02-18294. Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from India

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 19, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paige Rivas at [phone], or Mark Manning at [phone], Office of AD/CVD Enforcement IV, Group II, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 the Department of Commerce (Department) regulations are to the regulations at 19 CFR part 351 (April 2001).

Final Determination

We determine that certain cold-rolled carbon steel flat products (cold-rolled steel) from India are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LFTV), as provided in section 735 of the Act. The estimated margins are shown in the “Suspension of Liquidation” section of this notice.

Background

On May 9, 2002, the Department published its preliminary determination in the above-captioned antidumping duty investigation. See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From India, 67 FR 31218 (May 9, 2002) (Preliminary Determination). See also Notice of Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigations: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela, 66 FR 54198 (October 26, 2001) (Initiation Notice).

Since the preliminary determination, the following events have occurred. We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on the preliminary determination.. With respect to scope, in the preliminary LTFV determinations in these cases, the Department preliminarily excluded certain porcelain enameling steel from the scope of these investigations. See Scope Appendix to the Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, 67 FR 31181 (May 9, 2002) (Scope Appendix - Argentina Preliminary LTFV Determination). On June 13, 2002, we issued a preliminary decision on the remaining 75 scope exclusion requests filed in a number of the on-going cold-rolled steel investigations (“Preliminary Scope Rulings in the Antidumping Investigations on Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela, and in the Countervailing Duty Investigations of Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, Brazil, France, and Korea” (Preliminary Scope Rulings), which is on file in the Central Records Unit (CRU), room B-099 of the main Department building. We gave parties until June 20, 2002, to comment on the preliminary scope rulings, and until June 27, 2002, to submit rebuttal comments. We received comments and/or rebuttal comments from petitioners and respondents from various countries subject to these investigations of cold-rolled steel. In addition, on June 13, 2002, North American Metals Company (an interested party in the Japanese proceeding) filed a request that the Department issue a “correction” for an already excluded product. On July 8, 2002, the petitioners objected to this request.

At the request of multiple respondents, the Department held a public hearing with respect to the Preliminary Scope Rulings on July 1, 2002.

We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on the preliminary determination. No case or rebuttal briefs were submitted.

Critical Circumstances

In letters filed on December 7, 2001, and January 14, 2002, the petitioners alleged that there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of cold-rolled steel from India and other countries. On April 18, 2002, the Department published in the Federal Register its preliminary determination that critical circumstances exist for imports of cold-rolled steel from India and other countries. See Notice of Preliminary Determinations of Critical Circumstances: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From Australia, the People's Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, and the Russian Federation, 67 FR 19157 (April 18, 2002) and Memorandum from Bernard Carreau to Faryar Shirzad, “Antidumping Duty Investigations on Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Australia, India, the Netherlands, and the Republic of Korea Preliminary Affirmative Determinations of Critical Circumstances,” dated April 10, 2002.

We received no comments from the petitioners or the respondent regarding our preliminary finding that critical circumstances exist for imports of cold-rolled steel from India. Therefore, we have not changed our determination and continue to find that critical circumstances exist for imports of cold-rolled steel from India. Regarding the other countries for which we preliminarily found affirmative critical circumstances, we will make final determinations concerning critical circumstances for these countries when we make our final dumping determinations in those investigations.

Scope of Investigation

For purposes of this investigation, the products covered are certain cold-rolled (cold-reduced) flat-rolled carbon-quality steel products. A full description of the scope of this investigation is contained in the “Scope Appendix” attached to the Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Australia, published concurrently with this notice. For a complete discussion of the comments received on the Preliminary Scope Rulings, see the memorandum regarding “Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Scope Rulings in the Antidumping Duty Investigations on Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela, and in the Countervailing Duty Investigations of Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Argentina, Brazil, France, and Korea,” dated July 10, 2002, which is on file in the CRU.

Analysis of Comments Received

As noted above, there were no case or rebuttal briefs submitted in this investigation, nor was there a hearing.

Use of Facts Available

In the Preliminary Determination, the Department applied total adverse facts available to the mandatory respondent, Ispat Industries, Ltd. (Ispat). Specifically, the Department assigned Ispat the rate of 153.65 percent, the rate derived from the petition. See Initiation Notice. Also, the Department applied the petition margin of 153.65 percent as the “all others” rate. The interested parties did not object to the use of adverse facts available, nor to the Department's choice of facts available. For this final determination, we are continuing to apply total adverse facts available to Ispat.

Suspension of Liquidation

Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we are instructing the U.S. Customs Service (Customs) to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of cold-rolled steel from India that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after February 9, 2002, which is 90 days prior to the date the Preliminary Determination was published in the Federal Register, because of our affirmative critical circumstances finding in accordance with section 735(a)(3) of the Act. Customs shall continue to require a cash deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price as shown below. The suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

We determine that the following percentage margins exist for the period July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001:

Manufacturer/Exporter	Margin (percent)
Ispat	153.65
All Others	153.65

International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the ITC of our determination. As our final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine, within 45 days, whether these imports are causing material injury, or threat of material injury, to an industry in the United States. If the ITC determines that material injury, or threat of injury does not exist, the proceeding will be terminated and all securities posted will be refunded or cancelled. If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order directing Customs officials 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.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order (APO)

This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to APO of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely notification of return/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.

This determination is issued and published in accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

Dated: July 10, 2002.

Faryar Shirzad,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.