[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 114 (Thursday, June 14, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32835-32836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11522]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

(A-570-877)


Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value and Antidumping Duty Order Pursuant to Court Decision: Lawn and 
Garden Steel Fence Posts from the People's Republic of China

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 14, 2007.
SUMMARY: On September 22, 2005, the United States Court of 
International Trade (``CIT'') sustained the Final Results of 
Redetermination Pursuant to Remand, Hebei Metals & Minerals Imp. & Exp. 
Corp. And Hebei Wuxin Metals & Minerals Trading Co., Ltd. v. United 
States (July 20, 2005) (``Second Remand Redetermination'') made by the 
Department of Commerce (``the Department'') pursuant to the CIT's 
second remand of the final determination of the less-than-fair-value 
investigation of lawn and garden steel fence posts from the People's 
Republic of China (``PRC''). See Hebei Metals & Minerals Import & 
Export Corporation and Hebei Wuxin Metals & Minerals Trading Co., Ltd. 
v. United States, Consol. Ct. No. 03-00442, Slip Op. 05-126, (CIT 
September 22, 2005) (``Court Decision in Hebei Metals''). As there is 
now a final and conclusive court decision in this case, the Department 
is amending the final determination and antidumping duty order of this 
investigation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Moats or Blanche Ziv, 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-
5047 or (202) 482-4207, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On April 23, 2003, the Department published in the Federal Register 
its final determination in the above-referenced investigation covering 
the period October 1, 2001, through March 31, 2002. See Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Lawn and Garden Steel 
Fence Posts From the People's Republic of China, 68 FR 20373 (April 25, 
2003) (``Final Determination''). Following publication of the Final 
Determination, Hebei Metals & Minerals Import & Export

[[Page 32836]]

Corporation and Hebei Wuxin Metals & Minerals Trading Co., Ltd. 
(collectively, ``Hebei Metals'') filed a lawsuit with the CIT 
challenging the Department's Final Determination. Hebei Metals 
challenged the surrogate coal value, the surrogate steel-pallet value, 
and the exclusion of certain items in the calculation of the surrogate 
financial ratios. On September 11, 2003, the CIT issued on behalf of 
Hebei Metals, an injunction enjoining the Department from issuing 
instructions to liquidate entries of lawn and garden steel fence posts 
from the PRC. See Hebei Metals & Minerals Import & Export Corporation, 
et. al. v. United States, Court No. 03-00442 (September 11, 2003).
    On July 19, 2004, the CIT first remanded this case to the 
Department to address three aspects of the Department's antidumping 
duties calculation in the Final Determination: (1) the use of an Indian 
import price, based on Indian Import Statistics, rather than an Indian 
domestic price, based on Tata Energy Research Institute's Energy Data 
Directory & Yearbook (``Teri Data'') for the surrogate value for coal, 
(2) the inclusion of a Swedish import value in the surrogate value for 
steel-pallet packing material, and (3) exclusion of internal 
consumption from raw material expenditures in the calculation of 
surrogate ratios for selling, general, and administrative (``SG&A'') 
expenses and profit. See Hebei Metals &Minerals Import & Export 
Corporation, et al. v. United States, Slip Op. 04-88 (CIT July 19, 
2004) (``First Remand'').
    On October 20, 2004, the Department issued the Final Results of 
Redetermination Pursuant to Remand, Hebei Metals & Minerals Imp. & Exp. 
Corp. And Hebei Wuxin Metals & Minerals Trading Co., Ltd. v. United 
States (October 20, 2004) (``First Remand Redetermination'') in the 
above-referenced investigation pursuant to the CIT's remand order on 
July 19, 2004. In its redetermination the Department (1) concluded that 
substantial evidence indicated that the use of the Indian import prices 
for the surrogate value of coal yielded a more accurate surrogate value 
than the domestic coal value on the record; (2) pursuant to the Court's 
instructions, excluded the Swedish import value from the calculation of 
the surrogate value for steel pallets; and (3) concluded that 
substantial record evidence demonstrated the significance of internal 
consumption, and its removal from the denominator increased the 
accuracy of the ratios.
    On March 10, 2005, the CIT issued a second remand. See Hebei Metals 
& Minerals Import & Export Corporation and Hebei Wuxin Metals & 
Minerals Trading Co., Ltd. v. United States, Slip Op. 05-32 (CIT March 
10, 2005) (``Second Remand''). In the Second Remand, the CIT determined 
that (1) the Department's selection of a surrogate coal value was 
arbitrary and unsupported by substantial evidence and, therefore, 
remanded this issue to the Department for reconsideration; (2) the 
Department had adequately complied with the CIT's instructions to 
exclude a Swedish import value from the calculation of the surrogate 
value for steel pallets and, therefore, the issue was no longer before 
the Court; and (3) the Department provided a reasonable explanation as 
to why it is not appropriate to remove any amounts from the numerators 
of the SG&A and factory overhead surrogate financial ratios and, 
therefore, sustained the Department's determination. Id.
    On July 20, 2005, the Department issued its Second Remand 
Redetermination. In its second redetermination, the Department 
determined that the Teri Data, placed on the record by Hebei Metals, 
was the best source of data for the selection of a surrogate value for 
coal in this proceeding because it was complete and comprehensive in 
that it covers all sales of all types of coal made by Coal India 
Limited and its subsidiaries and because it was exclusive of duties and 
taxes. On September 22, 2005, the CIT sustained the Department's Second 
Remand Redetermination. See Court Decision in Hebei Metals, Slip Op. 
05-126. The CIT's final judgment was not in harmony with the 
Department's Final Determination. No party appealed the CIT's decision. 
As there is now a final and conclusive court decision in this case, we 
are amending our Final Determination.

Amended Final Determination

    As the litigation in this case has concluded, the Department is 
amending the Final Determination. The revised dumping margin in the 
amended final determination is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Exporter                              Margin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hebei Metals & Minerals Import & Export Corporation.        6.49 percent
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The PRC-wide rate continues to be 15.61 percent as determined in 
the Department's Final Determination. Within five business days of 
publication of this notice, the Department will issue instructions to 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to revise the cash deposit 
rates for the company listed above, effective as of the publication 
date of this notice. Because Hebei Metals received a preliminary 
injunction, we will also instruct CBP to liquidate all entries, for 
which no review was requested, at the new cash deposit rate.
    This notice is published in accordance with sections 735(d) and 
777(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.

    Dated: June 8, 2007.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration
[FR Doc. E7-11522 Filed 6-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S