 (October 7, 2003) (Foundry 
Coke) and Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review: Persulfates from the People's Republic of China, 66 FR 42628 
(August 14, 2001) (Persulfates) (employing a petition rate used as 
adverse facts available in a previous segment as adverse facts 
available in the current review).
    Section 776(c) of the Act provides that, when the Department relies 
on secondary information (such as the petition) in using the facts 
otherwise available, it must, to the extent practicable, corroborate 
that information from independent sources that are reasonably at its 
disposal. We have interpreted ``corroborate'' to mean that we will, to 
the extent practicable, examine the reliability and relevance of the 
information used. See, e.g., Foundry Coke at 57874, citing Tapered 
Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, from Japan, 
and Tapered Roller Bearings, Four Inches or Less in Outside Diameter, 
and Components Thereof, from Japan; Preliminary Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews and Partial Termination of Administrative 
Reviews, 61 FR 57391, 57392 (November 6, 1996), and Persulfates at 
42629. In this case, when analyzing the petition for purposes of the 
LTFV initiation, we reviewed all of the data upon which the petitioners 
relied in calculating the estimated dumping margins, and determined 
that the margins in the petition were appropriately calculated and 
supported by adequate evidence in accordance with the statutory 
requirements for initiation. In order to corroborate the petition 
margins for purposes of using them as AFA for the investigation, we re-
examined the price and cost information provided in the petition in 
light of information developed during the investigation. For the 
purposes of this administrative review, we once again re-examined the 
petition information relative to verified data gathered during the 
investigation, as we did in Persulfates. The rate used is also the rate 
currently applicable to FRSS. We conclude that this data continues to 
be the best information reasonably available to us, as no information 
has been presented in this review to call into question its reliability 
or relevance. (See the Memorandum Regarding the Use of Facts Available 
dated December 30, 2003, on file in Room B-099 of the main Commerce 
building.)
    In accordance with section 776(c) of the Act, we consider the 
petition rates to be corroborated using information from independent 
sources that were reasonably at our disposal. As a result, we have 
preliminarily assigned FRSS the highest rate from any segment of the 
proceeding, 125.77 percent.

Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that the 
weighted-average dumping margin for the period August 2, 2001, through 
January 28, 2002, and March 8, 2002, through February 28, 2003, is as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Percent
                    Manufacturer/exporter                        margin
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Firth Rixson Special Steels Limited..........................     125.77
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing or to participate 
if one is requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Import Administration, Room B-099, within 30 days of the 
date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain: (1) The 
party's name, address and telephone number; (2) the number of 
participants; and (3) a list of issues to be discussed. See 19 CFR 
351.310(c). If requested, a hearing will be held 44 days after the date 
of publication of this notice, or the first work day thereafter.
    Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised in the 
case briefs of interested parties. Case briefs and rebuttal briefs, 
limited to the issues raised in the respective case briefs, may be 
submitted not later than 30 days and 37 days, respectively, from the 
date of publication of these preliminary results. See 19 CFR 351.309(c) 
and (d). Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
proceeding are requested to submit with each argument (1) a statement 
of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument. Parties are also 
encouraged to provide a summary of the arguments not to exceed five 
pages and a table of statutes, regulations, and cases cited.
    The Department will issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any 
written briefs, not later than 120 days after the date of publication 
of this notice.

Assessment Rates

    The Department shall determine, and U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate 
entries. The Department will issue appropriate appraisement 
instructions directly to CBP upon completion of this review. We will 
instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries 
covered by this review. See 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2). The final results of 
this review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties 
on entries of merchandise covered by the final results of this review 
and for future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective for all 
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse,

[[Page 907]]

for consumption on or after the publication date of the final results 
of this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(1) of the 
Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for FRSS will be that established in the 
final results of this review, except if the rate is less than 0.50 
percent, and therefore, de minimis within the meaning of 19 CFR 
351.106(c)(1), in which case the cash deposit rate will be zero; (2) 
for previously reviewed or investigated companies not listed above, the 
cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate 
published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm 
covered in this review, a prior review, or the original LTFV 
investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will be 
the rate established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of 
the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other 
manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 4.48 percent, the ``All 
Others'' rate made effective by the LTFV investigation. These 
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until publication of 
the final results of the next administrative review.

Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    This administrative review and notice are published in accordance 
with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221.

    Dated: December 30, 2003.
James J. Jochum,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-331 Filed 1-6-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P