[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 237 (Monday, December 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73433-73435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7233]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-427-808]


Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products From 
France: Notice of Intent To Rescind Administrative Review

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

SUMMARY: On September 28, 2005, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published a notice of initiation of an administrative 
review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on certain corrosion-
resistant carbon steel flat products (CORE) from France for the period 
August 1, 2004, through July 31, 2005. The Department intends to 
rescind this review after determining that the party subject to this 
review did not have entries during the period of review (POR) upon 
which to assess antidumping duties.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 12, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Bailey or Dena Aliadinov, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 7, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0193 or (202) 482-3362, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 1, 2005, the Department published 
a notice of opportunity to request an administrative review of the 
antidumping duty order on CORE from France for the period August 1, 
2004, through July 31, 2005. See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty 
Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request 
Administrative Review, 70 FR 44085 (August 1, 2005). On August 31, 
2005, United States Steel Corporation, petitioner, and Duferco Coating 
SA and Sorral SA, French producers and exporters of the subject 
merchandise, and Duferco Steel, Inc. (the U.S. importer of subject 
merchandise exported to the United States by Duferco Coating SA and 
Sorral SA) (collectively ``Duferco''), made timely requests that the 
Department conduct an administrative review of Duferco.\1\ In its 
August 31, 2005, submission, Duferco requested that the Department 
conduct a review of its sale of subject merchandise to an unaffiliated 
customer during the POR, pursuant to section 351.213(e)(1), which 
states that an administrative review ``normally will cover, as 
appropriate, entries, exports, or sales of subject merchandise during 
the 12 months immediately preceding the most recent anniversary 
month.'' Duferco also requested that the Department rely on the entry 
summary date (August 11, 2004) for administrative review purposes, or 
align the AD administrative review period with the countervailing duty 
review period (i.e., initiate an AD review for the period January 1, 
2004, through December 31, 2004).
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    \1\ On October 6, 2005, October 26, 2005, and November 15, 2005, 
respectively, Ispat Inland Inc., Mittal Steel USA ISG Inc., and 
Nucor Corporation submitted their entries of appearance as 
interested parties.
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    On September 23, 2005, petitioner formally objected to Duferco's 
request that the Department align the AD and CVD reviews, stating that 
this practice is not based on the statute, the Department's 
regulations, or precedent. On September 28, 2005, in accordance with 
section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), the 
Department published in the Federal Register a notice of initiation of 
this AD administrative review. See Initiation of

[[Page 73434]]

Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request 
for Revocation in Part, 70 FR 56631 (September 28, 2005). On October 7, 
2005, the Department issued its AD questionnaire to Duferco.

Scope of the Order

    For purposes of this order, the products covered are corrosion-
resistant carbon steel flat products, which covers flat-rolled carbon 
steel products, of rectangular shape, either clad, plated, or coated 
with corrosion-resistant metals such as zinc, aluminum, or zinc-, 
aluminum-, nickel- or iron-based alloys, whether or not corrugated or 
painted, varnished or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic 
substances in addition to the metallic coating, in coils (whether or 
not in successively superimposed layers) and of a width of 0.5 inch or 
greater, or in straight lengths which, if of a thickness less than 4.75 
millimeters, are of a width of 0.5 inch or greater and which measures 
at least 10 times the thickness or if of a thickness of 4.75 
millimeters or more are of a width which exceeds 150 millimeters and 
measures at least twice the thickness, as currently classifiable in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) of the United States under item 
numbers 7210.30.0030, 7210.30.0060, 7210.41.0000, 7210.49.0030, 
7210.49.0090, 7210.61.0000, 7210.69.0000, 7210.70.6030, 7210.70.6060, 
7210.70.6090, 7210.90.1000, 7210.90.6000, 7210.90.9000, 7212.20.0000, 
7212.30.1030, 7212.30.1090, 7212.30.3000, 7212.30.5000, 7212.40.1000, 
7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, 7212.60.0000, 7215.90.1000, 7215.90.3000, 
7215.90.5000, 7217.20.1500, 7217.30.1530, 7217.30.1560, 7217.90.1000, 
7217.90.5030, 7217.90.5060, 7217.90.5090. Included in the order are 
flat-rolled products of non-rectangular cross-section where such cross-
section is achieved subsequent to the rolling process (i.e., products 
which have been ``worked after rolling'')--for example, products which 
have been beveled or rounded at the edges. Excluded from the order are 
flat-rolled steel products either plated or coated with tin, lead, 
chromium, chromium oxides, both tin and lead (``terne plate''), or both 
chromium and chromium oxides (``tin-free steel''), whether or not 
painted, varnished or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic 
substances in addition to the metallic coating. Also excluded from the 
order are clad products in straight lengths of 0.1875 inch or more in 
composite thickness and of a width which exceeds 150 millimeters and 
measures at least twice the thickness. Also excluded from the order are 
certain clad stainless flat-rolled products, which are three-layered 
corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat-rolled products less than 4.75 
millimeters in composite thickness that consist of a carbon steel flat-
rolled product clad on both sides with stainless steel in a 20%-60%-20% 
ratio.
    These HTS item numbers are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes. The written descriptions remain dispositive.

Intent To Rescind Administrative Review

    On October 24, 2005, the Department requested documentation 
relating to all entrie(s) or sale(s) made by Duferco during the POR. On 
November 2, 2005, Duferco responded to the Department's request for 
documentation by providing, among other documents, CBP Form 7501 (Entry 
Summary), CBP Form 3461 (Entry/Immediate Delivery), sale invoice, bill 
of lading and packing list. See Duferco Coating SA and Sorral SA, and 
Duferco Steel Inc. submission regarding documentation relating to all 
entrie(s) or sale(s) made by Duferco during the review period, dated 
November 2, 2005. The entry date (box 4) on CBP Form 7501 indicates 
that subject merchandise entered the United States prior to the POR. 
Additionally, the Department conducted an internal customs data query, 
which determined that Duferco had no entries of subject merchandise 
into the United States during the POR.
    In its August 31, 2005, request for review, Duferco contends that 
the Department can conduct an administrative review, in accordance with 
section 351.213(e)(1) of the Department's regulations, because its sale 
to an unaffiliated customer occurred within the POR. While the 
Department maintains the discretion to conduct reviews of sales or 
exports if circumstances warrant, the Department's consistent, long-
standing practice is to require that there be entries during the POR 
upon which to assess antidumping duties, irrespective of the export-
price or constructed export-price designation of the U.S. sales. See, 
e.g., Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from Japan: Notice of 
Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 70 FR 44088 
(August 1, 2005), and Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from Taiwan: Final 
Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 69 FR 20859 
(April 19, 2004). Furthermore, in Allegheny Ludlum, the Court of 
Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the Department's discretion to 
determine not to conduct annual reviews, where there were no entries 
during the POR. Allegheny Ludlum Corp v. United States, 346 F.3d 1368 
(Fed. Cir. 2003).
    In the present review, the Department has weighed case precedent, 
our practice under section 351.213(e), and the information on the 
record of this proceeding in determining whether we should rescind this 
administrative review. The record in this proceeding does not support a 
conclusion that the Department should deviate from our normal practice 
of conducting administrative reviews of entries rather than sales.
    Additionally, Duferco could have requested that the Department 
review its entry in the prior administrative review. See Antidumping or 
Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation; 
Opportunity to Request Administrative Review, 69 FR 46496 (August 3, 
2004) (providing an opportunity to request a review of the CORE from 
France AD order for the August 1, 2003-July 31 2004 POR). Duferco did 
not take the opportunity to request a review of its entries in the 
review period in which such entries occurred. See Initiation of 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request 
for Revocation in Part, 69 FR 56745 (September 22, 2004).
    Duferco argues in the alternative that the entry summary date, box 
3 on Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Form 7501, is within the POR 
and is the date the Department should use to determine whether the 
entry occurred during the POR. We disagree with Duferco that the entry 
summary date is the date the Department should rely on for purposes of 
establishing when the merchandise entered the Customs territory of the 
United States for consumption. In Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel 
Plate from Romania, the Department relied on the date on which the 
merchandise was released by CBP as the date of entry of the subject 
merchandise in that review. See Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel 
Plate from Romania: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 66 FR 2879 (January 12, 2001) and corresponding Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 1. The ``release date'' appears in box 4 
of CBP Form 7501 as the ``entry date.'' According to CBP's Automated 
Customs System and box 4 of Duferco's CBP Form 7501, obtained from CBP 
and placed on the record by the Department, the entry in question was 
entered for consumption prior to the current POR. See The Department's 
Memorandum to the File, dated November 18, 2005, with

[[Page 73435]]

Duferco's CBP Form 7501 included as an attachment.
    Pursuant to Sec.  351.213(d)(3) of the Department's regulations, 
the Department will rescind an administrative review if it concludes 
that during the POR there were no entries, exports, or sales of the 
subject merchandise, as the case may be. In this case, the Department 
has determined to conduct an administrative review of entries during 
the POR. Because record evidence demonstrates that no such entries 
occurred, pursuant to section 351.213(d)(3), we intend to rescind the 
2004-2005 administrative review.

Public Comment

    An interested party may request a hearing within 20 days of 
publication of this notice. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 34 
days after the date of publication of this notice, or the first working 
day thereafter. Interested parties may submit case briefs not later 
than 20 days after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal 
briefs, which must be limited to issues raised in such briefs, must be 
filed not later than 7 days from the case brief 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. Further, 
parties submitting written comments should provide the Department with 
an additional copy of the public version of any such comments on 
diskette. We will issue our final decision concerning the conduct of 
the review no later than 120 days from the date of publication of this 
notice.
    Additionally, if the Department makes a final determination to 
rescind the 2004-2005 administrative review, the cash-deposit rate will 
remain at 29.41 percent for Duferco and all other producers/exporters 
of subject merchandise from France. See Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel 
Flat Products, Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products, Certain 
Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products, and Certain Cut-to-
Length Carbon Steel Plate From France; Notice of Final Court Decision 
and Amended Final Determinations, 61 FR 51274 (October 1, 1996).
    This notice is published in accordance with section 777(i) of the 
Act and section 351.213(d)(4) of the Department's regulations.

     Dated: December 6, 2005.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
 [FR Doc. E5-7233 Filed 12-9-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P