96-25411. Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Sweden; Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review  

  • [Federal Register Volume 61, Number 193 (Thursday, October 3, 1996)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 51683-51687]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 96-25411]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
    [C-401-804]
    
    
    Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Sweden; Preliminary 
    Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review
    
    AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
    Department of Commerce.
    
    ACTION: Notice of Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty 
    Administrative Review.
    
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    SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an 
    administrative review of the countervailing duty order on certain cut-
    to-length carbon steel plate from Sweden. For information on the net 
    subsidy for the reviewed company, as well as for any non-reviewed 
    companies, please see the Preliminary Results of Review section of this 
    notice. If the final results remain the same as these preliminary 
    results of administrative review, we will instruct the U.S. Customs 
    Service to assess countervailing duties as detailed in the Preliminary 
    Results of Review section of this notice. Interested parties are 
    invited to comment on these preliminary results.
    
    EFFECTIVE DATE: October 3, 1996.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gayle Longest or Lorenza Olivas, 
    Office of CVD/AD Enforcement, Import Administration, International 
    Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
    Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: Gayle 
    Longest (202) 482-3338 or (202) 482-2786.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    
    Background
    
        On August 17, 1993, the Department published in the Federal 
    Register (58 FR 43758) the countervailing duty order on certain cut-to-
    length carbon steel plate from Sweden. On August 1, 1995, the 
    Department published a notice of ``Opportunity to Request an 
    Administrative Review'' (60 FR 39150) of this countervailing duty 
    order. We received timely requests for review, and we initiated the 
    review, covering the period January 1, 1994 through December 31, 1994, 
    on September 15, 1995 (60 FR 47930).
        In accordance with section 355.22(a) of the Department's Interim 
    Regulations, this review covers only those producers or exporters for 
    which a review was specifically requested (see Antidumping and 
    Countervailing Duties: Interim Regulations; Request for Comments, (60 
    FR 25130 ; May 11, 1995) (Interim Regulations)). Accordingly, this 
    review covers SSAB, the sole known producer/exporter of the subject 
    merchandise during the period of review (POR). This review also covers 
    10 programs.
        On May 29, 1996, we extended the period for completion of the 
    preliminary and final results pursuant to section 751(a)(3) of the 
    Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (see Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel 
    Plate From Sweden; Extension of Time Limit for Countervailing Duty 
    Administrative Review (61 FR 26879). As explained in the memoranda from 
    the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration to the File dated 
    November 22, 1995, and January 11, 1996 (both on file in the public 
    file of the Central Records Unit, Room B-099 of the Department of 
    Commerce), all deadlines were extended to take into account the partial 
    shutdowns of the Federal Government from November 15 through November 
    21, 1995, and December 15, 1995, through January 6, 1996. Therefore, 
    the deadline for these preliminary results is no later than September 
    27, 1996, and the deadline for the final results of this review is no 
    later than 180 days from the date on which these preliminary results 
    are published in the Federal Register.
    
    Applicable Statute and Regulations
    
        Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are 
    references to the provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by 
    the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) effective January 1, 1995 (the 
    Act). The Department is conducting this administrative review in 
    accordance with section 751(a) of the Act. References to the 
    Department's Countervailing Duties; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and 
    Request for Public Comments (54 FR 23366; May 31, 1989) (1989 Proposed 
    Regulations) are provided solely for further explanation of the 
    Department's countervailing duty practice. Although the Department has 
    withdrawn the particular rulemaking proceeding pursuant to which the 
    1989 Proposed Regulations were issued, the subject matter of these 
    regulations is being considered in connection with an ongoing 
    rulemaking proceeding which, among other things, is intended to conform 
    the Department's regulations to the URAA. See Advance Notice of
    
    [[Page 51684]]
    
    Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Public Comments, (60 FR 80; Jan. 3, 
    1995); Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties: Notice of Proposed 
    Rulemaking and Request for Public Comments, (61 FR 7308; February 27, 
    1996).
    
    Scope of the Review
    
        Imports covered by this review are shipments of certain cut-to-
    length carbon steel plate from Sweden. These products include hot-
    rolled carbon steel universal mill plates (i.e., flat-rolled products 
    rolled on four faces or in a closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 
    millimeters but not exceeding 1,250 millimeters and of a thickness of 
    not less than 4 millimeters, not in coils and without pattern in 
    relief), of rectangular shape, neither clad, plated nor coated with 
    metal, whether or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or 
    other nonmetallic substances, 4.75 millimeter or more in thickness and 
    of a width which exceeds 150 millimeters and measures at least twice 
    the thickness. During the review period, such merchandise was 
    classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) item numbers 
    7208.31.0000, 7208.32.0000, 7208.33.1000, 7208.33.5000, 7208.41.0000, 
    7208.42.0000, 7208.43.0000, 7208.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 
    7211.11.0000, 7211.12.0000, 7211.21.0000, 7211.22.0045, 7211.90.0000, 
    7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000 and 7212.50.5000. Included in this order are 
    flat-rolled products of non-rectangular cross-section where cross-
    section is achieved subsequent to the rolling process (i.e., products 
    which have been ``worked after rolling'')--for example, products which 
    have been beveled or rounded at the edges. Excluded from this order is 
    grade X-70 plate. The HTS item numbers are provided for convenience and 
    customs purposes. The written description remains dispositive.
    
    Allocation Methodology
    
        In the past, the Department has relied upon information from the 
    U.S. Internal Revenue Service on the industry-specific average useful 
    life of assets in determining the allocation period for nonrecurring 
    grant benefits. See General Issues Appendix appended to Final 
    Countervailing Duty Determination; Certain Steel Products from Austria 
    (58 FR 37063, 37226; July 9, 1993). However, in British Steel plc. v. 
    United States, 879 F. Supp. 1254 (CIT 1995) (British Steel), the U.S. 
    Court of International Trade (the Court) ruled against this allocation 
    methodology. In accordance with the Court's remand order, the 
    Department calculated a company-specific allocation period for 
    nonrecurring subsidies based on the average useful life (AUL) of non-
    renewable physical assets. This remand determination was affirmed by 
    the Court on June 4, 1996. British Steel, 929 F. Supp. 426, 439 (CIT 
    1996).
        The Department has decided to acquiesce to the Court's decision 
    and, as such, we intend to determine the allocation period for 
    nonrecurring subsidies using company-specific AUL data where reasonable 
    and practicable. Specifically, the Department has preliminarily 
    determined that it is reasonable and practicable to allocate all new 
    nonrecurring subsidies (i.e., subsidies that have not yet been assigned 
    an allocation period) based on a company-specific AUL. However, if a 
    subsidy has already been countervailed based on an allocation period 
    established in an earlier segment of the proceeding, it does not appear 
    reasonable or practicable to reallocate that subsidy over a different 
    period of time. In other words, since the countervailing duty rate in 
    earlier segments of the proceeding was calculated based on a certain 
    allocation period and resulting benefit stream, redefining the 
    allocation period in later segments of the proceeding would entail 
    taking the original grant amount and creating an entirely new benefit 
    stream for that grant. Such a practice may lead to an increase or 
    decrease in the amount countervailed and, thus, would result in the 
    possibility of over-countervailing or under-countervailing the actual 
    benefit. The Department has preliminarily determined that a more 
    reasonable and accurate approach is to continue using the allocation 
    period first assigned to the subsidy. We invite the parties to comment 
    on the selection of this methodology and provide any other reasonable 
    and practicable approaches for complying with the Court's ruling.
        In the current review, there are no new subsidies. All of the 
    nonrecurring grants under review were provided prior to the POR; 
    allocation periods for these grants were established during prior 
    segments of this proceeding. Therefore, for purposes of these 
    preliminary results, the Department is using the original allocation 
    period assigned to each grant.
    
    Privatization and Sale of Assets to Other Companies
    
        Within the SSAB group only one subsidiary produces and exports the 
    subject merchandise. SSAB has sold several productive units and the 
    company was partially privatized twice, in 1987 and in 1989. During the 
    review period, SSAB was completely privatized.
        In Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determinations: Certain 
    Steel Products from Sweden (58 FR 37385; July 9, 1993) (Final 
    Determination), the Department found that SSAB had received 
    countervailable subsidies prior to the sale of the productive units and 
    the two partial privatizations. Further, the Department found that a 
    private party purchasing all or part of a government-owned company can 
    repay prior subsidies on behalf of the company as part or all of the 
    sales price (see General Issues Appendix (58 FR 37217, 37262; July 9, 
    1993)). Therefore, to the extent that a portion of the sales price paid 
    for a privatized company can be reasonably attributed to prior 
    subsidies, that portion of those subsidies will be extinguished.
        To calculate a rate for the subsidies that were allocated to the 
    spin-off, i.e., a productive unit that was sold, we first determined 
    the amount of the subsidies attributable to each productive unit by 
    dividing the asset value of that productive unit by the total asset 
    value of SSAB in the year of the spin-off. We then applied this ratio 
    to the net present value (NPV), in the year of the spin-off, of the 
    future benefit streams from all of SSAB's prior subsidies allocable to 
    the POR. The future benefit streams at the time of the sale of each 
    productive unit reflect the Department's allocation over time of prior 
    subsidies to SSAB in accordance with the declining balance methodology 
    (see section 355.49 of the Department's Proposed Regulations), and 
    reflect also the effect of prior spin-offs of SSAB productive units.
        We next estimated the portion of the purchase price which 
    represents repayment of prior subsidies by determining the portion of 
    SSAB's net worth that was accounted for by subsidies. To do that, we 
    divided the face value of the allocable subsidies received by SSAB in 
    each year from fiscal year 1979 through fiscal year 1993 by SSAB's net 
    worth in the same year. We calculated a simple average of these ratios, 
    which was then multiplied by the purchase price of the productive unit. 
    Thus, we determined the amount of the purchase price which represents 
    repayment of prior subsidies. This amount was subtracted from the 
    subsidies attributed to the productive unit at the time of sale to 
    arrive at the amount of subsidies allocated to the productive unit 
    being spun-off.
        To calculate the subsidies remaining with SSAB after privatization, 
    we performed the following calculations. We first calculated the NPV of 
    the future benefit stream of the subsidies at the
    
    [[Page 51685]]
    
    time of the sale of the shares. Next, we estimated the portion of the 
    purchase price which represents repayment of prior subsidies in 
    accordance with the methodology described in the ``Privatization'' 
    section of the General Issues Appendix (58 FR 37217, 37259). This 
    amount was then subtracted from the amount of the NPV eligible for 
    repayment, and the result was divided by the NPV to calculate the ratio 
    representing the amount of subsidies remaining with SSAB.
        To calculate the benefit provided to SSAB in the POR, where 
    appropriate, we multiplied the benefit calculated for 1994, adjusted 
    for sales of productive units, by the ratio representing the amount of 
    subsidies remaining with SSAB after privatization. We then divided the 
    results by the company's total sales in 1994.
    
    Analysis of Programs
    
    I. Programs Conferring Subsidies
    
    Programs Previously Determined to Confer Subsidies
    
    (1) Equity Infusions
        In 1981, the Government of Sweden (GOS) provided equity capital to 
    SSAB totaling 1,125 million Swedish kronor (MSEK). Simultaneously, 
    Granges, a private company and the only other shareholder at the time, 
    contributed 375 MSEK. To persuade Granges to contribute this equity 
    capital, the GOS guaranteed a specified sum to be paid to Granges in 
    1991. Because of this arrangement, we determined that the 375 MSEK paid 
    by Granges was an equity infusion provided indirectly by the GOS, 
    through Granges, specifically to SSAB. See Final Determination (58 FR 
    37385, 37387).
        In the Final Determination and in the final determination in a 
    previous investigation of Swedish steel, Final Affirmative 
    Countervailing Duty Determinations; Certain Carbon Steel Products from 
    Sweden (50 FR 33377; August 19, 1985) (Final Certain Carbon Steel 
    Products), we determined that SSAB was unequityworthy in 1981 when it 
    received the equity infusions, and that the two equity infusions are 
    therefore countervailable. There has been no new information or 
    evidence of changed circumstances in this review to warrant 
    reconsideration of this determination.
        In accordance with the ``Equity'' section of the General Issues 
    Appendix, we treated the equity infusions as grants. To calculate the 
    benefit from these equity infusions for the POR, we used the grant 
    methodology as described in the ``Allocation Methodology'' section 
    above. Because the Department determined in the Final Determination 
    that the infusions are non-recurring subsidies, we have allocated the 
    subsidies over 15 years, as discussed in the ``Allocation Methodology'' 
    section above. As the discount rate, we have used SSAB's company-
    specific interest rate on fixed-rate long-term loans (see 
    Sec. 355.49(b)(2) of the Proposed Regulations).
        We reduced the benefit from these equity infusions attributable to 
    the POR according to the methodology outlined in the ``Privatization'' 
    section above. We then divided the result by SSAB's total sales for 
    1994. On this basis, we preliminarily determine the net subsidy for 
    equity infusions to be 0.53 percent ad valorem.
    (2) Structural Loans
        Under three separate pieces of legislation, SSAB received 
    structural loans for investment in plant and equipment. The loans were 
    disbursed in installments between 1978 and 1983. All three loans were 
    outstanding during the POR.
        According to the terms of the loans, all three structural loans 
    were interest-free for three years from the date of disbursement. After 
    that time, one loan incurred interest at a fixed rate of five percent 
    per annum while the other two loans incurred interest at a variable 
    rate subject to change every five years. The variable interest rate on 
    these two loans is set at the rate of the long-term government bonds 
    plus a 0.25 percent margin. After a five-year grace period, the 
    principal is repaid in 20 equal installments at the end of each 
    calendar year.
        In Final Determination and in Final Certain Carbon Steel Products, 
    we determined that these loans are countervailable because they were 
    provided specifically to SSAB on terms inconsistent with commercial 
    considerations. There has been no new information or evidence of 
    changed circumstances in this review to warrant reconsideration of this 
    determination.
        To calculate the benefit from the fixed-rate structural loan, we 
    employed the long-term loan methodology described in section 
    355.49(c)(1) of the 1989 Proposed Regulations. To calculate the 
    benefits from the two variable-rate loans, we used the variable-rate 
    long-term loan methodology described in section 355.49(d)(1) of the 
    1989 Proposed Regulations. As the discount rate, we used SSAB's 
    company-specific long-term benchmark interest rates, previously 
    established in the Final Determination.
        We reduced the benefit attributable to the POR from the fixed-rate 
    structural loan according to the methodology outlined in the 
    ``Privatization'' section above. We then aggregated the benefits for 
    the three loans (fixed interest rate and variable interest rate) and 
    divided the results by SSAB's total sales for 1994. On this basis, we 
    preliminarily determine the net subsidy from the three structural loans 
    to be 0.27 percent ad valorem.
    (3) Forgiven Reconstruction Loans
        The GOS provided reconstruction loans to SSAB between 1979 and 1985 
    to cover operating losses, investment in certain plants and equipment, 
    and for employment promotion purposes. The loans were interest free for 
    three years, after which a fixed interest rate was charged. According 
    to the terms of the loans, up to half of the outstanding amount of the 
    loan can be written off after the second calendar year following the 
    disbursement. The remainder of the loan can be written off entirely at 
    the end of the ninth calendar year after disbursement. Pursuant to the 
    terms of the reconstruction loans, the GOS wrote off large portions of 
    principal and accrued interest on these loans between 1980 and 1990.
        In the Final Determination and in Final Certain Carbon Steel 
    Products, we determined that forgiveness of these loans is 
    countervailable. There has been no new information or evidence of 
    changed circumstances in this review to warrant reconsideration of this 
    determination.
        To calculate the benefit, we treated the written-off portions of 
    the reconstruction loans as countervailable grants received in the 
    years the loans were forgiven and calculated the benefit using the 
    grant methodology as described in the ``Allocation Methodology'' 
    section above. We reduced the benefits from these grants attributable 
    to the POR according to the methodology outlined in the 
    ``Privatization'' section above. We then divided the results by SSAB's 
    total sales for 1994. On this basis, we preliminarily determine the net 
    subsidy from the three forgiven reconstruction loans to be 1.18 percent 
    ad valorem.
    
    II. Programs Preliminarily Determined Not to Confer Subsidies
    
    (1) Research & Development (R&D) Loans and Grants
        The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development 
    (NUTEK) provides research and development loans and grants to Swedish 
    industries for R&D purposes.
    
    [[Page 51686]]
    
    One type of R&D loan (industrial development loans) is mostly aimed at 
    ``new'' industries such as the biotechnical, electronic, and medical 
    industries. Another type of R&D loan (energy efficiency loans) is 
    directed towards big energy consumers.
        The loans accrue interest equal to the official ``discount'' rate 
    plus a premium of 3.75 percent. However, no interest or principal 
    payments are due until the R&D project is completed. If, upon 
    completion of a project, the company wishes to use the research results 
    for commercial purposes, the loan must be repaid. On the other hand, if 
    the company decides not to utilize the results and, therefore, does not 
    claim proprietary treatment for the results, NUTEK will forgive the 
    loan and the results of the research become publicly available.
        SSAB had several R&D loans outstanding during the POR on which it 
    did not make either principal or interest payments. However, under our 
    current pratice, we cannot determine whether SSAB has received a 
    countervailable benefit until the research is completed, and they will 
    be able to submit information demonstrating that the research results 
    are publicly available. It is only upon completion that it will be 
    known (1) whether the loans are forgiven and (2) if the loans are not 
    forgiven, whether the accrued interest is less than what would accrue 
    if the loans are provided at commercial rates. See Final Determination 
    (58 FR 37385, 37390). Therefore, we will continue to examine these R&D 
    loans in future administrative reviews.
        As explained above, NUTEK may forgive R&D loans if the companies 
    receiving them disseminate publicly the results of the research 
    financed by the loans. The Department's current practice is to treat 
    forgiven R&D loans as non-countervailable if the research results are 
    publicly available. See Final Determination (58 FR 37385, 37390). 
    During the POR, three such loans to SSAB were forgiven. Official 
    documentation from NUTEK, provided in the questionnaire response, 
    indicates that the results of these research projects for which these 
    three loans were made to SSAB were made publicly available. On this 
    basis, we preliminarily determine that these three forgiven R&D loans 
    did not confer countervailable benefits on the subject merchandise 
    during the POR.
    (2) Fund for Industry and New Business R&D
        SSAB reported in its questionnaire response that SSAB Oxelosund, a 
    subsidiary, received a conditional repayment R&D loan from the Fund for 
    Industry and New Business (the Fund).
        The Fund provides project financing to firms with a budget of at 
    least two million Swedish kroner (MSEK), and start-up loans to new 
    ``limited'' companies. Projects are financed through (1) conditional 
    repayment loans, (2) capital in return for royalty, (3) project 
    guarantees, and (4) credit guarantees for developing new products, 
    processes and systems, and marketing. The terms and conditions of the 
    financing depend on the type of financing provided.
        In October 1992, the Fund approved a 6-MSEK conditional repayment 
    loan for SSAB Oxelosund. Only 3 MSEK of the loan amount were disbursed. 
    Under the terms of the loan, 50 percent of the principal was to be paid 
    at the end of 1994, with the remaining 50 percent to be paid at the end 
    of 1995. The loan accrued interest from the date of disbursement at a 
    rate equal to the Central Bank's ``discount'' rate, plus a 4 percent 
    premium, paid quarterly, for the prior quarter. Because the base rate 
    changes quarterly, we have analyzed this loan under our variable rate 
    loan methodology. In Certain-Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from 
    Sweden; Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative 
    Review (60 FR 44017; August 24, 1995) (92/93 Preliminary Results) and 
    Certain-Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Sweden; Final Results of 
    Countervailing Duty Administrative Review (61 FR 5381; February 12, 
    1996) (92/93 Final Results), the previous administrative review of this 
    order, we found that SSAB paid a higher interest rate for this loan 
    than it would have paid at the commercial benchmark rates. Accordingly, 
    we determined that the program did not confer a countervailable benefit 
    on the subject merchandise during the POR. In this review period, the 
    entire outstanding principal and the accrued interest was paid.
        During the POR, SSAB made two interest payments on the loan. The 
    first payment was in arrears and covered the last quarter of 1993; the 
    second payment was for interest accrued in 1994. Therefore, we selected 
    benchmarks for both 1993 and 1994, using the same source for benchmarks 
    established previously. See 92/93 Preliminary Results and 92/93 Final 
    Results. We compared the interest paid by the company with the amount 
    of interest that the company would have paid on a similar loan provided 
    at the benchmark rates, and we factored into the calculation the period 
    of time in which the interest payment was in arrears. We found that the 
    amount paid by the company was slightly lower than the amount that 
    would have been paid at the commercial benchmark rate. However, the 
    subsidy rate that would be attributable to this loan is 0.00002 percent 
    ad valorem. A rate this small would not change the overall subsidy rate 
    for SSAB. Moreover, since the principal of the loan was entirely repaid 
    during the POR, the issue of the countervailability of the loan will 
    not arise in subsequent administrative reviews. Since any benefit we 
    would calculate for the loan would not affect the overall subsidy rate 
    during the POR, and, since there is no possibility of future benefits 
    from this loan, we do not consider it necessary to make a determination 
    on the specificity of this loan program and are not including it in the 
    calculation of these preliminary results.
    
    III. Programs Preliminarily Found To Be Not Used
    
        We also examined the following programs and preliminarily determine 
    that SSAB did not apply for or receive benefits under them during the 
    POR:
    
    A. Regional Development Grants
    B. Transportation Grants
    C. Location-of-Industry Loans
    
    IV. Programs Preliminarily Found To Be Terminated
    
    Mining Exploration Grants
        Between 1983 and 1985, SSAB received grants for exploration of new 
    mineral deposits in its Grangesberg mines. In Final Determination, the 
    Department found that these grants were countervailable, because they 
    were provided specifically to a group of enterprises or industries 
    (mining companies). The amounts received under this program were less 
    than 0.5 percent of the value of SSAB's total sales for that year and 
    were expensed in the year of receipt in accordance with the Allocation 
    section of the General Issues Appendix.
        In June 1993, the mining exploration grant program was terminated 
    by the Government of Sweden under law SFS 1993:693 which eliminated 
    Namnden for Statens Gruvegendom, the agency that administered the 
    program. No grants were given to SSAB under this program after 1985 and 
    there were no residual benefits during the POR from grants previously 
    bestowed.
    Preliminary Results of Review
        In accordance with section 355.22(c)(4)(ii) of the Department's 
    Interim Regulations, we calculated an individual subsidy rate for each
    
    [[Page 51687]]
    
    producer/exporter subject to this administrative review. For the period 
    January 1, 1994 through December 31, 1994, we preliminarily determine 
    the net subsidy for SSAB to be 1.98 percent ad valorem for SSAB. If the 
    final results of this review remain the same as these preliminary 
    results, the Department intends to instruct the U.S. Customs Service to 
    assess countervailing duties for SSAB at 1.98 percent ad valorem. The 
    Department also intends to instruct the U.S. Customs Service to collect 
    a cash deposit of 1.98 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price on all 
    shipments of the subject merchandise from SSAB, entered, or withdrawn 
    from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of 
    the final results of this review.
        Because the URAA replaced the general rule in favor of a country-
    wide rate with a general rule in favor of individual rates for 
    investigated and reviewed companies, the procedures for establishing 
    countervailing duty rates, including those for non-reviewed companies, 
    are now essentially the same as those in antidumping cases, except as 
    provided for in section 777A(e)(2)(B) of the Act. The requested review 
    will normally cover only those companies specifically named. Pursuant 
    to 19 CFR 355.22(g), for all companies for which a review was not 
    requested, duties must be assessed at the cash deposit rate, and cash 
    deposits must continue to be collected, at the rate previously ordered. 
    As such, the countervailing duty cash deposit rate applicable to a 
    company can no longer change, except pursuant to a request for a review 
    of that company. See Federal-Mogul Corporation and The Torrington 
    Company v. United States, 822 F.Supp. 782 (CIT 1993) and Floral Trade 
    Council v. United States, 822 F.Supp. 766 (CIT 1993) (interpreting 19 
    CFR 353.22(e), the antidumping regulation on automatic assessment, 
    which is the analogue to 19 CFR 355.22(g), the countervailing duty 
    regulation on automatic assessment). Therefore, the cash deposit rates 
    for all companies except those covered by this review will be unchanged 
    by the results of this review.
        We will instruct Customs to continue to collect cash deposits for 
    non-reviewed companies at the most recent company-specific or country-
    wide rate applicable to the company. Accordingly, the cash deposit rate 
    that will be applied to all non-reviewed companies covered by this 
    order is that established in the most recently completed administrative 
    proceeding. See Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Sweden; 
    Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 61 FR at 
    5381. This rate shall apply to all non-reviewed companies until a 
    review of a company assigned this rate is requested. In addition, for 
    the period January 1, 1994 through December 31, 1994, the assessment 
    rates applicable to all non-reviewed companies covered by this order 
    are the cash deposit rates in effect at the time of entry.
    
    Public Comment
    
        Parties to the proceeding may request disclosure of the calculation 
    methodology and interested parties may request a hearing not later than 
    10 days after the date of publication of this notice. Interested 
    parties may submit written arguments in case briefs on these 
    preliminary results within 30 days of the date of publication. Rebuttal 
    briefs, limited to arguments raised in case briefs, may be submitted 
    seven days after the time limit for filing the case brief. Parties who 
    submit written arguments in this proceeding are requested to submit 
    with the argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary 
    of the argument. Any hearing, if requested, will be held seven days 
    after the scheduled date for submission of rebuttal briefs. Copies of 
    case briefs and rebuttal briefs must be served on interested parties in 
    accordance with 19 CFR 355.38.
        Representatives of parties to the proceeding may request disclosure 
    of proprietary information under administrative protective order no 
    later than 10 days after the representative's client or employer 
    becomes a party to the proceeding, but in no event later than the date 
    the case briefs, under 19 CFR 355.38, are due. The Department will 
    publish the final results of this administrative review, including the 
    results of its analysis of issues raised in any case or rebuttal brief 
    or at a hearing.
        This administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
    section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1) and 19 CFR 
    355.22(c)(5)).
    
        Dated: September 25, 1996.
    Robert S. LaRussa,
    Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
    [FR Doc. 96-25411 Filed 10-2-96; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
10/3/1996
Published:
10/03/1996
Department:
Commerce Department
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Notice of Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review.
Document Number:
96-25411
Dates:
October 3, 1996.
Pages:
51683-51687 (5 pages)
Docket Numbers:
C-401-804
PDF File:
96-25411.pdf