[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 37 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8623-8625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-4138]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-122-840]


Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Canada; Initiation 
and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances 
Review

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

ACTION: Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping 
Duty Changed Circumstances Review.

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SUMMARY: In order to clarify the meaning of the exclusion of the Stelco 
Group (Stelco, Inc. and Stelwire Ltd.) from the antidumping duty order, 
the Department of Commerce (the Department) is initiating a changed 
circumstances review of the antidumping duty order on carbon and 
certain alloy steel wire rod from Canada (steel wire rod) (see Notice 
of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Antidumping Duty Order: Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire Rod from 
Canada, 67 FR 65944 (October 29, 2002) (Antidumping Order)) and issuing 
this notice of preliminary results. We have preliminarily determined 
that only merchandise both produced and exported by the Stelco Group is 
excluded from the order.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  February 25, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel O'Brien or Constance Handley, 
at (202) 482-1376 or (202) 482-0631, respectively; AD/CVD Enforcement 
Office V, Group II, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street & Constitution 
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background:

    The Stelco Group received a de minimis margin in the investigation 
and was excluded from the antidumping duty order. Several months after 
the publication of the antidumping duty order, the Department received 
requests for clarification regarding the Stelco Group's exclusion from 
the order. See Memorandum to the File from Daniel O'Brien, 
International Trade Compliance Analyst, Regarding Inquiries Concerning 
Stelco's Exclusion from the Order, dated February 11, 2004. 
Specifically, parties have inquired as to whether all products produced 
by the Stelco Group, or only those both produced and exported by the 
Stelco Group, are excluded from the antidumping order. These inquiries 
result from inconsistent language in the order and in our instructions 
to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), then known as the U.S. 
Customs Service, regarding the order. The order states that the 
Department will instruct CBP to suspend liquidation on:
    all merchandise, with the exception of the merchandise produced by 
Stelco, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or 
after the date of publication of this antidumping duty order in the 
Federal Register. Antidumping Order, 67 FR at 65945.
    The corrected instructions to CBP regarding the order\1\ read:
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    \1\ See CBP Message Number 2324204, a correction message to the 
original instructions regarding the order. The correction was 
necessary because the original instructions to CBP regarding the 
order stated only that the Stelco Group had a 0.00 margin without 
adding that the Stelco Group was, therefore, excluded from the 
order.
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    ... [B]ecause the Stelco Group had a de minimis margin, it is 
excluded from the antidumping duty order. The Customs Service should 
discontinue suspension of liquidation with regard to entries made by 
Stelco Inc. and Stelwire Ltd., effective October 29, 2002.

Scope of the Review

    The merchandise covered by this order is certain hot-rolled 
products of carbon steel and alloy steel, in coils, of approximately 
round cross section, 5.00 mm or more, but less than 19.00 mm, in solid 
cross-sectional diameter.
    Specifically excluded are steel products possessing the above-noted 
physical characteristics and meeting the

[[Page 8624]]

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) definitions for 
(a) stainless steel; (b) tool steel; (c) high nickel steel; (d) ball 
bearing steel; and (e) concrete reinforcing bars and rods. Also 
excluded are (f) free machining steel products (i.e., products that 
contain by weight one or more of the following elements: 0.03 percent 
or more of lead, 0.05 percent or more of bismuth, 0.08 percent or more 
of sulfur, more than 0.04 percent of phosphorus, more than 0.05 percent 
of selenium, or more than 0.01 percent of tellurium).
    Also excluded from the scope are 1080 grade tire cord quality wire 
rod and 1080 grade tire bead quality wire rod. This grade 1080 tire 
cord quality rod is defined as: (i) grade 1080 tire cord quality wire 
rod measuring 5.0 mm or more but not more than 6.0 mm in cross-
sectional diameter; (ii) with an average partial decarburization of no 
more than 70 microns in depth (maximum individual 200 microns); (iii) 
having no inclusions greater than 20 microns; (iv) having a carbon 
segregation per heat average of 3.0 or better using European Method NFA 
04-114; (v) having a surface quality with no surface defects of a 
length greater than 0.15 mm; (vi) capable of being drawn to a diameter 
of 0.30 mm or less with 3 or fewer breaks per ton, and (vii) containing 
by weight the following elements in the proportions shown: (1) 0.78 
percent or more of carbon, (2) less than 0.01 percent of aluminum, (3) 
0.040 percent or less, in the aggregate, of phosphorus and sulfur, (4) 
0.006 percent or less of nitrogen, and (5) not more than 0.15 percent, 
in the aggregate, of copper, nickel and chromium.
    This grade 1080 tire bead quality rod is defined as: (i) grade 1080 
tire bead quality wire rod measuring 5.5 mm or more but not more than 
7.0 mm in cross-sectional diameter; (ii) with an average partial 
decarburization of no more than 70 microns in depth (maximum individual 
200 microns); (iii) having no inclusions greater than 20 microns; (iv) 
having a carbon segregation per heat average of 3.0 or better using 
European Method NFA 04-114; (v) having a surface quality with no 
surface defects of a length greater than 0.2 mm; (vi) capable of being 
drawn to a diameter of 0.78 mm or larger with 0.5 or fewer breaks per 
ton; and (vii) containing by weight the following elements in the 
proportions shown: (1) 0.78 percent or more of carbon, (2) less than 
0.01 percent of soluble aluminum, (3) 0.040 percent or less, in the 
aggregate, of phosphorus and sulfur, (4) 0.008 percent or less of 
nitrogen, and (5) either not more than 0.15 percent, in the aggregate, 
of copper, nickel and chromium (if chromium is not specified), or not 
more than 0.10 percent in the aggregate of copper and nickel and a 
chromium content of 0.24 to 0.30 percent (if chromium is specified).
    The designation of the products as ``tire cord quality'' or ``tire 
bead quality'' indicates the acceptability of the product for use in 
the production of tire cord, tire bead, or wire for use in other rubber 
reinforcement applications such as hose wire. These quality 
designations are presumed to indicate that these products are being 
used in tire cord, tire bead, and other rubber reinforcement 
applications, and such merchandise intended for the tire cord, tire 
bead, or other rubber reinforcement applications is not included in the 
scope. However, should petitioners or other interested parties provide 
a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that there exists a pattern of 
importation of such products for other than those applications, end-use 
certification for the importation of such products may be required. 
Under such circumstances, only the importers of record would normally 
be required to certify the end use of the imported merchandise.
    All products meeting the physical description of subject 
merchandise that are not specifically excluded are included in this 
scope.
    The products subject to this order are currently classifiable under 
subheadings 7213.91.3010, 7213.91.3090, 7213.91.4510, 7213.91.4590, 
7213.91.6010, 7213.91.6090, 7213.99.0031, 7213.99.0038, 7213.99.0090, 
7227.20.0010, 7227.20.0020, 7227.20.0090, 7227.20.0095, 7227.90.6051, 
7227.90.6053, 7227.90.6058, and 7227.90.6059 of the HTSUS. Although the 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
the written description of the scope of this proceeding is dispositive.

Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), the Department will conduct a changed circumstances review 
upon receipt of information concerning, or a request from an interested 
party for a review of, an antidumping duty order which shows changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order. As indicated 
in the Background section, we have received information from CBP and an 
outside party indicating that the nature of the Stelco Group's 
exclusion from the order is unclear, because the order could be read to 
indicate that all products produced by the Stelco Group, whether 
exported by the Stelco Group or not, are excluded from the order. As 
explained below, the order was intended to exclude only steel wire rod 
both produced and exported by the Stelco Group. Thus, the new 
information to the effect that this may not be clear to CBP and outside 
parties constitutes changed circumstances warranting a review of the 
order. Therefore, in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of the Act, we 
are initiating a changed circumstances review based upon the 
information received from outside parties.
    Section 351.221(c)(3)(ii)(2003) of the regulations permits the 
Department to combine the notice of initiation of a changed 
circumstances review and the notice of preliminary results in a single 
notice if the Department concludes that expedited action is warranted. 
In this instance, because we already have on the record all the 
information necessary to make a preliminary finding, we find that 
expedited action is warranted and have combined the notice of 
initiation and the notice of preliminary results.
    We preliminarily find that only merchandise produced and exported 
by the Stelco Group is excluded from the antidumping duty order. During 
the investigation, the Department analyzed only sales of merchandise 
both produced and exported by the Stelco Group.\2\ Therefore, the 
determination that the Stelco Group had not made sales at less than 
fair value was based on sales with respect to which the Stelco Group 
was the potential price discriminator. There was no determination 
regarding sales with respect to which a third party would have been 
responsible for any price discrimination in setting the price to U. S. 
customers. Sales of Stelco Group merchandise to unaffiliated Canadian 
parties who resold merchandise to the United States are not within the 
ambit of the Stelco Group exclusion. Thus, consistent with the 
Department's practice, merchandise produced but not exported by the 
Stelco Group is not excluded from the order. See, e.g., Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Polyethylene 
Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip From India, 67 FR 34899 (May 16, 
2002)

[[Page 8625]]

(excluding from the order only merchandise ``produced and exported'' by 
a zero margin respondent).
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    \2\ See pages A-12 through A-13 of the public version of 
Stelco's Response to Section A of the Department's antidumping 
questionnaire, dated November 30, 2001, which indicates that Stelco 
did not make any sales to the United States through unaffiliated 
Canadian companies. These pages have been added to the record of 
this changed circumstances review. See Memorandum to the File from 
Daniel O'Brien, International Trade Compliance Analyst, Regarding 
Placement of Information from the Investigation on the Record of the 
Changed Circumstances Review, dated February 11, 2004.
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    If these preliminary results are adopted in the final results of 
this changed circumstances review, we will instruct CBP to continue to 
exclude shipments of subject merchandise produced and exported by the 
Stelco Group from the order and, for all merchandise produced but not 
exported by the Stelco Group to collect a cash deposit equal to the 
rate established for the exporter, or if the exporter does not have its 
own rate, the ``all others'' rate of 8.11 percent, effective as of the 
date of the final results of this changed circumstances review. 
Furthermore, for the period prior to the effective date of the final 
results of this changed circumstances review, we will instruct CBP to 
liquidate any entries of merchandise produced by Stelco, regardless of 
exporter, without regard to antidumping duties.

Public Comment

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of 
publication of this notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Any hearing, if 
requested, will be held 44 days after the date of publication of this 
notice, or the first working day thereafter. Interested parties may 
submit case briefs and/or written comments not later than 30 days after 
the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs and rebuttals 
to written comments, which must be limited to issues raised in such 
briefs or comments, may be filed not later than 37 days after the date 
of publication of this notice. Parties who submit arguments are 
requested to submit with the argument (1) a statement of the issue, (2) 
a brief summary of the argument, and (3) a table of authorities.
    Consistent with section 351.216(e) of the Department's regulations, 
we will issue the final results of this changed circumstances review no 
later than 270 days after the date on which this review was initiated, 
or within 45 days if all parties agree to our preliminary finding. We 
are issuing and publishing this finding and notice in accordance with 
sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and sections 351.216 and 
351.221(c)(3) of the Department's regulations.

    Dated: Februaru 19, 2004.
James J. Jochum,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-4138 Filed 2-24-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S