[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 4, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 279-280]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-28]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-122-601]
Notice of Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review: Brass Sheet and Strip From Canada
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review.
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EFFECTIVE DATE: January 4, 2000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paige Rivas or James Terpstra, Office
of Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Enforcement, Office Four, Group II,
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0651 or 482-3965,
respectively.
Applicable Statute and Regulations
Unless otherwise stated, 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 references to the Department's regulations are to 19 CFR
part 351 (1998).
Amendment to Final Results
On August 9, 1999, the Department determined that sales of brass
sheet and strip from Canada were made at less than normal value during
the 1997 period of review. This review covers one respondent, Wolverine
Tube Inc. (Wolverine). See Brass Sheet and Strip from Canada: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Notice of Intent
Not To Revoke Order in Part, 64 FR 46344 (August 25, 1999).
On August 18, 1999, the petitioners, (Hussey Copper, Ltd.; The
Miller Company; Olin Corporation; Revere Copper Products, Inc.;
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers;
International Union-Allied Industrial Workers of America (AFL-CIO);
Mechanics Educational Society of America (Local 56), and United
Steelworkers of America), timely filed an allegation that the
Department had made several clerical errors in the final margin
computer program. Petitioners requested that we correct the errors and
publish a notice of amended final determination in the Federal
Register. See 19 CFR 351.224(e). Petitioners' submission alleges the
following errors:
The Department overstated the reduction to Wolverine's
cost of manufacture to eliminate potential double-counting of
Wolverine's warranty expense. This reduction to Wolverine's cost of
manufacture occurred when the Department agreed with Wolverine's claim
that ``a portion of the warranty expenses associated with the
manufacturing costs of re-working defective merchandise is already
included in the reported COP and that the inclusion of such costs in
warranty expenses would result in double-counting.'' See Final Results
Analysis Memo, Eleventh Administrative Review 1/1/97-12/31/97
(``Analysis Memo'') at 4. As a result, the Department reduced ``the
reported COP expenses to account for these costs'' to ``avoid double
counting.'' Id. According to petitioners, the overstatement of the
reduction to Wolverine's cost of manufacture occurred because the
Department calculated an adjustment factor by dividing Wolverine's
total variable warranty expense by Wolverine's total labor and overhead
costs (excluding the cost of materials), and applied this adjustment
factor to Wolverine's total cost of manufacture (including cost of
materials). The adjustment factor derived from Wolverine's labor and
overhead costs should have been applied only to Wolverine's total labor
and overhead costs to yield the correct amount of the adjustment to
Wolverine's total cost of manufacture. Instead, the Department applied
the adjustment factor to the sum of fabrication cost and metal cost in
its final margin calculation program and overstated the reduction to
Wolverine's cost of manufacture.
The Department failed to correct a width for one of
Wolverine's U.S. sales that the Department acknowledged in its Final
Results of Review to be incorrect. See 64 FR at 46345 (Comment 2).
The Department failed to include in its final margin
program the exchange losses associated with its accounts
[[Page 280]]
payable and reported in the new computer field EXCHNG provided by
Wolverine to the Department on March 25, 1999. Petitioner states that
the Department should add the computer field EXCHNG to the revised cost
of production (RCOP). Wolverine added a new computer field EXCHNG to
its COP and CV databases for exchange losses associated with its
accounts payable to include additional costs that were not reported in
the original computer field TOTCOM. Wolverine did include these
additional costs in the computer field for revised TOTCOM (RTOTCOM).
However, because the Department started its cost calculations using the
original computer field TOTCOM, the additional costs included in EXCHNG
were not included in the Department's final margin analysis.
Wolverine did not comment on the clerical error allegations.
After reviewing the petitioners' allegations, we have determined,
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224, that the final results includes the
above-mentioned clerical errors. Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.224(e), we are amending the final results of the antidumping duty
review of brass sheet and strip from Canada. The revised dumping margin
is listed below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margin
Exporter/producer percentage
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Wolverine................................................. 0.83
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In addition, we note that the assessment instructions in the
original final results of review misstated the way in which the
assessment rates were calculated. Therefore, this amended final results
of review provides the corrected formulation given below.
The Department shall determine, and the U.S. Customs Service
(Customs) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries.
We will issue importer-specific appraisement instructions to Customs.
For assessment purposes, we have calculated importer-specific ad
valorem duty assessment rates for the merchandise based on the ratio of
the total amount of dumping duties calculated for the examined sales to
the entered value of sales used to calculate those duties. This notice
serves as a final 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 doubled antidumping
duties.
We are issuing and publishing this determination in accordance with
section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)), 19 CFR 351.213,
and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(5).
Dated: December 27, 1999.
Holly A. Kuga,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-28 Filed 1-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
