[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 127 (Friday, July 2, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40354-40356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15105]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-475-821]


Stainless Steel Wire Rod from Italy: Final Results of Full Sunset 
Review of Countervailing Duty Order

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

ACTION: Notice of final results of full sunset review of countervailing 
duty order of Stainless Steel Wire Rod from Italy.

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SUMMARY: On August 1, 2003, the Department of Commerce (``the 
Department'') initiated a sunset review of the countervailing duty 
order on Stainless Steel Wire Rod from Italy (68 FR 45219). Because we 
find that the net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail is de 
minimis, the Department is revoking this countervailing duty order.

DATES: Effective Date: July 2, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hilary Sadler, Esq. or Martha Douthit, 
Office of Policy, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4340 or (202) 482-5050.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Applicable Statute

    The Department's procedures for the conduct of sunset reviews are 
set forth in Section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
``Act''), and 19 CFR 351.218. Guidance on methodological and analytical 
issues relevant to the Department's conduct of sunset reviews is set 
forth in the Department's Policy Bulletin 98:3--Policies regarding the 
Conduct of Five-Year Sunset Reviews of Countervailing Duty and 
Countervailing Duty Orders: Policy Bulletin, 63 FR 18871 (April 16, 
1998) (``Sunset Policy Bulletin'').
    For purposes of this review, the product covered is Stainless Steel 
Wire Rod (``SSWR'') from Italy. Certain stainless steel wire rod (SSWR 
or subject merchandise) comprises products that are hot-rolled or hot-
rolled annealed and/or pickled and/or descaled rounds, squares, 
octagons, hexagons or other shapes, in coils, that may also be coated 
with a lubricant containing copper, lime or oxalate. SSWR is made of 
alloy steels containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 
10.5 percent or more of chromium, with or without other elements. These 
products are

[[Page 40355]]

manufactured only by hot-rolling or hot-rolling, annealing, and/or 
pickling and/or descaling, and are normally sold in coiled form, and 
are of solid cross-section. The majority of SSWR sold in the United 
States is round in cross-sectional shape, annealed and pickled, and 
later cold-finished into stainless steel wire or small-diameter bar. 
The most common size for such products is 5.5 millimeters or 0.217 
inches in diameter, which represents the smallest size that normally is 
produced on a rolling mill and is the size that most wire drawing 
machines are set up to draw. The range of SSWR sizes normally sold in 
the United States is between 0.20 inches and 1.312 inches in diameter. 
Two stainless steel grades SF20T and K-M35FL are excluded from the 
scope of the investigation. The percentages of chemical makeup for the 
excluded grades are as follows:

    SF20T:
    Carbon--0.05 max
    Manganese--2.00 max
    Phosphorous--0.05 max
    Sulfur--0.15 max
    Silicon--1.00 max
    Chromium--19.00/21.00
    Molybdenum--1.50/2.50
    Lead--added (0.10/0.30)
    Tellurium--added (0.03 min)
    K-M35FL:
    Carbon--0.015 max
    Manganese--0.40 max
    Phosphorous--0.04 max
    Sulfur--0.03 max
    Silicon--0.70/1.00
    Chromium--12.50/14.00
    Nickel--0.30 max
    Lead--added (0.10/0.30)
    Aluminum--0.20/0.35

    The products covered by this order are currently classifiable under 
subheadings 7221.00.0005, 7221.00.0015, 7221.00.0030, 7221.00.0045, and 
7221.00.0075 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.

Background

    On September 15, 1998, the Department published the countervailing 
duty order on SSWR from Italy. See Notice of Countervailing Duty Order: 
Stainless Steel Wire Rod from Italy, 63 FR 49334 (September 15, 1998). 
The Department completed only one administrative review of the subject 
countervailing duty order. See Stainless Steel Wire Rod From Italy: 
Notice of Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 
67 FR 63619 (October 15, 2002) (``Administrative Review''). Pursuant to 
section 751(c) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.218(c), the Department 
initiated a sunset review of this order by publishing notice of the 
initiation in the Federal Register 68 FR 45219 (August 1, 2003). In 
addition, as a courtesy to interested parties, the Department sent 
letters, via certified and registered mail, to each party listed on the 
Department's most current service list for this proceeding to inform 
them of the automatic initiation of a sunset review of this order.
    The Department received substantive responses from Carpenter 
Technology Corporation,\1\ (the domestic interested party), Cogne 
Acciai Speciali S.r.l. (``CAS''), the Government of Italy, and the 
European Union within the applicable deadlines specified in 19 CFR 
351.218(d). See Response of Carpenter Technology (August 18, 2003), CAS 
(September 2, 2003), GOI (August 28, 2003), and the EU (August 29, 
2003). However, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.218(e)(2)(i), the Department 
determined to conduct a full (240-day) sunset review of this order. See 
Memorandum for Ronald K. Lorentzen, Re: Stainless Steel Wire Rod from 
Italy, Adequacy of Respondent Interested Parties' Response to the 
Notice of Initiation (September 24, 2003).
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    \1\ Carpenter Technology, AL Tech Specialty Corporation, 
Republic Engineered Steels, and Talley Metals Technology, Inc. filed 
the original petition. Since the order, Carpenter Technology 
acquired Talley Metals Technology, Inc.
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    In the Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Determination under 
Section 129 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act: Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination: Stainless Steel Wire Rod from Italy, 
October 24, 2003 (``Section 129 Memo''), the Department determined that 
the privatization of CAS was at arm's-length and for fair-market-value, 
and that allegations of broader market distortions were not 
sufficiently supported. Accordingly, any allocable, non-recurring 
subsidies granted to CAS prior to its privatization were extinguished 
in their entirety and, therefore, are non-countervailable. On November 
7, 2003, the U.S. Trade Representative requested the Department, 
pursuant to section 129(b)(4) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, to 
implement the determination in the Section 129 Memo. See Notice of 
Implementation under Section 129 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, 
68 FR 64858, (November 17, 2003). Accordingly, the Department excluded 
CAS from the countervailing duty order on certain stainless steel wire 
rod from Italy and revised the ``all others rate.'' Id., at 16.
    On April 21, 2004, the Department received identical case briefs 
from the GOI and the EC. See Case Briefs from the EC and the GOI re: 
Sunset Review of the Countervailing Duty Investigation: Stainless Steel 
Wire Rod from Italy (April 19, 2004). We received no case brief or 
rebuttal from Carpenter Technology.
    Because CAS has been excluded from the original order as a result 
of the Section 129 determination and is therefore no longer an 
interested party in this sunset proceeding, its comments will not be 
addressed. In addition, any comments submitted by Carpenter Technology, 
the EC, and the GOI pertaining to CAS or to programs specific to CAS 
have been rendered moot by CAS's exclusion and will not be addressed.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in this case are addressed in the ``Issues and 
Decision Memorandum'' (``Decision Memo'') from Ronald K. Lorentzen, 
Acting Director, Office of Policy, Import Administration, to James J. 
Jochum, Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, dated June 27, 
2004, which is hereby adopted by this notice. The issues discussed in 
the Decision Memo include the likelihood of continuation or recurrence 
of dumping and the magnitude of the margin likely to prevail if the 
finding were to be revoked. Parties can find a complete discussion of 
all issues raised in this review and the corresponding recommendations 
in this public memorandum, which is on file in room B-099 of the main 
Commerce Building.
    In addition, a complete version of the Decision Memo can be 
accessed directly on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn, under the 
heading ``July 2004.'' The paper copy and electronic version of the 
Decision Memo are identical in content.

Determination To Revoke

    Under section 751(d)(2) of the Act, in the case of a sunset review, 
the Department will revoke a countervailing duty order unless it 
determines that the countervailable subsidy would be likely to continue 
or recur, and the International Trade Commission (``ITC'') determines 
that material injury would be likely to continue or recur. Based on the 
Department's analysis of the subsidy programs at issue in this case, we 
have determined that the level of subsidization likely to prevail, were 
the order revoked, is below the de minimis threshold. See Issues and 
Decision Memorandum. Therefore, as a result of

[[Page 40356]]

this sunset review, the Department finds that revocation of the 
countervailing duty order would not be likely to lead to continuation 
or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy. Pursuant to section 
751(d)(2) of the Act, the Department will revoke this countervailing 
duty order, effective on September 15, 2003, the fifth anniversary date 
of publication in the Federal Register of the order, consistent with 19 
CFR 351.222(i)(2)(i).

Notification of the ITC

    As discussed in section III.B of the Policy Bulletin, the 
Department normally will provide the ITC with the net countervailable 
subsidy that was determined in the original investigation. However, the 
purpose of the net countervailable subsidy in the context of sunset 
review is to provide the ITC with a rate which represents the 
countervailable rate that is likely to prevail if the order is revoked, 
and the Department has therefore adjusted the investigation rate as 
provided under section III.B of the Policy Bulletin. See section 
752(b)(1)(B) of the Act. As noted above, the rate is de minimis.
    This five-year (``sunset'') review and notice are in accordance 
with sections 751(c), 752, and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: June 28, 2004.
Jeffrey A. May,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-15105 Filed 7-1-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P