[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 68 (Friday, April 9, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17323-17324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8925]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-469-808]
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value--
Stainless Steel Round Wire From Spain
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 9, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Schauer or Robin Gray, Office
of AD/CVD Enforcement 3, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4852 or (202) 482-4023, respectively.
The 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 (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise
indicated, all citations to Department of Commerce (``the Department'')
regulations refer to the regulations codified at 19 CFR Part 351 (April
1998).
Final Determination
We determine that stainless steel round wire from Spain is being
sold, or is likely to be sold, in the United States at less than fair
value (LTFV), as provided in section 735 of the Act. The estimated
margins are shown in the Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
section of this notice.
Case History
The preliminary determination in this investigation was issued on
November 12, 1998. See Notice of Preliminary Determinations of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determinations--
Stainless Steel Round Wire From Canada, India, Japan, Spain, and
Taiwan; Preliminary Determination of Sales at Not Less Than Fair Value
and Postponement of Final Determination--Stainless Steel Round Wire
From Korea, 63 FR 60402 (November 18, 1998) (preliminary
determination).
Scope of Investigation
The scope of this investigation covers stainless steel round wire
(SSRW). SSRW is any cold-formed (i.e., cold-drawn, cold-rolled)
stainless steel product of a cylindrical contour, sold in coils or
spools, and not over 0.703 inch (18 mm) in maximum solid cross-
sectional dimension. SSRW is made of iron-based alloys containing, by
weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or more of
chromium, with or without other elements. Metallic coatings, such as
nickel and copper coatings, may be applied.
The merchandise subject to this investigation is classifiable under
subheadings 7223.00.1015, 7223.00.1030, 7223.00.1045, 7223.00.1060, and
7223.00.1075 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience
and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise under
investigation is dispositive.
Period of Investigation
The period of the investigation (POI) is January 1, 1997, through
December 31, 1997. This period corresponds to the four most recent
fiscal quarters prior to the month of the filing of the petition (i.e.,
March 1998).
Facts Available
Inoxfil did not respond to our questionnaire. Section 776(a)(2) of
the Act provides that, if an interested party (A) withholds information
that has been requested by the Department; (B) fails to provide such
information in a timely manner or in the form or manner requested
subject to sections 782(c)(1) and (e) of the Act; (C) significantly
impedes a proceeding under the antidumping statute; or (D) provides
such information but the information cannot be verified, the Department
shall, subject to subsection 782(d) of the Act, use facts otherwise
available in reaching the applicable determination. Because this firm
did not respond to our questionnaire and because the relevant
subsections of section 782 of the Act do not apply, we must use facts
otherwise available to calculate the dumping margins for this company.
Section 776(b) of the Act provides that adverse inferences may be
used when an interested party fails to cooperate by not acting to the
best of its ability to comply with the Department's requests for
information. See also Statement of Administrative Action accompanying
the URAA, H.R. Rep. No. 316, Vol.1, 103d Cong., 2d Sess. 870 (1994)
(SAA). The lack of response by Inoxfil to the Department's antidumping
questionnaire constitutes a failure by this respondent to act to the
best of its ability to comply with a request for information, within
the meaning of section 776 of the Act. Thus, the Department has
determined that, in selecting among the facts otherwise available, an
adverse inference is warranted.
Because we were unable to calculate margins for this respondent in
this investigation, we assigned this respondent the highest margin in
the petition (recalculated by the Department, as appropriate). This
approach is consistent with Department practice. See Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Wire
Rod from Germany, 63 FR 40433 (July 29, 1998) (Stainless Steel Wire Rod
From Germany). The highest petition margin is 35.80
percent.1
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\1\ At the time of initiation, we revised petition margins based
on price-to-price comparisons because the petitioners had not
provided sufficient support for the home market freight figures used
in their calculations. We made no additional revisions to the
petition margins.
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Section 776(b) states that an adverse inference may include
reliance on information derived from the petition or any other
information placed on the record. See also SAA at 829-831. Section
776(c) of the Act provides that, when the Department relies on
secondary information (such as the petition) in using the facts
otherwise available, it must, to the extent practicable, corroborate
that information from independent sources that are reasonably at its
disposal.
During our pre-initiation analysis of the petition, we reviewed the
adequacy and accuracy of the secondary information in the petition from
which the margins were calculated, to the extent that appropriate
information was available for this purpose. See Initiation of
Antidumping Duty Investigations: Stainless Steel Round Wire from
Canada, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Spain, and Taiwan, 63 FR
26150, 26151 (May 12, 1998). However, we are aware of no other
independent sources of information that would enable us to corroborate
the components of the margin calculation in the petition further. The
implementing regulation to section 776 of the Act, 19 CFR 351.308(c),
states that ``[t]he fact that corroboration may not be practicable in a
given circumstance will not prevent the Secretary from applying an
adverse inference as appropriate and using the secondary information in
question.''
[[Page 17324]]
Additionally, we note that the SAA at 870 specifically states that,
where ``corroboration may not be practicable in a given circumstance,''
the Department may nevertheless apply an adverse inference. Finally,
the margins calculated for respondents in the other round-wire
investigations are in many instances of the same order of magnitude as
the margins in the corresponding petitions, suggesting that the
information contained in the round-wire petitions is generally
reliable.
Interested Party Comments
No parties commented on the preliminary determination.
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we are
directing the Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation of all
entries of stainless steel round wire from Spain that are entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after November 18,
1998, the date of publication of the preliminary determination in the
Federal Register. The Customs Service shall continue to require a cash
deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the weighted-average amount
by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price, as indicated in the
chart below. The suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in
effect until further notice. The weighted-average dumping margins are
as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted-
average
Exporter/manufacturer margin
percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inoxfil.................................................... 35.80
All Others................................................. 24.40
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Section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act provides that, where the estimated
weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters and
producers individually investigated are zero or de minimis margins or
are determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, the Department
may use any reasonable method to establish the estimated all-others
rate for exporters and producers not individually investigated. In this
case, the margin assigned to the only company investigated is based on
facts available. Therefore, consistent with the SAA, at 873, we are
using an alternative method. As our alternative, we have based the all-
others rate on a simple average of the margins in the petition, as
revised at the time of initiation of this investigation.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our determination. As our final
determination is affirmative, the ITC will, within 45 days, determine
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material
injury to, the U.S. industry. If the ITC determines that material
injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will
be terminated and all securities posted will be refunded or canceled.
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Department will
issue an antidumping duty order directing the Customs Service to assess
antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise entered,
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective
date of the suspension of liquidation.
We are issuing and publishing this determination in accordance with
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: April 2, 1999.
Richard W. Moreland,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-8925 Filed 4-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
