[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48581-48584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23215]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-485-803]
Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Romania:
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 from one respondent and the
petitioners, the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain cut-
to-length carbon steel plate from Romania. This review covers one
manufacturer/exporter of the subject merchandise. The period of review
(POR) is August 1, 1997 through July 31, 1998.
We preliminarily determine that sales have 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 assess antidumping duties equal to the difference between
export price (EP) and NV.
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary
results. Parties who submit argument in this proceeding are requested
to submit with the argument: (1) a statement of the issue; and (2) a
brief summary of the argument.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 7, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Baker or Robert James,
Enforcement Group III--Office 8, Import Administration, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone (202) 482-
2924 (Baker), (202) 482-5222 (James).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Applicable Statute
Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act) are references to the provisions effective
January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to the Act
by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). In addition, unless
otherwise indicated, all references to the Department's regulations are
to Part 351 of 19 CFR (1998).
Background
The Department published an antidumping duty order on certain cut-
to-length carbon steel plate from Romania on August 19, 1993 (58 FR
44167). The Department published a notice of ``Opportunity to Request
an Administrative Review'' of the antidumping duty order for the 1997/
98 review period on August 11, 1998 (63 FR 42821). On August 31, 1998,
respondents Windmill International
[[Page 48582]]
PTE Ltd. of Singapore, Windmill International Romania Branch, and
Windmill International Ltd. (USA), (collectively ``Windmill'')
requested that the Department conduct an administrative review. On
August 31, 1998, we also received a request for an administrative
review from Bethlehem Steel Corporation and U.S. Steel Group, a Unit of
USX Corporation (petitioners). We published a notice of initiation of
the review on September 29, 1998 (63 FR 51893).
Under the Act, the Department may extend the deadline for
completion of administrative reviews if it determines that it is not
practicable to complete the review within the statutory time limit of
365 days. On March 26, 1999, the Department extended the time limit for
the preliminary results in this case. See Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel
Plate from Romania; Extension of Time Limits for Preliminary Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 64 FR 14689.
The Department is conducting this administrative review in
accordance with section 751(a) of the Act.
Scope of the Review
The products covered in this review include hot-rolled carbon steel
universal mill plates (i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces
or in a closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 millimeters but not
exceeding 1,250 millimeters and of a thickness of not less than 4
millimeters, not in coil and without patterns in relief), of
rectangular shape, neither clad, plated nor coated with metal, whether
or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic
substances; and certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat-rolled products in
straight lengths, of rectangular shape, hot rolled, neither clad,
plated, nor coated with metal, whether or not painted, varnished, or
coated with plastics or other nonmetallic substances, 4.75 millimeters
or more in thickness and of a width which exceeds 150 millimeters and
measures at least twice the thickness, as currently classifiable in the
HTS under item numbers 7208.31.0000, 7208.32.0000, 7208.33.1000,
7208.33.5000, 7208.41.0000, 7208.42.0000, 7208.43.0000, 7208.90.0000,
7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 7211.11.0000, 7211.12.0000, 7211.21.0000,
7211.22.0045, 7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, and
7212.50.0000. Included in this review are flat-rolled products of
nonrectangular cross-section where such cross-section is achieved
subsequent to the rolling process (i.e., products which have been
``worked after rolling'')--for example, products which have been
bevelled or rounded at the edges. Excluded from this review is grade X-
70 plate.
These HTS item numbers are provided for convenience and customs
purposes. The written description remains dispositive.
The POR is August 1, 1997 through July 31, 1998. This review covers
sales of certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate by Windmill
International PTE Ltd. of Singapore (Windmill Singapore.) Windmill's
supplier during the POR was the unaffiliated producer C.S. Sidex S.A
(Sidex).
Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified information
provided by the respondent using standard verification procedures,
including on-site inspection of the manufacturer's facilities, the
examination of relevant sales and financial records, and selection of
original documentation containing relevant information. Our
verification results are outlined in the public version of the
Department's Verification of the Information Submitted by Windmill
International PTE Ltd., Windmill International Romania Branch, and
Windmill USA in the 1997-98 Administrative Review of the Antidumping
Duty Order on Cut-to Length Carbon Steel Plate from Romania Report
(Verification Report) dated August 31, 1999, on file in room B-099 of
the Department of Commerce Building.
Separate Rates Determination
Windmill International Romania Branch (Windmill Romania) is a
liaison office wholly-owned by Windmill Singapore. It is registered by
the Romanian government as a branch office of Windmill Singapore, not
authorized to trade for its own account, but only to support Windmill
Singapore's foreign trade activities. It does not keep its own
financial records, and has no financial statements or chart of
accounts. All of its costs are included in Windmill Singapore's
accounting records. Furthermore, it makes its sales through Windmill
Singapore. Moreover, there is no Romanian ownership of Windmill
Romania. Therefore, we determine that no separate rates analysis is
required for this third-country reseller because we consider the
Singapore-based parent to be the respondent exporter in the proceeding
and because it is beyond the jurisdiction of the Romanian government.
See, e.g., Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review:
Porcelain on Steel Cookware from the People's Republic of China; 63 FR
27262, 27263 (May 18, 1998) and Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Disposable Pocket Lighters from the People's Republic
of China; 60 FR 22359, 22361 (May 5, 1995) and Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Melamine Institutional Dinnerware
Products from the People's Republic of China; 62 FR 1708, 1709 (January
13, 1997).
Export Price
We calculated the price of United States sales based on EP, in
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. We based EP on the price
from Windmill to its unaffiliated U.S. customer, because Sidex sold the
merchandise to Windmill without knowing that the ultimate destination
of the merchandise was the United States.
We calculated EP based on packed prices to unaffiliated customers
in the United States. Where appropriate, we made deductions from the
starting price for foreign inland freight, international freight,
marine insurance, shipment inspection fee, other U.S. transportation
expenses, and U.S. Customs Service duty. The foregoing expenses were
all reported by Windmill in its questionnaire response. We also made an
adjustment for four additional expenses not reported by Windmill that
we found at the verification. These four expenses were: (1) A bank fee
and ``miscellaneous expense'' associated with the foreign inland
freight; (2) payment of a bank fee associated with the shipment
inspection; (3) an expense recorded in a miscellaneous account; and (4)
the purchase of a Customs bond for exporting the merchandise to the
United States. For a description of these four expenses, see the
Verification Report, at pages 22, 26, 28, and 29, respectively.
Windmill reported the invoice date (as kept in the ordinary course
of business) as the date of sale. However, that invoice date was after
the date of shipment and the contract date, and we found no evidence
suggesting that the terms of sale were altered between the contract
date and the invoice date. Therefore, we used the contract date as the
date of sale because the terms of sale did not change after that date.
Normal Value
For merchandise exported from an NME country, section 773(c)(1) of
the Act provides that the Department shall determine normal value (NV)
using a factors of production method if (1) the merchandise is exported
from an NME and (2) available information does not permit the
calculation of NV using
[[Page 48583]]
home market or third-country prices under section 773(a) of the Act.
The Department has treated Romania as an NME country in all previous
antidumping cases. In accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act,
any determination that a foreign country is an NME shall remain in
effect until revoked by the administering authority. None of the
parties to this proceeding has contested such treatment in this review.
Moreover, parties to this proceeding have not argued that the Romanian
steel industry is a market-oriented industry. Consequently, we have no
basis to determine that the available information would permit the
calculation of NV using Romanian prices or costs. Therefore, we
calculated NV based on factors of production in accordance with
sections 773(c)(3) and (4) of the Act and section 351.408(c) of our
regulations.
Under the factors of production method, we are required to value
the NME producer's inputs in a comparable market economy country that
is a significant producer of comparable merchandise. We determined that
Indonesia is at a level of economic development comparable to that of
Romania. We also found that Indonesia is a significant producer of cut-
to-length carbon steel plate. Therefore, for this review, we have used
Indonesian prices to value the factors of production except where the
factor was purchased from a market economy supplier and paid for in a
market economy currency. For a further discussion of the Department's
selection of a surrogate country, see the memorandum from Jeff May to
Richard O. Weible: ``Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate (``CLCSP'') from
Romania: Nonmarket Economy Status and Surrogate Country Selection,''
dated March 1, 1999 and the memorandum from Jeff May to Richard O.
Weible: ``Your Request for Additional Surrogate Countries in the
Administrative Review of Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate (``CLCSP'')
from Romania'' dated April 27, 1999.
We selected, where possible, publicly available values from
Indonesia which were: (1) average non-export values; (2) representative
of a range of prices within the POR or most contemporaneous with the
POR; (3) product specific; and (4) tax-exclusive. We valued the factors
of production as follows:
Raw Materials. We valued low volatile coking coal, medium
volatile coking coal, high volatile coking coal, lime, limestone, iron
ore fines, iron ore lumps, iron ore pellets, iron ore concentrate,
dolomite, and coke fines using U.N. Commodity Trade Statistics. We did
not use the barter transactions provided by Windmill to value medium
volatile coking coal, high volatile coking coal, iron ore fines, and
iron ore lumps because Windmill could not specifically quantify the
value of the items that it bartered for those production inputs. (See
Verification Report at pages 18-20.)
Labor. Section 351.408(c)(3) of our regulations requires
the use of a regression-based wage rate. We have used the regression-
based wage rate listed for Romania on Import Administration's internet
website at www.ita.doc.gov/import__admin/records/wages. The source for
the wage rate data used in the regression analysis is ``Expected Wages
of Selected NME Countries--1997 Income Data,'' 1998 Year Book of Income
Data, International Labor Office, (Geneva: 1998) Chapter 5B: Wages in
Manufacturing.
Energy. We valued electricity and natural gas using the
International Energy Agency's Asia Electric Study (1997).
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (SG&A),
Overhead, and Profit. We calculated SG&A, overhead, and profit based on
information obtained from the 1997 annual report of PT Krakatau Steel,
the largest integrated steel producer in Indonesia. From this statement
we were able to calculate factory overhead as a percentage of the total
cost of manufacturing, SG&A as a percentage of the total cost of
manufacturing, and the profit rate as a percentage of the cost of
manufacturing plus SG&A.
For a complete description of the factor values used, see the
preliminary results analysis memorandum dated August 31, 1999, a public
version of which is available in the public file.
We also made an offset, where appropriate, for byproducts sold.
However, we denied Windmill's claimed offset adjustments for sinterized
dolomite, recovered lime, lime powder, carbon dioxide, raw water, and
industrial water because we found at the verification that these
products were not byproducts of the production process of subject
merchandise, but were products held in inventory for use in the
production process. Thus, the sales of such products constituted sales
of excess inventory, and not sales of byproducts.
Currency Conversion
We made currency conversions in accordance with Section 773A(a) of
the Act. For currency conversions involving the Indonesian rupiah, we
used exchange rates published in the International Monetary Fund in
International Financial Statistics. For all other conversions, we used
daily exchange rates published by the Federal Reserve.
Preliminary Results of the Review
As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that a
weighted-average dumping margin of 20.62 percent exists for Windmill
for the period August 1, 1997 through July 31, 1998.
Within five days of the date of publication of this notice, in
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224, the Department will disclose its
calculations. Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days
of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 44 days after
the date of publication, or the first working day thereafter.
Interested parties may submit written comments (case briefs) no later
than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal comments (rebuttal
briefs), which must be limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may
be filed no later than 37 days after the date of publication of this
notice. Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this
proceeding are requested to submit with each argument (1) a statement
of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument, not to exceed
five pages in length. The Department will publish a notice of the final
results of the administrative review, which will include the results of
its analysis of issues raised by the parties, within 120 days of
publication of these preliminary results.
Assessment and Cash Deposit
The Department shall determine, and the U.S. Customs Service shall
assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. Upon completion
of this review, the Department will issue appraisement instructions
directly to the U.S. Customs Service. The final results of this review
shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries
covered by this review and for future deposits of estimated duties. We
will instruct the Customs Service to assess antidumping duties on all
appropriate entries covered by this review if any assessment rate
calculated in the final results of this review is above de minimis
(i.e., at or above 0.5 percent) (see 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2)). For
assessment purposes, if applicable, we intend to calculate an importer-
specific assessment rate by aggregating the dumping margins calculated
for all U.S. sales and dividing by the total quantity sold.
Furthermore, the following cash deposit requirements will be
effective upon publication of the final results of this administrative
review for all shipments of the subject merchandise
[[Page 48584]]
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the
publication date, as provided for by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act:
(1) the cash deposit rate for Windmill will be the rate established in
the final results of this administrative review; (2) for all other
Romanian exporters, the cash deposit rate will be the Romania-wide rate
made effective by the final determination in the less-than-fair-value
investigation (see Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Romania, 58 FR
37209 (July 9, 1993)); (3) for non-Romanian exporters of subject
merchandise from Romania, the cash deposit rate will be the rate
applicable to the Romanian supplier of that exporter.
These deposit 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 351.402(f) 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
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dataed: August 31, 1999.
Richard W. Moreland,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-23215 Filed 9-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
