E6-11123. Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY:

On March 9, 2006, the Department of Commerce published the preliminary results of the administrative reviews of the antidumping duty orders on ball bearings and parts thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The reviews cover 14 manufacturers/exporters. The period of review is May 1, 2004, through April 30, 2005.

Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made changes, including corrections of certain programming and other ministerial errors, in the margin calculations. Therefore, the final results differ from the preliminary results. The final weighted-average dumping margins for the reviewed firms are listed below in the section entitled “Final Results of the Reviews.”

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 14, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lyn Johnson or Richard Rimlinger, AD/CVD Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14^th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone] or [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On March 9, 2006, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative reviews of the antidumping duty orders on ball bearings and parts thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, 71 FR 12170 (March 9, 2006). The period of review is May 1, 2004, through April 30, 2005. The companies for which we are conducting administrative reviews are as follows:

France:

* SKF France S.A. or SKF Aerospace France (formally Sarma) (collectively, SKF France)

* SNR Roulements or SNR Europe (SNR)

Germany:

* Gebrüder Reinfurt GmbH & Co., KG, Wurzberg, Germany (collectively, GRW)

* INA-Schaeffler KG; INA Vermogensverwaltungsgesellschaft GmbH; INA Holding Schaeffler KG; FAG Kugelfischer Georg-Schaefer AG; FAG Automobiltechnik AG; FAG OEM und Handel AG; FAG Komponenten AG; FAG Aircraft/ Super Precision Bearings GmbH; FAG Industrial Bearings AG; FAG Sales Europe GmbH; FAG International Sales and Service GmbH (collectively, INA/FAG)

* SKF GmbH (SKF Germany)

Italy:

* FAG Italia S.p.A.; FAG Automobiltechnik AG; FAG OEM und Handel AG (collectively FAG Italy)

* SKF Industrie S.p.A.; SKF RIV-SKF Officine di Villas Perosa S.p.A.; RFT S.p.A.; OMVP S.p.A. (collectively SKF Italy)

Japan:

* JTEKT Corporation (JTEKT-formerly known as Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd.)

* NSK Ltd. (NSK)

* NTN Corporation (NTN)

* Nachi-Fujikoshi Corporation (Nachi)

* Nippon Pillow Block Company, Ltd. (NPB)

* Sapporo Precision Inc. (Sapporo)

* The Barden Corporation (UK) Limited; FAG (U.K.) Limited (collectively Barden/FAG)

United Kingdom:

* The Barden Corporation (UK) Limited; FAG (U.K.) Limited (collectively Barden/FAG)

We invited interested parties to comment on the preliminary results. At the request of certain parties, we held a hearing for Japan-specific issues on May 11, 2006. The Department has conducted these administrative reviews in accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).

Scope of Orders

The products covered by these orders are ball bearings (other than tapered roller bearings) and parts thereof. These products include all bearings that employ balls as the rolling element. Imports of these products are classified under the following categories: antifriction balls, ball bearings with integral shafts, ball bearings (including radial ball bearings) and parts thereof, and housed or mounted ball bearing units and parts thereof.

Imports of these products are classified under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 3926.90.45, 4016.93.00, 4016.93.10, 4016.93.50, 6909.19.5010, 8431.20.00, 8431.39.0010, 8482.10.10, 8482.10.50, 8482.80.00, 8482.91.00, 8482.99.05, 8482.99.2580, 8482.99.35, 8482.99.6595, 8483.20.40, 8483.20.80, 8483.50.8040, 8483.50.90, 8483.90.20, 8483.90.30, 8483.90.70, 8708.50.50, 8708.60.50, 8708.60.80, 8708.70.6060, 8708.70.8050, 8708.93.30, 8708.93.5000, 8708.93.6000, 8708.93.75, 8708.99.06, 8708.99.31, 8708.99.4960, 8708.99.50, 8708.99.5800, 8708.99.8080, 8803.10.00, 8803.20.00, 8803.30.00, 8803.90.30, and 8803.90.90.

Although the HTSUS item numbers above are provided for convenience and customs purposes, written descriptions of the scope of these orders remain dispositive.

The size or precision grade of a bearing does not influence whether the bearing is covered by one of the orders. These orders cover all the subject bearings and parts thereof (inner race, outer race, cage, rollers, balls, seals, shields, etc.) outlined above with certain limitations. With regard to finished parts, all such parts are included in the scope of the these orders. For unfinished parts, such parts are included if (1) they have been heat-treated, or (2) heat treatment is not required to be performed on the part. Thus, the only unfinished parts that are not covered by these orders are those that will be subject to heat treatment after importation. The ultimate application of a bearing also does not influence whether the bearing is covered by the orders. Any of the subject bearings, regardless of whether they may ultimately be utilized in aircraft, automobiles, or other equipment, are within the scope of these orders.

For a listing of scope determinations which pertain to the orders, see the Scope Determination Memorandum (Scope Memorandum) from the Antifriction Bearings Team to Laurie Parkhill, dated March 2, 2006. The Scope Memorandum is on file in the Central Records Unit (CRU), main Commerce building, Room B-099, in the General Issues record (A-100-001) for the 04/05 reviews.

Analysis of the Comments Received

All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to the concurrent administrative reviews of the orders on ball bearings and parts thereof are addressed in the “Issues and Decision Memorandum” (Decision Memo) from Stephen J. Claeys, Deputy Assistant Secretary, to David M. Spooner, Assistant Secretary, dated July 7, 2006, which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues which parties have raised and to which we have responded is in the Decision Memo and attached to this notice as an Appendix. The Decision Memo, which is a public document, is on file in the CRU, main Commerce building, Room B-099, and is accessible on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/​frn/​index.html. The paper copy and electronic version of the Decision Memo are identical in content.

Sales Below Cost in the Home Market

The Department disregarded home-market sales that failed the cost-of-production test for the following firms for these final results of reviews:

Country	Company
France	SKF, SNR
Germany	GRW, INA/FAG, SKF Germany
Italy	FAG Italy, SKF Italy
Japan	JTEKT, NPB, NSK, NTN, Nachi
United Kingdom	Barden/FAG

Use of Adverse Facts Available

In accordance with section 776(a) of the Act, we determine that the use of partial facts available as the basis for the weighted-average dumping margin is appropriate for Nachi. As explained in our report of the verification of Nachi dated February 9, 2006, we found that Nachi reported incorrect physical characteristics for 16 of the 40 models we examined at verification. Consequently, we find that for Nachi's U.S. sales with nonidentical matches, it is impossible for us to ascertain whether the match we might select using Nachi's reported characteristics is, in fact, the appropriate match. Therefore, we find that, for such U.S. sales, we have to rely on the facts available to calculate the margins for these sales.

In addition, we find that Nachi did not act to the best of its ability in reporting its physical characteristics because Nachi had the correct data available to it. Accordingly, it is appropriate to use adverse inferences in addressing the errors in the characteristics Nachi reported in accordance with section 776(b) of the Act. See Comment 4 of the Decision Memo for a complete discussion of this issue.

As adverse facts available, we have selected the highest margin we have determined for Nachi in any previous segment of this proceeding and applied this rate to all U.S. sales for which we found no identical match. This rate is 48.69 percent which we established for Nachi in Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value; Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof from Japan, 54 FR 19101 (May 3, 1989). Furthermore, as required by section 776(c) of the Act, we were able to corroborate this margin with respect to Nachi. For a detailed explanation of how we corroborated this margin, see our preliminary analysis memorandum for Nachi dated March 2, 2006.

Other Changes Since the Preliminary Results

Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made revisions that have changed the results for certain firms. We have corrected programming and ministerial errors in the preliminary results, where applicable. Any alleged programming or ministerial errors about which we or the parties do not agree are discussed in Section 9 of the Decision Memo.

Final Results of the Reviews

We determine that the following percentage weighted-average margins on ball bearings and parts thereof exist for the period May 1, 2004, through April 30, 2005:

Country	Company	Margin
France	SKF France	12.57
	SNR	11.75
Germany	FAG/INA	4.04
	GRW	1.14
	SKF Germany	7.35
Italy	FAG Italy	2.52
	SKF Italy	7.65
Japan	JTEKT	19.76
	Nachi	16.02
	NSK	6.93
	NTN	9.32
	NPB	25.91
	Sapporo	9.00
United Kingdom	Barden/FAG	0.23

Assessment Rates

The Department will determine and U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP) shall assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. We intend to issue appropriate assessment instructions directly to CBP within 15 days of publication of these final results of reviews. In accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), we have calculated, whenever possible, an importer/customer-specific assessment rate or value for subject merchandise.

The Department clarified its “automatic assessment” regulation on May 6, 2003. See Notice of Policy Concerning Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003) (Assessment-Policy Notice). This clarification will apply to entries of subject merchandise during the period of review produced by companies included in these final results of reviews for which the reviewed companies did not know that the merchandise it sold to the intermediary (e.g., a reseller, trading company, or exporter) was destined for the United States. In such instances, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediary involved in the transaction. See the Assessment-Policy Notice for a full discussion of this clarification.

a. Export Price

With respect to export-price (EP) sales, we divided the total dumping margins (calculated as the difference between normal value and the EP) for each exporter's importer or customer by the total number of units the exporter sold to that importer or customer. We will direct CBP to assess the resulting per-unit dollar amount against each unit of merchandise on each of that importer's or customer's entries under the relevant order during the review period.

b. Constructed Export Price

For constructed export-price (CEP) sales (sampled and non-sampled), we divided the total dumping margins for the reviewed sales by the total entered value of those reviewed sales for each importer. We will direct CBP to assess the resulting percentage margin against the entered customs values for the subject merchandise on each of that importer's entries under the relevant order during the review period. See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).

Cash-Deposit Requirements

To calculate the cash-deposit rate for each respondent (i.e., each exporter and/or manufacturer included in these reviews), we divided the total dumping margins for each company by the total net value of that company's sales of merchandise during the review period subject to each order.

To derive a single deposit rate for each respondent, we weight-averaged the EP and CEP deposit rates (using the EP and CEP, respectively, as the weighting factors). To accomplish this when we sampled CEP sales, we first calculated the total dumping margins for all CEP sales during the review period by multiplying the sample CEP margins by the ratio of total days in the review period to days in the sample weeks. We then calculated a total net value for all CEP sales during the review period by multiplying the sample CEP total net value by the same ratio. Finally, we divided the combined total dumping margins for both EP and CEP sales by the combined total value for both EP and CEP sales to obtain the deposit rate.

We will direct CBP to collect the resulting percentage deposit rate against the entered customs value of each of the exporter's entries of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice. Entries of parts incorporated into finished bearings before sales to an unaffiliated customer in the United States will receive the respondent's deposit rate applicable to the order.

Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective upon publication of this notice of final results of administrative reviews for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication, consistent with section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) The cash-deposit rates for the reviewed companies will be the rates shown above; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated companies not listed above, 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, a prior review, or the original less-than-fair-value (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; (4) the cash-deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will continue to be the “All Others” rate for the relevant order made effective by the final results of review published on July 26, 1993. See Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof from France, et al: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews and Revocation in Part of an Antidumping Duty Order, 58 FR 39729 (July 26, 1993). For ball bearings from Italy, see Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof from France, et al; Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews and Partial Termination of Administrative Reviews, 61 FR 66471, 66521 (December 17, 1996). These rates are the “All Others” rates from the relevant LTFV investigation.

These deposit requirements shall remain in effect until publication of the final results of the next administrative reviews.

This notice serves as a reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during these review periods. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in the Department's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of doubled antidumping duties.

This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely notification of the return or destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act.

Dated: July 7, 2006.

Joseph A. Spetrini,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix

Comments and Responses

1. Offsetting of Negative Margins

2. Model-Match Methodology

3. Sample and Prototype Sales

4. Use of Adverse Facts Available

5. Inventory Carrying Costs

6. Freight Expenses

7. Affiliation

8. Billing and Other Post-Sale Price Adjustments

9. Ministerial Errors

10. Miscellaneous Issues

A. U.S. Indirect Selling Expenses

B. Bearing Design Types

C. Home-Market Packing

D. Warehousing Expenses

E. Expansion of Window Period