[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 72 (Monday, April 14, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20018-20021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-7895]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

(A-570-918)


Steel Wire Garment Hangers from the People's Republic of China: 
Amended Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Postponement of Final Determination

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 14, 2008.
SUMMARY: On March 25, 2008, the Department of Commerce (``Department'') 
published the preliminary determination of sales at less than fair 
value (``LTFV'') in the antidumping investigation of steel wire garment 
hangers from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). See Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Steel Wire Garment 
Hangers from the People's Republic of China, 73 FR 15726 (March 25, 
2008) (``Preliminary Determination''). We are amending our Preliminary 
Determination to correct certain ministerial errors with respect to the 
antidumping duty margin calculation for the Shaoxing Metal 
Companies.\1\ The corrections to the

[[Page 20019]]

Shaoxing Metal Companies' margin also affect the margin assigned to the 
PRC-Wide entity and the margin applied to companies receiving a 
separate rate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The Shaoxing Metal Companies are: Shaoxing Gangyuan Metal 
Manufactured Co., Ltd. (``Gangyuan''), Shaoxing Andrew Metal 
Manufactured Co., Ltd., and Shaoxing Tongzhou Metal Manufactured 
Co., Ltd. (``Tongzhou7rdquo;) and Company X.

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

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: On March 25, 2008, the Department published 
in the Federal Register the preliminary determination that steel wire 
garment hangers from the PRC are being, or are likely to be, sold in 
the United States at LTFV, as provided in section 733 of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended (``Act''). See Preliminary Determination.
    On March 25, 2008, the Shaoxing Metal Companies and certain 
separate-rate recipients\2\ filed timely allegations of ministerial 
errors contained in the Department's Preliminary Determination. 
Additionally, on March 26, 2008, and March 27, 2008, Shaoxing Metal 
Companies and an interested party filed additional comments with 
respect to the ministerial error allegations, which the Department 
removed from the record pursuant to sections 351.224(c)(3) and 
351.302(d) of the Department's regulations.\3\ On March 27, 2008, M&B 
Metal Products Company, Inc. (``Petitioner7rdquo;) filed comments with 
respect to information missing from the public record that was 
referenced in Shaoxing Metal Companies' ministerial errors allegations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ The separate-rate recipients that submitted a ministerial 
error allegation are: Zhejiang Lucky Cloud Hanger Co., Ltd, Shangyu 
Baoxiang Metal Product Co., Ltd., Shaoxing Liangbao Metal Products 
Co., Ltd., Shaoxing Meideli Metal Products Co., Ltd., Shaoxing 
Shunji Metal Clotheshorse Co., Ltd., and Shaoxing Zhongbao Metal 
Manufactured Co., Ltd., (collectively, ``SR Recipients'').
    \3\ See Memorandum to the File from Irene Gorelik, Senior 
Analyst, Office 9; Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel Wire 
Garment Hangers from China: Removal from the Official and Public 
Record of Untimely Ministerial Error Comments following the 
Preliminary Determination, dated March 31, 2008, and Memorandum to 
the File from Irene Gorelik, Senior Analyst, Office 9; Antidumping 
Duty Investigation of Steel Wire Garment Hangers from China: 
Additional Removal from the Official and Public Record of Untimely 
Ministerial Error Comments following the Preliminary Determination, 
dated March 31, 2008.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After reviewing the allegations, we have determined that the 
Preliminary Determination included significant ministerial errors. 
Therefore, in accordance with section 351.224(e) of the Department's 
regulations, we have made changes, as described below, to the 
Preliminary Determination.

Period Of Investigation

    The period of investigation (``POI'') is January 1, 2007, through 
June 30, 2007. This period corresponds to the two most recent fiscal 
quarters prior to the month of the filing of the petition, July 31, 
2007. See section 351.204(b)(1) of the Department's regulations.

Scope Of Investigation

    The merchandise that is subject to this investigation is steel wire 
garment hangers, fabricated from carbon steel wire, whether or not 
galvanized or painted, whether or not coated with latex or epoxy or 
similar gripping materials, and/or whether or not fashioned with paper 
covers or capes (with or without printing) and/or nonslip features such 
as saddles or tubes. These products may also be referred to by a 
commercial designation, such as shirt, suit, strut, caped, or latex 
(industrial) hangers. Specifically excluded from the scope of this 
investigation are wooden, plastic, and other garment hangers that are 
classified under separate subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (``HTSUS''). The products subject to this 
investigation are currently classified under HTSUS subheading 
7326.20.0020.
    Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is 
dispositive.

Significant Ministerial Error

    Ministerial errors are defined in section 735(e) of the Act as 
``errors in addition, subtraction, or other arithmetic function, 
clerical errors resulting from inaccurate copying, duplication, or the 
like, and any other type of unintentional error which the administering 
authority considers ministerial.'' Section 351.224(e) of the 
Department's regulations provides that the Department ``will analyze 
any comments received and, if appropriate, correct any significant 
ministerial error by amending the preliminary determination.'' A 
significant ministerial error is defined as a ministerial error, the 
correction of which, singly or in combination with other errors, would 
result in (1) a change of at least five absolute percentage points in, 
but not less than 25 percent of, the weighted-average dumping margin 
calculated in the original (erroneous) preliminary determination, or 
(2) a difference between a weighted-average dumping margin of zero or 
de minimis and a weighted-average dumping margin of greater than de 
minimis or vice versa. See section 351.224(g) of the Department's 
regulations.

Ministerial Error Allegations

Brokerage and Handling and Freight

    The Shaoxing Metal Companies argue that the Department incorrectly 
applied the surrogate value for brokerage and handling and freight on a 
per-kilogram basis, rather than on a per-piece basis. The Shaoxing 
Metal Companies contend that the resulting weighted-average dumping 
margin was significantly inflated. See Memorandum to the File from 
Julia Hancock, through Alex Villanueva, Program Manager, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 9: Analysis Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel Wire 
Garment Hangers from the People's Republic of China: Shaoxing Entity, 
dated March 18, 2008. The Shaoxing Metal Companies state that a 
correction to the units of measure applied to the brokerage and 
handling and freight would significantly reduce the calculated dumping 
margin, and would constitute a significant error as set forth in the 
statute. Therefore, the Shaoxing Metal Companies urge that the unit of 
measure applied to the brokerage and handling and freight surrogate 
values be corrected in the margin calculation program and in the 
company analysis memorandum.
    We agree that the Department did not apply the correct unit of 
measure to the brokerage and handling and freight surrogate values. 
This error qualifies as a ministerial error in accordance with section 
735(e) of the Act. Moreover, when considered in combination with the 
other corrections discussed below, this error constitutes a significant 
ministerial error in accordance with section 351.224(g) of the 
Department's regulations.

Adjustment to QTYUKG for Tongzhou's Sales

    The Shaoxing Metal Companies allege an additional clerical error 
with respect to the adjustment to the quantity expressed in kilograms 
(``QTYUKG'') field in Tongzhou's sales listing. The Shaoxing Metal 
Companies argue that a particular adjustment to the QTYUKG field in 
Tongzhou's sales listing, which is combined with the respective sales 
listings of Gangyuan and Andrew, was not made in the Preliminary 
Determination. The Shaoxing Metal Companies state that the failure to 
adjust this field in Tongzhou's sales

[[Page 20020]]

listing also affects the margin calculation with respect to the units 
of measure applied to the brokerage and handling surrogate value.
    The sales database submitted by the Shaoxing Metal Companies 
contained the error within the QTYUKG field, which counsel for Tongzhou 
addressed through electronic mail communications to the Department. 
These communications included a method to adjust the QTYUKG field 
within the margin calculation program, which would correct the sales 
database. See Memorandum to the File from Julia Hancock, Senior Case 
Analyst: Program Analysis for the Amended Preliminary Determination of 
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Steel Wire Garment Hangers from the 
People's Republic of China: Shaoxing Metal Companies, dated concurrent 
with this Federal Register notice (``Shaoxing Metal Companies' Amended 
Prelim Analysis Memorandum''). Although counsel for Tongzhou provided 
this adjustment, we did not adjust for the QTYUKG field from Tongzhou's 
sales listing in the Preliminary Determination. This error qualifies as 
a ministerial error in accordance with section 735(e) of the Act. 
Moreover, when considered in combination with the other correction 
discussed above, this error constitutes a significant ministerial error 
in accordance with section 351.224(g) of the Department's regulations.

Amended Preliminary Determination

    We determine that these allegations qualify as ministerial errors 
as defined in section 351.224(g) of the Department's regulations 
because they result in a change of more than five absolute percentage 
points to the Shaoxing Metal Companies' dumping margin. Accordingly, we 
have corrected the errors alleged by the Shaoxing Metal Companies and 
the SR Recipients. See Shaoxing Metal Companies' Amended Prelim 
Analysis Memorandum.
    As a result of correcting the above errors in the Shaoxing Metal 
Companies' margin, the margin for the companies granted separate-rate 
status must also be revised because the margin for those companies was 
partially derived from the Shaoxing Metal Companies' margin. See 
Memorandum to the File from Irene Gorelik, Analyst; Investigation of 
Steel Wire Garment Hangers from the People's Republic of China: Amended 
Preliminary Weight-Averaged Margin for Separate Rate Companies, dated 
concurrent with this Federal Register notice.

PRC-Wide Entity

    As a result of the Department's correction of the ministerial 
errors, we note that the PRC-Wide entity rate must also be revised. In 
the Preliminary Determination, the Department stated that ``as the 
single PRC-Wide rate, we have taken the simple average of: (A) the 
weighted-average of the calculated rates of Shaoxing Metal Companies 
and Shanghai Wells and (B) the simple average of the petition rates 
that fell within the range of Shaoxing Metal Companies' and Shanghai 
Wells' individual transaction margins, resulting in a single rate 
applicable to the PRC-Wide entity of 221.05 [percnt].'' See Preliminary 
Determination. However, due to the correction of the ministerial 
errors, the resulting single rate applicable to the PRC-Wide entity is 
182.44 [percnt], which is the simple average of: A) the weighted-
average of the calculated rates for Shaoxing Metal Companies and 
Shanghai Wells and B) a simple average of petition rates based on U.S. 
prices and normal values within the range of the U.S. prices and normal 
values calculated for Shaoxing Metal Companies and Shanghai Wells. This 
rate applies to all entries of the merchandise under investigation with 
the exception of those entries from Shanghai Wells, the Shaoxing Metal 
Companies, and the separate-rate recipients. See Memorandum to the File 
from Irene Gorelik, Senior Analyst; Investigation of Steel Wire Garment 
Hangers from the People's Republic of China: Corroboration Memorandum 
for the Amended Preliminary Determination, dated concurrent with this 
Federal Register notice.
    As a result of corrections of ministerial errors, the weighted-
average dumping margins are as follows:

    Steel Wire Garment Hangers from the PRC - Amended Dumping Margins
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Weighted-Average Deposit
            Exporter & Producer                         Rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shanghai Wells Hanger Co., Ltd............                33.85 [percnt]
Shaoxing Metal Companies: Shaoxing                        56.98 [percnt]
 Gangyuan Metal Manufactured Co., Ltd.,
 Shaoxing Andrew Metal Manufactured Co.,
 Ltd., Shaoxing Tongzhou Metal
 Manufactured Co., Ltd., Company ``X''....
Jiangyin Hongji Metal Products Co., Ltd...                45.69 [percnt]
Shaoxing Meideli Metal Hanger Co., Ltd....                45.69 [percnt]
Shaoxing Dingli Metal Clotheshorse Co.,                   45.69 [percnt]
 Ltd......................................
Shaoxing Liangbao Metal Manufactured Co.                  45.69 [percnt]
 Ltd......................................
Shaoxing Zhongbao Metal Manufactured Co.                  45.69 [percnt]
 Ltd......................................
Shangyu Baoxiang Metal Manufactured Co.                   45.69 [percnt]
 Ltd......................................
Zhejiang Lucky Cloud Hanger Co., Ltd......                45.69 [percnt]
Pu Jiang County Command Metal Products                    45.69 [percnt]
 Co., Ltd.................................
Shaoxing Shunji Metal Clotheshorse Co.,                   45.69 [percnt]
 Ltd......................................
Ningbo Dasheng Hanger Ind. Co., Ltd.......                45.69 [percnt]
Jiaxing Boyi Medical Device Co., Ltd......                45.69 [percnt]
Yiwu Ao-Si Metal Products Co., Ltd........                45.69 [percnt]
Shaoxing Guochao Metallic Products Co.,                   45.69 [percnt]
 Ltd......................................
PRC-Wide Rate\4\..........................               182.44 [percnt]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The PRC-Wide entity includes Tianjin Hongtong Metal Manufacture Co.
  Ltd.

    The collection of bonds or cash deposits and suspension of 
liquidation will be revised accordingly and parties will be notified of 
this determination, in accordance with section 733(d) and (f) of the 
Act.

Postponement Of The Final Determination

    In the Preliminary Determination, the Department stated that it 
would make its final determination for this antidumping duty 
investigation no later than 75 days after the preliminary 
determination.
    Section 735(a)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (``the Act'') provides 
that a final determination may be postponed until not later than 135 
days after the date of

[[Page 20021]]

the publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
exporters who account for a significant proportion of exports of the 
subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative preliminary 
determination, a request for such postponement is made by petitioner. 
In addition, section 351.210(e)(2) of the Department's regulations 
require that requests by respondents for postponement of a final 
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four month period to not more than six months.
    On March 25, 2008, Shanghai Wells Hanger Co., Ltd., one of the two 
mandatory respondents, requested a 60-day extension of the final 
determination and extension of the provisional measures. Thus, because 
our amended preliminary determination is affirmative, and the 
respondent requesting a postponement of the final determination and an 
extension of the provisional measures, accounts for a significant 
proportion of exports of hangers, and no compelling reasons for denial 
exist, we are postponing the deadline for the final determination by 60 
days until August 7, 2008, based on the publication date of the 
Preliminary Determination.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the 
International Trade Commission (``ITC'') of our amended preliminary 
determination. If our final determination is affirmative, the ITC will 
make its final determination as to whether the domestic industry in the 
United States is materially injured, or threatened with material 
injury, by reason of imports of steel wire garment hangers, or sales 
(or the likelihood of sales) for importation, of the merchandise under 
investigation, within 45 days of our final determination.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f), 735(a)(2), and 777(i) of the Act and sections 
351.210(g) and 351.224(e) of the Department's regulations.

    Dated: April 7, 2008.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-7895 Filed 4-11-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S