[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7166-7167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3001]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-428-811]
Certain Hot-Rolled Lead and Bismuth Carbon Steel Products From
Germany; Initiation of Anticircumvention Inquiry of Antidumping Duty
Order
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of initiation of anticircumvention inquiry.
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SUMMARY: On the basis of a petition filed with the Department of
Commerce (the Department), we are initiating an anticircumvention
inquiry to determine whether imports of certain hot-rolled lead and
bismuth carbon steel products from the Netherlands are circumventing
the antidumping duty order on certain hot-rolled lead and bismuth
carbon steel products from Germany (58 FR 15324 (March 22, 1993)).
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 7, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas O. Barlow or Wendy J. Frankel,
Office of Antidumping Compliance, Import Administration, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
5253.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On August 23, 1994, Inland Steel Bar Company and USS Kobe Steel
Company (hereafter, petitioners) filed a petition, pursuant to section
781(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, (the Tariff Act) and 19
CFR 353.29 (b) and (f), requesting the Department to investigate
whether imports of certain leaded steel products from the Netherlands
are circumventing the antidumping duty order issued against certain
hot-rolled lead and bismuth carbon steel products from Germany.
Petitioners allege that Thyssen AG, a German steel producer, is
shipping leaded steel billets to its wholly-owned subsidiary Nedstahl
BV (Nedstahl), located in the Netherlands, hot-rolling the billets into
bars and rods and then exporting them from the Netherlands to the
United States. Petitioners assert that Thyssen's actions warrant an
affirmative determination of circumvention under the Tariff Act.
On August 29, 1994, the law firm of Sharretts, Paley, Carter &
Blauvelt filed a letter of appearance on behalf of Thyssen, and an
application for administrative protective order.
On December 9, 1994, petitioners submitted additional information
in support of its allegation of circumvention.
Initiation of Anticircumvention Inquiry
Section 781(b) of the Tariff Act and 19 CFR 353.29(f) authorize the
Department to include merchandise within the scope of an existing
antidumping duty order if: (A) The merchandise imported into the United
States is of the same class or kind as the merchandise subject to the
order; (B) before importation into the United States, such imported
merchandise is completed or assembled in a third country from
merchandise which (i) is subject to an order, or (ii) is produced in
the foreign country with respect to which such order applies; (C) the
difference between the value of such merchandise imported into the
United States and the value of the merchandise from the country subject
to the order which was completed or assembled in the third country is
small, and (D) the Department determines that action is appropriate to
prevent evasion of such order.
In determining whether to include merchandise assembled or
completed in a third country in an order, the Department must take into
account such factors as; (a) the pattern of trade, (b) whether the
manufacturer or exporter of the merchandise from the country subject to
the order is related to the [[Page 7167]] person in the third country
who completes or assembles the merchandise that is subsequently
imported into the United States, and (c) whether imports into the third
country of the merchandise from the order country have increased after
the issuance of such order.
After taking into account any advice provided by the International
Trade Commission (ITC), the Department may include such imported
merchandise within the scope of such order at any time such order is in
effect.
Our analysis of petitioners' submission according to the above
criteria leads the Department to conclude that: (1) There is evidence
that leaded steel rod imported into the United States from the
Netherlands is of the same class or kind as that covered by the German
antidumping duty order; (2) the leaded steel rod imported into the
United States is completed from leaded steel billets produced in
Germany, the country subject to the antidumping duty order; (3) the
difference in value is arguably ``small''. Petitioners' evidence on the
third factor, combined with other evidence on the record, provides a
reasonable basis to initiate an anticircumvention inquiry. In the
context of the inquiry, the Department will determine whether inclusion
of such imported products within the order is appropriate to prevent
evasion of the order.
Our analysis of the information in petitioners' submission leads us
to conclude that: (1) U.S. import statistics evidence a shift in the
pattern of trade subsequent to issuance of the order; (2) Nedstahl, the
entity in the third country who completes or assembles the merchandise
that is subsequently imported into the United States, is 100 percent
owned by Thyssen, the manufacturer or exporter of the merchandise from
the country subject to the order, and therefore, is related; and (3)
the data with respect to imports of subject merchandise into the
Netherlands from Germany evidences such an increase. Consideration of
the other factors identified above strengthens petitioners' position
that the order is being circumvented. For further analysis, see
Memorandum from Joseph A. Spetrini for Susan G. Esserman, dated January
29, 1995. Based on this information, we are initiating an
anticircumvention inquiry of the antidumping duty order on certain hot-
rolled lead and bismuth carbon steel products from Germany, case number
A-428-811.
The Department will not suspend liquidation at this time. However,
the Department will instruct the U.S. Customs Service to suspend
liquidation in the event of an afirmative preliminary determination of
circumvention.
This notice is published in accordance with 781(b) of the Tariff
Act (19 U.S.C. 1677j(b)) and 19 CFR 353.29.
Dated: January 30, 1995.
Susan G. Esserman,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 95-3001 Filed 2-6-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P