[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 202 (Wednesday, October 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62334-62335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26763]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-489-502]


Certain Welded Carbon Steel Pipe and Tube and Welded Carbon Steel 
Line Pipe From Turkey: Amended Final Results of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews in Accordance With Decision Upon Remand

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Amendment to Final Results of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews in Accordance with Decision Upon Remand.

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SUMMARY: On July 5, 2000, the United States Court of International 
Trade (CIT) affirmed the Department of Commerce's (the Department) 
Final Results of Redetermination on Remand Pursuant to Mannesmann-
Sumerbank Boru Endustrisi T.A.S. v. United States, Slip Op. 00-50 (CIT 
May 3, 2000), (Slip Op. 00-74). These Final Results apply to the 
Department's countervailing duty administrative reviews of the 
countervailing duty orders on certain welded carbon steel pipe and tube 
and welded carbon steel line pipe from Turkey covering the period 
January 1, 1996 through December 31, 1996. In accordance with the CIT's 
instructions, the Department has recalculated the subsidy rates using a 
sales denominator inclusive of exchange rate gains and losses.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 18, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Moore or Michael Grossman, 
AD/CVD Enforcement Office VI, Group II, Import Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Room 4012, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-2786.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 16, 1998, the Department published 
in the Federal Register (63 FR 18885) the final results and partial 
rescission of its administrative reviews of the countervailing duty 
orders on certain welded carbon steel pipe and tube and welded carbon 
steel line pipe from Turkey for the period January 1, 1996 through 
December 31, 1996. Subsequently, respondents challenged the 
Department's final results before the CIT regarding the Department's 
determination to calculate the benefits from the freight rebate program 
at the time of receipt, and the Department's methodology of excluding 
foreign exchange gains, ``kur farki,'' from the denominator of the 
subsidy equation.
    In the 1996 administrative reviews of the countervailing duty 
orders, the Department determined that benefits from the freight rebate 
program are bestowed at the time of receipt. The Department also 
determined that foreign exchange gains should be excluded from the 
sales denominators because foreign exchange gains are not income that 
is derived from sales, but income from fluctuations of the relative 
value of the dollar versus the Turkish Lira. Therefore, the Department 
excluded foreign exchange gains from the sales denominators.
    On December 23, 1999, the CIT affirmed the Department's 
determination regarding the freight rebate program. However, the CIT 
remanded to the Department to either

[[Page 62335]]

include foreign exchange gains in the denominator of the subsidy margin 
calculation or provide an adequate explanation of how this case differs 
from prior determinations, where the subsidy margin calculation was 
performed in this manner. The CIT also stated that if the Department 
took the latter course of action, it must also explain why Turkish 
generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and respondents' 
accounting methods are unreliable and distortive. See Mannesmann-
Sumerbank Boru Endustrisi T.A.S. v. United States, 86 F. Supp. 2d 1266, 
1275 (CIT 1999). In accordance with that remand order, on March 17, 
2000, the Department submitted its first Final Results of 
Redetermination on Remand, which explained how the prior determinations 
cited by the court reflected a practice no longer ascribed to by the 
Department, and why Turkish GAAP and the respondents' accounting 
methods are irrelevant in regards to the issue at hand.
    The CIT, in its May 3, 2000, decision found that the Department's 
explanation failed to substantiate its practice or its reasonableness, 
and remanded to the Department to recalculate the subsidy rates using a 
sales denominator inclusive of exchange rate gains and losses. (Slip 
Op. 00-50). On June 2, 2000, the Department recalculated the subsidy 
rates using a sales denominator inclusive of exchange rate gains and 
losses, as instructed by the CIT. On July 5, 2000, the CIT sustained 
the Department's second Final Results of Redetermination on Remand. 
(Slip Op. 00-74).

Results of Remand

    In accordance with the court's second remand instructions, the 
Department has recalculated the benefits under each program, and the 
company-specific total ad valorem rates for the 1996 period. Therefore, 
we are amending the final results of administrative reviews.
    The final countervailing duty rates for the 1996 period of review 
are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Ad valorem
             Manufacturer/exporter of line pipe                  rate
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 Mannesmann-Sumerbank......................................        3.75%
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Ad valorem
           Manufacturer/exporter of pipe and tube                rate
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 Borusan Group.............................................        2.85%
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    The Department will instruct the Customs Service to assess 
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries. The Department will 
issue liquidation instructions directly to the Customs Service. The 
above rates will not affect the cash deposit requirements for pipe and 
tube currently in effect, which will continue to be based on the rates 
found to exist in the most recently completed review. The order on line 
pipe was revoked effective January 1, 2000, pursuant to section 751(c) 
of the Tariff Act, as amended. See Notice of Final Results of Sunset 
Review and Revocation of Countervailing Duty Order: Welded Carbon Steel 
Line Pipe from Turkey, 64 FR 30305 (June 7, 1999).
    This amendment to the final results of countervailing duty 
administrative reviews notice is in accordance with section 751(a)(1) 
of the Tariff Act, as amended, (19 U.S.C. 1675 (a)(1)), 19 CFR 351.213, 
and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(5).

    Dated: October 10, 2000.
Troy H. Cribb,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-26763 Filed 10-17-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P