[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 45 (Friday, March 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10540-10542]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5701]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-533-810]
Stainless Steel Bar From India: Preliminary Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of antidumping duty
administrative review: Stainless steel bar from India.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on stainless
steel bar from India in response to a request by one manufacturer/
exporter, Isibars Limited (``Isibars'). This review covers sales of the
subject merchandise to the United States during the period August 4,
1994 through January 31, 1996.
We have preliminarily determined that sales have not been made
below normal value (``NV'). If these preliminary results are adopted in
our final results of administrative review, we will instruct the U.S.
Customs Service to liquidate subject entries without regard to
antidumping duties.
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary
results. Parties who submit argument are requested to submit with the
argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the
argument.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 7, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Yeske or Zak Smith, Import
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C.
20230; telephone (202) 482-0189 or (202) 482-1279, respectively.
Applicable Statute and Regulations
Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are
references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective
date of the amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (``the Act'') by
the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. In addition, unless otherwise
indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are to the
current regulations, as amended by the interim regulations published in
the Federal Register on May 11, 1995 (60 FR 25130).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 29, 1996, the Department received a request from
Isibars to conduct an administrative review of the antidumping duty
order on stainless steel bar from India. The Department published in
the Federal Register, on March 19, 1996, a notice of initiation of an
administrative review of Isibars covering the period August 4, 1994
through January 31, 1996 (61 FR 11184). In a notice published on August
20, 1996, the Department extended the time limit for the preliminary
results of the review until February 28, 1997 (61 FR 43042). The
Department is now conducting this review in accordance with section 751
of the Act and section 353.22 of its interim regulations.
Scope of Review
Imports covered by this review are shipments of stainless steel bar
(``SSB''). SSB means articles of stainless steel in straight lengths
that have been either hot-rolled, forged, turned, cold-drawn, cold-
rolled or otherwise cold-finished, or ground, having a uniform solid
cross section along their whole length in the shape of circles,
segments of circles, ovals, rectangles (including squares), triangles,
hexagons, octagons, or other convex polygons. SSB includes cold-
[[Page 10541]]
finished SSBs that are turned or ground in straight lengths, whether
produced from hot-rolled bar or from straightened and cut rod or wire,
and reinforcing bars that have indentations, ribs, grooves, or other
deformations produced during the rolling process.
Except as specified above, the term does not include stainless
steel semi-finished products, cut length flat-rolled products (i.e.,
cut length rolled products which if less than 4.75 mm in thickness have
a width measuring at least 10 times the thickness, or if 4.75 mm or
more in thickness having a width which exceeds 150 mm and measures at
least twice the thickness), wire (i.e., cold-formed products in coils,
of any uniform solid cross section along their whole length, which do
not conform to the definition of flat-rolled products), and angles,
shapes and sections.
The SSB subject to these orders is currently classifiable under
subheadings 7222.10.0005, 7222.10.0050, 7222.20.0005, 7222.20.0045,
7222.20.0075, and 7222.30.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (``HTSUS'). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided
for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the
scope of these orders is dispositive.
Period of Review
This review covers one manufacturer/exporter, Isibars, and the
period August 4, 1994 through January 1, 1996.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified information
provided by the respondent by using standard verification procedures,
including on-site inspection of the respondent's facilities, the
examination of appropriate sales and financial records, and selection
of original documentation containing relevant information. Our
verification results are outlined in the public version of the
verification report.
United States Price
In calculating United States Price (``USP'), we used export price
(``EP'), in accordance with section 772(a) of the Act, because the
subject merchandise was sold directly to the first unaffiliated
purchaser in the United States prior to importation into the United
States and constructed export price was not otherwise indicated.
We calculated EP based on the price from Isibars to an unaffiliated
customer prior to importation into the United States. In accordance
with section 772(c)(2) of the Act, we made deductions for foreign
inland freight, international freight, and containerization/handling
charges.
Isibars claimed an upward adjustment to USP for a ``duty drawback''
scheme. Under this scheme the Indian government grants import duty
credits equal to a certain percentage of the FOB value of SSB exports.
The amount of the credit is intended to reflect the amount of duties
that would have been paid on the input product, wire rod, had the input
actually been imported. However, there is no requirement that Isibars
actually import the input product, and in fact, Isibars did not import
wire rod during the POR. The import credits can be used to offset
import duties on any products imported by Isibars. It is the
Department's practice to allow an upward adjustment to USP for duty
drawback only if there is a reasonable link between the duties imposed
and those rebated. In this case, there is no such link. Therefore, we
have not made the adjustment.
Normal Value
In order to determine whether there was a sufficient volume of
sales in the home market to serve as a viable basis for calculating NV,
we compared respondent's volume of home market sales of the foreign
like product to the volume of U.S. sales of the subject merchandise, in
accordance with section 773(a) of the Act. Because the aggregate volume
of home market sales of the foreign like product was greater than five
percent of the aggregate volume of U.S. sales of the subject
merchandise, we determined that the home market provides a viable basis
for calculating NV. Therefore, in accordance with section
773(a)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we based NV on the prices at which the
foreign like product was first sold for consumption in the exporting
country, in the usual commercial quantities, in the ordinary course of
trade and at the same level of trade as the U.S. sales. Isibars
reported, and we verified, no difference in the level of trade between
home market and U.S. sales; therefore, an adjustment pursuant to
section 773(a)(7)(A) is unwarranted.
We compared the EPs of individual transactions, pursuant to section
777A(d)(2) of the Act, to the weighted-average price of contemporaneous
sales of the foreign like product. We based NV on ex-factory prices to
unaffiliated purchasers in the home market. We adjusted for differences
in packing costs between the two markets. We made circumstance-of-sale
adjustments for differences in credit costs and bank charges between
the two markets. Isibars reported that it paid commissions in the home
market, but not the U.S. market. We have not adjusted for the home
market commissions, however, because Isibars failed to report the U.S.
indirect selling expenses which would be used to offset the home market
commissions.
Preliminary Results of the Review
As a result of our comparison of EP and NV, we preliminarily
determine that the following weighted-average dumping margin exists:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer/exporter Period Margin
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Isibars..................................... 8/4/94-1/1/96 0.00
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Parties to the proceeding may request disclosure within five days
of the date of publication of this notice. Any interested party may
request a hearing within 10 days of publication. Any hearing, if
requested, will be held 34 days after the publication of this notice,
or the first workday thereafter. Interested parties may submit case
briefs within 20 days of the date of publication of this notice.
Rebuttal briefs, which must be limited to issues raised in the case
briefs, may be filed not later than 27 days after the date of
publication of this notice. Parties who submit argument are requested
to submit with the argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a
brief summary of the argument. The Department will issue the final
results of this administrative review, which will include the results
of its analysis of issues raised in any such comments, within 120 days
of publication of these preliminary results.
Upon completion of this administrative review, the Department will
issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service. The
results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of
antidumping duties on entries of merchandise sold during the POR and
covered by the determination and for future deposits of estimated
duties.
The following deposit requirement will be effective upon
publication of the final results of this antidumping duty
administrative review for all shipments of stainless steel bar from
India entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after
the publication date, as provided for by section 751(a)(1) of the Act:
(1) The cash deposit rate for the reviewed company will be the rate
established in the final results of this review; (2) if the exporter is
not a firm covered in this review, but was covered in a previous review
or the original less-than-fair-value (``LTFV'') investigation, the cash
deposit rate will
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continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recent
period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a
previous review, or the original LTFV investigation, but the
manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for
the most recent period for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4)
the cash deposit rate for all other manufacturers and/or exporters of
this merchandise, shall be 12.45 percent, the ``all others'' rate
established in the LTFV investigation (59 FR 66915, December 28, 1994).
These requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until
publication of the final results of the next administrative review.
This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of
their responsibility under 19 CFR 353.26 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 double antidumping duties.
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
353.22(c).
Dated: February 28, 1997.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 97-5701 Filed 3-6-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
