[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1592-1593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-631]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-201-802]
Gray Portland Cement and Clinker From Mexico: Notice of
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Changed-Circumstances Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of initiation of antidumping duty changed-circumstances
review.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(b), Cementos de Chihuahua,
S.A. de C.V., an interested party in this proceeding, requested a
changed-circumstances review. In response to this request, the
Department of Commerce is initiating a changed-circumstances review on
gray portland cement and clinker from Mexico.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 11, 2000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Copper or Davina Hashmi, Office
3, AD/CVD Enforcement Group I, Import Administration, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0090 or (202) 482-5760, respectively.
The Applicable Statute and Regulations
Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act), are references to the provisions effective
January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to the Act
by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). In addition, unless
otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department of Commerce's (the
Department's) regulations are to the regulations at 19 CFR Part 351
(1998).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In its November 24, 1999 letter, Cementos de Chihuahua, S.A. de
C.V. (CDC), requested that the Department conduct an expedited changed-
circumstances review pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Act. CDC
states that, effective December 1, 1999, GCC Cementos, S.A. de C.V.
(GCCC), will be the successor in interest to CDC due to a corporate
reorganization. On December 13, 1999, the petitioners submitted a
letter requesting that the Department reject CDC's request for an
expedited review.
Scope of Review
The products covered by this review include gray portland cement
and clinker. Gray portland cement is a hydraulic cement and the primary
component of concrete. Clinker, an intermediate material product
produced when manufacturing cement, has no use other than of being
ground into finished cement. Gray portland cement is currently
classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) item number
2523.29 and cement clinker is currently classifiable under number
2523.10. Gray portland cement has also been entered under number
2523.90 as ``other hydraulic cements.''
The HTS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs
purposes only. Our written description remains dispositive as to the
scope of the product coverage.
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Changed-Circumstances Review
Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Act, the Department will
conduct a changed-circumstances review upon receipt of information
concerning, or a request from an interested party of, an antidumping
duty order which shows changed-circumstances sufficient to warrant a
review of the order.
In its request for a changed-circumstances review, CDC indicated
that, effective December 1, 1999, GCCC will be the successor in
interest to CDC due to a corporate reorganization. In accordance with
section 751(b)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(b) and 351.221(b)(1),
we are initiating a changed-circumstances review based upon the
information contained in CDC's November 24, 1999, request for this
review.
CDC also requested that the Department expedite the review process
by issuing preliminary results in conjunction with the notice of
initiation. However, CDC's request for review was not accompanied by
any documentation supporting CDC's description of its corporate
reorganization. In making a successor-in-interest determination, the
Department examines several factors including, but not limited to, the
following changes: (1) Management; (2) production facilities; (3)
supplier relationships; (4) customer base. See, e.g., Brass Sheet and
Strip from Canada; Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 57 FR 20460 (May 13, 1992) (Canadian Brass). Although CDC
states that the corporate reorganization meets the standards
established in cases such as Canadian Brass, CDC has not provided any
supporting documentation relevant to the factors described above.
Furthermore, on December 13, 1999, the petitioners submitted a letter
objecting to the initiation of an expedited changed-circumstances
review on the grounds that the sole basis for CDC's request consists of
unsupported statements. Based upon these considerations, we will seek
additional information concerning CDC's corporate reorganization.
Accordingly, we conclude that it would be inappropriate to expedite
this action pursuant to 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii) by issuing preliminary
results prior to receiving such information. Therefore, we are not
expediting this changed-circumstances review and are not issuing
preliminary results at this time.1
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\1\ As the petitioners noted in their December 13 letter, the
Department has rejected requests for expedited reviews previously
under similar circumstances. See Certain Welded Stainless Steel Pipe
from Korea; Initiation of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review, 62 FR 31789 (June 11, 1997); Certain Welded
Stainless Steel Pipe from Taiwan; Initiation of Changed
Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 62 FR 30567
(June 4, 1997).
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We will publish in the Federal Register a notice of preliminary
results of antidumping duty changed-circumstances review, in accordance
with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4) and 351.221(c)(3)(i), which will set forth
the factual and legal conclusions upon which our preliminary results
are based and a description of any action proposed based on those
results. The Department will issue its final results of review not
later than 270 days after publication of this notice of initiation. All
written comments must be submitted to the Department and served on all
interested parties on the Department's service list in accordance with
19 CFR 351.303.
During the course of this changed-circumstances review, the current
requirement for a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties on all
subject merchandise, including the merchandise subject to this changed-
[[Page 1593]]
circumstances review, will continue unless and until it is modified
pursuant to the final results of this changed-circumstances review.
This notice is in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of the Act and
19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221.
Dated: January 4, 2000.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-631 Filed 1-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
