[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 22, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-15178]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: June 22, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[C-428-812]
Notice of Court Decision: Certain Hot Rolled Lead and Bismuth
Carbon Steel Products from Germany
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 22, 1994.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristin Heim, Office of Countervailing
Investigations, Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230;
telephone (202) 482-3798.
SUMMARY: On June 7, 1994, the United States Court of International
Trade (``CIT'') overturned the determination by the Department of
Commerce (``the Department'') that the benefit of Saarstahl AG's
subsidization, by reason of forgiveness of debts, was passed through to
Dillinger Hutte Saarstahl AG (``DHS'') after Saarstahl was privatized.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In its Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination: Certain Hot Rolled Lead and Bismuth Carbon Steel
Products From Germany, 58 FR 6233 (January 27, 1993), the Department
determined that subsidies previously bestowed on Saarstahl in the form
of debt forgiveness passed through to DHS, a newly formed holding
company of which Saarstahl became a subsidiary. The Department's
determination was challenged. The Department subsequently requested,
and was granted, a remand in order to reconsider its final
determinations. On remand, the Department adopted its reasoning from
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain Steel
Products From Germany, 58 FR 37315 (July 9, 1993), in which it
determined that a portion of the price DHS paid for Saarstahl
represented repayment of prior subsidies. On June 7, 1994, in Saarstahl
AG v. United States, Slip Op. 94-92, the CIT overturned the
Department's determination that previously bestowed subsidies continued
to benefit a company privatized in an arm's-length transaction.
In its decision in Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 (Fed. Cir.
1990), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held
that, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 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
Saarstahl on June 7, 1994, constitutes a decision not in harmony with
the Department's final affirmative determination. 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, upon a
``conclusive'' court decision. Absent an appeal or, if appealed, upon a
``conclusive'' court decision affirming the CIT's opinion, the
countervailing duty order will be revoked effective June 17, 1994.
Dated: June 16, 1994.
Paul L. Joffe,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 94-15178 Filed 6-21-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
