[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 40 (Monday, March 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 10190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5309]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-401-805]
Court Decision: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From
Sweden
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of court decision.
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SUMMARY: On January 13, 1998, the United States Court of International
Trade (``CIT'') affirmed the determination made by the Department of
Commerce (``the Department'') pursuant to a voluntary remand of the
final results of administrative review in the case of certain cut-to-
length carbon steel plate from Sweden. SSAB Svenkst Stal AB v. United
States, Slip Op. 98-3 (CIT January 13, 1998). In the remand
determination, the Department determined that three types of rebates
given to certain home market customers should be treated as direct
selling expenses for which a circumstance-of-sale (``COS'') adjustment
is appropriate.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 23, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carrie Blozy or Stephen Jacques,
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0374 or 482-1391,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 9, 1996, the Department published its final results of
administrative review in the case of Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel
Plate from Sweden; Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 61 FR 15772 (``Final Results''). The review covered one
manufacturer/exporter, SSAB Svenskt Stal AB (``SSAB''), of the subject
merchandise for the period February 4, 1993, through July 31, 1994. In
the final results, the Department reclassified SSAB's reported rebates
as post-sale price adjustments (``PSPAs'') as there was no evidence
that the buyer was aware of the conditions to be fulfilled and the
approximate amount of the rebates at the time of sale. Further, because
information on the record for this review indicated that these PSPAs
were made and reported on a customer-specific, not transaction-
specific, basis, the Department disallowed these PSPAs as direct
adjustments and treated them, instead, as indirect expenses.
Based on the decision in Torrington Co. v. United States, 82 F.3d
1039 (Fed. Cir. 1996), the Department requested a remand to reconsider
the propriety of making a COS adjustment for these PSPAs. Through an
examination of the record, the Department found that all rebates were
made on either a fixed or constant percentage-of-sales value or on a
fixed and constant Swedish Kroner-per-ton of total tonnage sold.
Therefore, the Department determined that these PSPAs qualified as
direct selling expenses warranting a COS adjustment to foreign market
value.
The Department filed its redetermination with the CIT on October
29, 1997. See Final Results of Redetermination on Remand, SSAB Svenskt
Stal AB v. United States, Court No. 96-05-01372, Slip Op. 97-123
(August 29, 1997) (``Remand Results''). In its Remand Results, the
Department stated that it would ``instruct the Customs Service to
collect cash deposits at the above rate [of 7.25%] for entries from
SSAB of cut-to-length carbon steel plate from Sweden'' (Remand Results
at 4). Since then, parties and the CIT have agreed that such
instructions would be incorrect because the Department has published
subsequent administrative reviews that govern future cash deposits.
Therefore, cash deposit rates will be governed not by the rate
published in the Remand Results, but by the most recently completed
administrative review, according to the Department's normal procedures.
See Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Sweden; Final Results
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 62 FR 46947 (September 5,
1997). On January 13, 1998, the CIT affirmed the Department's remand
determination (with the exception noted above).
As a result of the remand determination, the final dumping margin
for the period February 4, 1993, through July 31, 1994 is as follows:
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Margin
Manufacturer/exporter (percent)
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SSAB....................................................... 7.25
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In its decision in Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 (Fed.
Cir. 1990) (``Timken''), the United States Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit held that, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. section 1516a(e), the
Department must publish a notice of a court decision which is not ``in
harmony'' with a Department determination, and must suspend liquidation
of entries pending a ``conclusive'' court decision. The CIT's decision
in SSAB Svenskt Stal AB on January 13, 1998, constitutes a decision not
in harmony with the Department's final results of review. Publication
of this notice fulfills the Timken requirement. Accordingly, the
Department will continue to suspend liquidation pending the expiration
of the period of appeal, or, if appealed, until a ``conclusive'' court
decision.
Dated: February 23, 1998.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-5309 Filed 2-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
