[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 21, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46606-46607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16448]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-918]


Notice of Extension of the Deadline for Determining the Adequacy 
of the Antidumping Duty Petition: Steel Wire Garment Hangers from the 
People's Republic of China

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 21, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irene Gorelik or Julia Hancock, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 9, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
6905 or (202) 482-1394, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

INITIATION OF INVESTIGATION

The Petition

    On July 31, 2007, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') 
received an antidumping duty petition (``petition'') filed by M&B Metal 
Products Company, Inc. (``Petitioner'') on behalf of the domestic 
industry producing steel wire garment hangers.
    Determination of Industry Support for the Petition
    Section 732(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``Act''), 
requires that a petition be filed by or on behalf of the domestic 
industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act provides that the 
Department's industry support determination be based on whether a 
minimum percentage of the relevant industry supports the petition. A 
petition meets this requirement if the domestic producers or workers 
who support the petition account for: (i) at least 25 percent of the 
total production of the domestic like product; and (ii) more than 50 
percent of the production of the domestic like product produced by that 
portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the 
petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act provides that, if 
the petition does not establish support of domestic producers or 
workers accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production of 
the domestic like product, the Department shall: (i) poll the industry 
or rely on other information in order to determine if there is support 
for the petition, as required by subparagraph (A), or (ii) if there is 
a large number of producers, determine industry support using a 
statistically valid sampling method to poll the industry.

Extension of Time

    Section 732(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act provides that within 20 days of 
the filing of an antidumping duty petition, the Department will 
determine, inter alia, whether the petition has been filed by or on 
behalf of the U.S. industry producing the domestic like product. 
Section 732(c)(1)(B) of the Act provides that the deadline for the 
initiation determination, in exceptional circumstances, may be extended 
by 20 days in any case in which the Department must ``poll or otherwise 
determine support for the petition by the industry.'' Because it is not 
clear from the petition whether the industry support criteria have been 
met, the Department has determined to extend the time for initiating an 
investigation in order to poll the domestic industry. The Department 
will issue polling questionnaires to all known domestic producers of 
steel wire garment hangers identified in the petition. The 
questionnaires will be on file in the Central Records Unit in room B-
099 of the main Department of Commerce building. The Department will 
request that each company complete the polling questionnaire and fax 
their responses to the Department.
    The Department will need additional time to analyze the domestic 
producers' responses to this request for information. Therefore, it is 
necessary to extend the deadline in order to determine the adequacy of 
the petition for a period not to exceed 40 days from the filing of the 
petition. As a result, the initiation determination will now be due no 
later than September 10, 2007.\1\
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    \1\ Twenty days from the original deadline is September 9, 2007. 
However, Department practice dictates that where a deadline falls on 
a weekend, the appropriate deadline is the next business day. See 
Notice of Clarification: Application of ``Next Business Day'' Rule 
for Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Act, 70 
FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).

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[[Page 46607]]

International Trade Commission Notification

    The Department will contact the International Trade Commission 
(``ITC'') and will make this extension notice available to the ITC.

    Dated: August 15, 2007.
Gary Taverman,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-16448 Filed 8-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S