[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 57 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14078-14081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5500]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-601]


Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished or 
Unfinished, from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Notice of Rescission in Part 
and Intent to Rescind in Part

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting 
the nineteenth administrative review of the antidumping duty order on 
tapered roller bearings and parts thereof, finished or unfinished 
(``TRBs''), from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''), covering the 
period June 1, 2005, through May 31, 2006. If these preliminary results 
are adopted in our final results of review, we will instruct U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on 
entries of subject merchandise during the period of review (``POR'') 
for which the importer-specific assessment rates are above de minimis.
    Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results. We intend to issue the final results no later than 120 days 
from the date of publication of this notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 26, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugene Degnan or Robert Bolling, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 8, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0414 and (202) 482-3434, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On June 2, 2006, the Department published a notice of opportunity 
to request an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on 
TRBs from the PRC for the period June 1, 2005, through May 31, 2006. 
See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended 
Investigation: Opportunity to Request Administrative Review, 71 FR 
32032 (June 2, 2006). On June 30, 2006, The Timken Company (``Timken'' 
or ``Petitioner'') requested that the Department conduct an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order covering TRBs from 
the PRC for entries of subject merchandise produced and/or exported by 
Chin Jun Industrial Ltd. (``Chin Jun''), and Peer Bearing Company - 
Changshan (``CPZ''). Additionally, on June 30, 2006, Hebei Longsheng 
Metals & Minerals Co., Ltd. (``Hebei Longsheng'') and Yantai Timken 
Company Limited (``Yantai'') independently requested that the 
Department conduct an administrative review of their respective sales. 
Further, on June 30, 2006, Koyo Corporation of U.S.A. (``Koyo''), a 
U.S. producer of TRBs, requested that the Department conduct an 
administrative review of Yantai's sales. On July 27, 2006, the 
Department published in the Federal Register a notice of the initiation 
of the antidumping duty administrative review of TRBs from the PRC for 
the period June 1, 2005, through May 31, 2006, for Chin Jun, CPZ, Hebei 
Longsheng, and Yantai. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Administrative Reviews and Requests for Revocation in Part, 71 FR 
42626 (July 27, 2006) (``Initiation Notice'').
    On August 9, 2006, the Department issued its antidumping duty 
questionnaire to all of the above respondents.
    On August 28, 2006, Chin Jun reported to the Department that it was 
a dormant company during the POR and had no sales of subject 
merchandise. On September 6, 2006, Yantai withdrew its request for 
review, stating that it did not intend to participate further in the 
review because of the limited value of its exports. Also on September 
6, 2006, Hebei Longsheng submitted its Section A response to the 
Department's original questionnaire. On September 8, 2006, CPZ reported 
to the Department that it did not intend to submit questionnaire 
responses because of the limited value of its exports. On September 29, 
2006, Hebei Longsheng withdrew its request for review, pursuant to 19 
CFR 351.213(d)(1).

Notice of Intent to Rescind in Part and Partial Rescission

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), the Department may rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, with respect to a 
particular exporter or producer, if the Secretary concludes that, 
during the period covered by the review, there were no entries, 
exports, or sales of the subject merchandise. The Department explains 
this practice in the preamble to the Department's regulations. See 
Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 27317 (May 19, 
1997) (``Preamble''); see also Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From 
Taiwan: Preliminary Results and Rescission in Part of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 67 FR 5789, 5790 (February 7, 2002), and 
Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from Taiwan: Final Rescission of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 66 FR 18610 (April 10, 2001). 
Because Chin Jun reported to the Department that it was a dormant 
company during the POR and it had no sales of subject merchandise, and 
we have received no evidence that Chin Jun had any shipments to the 
United States of subject merchandise during the POR, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(3), the Department preliminarily rescinds this review as to 
Chin Jun.
    The Department's regulations at 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1) further 
provide that the Department will rescind an administrative review if 
the party that requested the review withdraws its request for review 
within 90 days of the date of publication of the notice of

[[Page 14079]]

initiation of the requested review, or withdraws its request at a later 
date if the Department determines that it is reasonable to extend the 
time limit for withdrawing the request. Hebei Longsheng withdrew its 
request for review within the 90-day time limit and no other party 
requested a review with respect to Hebei Longsheng. Therefore, we are 
rescinding this review as to Hebei Longsheng.
    Yantai also withdrew its request for review within the 90-day time 
frame discussed above; however, another interested party (i.e., Koyo) 
also requested a review of Yantai. Therefore, we are not rescinding 
this review as to Yantai.

Period of Review

    The POR is June 1, 2005, through May 31, 2006.

Scope of the Order

    Merchandise covered by this order is TRBs from the PRC; flange, 
take-up cartridge, and hanger units incorporating tapered roller 
bearings; and tapered roller housings (except pillow blocks) 
incorporating tapered rollers, with or without spindles, whether or not 
for automotive use. This merchandise is currently classifiable under 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') item 
numbers 8482.20.00, 8482.91.00.50, 8482.99.30, 8483.20.40, 8483.20.80, 
8483.30.80, 8483.90.20, 8483.90.30, 8483.90.80, 8708.99.80.15, and 
8708.99.80.80. Although the HTSUS item numbers are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope 
of the order is dispositive.

Application of Facts Available

    Section 776(a)(1) and (2) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (``the Act'') 
provides that the Department shall apply ``facts otherwise available'' 
if, inter alia, necessary information is not on the record or an 
interested party or any other person (A) withholds information that has 
been requested, (B) fails to provide information within the deadlines 
established, or in the form and manner requested by the Department, 
subject to subsections (c)(1) and (e) of section 782, (C) significantly 
impedes a proceeding, or (D) provides information that cannot be 
verified as provided by section 782(i) of the Act.
    Where the Department determines that a response to a request for 
information does not comply with the request, section 782(d) of the Act 
provides that the Department will so inform the party submitting the 
response and will, to the extent practicable, provide that party the 
opportunity to remedy or explain the deficiency. If the party fails to 
remedy the deficiency within the applicable time limits and subject to 
section 782(e) of the Act, the Department may disregard all or part of 
the original and subsequent responses, as appropriate. Section 782(e) 
of the Act provides that the Department ``shall not decline to consider 
information that is submitted by an interested party and is necessary 
to the determination but does not meet all applicable requirements 
established by the administering authority'' if the information is 
timely, can be verified, is not so incomplete that it cannot be used, 
and if the interested party acted to the best of its ability in 
providing the information. Where all of these conditions are met, the 
statute requires the Department to use the information supplied if it 
can do so without undue difficulties.
    Section 776(b) of the Act further provides that the Department may 
use an adverse inference in applying the facts otherwise available when 
a party has failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its 
ability to comply with a request for information. Such an adverse 
inference may include reliance on information derived from the 
petition, the final determination, a previous administrative review, or 
other information placed on the record.
    Section 776(c) of the Act provides that, when the Department relies 
on secondary information rather than on information obtained in the 
course of an investigation or review, it shall, to the extent 
practicable, corroborate that information from independent sources that 
are reasonably at its disposal. Secondary information is defined as 
``[i]nformation derived from the petition that gave rise to the 
investigation or review, the final determination concerning the subject 
merchandise, or any previous review under section 751 concerning the 
subject merchandise.'' See Statement of Administrative Action 
accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, H.R. Rep. No. 103-316, 
Vol. 1, at 870 (1994) (``SAA''), reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 4040, 
4198-99. Corroborate means that the Department will satisfy itself that 
the secondary information to be used has probative value. Id. To 
corroborate secondary information, the Department will, to the extent 
practicable, examine the reliability and relevance of the information 
to be used.

Application of Total Adverse Facts Available

CPZ

    As discussed above, the Department initiated an administrative 
review of CPZ's exports of merchandise covered by the antidumping duty 
order on TRBs from the PRC. See Initiation Notice. On August 9, 2006, 
the Department issued its original questionnaire to CPZ. On September 
8, 2006, CPZ reported to the Department that it did not intend to 
submit questionnaire responses because of the limited value of its 
exports. We find that because CPZ failed to submit questionnaire 
responses, CPZ has not demonstrated its entitlement to a separate rate 
and is, therefore, subject to the PRC-wide rate.

Yantai

    On September 6, 2006, Yantai reported to the Department it was 
withdrawing its request for review and it did not intend to further 
participate in the review because of the limited value of its exports. 
However, because Koyo also requested an administrative review of 
Yantai, the Department could not rescind as to Yantai. Because Yantai 
failed to submit questionnaire responses, the Department was unable to 
conduct a separate-rate analysis of Yantai. Accordingly, the Department 
finds that Yantai has not demonstrated its entitlement to a separate 
rate and is, therefore, subject to the PRC-wide rate.

The PRC-Wide Entity

    Because CPZ and Yantai did not respond to the Department's 
questionnaire, and therefore did not demonstrate their eligibility for 
separate-rate status, the Department is treating these PRC producers/
exporters as part of the PRC-wide entity.
    Additionally, because we have determined that the companies named 
above are part of the PRC-wide entity, the PRC-wide entity is now under 
review. Pursuant to section 776(a) of the Act, we further find that 
because the PRC-wide entity (including the companies discussed above) 
failed to respond to the Department's questionnaires, withheld or 
failed to provide information in a timely manner or in the form or 
manner requested by the Department, or otherwise impeded the 
proceeding, it is appropriate to apply a dumping margin for the PRC-
wide entity using facts otherwise available on the record. 
Additionally, because these parties failed to respond to our requests 
for information, we find that an adverse inference is appropriate.

[[Page 14080]]

Selection of the Adverse Facts Available Rate

    In deciding which facts to use as adverse facts available 
(``AFA''), section 776(b) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.308(c)(1) authorize 
the Department to rely on information derived from (1) the petition, 
(2) a final determination in the investigation, (3) any previous review 
or determination, or (4) any information placed on the record. In 
administrative reviews, the Department normally selects, as AFA, the 
highest rate determined for any respondent in any segment of the 
proceeding. See, e.g., Freshwater Crawfish Tail Meat from the People's 
Republic of China: Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 68 FR 19504 (April 21, 2003); see also Stainless 
Steel Plate in Coils from Taiwan; Preliminary Results and Rescission in 
Part of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 67 FR 57991 (February 
7, 2002).
    The Court of International Trade (``CIT'') and the Court of Appeals 
for the Federal Circuit (``Federal Circuit'') have consistently upheld 
the Department's practice. See Rhone Poulenc, Inc. v. United States, 
899 F.2d 1185, 1190 (Fed. Circ. 1990) (``Rhone Poulenc''); NSK Ltd. v. 
United States, 346 F. Supp. 2d 1312, 1335 (CIT 2004)(upholding a 73.55 
percent total AFA rate, the highest available dumping margin from a 
different respondent in an less than fair value investigation); see 
also Kompass Food Trading Int'l v. United States, 24 CIT 678, 689 
(2000) (upholding a 51.16 percent total AFA rate, the highest available 
dumping margin from a different, fully cooperative respondent); and 
Shanghai Taoen International Trading Co., Ltd. v. United States, 2005 
Ct. Int'l. Trade 23 *23; Slip Op. 05-22 (February 17, 2005) (upholding 
a 223.01 percent total AFA rate, the highest available dumping margin 
from a different respondent in a previous administrative review).
    The Department's practice when selecting an adverse rate from among 
the possible sources of information is to ensure that the margin is 
sufficiently adverse ``as to effectuate the purpose of the facts 
available role to induce respondents to provide the Department with 
complete and accurate information in a timely manner.'' See Static 
Random Access Memory Semiconductors from Taiwan; Final Determination of 
Sales at Less than Fair Value, 63 FR 8909, 8932 (February 23, 1998). 
The Department's practice also ensures ``that the party does not obtain 
a more favorable result by failing to cooperate than if it had 
cooperated fully.'' See SAA at 890, see also Final Determination of 
Sales at Less than Fair Value: Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater 
Shrimp from Brazil, 69 FR 76910 (December 23, 2004); see also D&L 
Supply Co. v. United States, 113 F. 3d 1220, 1223 (Fed. Cir. 1997). In 
choosing the appropriate balance between providing respondents with an 
incentive to respond accurately and imposing a rate that is reasonably 
related to the respondent's prior commercial activity, selecting the 
highest prior margin ``reflects a common sense inference that the 
highest prior margin is the most probative evidence of current margins, 
because, if it were not so, the importer, knowing of the rule, would 
have produced current information showing the margin to be less.'' 
Rhone Poulenc, 899 F. 2d at 1190.
    Consistent with the Department's practice and the purposes of 
section 776(b) of the Act, as AFA, we are assigning the rate of 60.95 
percent to the PRC-wide entity, which is the highest rate calculated in 
any segment of the proceeding. This rate was calculated for Premier 
Bearing and Equipment Ltd. (``Premier'') in the final results of 
redetermination on remand from the CIT for the seventh administrative 
review of TRBs covering the POR of June 1, 1993, to May 31, 1994. Peer 
Bearing Co. v. United States, Slip op. 02-53 (CIT 2002); as upheld by 
the Federal Circuit in 78 Fed. Appx. 718 (Fed. Cir. 2003); see also 
Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished from 
the PRC: Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 67 FR 79902, (Dec. 31, 2002) (``TRBs Amended Final''), and 
Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, 
from the PRC: Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 69 FR 10423 (March 5, 2004) (``TRBs Amended Final 2''). The 
Department preliminarily determines that this information is the most 
appropriate, from the available sources, to effectuate the purposes of 
AFA. The Department's reliance on secondary information to determine an 
AFA rate is subject to the requirement to corroborate. See section 
776(c) of the Act and the ``Corroboration of Secondary Information'' 
section below.

Corroboration of Secondary Information

    Section 776(c) of the Act provides that, where the Department 
selects from among the facts otherwise available and relies on 
``secondary information,'' the Department shall, to the extent 
practicable, corroborate that information from independent sources 
reasonably at the Department's disposal. Secondary information is 
described in the SAA as ``[i]nformation derived from the petition that 
gave rise to the investigation or review, the final determination 
concerning the subject merchandise, or any previous review under 
section 751 concerning the subject merchandise.'' See SAA at 870. The 
SAA states that ``corroborate'' means to determine that the information 
used has probative value. The Department has determined that to have 
probative value information must be reliable and relevant. 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). The SAA also states 
that independent sources used to corroborate such evidence may include, 
for example, published price lists, official import statistics and 
customs data, and information obtained from interested parties during 
the particular investigation. See Notice of Preliminary Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: High and Ultra-High Voltage Ceramic 
Station Post Insulators from Japan, 68 FR 35627 (June 16, 2003); and 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Live 
Swine From Canada, 70 FR 12181 (March 11, 2005).
    The reliability of the AFA rate was determined by the calculation 
of the margin for Premier, pursuant to the final results of 
redetermination on remand from the CIT, for the seventh administrative 
review of TRBs (covering the period June 1, 1993, to May 31, 1994). See 
TRBs Amended Final and TRBs Amended Final 2. The Department has 
received no information to date that warrants revisiting the issue of 
the reliability of the rate calculation itself. See e.g., Certain 
Preserved Mushrooms from the People's Republic of China: Final Results 
and Partial Rescission of the New Shipper Review and Final Results and 
Partial Rescission of the Third Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 
68 FR 41304, 41307-41308 (July 11, 2003). No information has been 
presented in the current review that calls into question the 
reliability of this information. Thus, the Department finds that the 
information contained in the 1993-1994 review is reliable.
    With respect to the relevance aspect of corroboration, the 
Department will consider information reasonably at its disposal to 
determine whether a margin continues to have relevance. Where

[[Page 14081]]

circumstances indicate that the selected margin is not appropriate as 
AFA, the Department will disregard the margin and determine an 
appropriate margin. See Fresh Cut Flowers from Mexico: Final Results of 
Antidumping Administrative Review, 61 FR 6812 (February 22, 1996) 
(where the Department disregarded the highest margin in that case as 
adverse best information available (the predecessor to facts available) 
because the margin was based on another company's uncharacteristic 
business expense resulting in an unusually high margin). Similarly, the 
Department does not apply a margin that has been discredited. See D&L 
Supply Co. v. United States, 113 F.3d 1220, 1221 (Fed. Cir. 1997) 
(ruling that the Department will not use a margin that has been 
judicially invalidated). To assess the relevancy of the rate used, the 
Department has no record evidence to call into question Premier's 
margins. Further, in our recently completed final results for the 2003-
2004 review of TRB's, we also applied the 60.95 percent rate to the 
PRC-wide entity as AFA. See Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, 
Finished and Unfinished from the PRC: Amended Final Results of 
Administrative Review, 71 FR 9521 (February 24, 2006). Therefore, we 
determine that the rate from the 1993-1994 review continues to be 
relevant for use in this administrative review.
    As the 1993-1994 margin is both reliable and relevant, we determine 
that it has probative value. Accordingly, we determine that the highest 
rate from any segment of this administrative proceeding, 60.95 percent, 
meets the corroboration criteria established in section 776(c) that 
secondary information have probative value. As a result, the Department 
determines that the 1993-1994 margin is corroborated for the purposes 
of this administrative review and may reasonably be applied to the PRC-
wide entity as AFA.
    Because these are preliminary results of review, the Department 
will consider all margins on the record at the time of the final 
results of review for the purpose of determining the most appropriate 
final margin for the PRC-wide entity. See Preliminary Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Solid Fertilizer Grade Ammonium Nitrate 
From the Russian Federation, 65 FR 1139 (January 7, 2000).

Preliminary Results of Review

    We preliminarily determine that the following weighted-average 
dumping margins exist for the period June 1, 2005, through May 31, 
2006:

                            TRBs from the PRC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-Average
                  Producer/Exporter                    Margin (Percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRC-Wide Entity*....................................               60.95
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Including CPZ and Yantai.

Disclosure

    The Department will disclose calculations performed for these 
preliminary results to the parties within five days of the date of 
publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Any 
interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of publication of 
these preliminary results. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Any hearing, if 
requested, will be held 37 days after the date of publication of this 
notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(d). Interested parties may submit case 
briefs and/or written comments no later than 30 days after the date of 
publication of these preliminary results of review. See 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(ii). Rebuttal briefs and rebuttals to written comments, 
limited to issues raised in such briefs or comments, may be filed no 
later than 35 days after the date of publication. See 19 CFR 
351.309(d). The Department requests that parties submitting written 
comments also provide the Department with an additional copy of those 
comments on diskette. The Department will issue the final results of 
this administrative review, which will include the results of its 
analysis of issues raised in any such comments, within 120 days of 
publication of these preliminary results, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results, the Department will determine, 
and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. 
The Department intends to issue appropriate assessment instructions 
directly to CBP 15 days after the date of publication of the final 
results of this administrative review. In this review, if these 
preliminary results are adopted in our final results of review, we will 
direct CBP to assess the resulting rate against the entered customs 
value for the subject merchandise on each importer's/customer's entries 
during the POR.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this administrative review for 
shipments of subject merchandise from the PRC entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as 
provided by sections 751(a)(1)( C ) and (a)(2)( C ) of the Act: (1) for 
CPZ and Yantai, the cash deposit rate will be that established in the 
final results of this review; (2) for previously investigated or 
reviewed PRC and non-PRC exporters not listed above that have separate 
rates, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the exporter-specific 
rate published for the most recent period; (3) for all PRC exporters of 
subject merchandise that have not been found to be entitled to a 
separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be the PRC-wide rate of 60.95 
percent; and (4) for all non-PRC exporters of subject merchandise which 
have not received their own rate, the cash deposit rate will be the 
rate applicable to the PRC exporters that supplied that non-PRC 
exporter. These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in 
effect until further notice.

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.
    The Department is issuing and publishing these preliminary results 
of administrative review in accordance with sections 751(a) and 
777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.221(b) and 351.214(h).

    Dated: March 1, 2007.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-5500 Filed 3-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S