[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17233-17234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-1541]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Separate Rates and Combination Rates in Antidumping 
Investigations involving Non-Market Economy Countries

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

ACTION: Announcement of Change in Practice

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is instituting 
two modifications in its non-market economy (``NME'') practice in 
antidumping investigations: one on separate rates and one on 
combination rates. The separate rates practice refers to the 
Department's long-standing policy in antidumping investigations of 
presuming that all firms within an NME country are subject to 
government control and thus should all be assigned a single rate unless 
a respondent can demonstrate an absence of both de jure and de facto 
control over its export activities. For firms that qualify for separate 
rate status, the Department assigns the respondent its own individually 
calculated rate or, in the case of a non-investigated firm, a rate 
based upon the weighted-average of the rates of the investigated 
companies, excluding any rates that are zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts available.
    On May 3, 2004, the Department first published a notice in the 
Federal Register requesting comment on its separate rates practice and 
on various proposed changes to this practice (69 FR 24119). In response 
to this notice and request for comment, the Department received 23 
submissions from interested parties. Taking into account the 
submissions in response to the May 2004 notice requesting comments on 
various changes to its separate rates practice the Department published 
a second notice on September 20, 2004, which outlined revised options. 
This provided the public with a further opportunity to comment on 
whether these changes would be consistent with the statute and would 
appropriately redress problems that have been identified concerning 
separate rates. In response to this second notice in the Federal 
Register published on September 20, 2004, requesting comments on the 
Department's separate rates practice and implementation of combination 
rates (69 FR 56188), the Department received 14 submissions.
    Having carefully considered the arguments presented by parties in 
the previous two notices, as well as the Department's experience in 
recently concluded antidumping investigations, the Department further 
narrowed the options for changing its separate rates practice in its 
third notice in the Federal Register, published on December 28, 2004 
(69 FR 77722). In this notice, the Department provisionally decided to 
adopt an application process for evaluating separate rate requests by 
non-investigated firms, and to outline in specific detail its proposal 
to institute combination rates (also known as ``chain'' or ``channel'' 
rates) for all firms receiving separate rate status in NME 
investigations.
    In order to provide interested parties another opportunity to 
comment on these detailed proposals before instituting them, the 
Department posted the draft application on the Import Administration 
website and once again invited public comment on both the draft 
application and on the proposal to institute combination rates for all 
exporters deemed eligible for a separate rate in NME investigations. In 
response to this third opportunity for public comment on proposed 
changes in the Department's separate rates practice and implementation 
of combination rates, the Department received 12 submissions.
    As a result of almost a year of deliberation and extensive public 
comment, the Department is finalizing its decision to adopt an 
application process for non-investigated firms in future NME 
antidumping investigations and to begin assigning only exporter-
producer specific ``combination'' rates in these investigations to the 
mandatory respondents receiving an individually calculated separate 
rate, as well as to the pool of non-investigated firms receiving a 
separate rate. After consideration of the public comments, the 
Department has modified the separate rates application and its 
requirements, as well as the proposal to institute combination rates. 
Both changes in practice are being made after consideration of several 
rounds of public comment, and neither change alters the threshold of 
eligibility for a separate rate, which remains an absence of de jure 
and de facto government control over a firm's export activities. A 
detailed explanation of both final decisions on these changes in 
practice can be found in Policy Bulletin 05.1, which will be posted on 
the Import Administration website at the following address: http://ia.ita.doc.gov/. The final template of the separate rates application 
will likewise be found on the Import Administration website; however, 
for each new investigation, a specific application will be posted. Both 
changes in practice will take effect in the next NME antidumping 
investigation that is initiated after publication of this notice. These 
changes in practice only apply to investigations, and the Department is 
continuing to evaluate whether to extend these changes in practice to 
administrative reviews.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 5, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lawrence Norton, Economist, or Anthony 
Hill, Senior International Economist, Office of Policy, Import 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC, 20230, 202-482-1579 or 202-482-
1843, respectively.


[[Page 17234]]


    Dated: March 30, 2005.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E5-1541 Filed 4-4-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 3510-DS-S