[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 47 (Friday, March 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9425-9426]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5425]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-427-098]
Anhydrous Sodium Metasilicate From France; 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.
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SUMMARY: In response to a request by the petitioner, the PQ
Corporation, the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on anhydrous
sodium metasilicate (ASM) from France. This review covers Rhone Poulenc
Chimie de Base (Rhone Poulenc), a manufacturer/exporter of this
merchandise to the United States, and the period January 1, 1994
through December 31, 1994. The firm failed to submit a response to our
questionnaire. As a result, we have preliminarily determined to use
facts otherwise available for cash deposit and appraisement purposes.
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary
results.
Parties who submit argument in this proceeding are requested to
submit with each argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief
summary of the argument.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 8, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mark Ross or Richard Rimlinger, 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) 482-4733.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 12, 1995, the Department published in the Federal
Register (60 FR 7995) a notice of ``Opportunity to Request an
Administrative Review'' of the antidumping duty order on ASM from
France. On January 18, 1995, the petitioner, PQ Corporation, requested
an administrative review of Rhone Poulenc, a manufacturer/exporter of
this merchandise to the United States. We initiated the review on
February 15, 1995 (60 FR 8629). The Department is now conducting this
review in accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (the Tariff Act).
Scope of the Review
Imports covered by the review are shipments of ASM, a crystallized
silicate (NA2 SiO3) which is alkaline and readily soluble in
water. Applications include waste paper de-inking, ore-flotation,
bleach stabilization, clay processing, medium or heavy duty cleaning,
and compounding into other detergent formulations. This merchandise is
classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedules (HTS) item numbers
2839.11.00 and 2839.19.00. The HTS item numbers are provided for
convenience and Customs purposes. The written description remains
dispositive.
The review covers Rhone Poulenc and the period January 1, 1994
through December 31, 1994 (POR).
Use of Facts Otherwise Available
Following the initiation of this review, the Department sent Rhone
Poulenc, the only known manufacturer/exporter of this merchandise to
the United States, a questionnaire seeking information necessary to
conduct a review of any shipments that firm may have made to the United
States during the 1994 POR. Rhone Poulenc did not respond to the
questionnaire. Because necessary information is not available on the
record for the 1994 POR as a result of Rhone Poulenc withholding the
requested information, we must make our preliminary determination based
on facts otherwise available (section 776(a) of the Tariff Act).
The Department finds that, in not responding to the questionnaire,
Rhone Poulenc failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its
ability to comply with a request for information from the Department.
Therefore, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Tariff Act, we may, in
making our determination, use an adverse inference in selecting from
the facts otherwise available. This adverse inference may include
reliance on data derived from the petition, a previous determination in
an investigation or review, or any other information placed on record.
Accordingly, in this case, we preliminary assign to Rhone Poulenc a
margin of 60 percent, the margin calculated in the original
investigation using information provided by Rhone Poulenc (see
Anhydrous Sodium Metasilicate From France--Final Determination of Sales
at Less Than Fair Value, 45 FR 77498 (Nov. 24, 1980)).
Because the margin selected for this review is based on information
obtained in the course of an earlier segment of the proceeding, the
Department is required, pursuant to section 776(c) of the Tariff Act,
to corroborate this information to the extent practicable. This means
that the Department must satisfy itself that the secondary information
used has probative value (See Statement of Administrative Action
accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreement Act, published in H. Doc. 103-
106, 103d Cong., 2d Sess. at 870). In this case, the margin assigned to
Rhone Poulenc is credible and relevant because it is based on data from
the same producer to which the margin is being applied. This margin is
also credible because it is reasonable to believe that, had Rhone
Poulenc been selling in the United States at a lower margin of dumping,
it would have provided the requested information. Finally, it is
necessary to use this information because no other suitable information
is available. This is a case-specific determination. Cases
[[Page 9426]]
involving other circumstances may require other approaches to
corroboration.
Preliminary Results of the Review
As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that a margin
of 60 percent exists for Rhone Poulenc for the period January 1, 1994
through December 31, 1994.
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. Case briefs and/or
written comments from interested parties may be submitted not later
than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal briefs and
rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues raised in the case
briefs and comments, may be filed not later than 37 days after the date
of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 44 days after
the date of publication, or the first workday thereafter. The
Department will publish the final results of the administrative review,
including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any such
written comments or at a hearing.
Upon completion of this administrative review, the Department will
issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service.
Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective
upon publication of the final results of administrative review for all
shipments of ASM from France, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after the publication date, as provided by section
751(a0(1) of the Tariff Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for the reviewed
company will be that established in the final results of this
administrative review; (2) for exporters not covered in this review,
but covered in previous reviews or the original less-than-value (LTFV)
investigation, the cash deposit rate will 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, previous reviews, or the original
LTFV investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will
be that established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of
the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other
manufacturers or exporters will be 60 percent.
Because this proceeding is governed by an antidumping duty order
(46 FR 1667, January 7, 1981), the ``all others'' rate for the purposes
of this review will be 60 percent, the ``all others'' rate established
in the final notice of the LTFV investigation (45 FR 77498, November
24, 1980).
These requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until
publication of the final results of the next administrative review.
This notice 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 Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR
353.22.
Dated: February 28, 1996.
Paul L. Joffe,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-5425 Filed 3-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M
