75670 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 233 / Monday, December 4, 2000 / Notices

[FR Doc. 00–30695 Filed 12–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–07–C

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A–583–830]

Preliminary Rescission of Antidumping

Duty Administrative Review: Stainless

Steel Plate in Coils From Taiwan

AGENCY: Import Administration,

International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of preliminary rescission

in the antidumping duty administrative

review of stainless steel plate in coils

from Taiwan.

SUMMARY: On July 7, 2000, the

Department of Commerce

(‘‘Department’’) published a notice of

initiation of an antidumping duty

administrative review on stainless steel

plate in coils from Taiwan. This review

covers two manufacturers/exporters of

the subject merchandise. The period of

review (‘‘POR’’) is November 4, 1998

through April 30, 2000. The Department

is now preliminarily rescinding this

review based on record evidence

indicating that there were no entries

into the United States of subject

merchandise during the POR.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 4, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Juanita H. Chen or Rick Johnson,

Enforcement Group III, Office 9, Import

Administration, International Trade

Administration, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue,

NW., Washington, DC 20230, telephone

202–482–0409 (Chen) or 202–482–3818

(Johnson), fax 202–482–1388.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute

Unless otherwise indicated, all

citations to the Tariff Act of 1930

(‘‘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 citations to the

Department’s regulations are to the

regulations at 19 CFR part 351 (2000).

Background

On May 21, 1999, the Department

published the antidumping duty order

on stainless steel plate in coils from

Taiwan. See Antidumping Duty Orders;

Certain Stainless Steel Plate in Coils

From Belgium, Canada, Italy, the

Republic of Korea, South Africa, and

Taiwan, 64 FR 27756 (May 21, 1999).

On May 16, 2000, the Department

published a notice of opportunity to

request an administrative review of this

order for the period November 4, 1998

through April 30, 2000. See

Antidumping or Countervailing Duty

Order, Finding, or Suspended

Investigation; Opportunity to Request

Administrative Review, 65 FR 31141

(May 16, 2000). Petitioners Allegheny

Ludlum, AK Steel Corporation, Butler

Armco Independent Union, J&L

Specialty Steel, Inc., North American

Stainless, United Steelworkers of

America, AFL–CIO/CLC, and Zanesville

Armco Independent Organization

(collectively ‘‘petitioners’’) timely

requested that the Department conduct

an administrative review of sales by

Yieh United Steel Corporation

(‘‘YUSCO’’), a Taiwan producer and

exporter of subject merchandise, and Ta

Chen Stainless Pipe Co., Ltd. (‘‘Ta

Chen’’), a Taiwan exporter of subject

merchandise. YUSCO also timely

requested that the Department conduct

an administrative review of YUSCO’s

sales. YUSCO withdrew its request for

review on July 19, 2000. On July 7,

2000, in accordance with section 751(a)

of the Act, the Department published in

the Federal Register a notice of

initiation of this antidumping duty

administrative review of sales by

YUSCO and Ta Chen for the period

November 4, 1998 through April 30,

2000. See Initiation of Antidumping and

Countervailing Duty Administrative

Reviews and Requests for Revocations

in Part, 65 FR 41942 (July 7, 2000).

On July 10, 2000, the Department

issued its antidumping duty

questionnaire to YUSCO and Ta Chen.

On July 19, 2000, along with

withdrawing its request for an

administrative review, YUSCO

requested that the Department rescind

this review, claiming it made no entries

of subject merchandise into the United

States during the POR. On July 27, 2000,

the Department solicited comments on

YUSCO’s request for rescission. See

Memo to the File from Juanita H. Chen

(July 27, 2000). On August 8, 2000,

YUSCO submitted its Section A

response to the Department’s

questionnaire. YUSCO reiterated its

request for rescission on August 16,

2000. Also on that date, petitioners filed

comments opposing YUSCO’s request

for rescission, which included

references to the original investigation

indicating that Ta Chen’s U.S. affiliate,

Ta Chen International (CA) Corp.

(‘‘TCI’’) made sales of YUSCO’s

merchandise during the POR and had

additional inventory not yet sold.

On July 31, 2000, Ta Chen stated that

it did not have any U.S. sales,

shipments or entries of subject

merchandise during the POR, and

requested that it not be required to

answer the Department’s questionnaire.

On August 1, 2000, the Department

asked Ta Chen a supplemental question

regarding shipments in the POR falling

under a certain Harmonized Tariff

Schedule of the United States (‘‘HTS’’)

number, and gave Ta Chen an extension

of time in which to respond to the

antidumping duty questionnaire. On

August 9, 2000, Ta Chen repeated its

statement that it did not have any U.S.

sales, shipments or entries during the

POR, stated that imports under the HTS

number were cut-to-length stainless

steel plate and not subject merchandise,

and repeated its request not to have to

answer the Department’s questionnaire.

On August 24, 2000, the Department

denied Ta Chen’s request that it not be

required to answer the questionnaire,

and issued supplemental questions to

Ta Chen. On August 31 and September

5, 2000, Ta Chen responded to the

Department’s supplemental questions,

stating that of TCI’s sales of YUSCO’s

merchandise from TCI’s U.S. warehouse

inventory during the POR, all

merchandise entered before the POR. Ta

Chen also stated that while there was a

sale of subject merchandise from

YUSCO to TCI during the POR, such

subject merchandise entered the United

States and was resold after the POR. Ta

Chen also stated that, for these reasons,

it did not intend on answering the

Department’s questionnaire. On

September 12, 2000, petitioners

submitted comments on Ta Chen’s

response to the Department’s

supplemental questions, arguing that

the Department should review TCI’s

resales of YUSCO’s merchandise as

constructed export price (‘‘CEP’’) sales,

citing to Silicon Metal from Brazil; Final

Results of Antidumping Duty

Administrative Review, 59 FR 42806

(August 19, 1994). Petitioners

emphasized that they requested the

review not only to liquidate entries

during the review period but also to set

a new cash deposit rate on future

entries. On September 26, 2000, the

Department informed Ta Chen of its

intention to conduct a review of TCI’s

sales, and asked that Ta Chen submit its

response no later than October 10, 2000.

Ta Chen failed to submit a response.

On September 19, 2000, the

Department conducted an inspection of

Customs documentation at the U.S.

Customs Service (‘‘Customs’’) in Long

Beach, California. A review of a random

sampling of entries during the POR

revealed that none of the entries were of

subject merchandise. See Memo to the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 233 / Monday, December 4, 2000 / Notices 75671

File from Carrie Blozy and Juanita H.

Chen (October 19, 2000). On October 24,

2000, the Department informed

petitioners that as a result of this

inspection, as well as a separate

Customs inquiry, the Department is revisiting the issue of whether it is

appropriate to continue this

administrative review. See Memo to the

File from Juanita H. Chen through

Edward Yang (October 25, 2000).

Scope of the Review

For purposes of this review, the

product covered is certain stainless steel

plate in coils. Stainless steel is an alloy

steel containing, by weight, 1.2 percent

or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or

more of chromium, with or without

other elements. The subject plate

products are flat-rolled products, 254

mm or over in width and 4.75 mm or

more in thickness, in coils, and

annealed or otherwise heat treated and

pickled or otherwise descaled. The

subject plate may also be further

processed (e.g., cold-rolled, polished,

etc.) provided that it maintains the

specified dimensions of plate following

such processing. Excluded from the

scope of this review are the following:

(1) Plate not in coils, (2) plate that is not

annealed or otherwise heat treated and

pickled or otherwise descaled, (3) sheet

and strip, and (4) flat bars. In addition,

certain cold-rolled stainless steel plate

in coils is also excluded from the scope

of these orders. The excluded coldrolled stainless steel plate in coils is

defined as that merchandise which

meets the physical characteristics

described above that has undergone a

cold-reduction process that reduced the

thickness of the steel by 25 percent or

more, and has been annealed and

pickled after this cold reduction

process. The merchandise subject to this

review is currently classifiable in the

HTS at subheadings: 7219.11.00.30,

7219.11.00.60, 7219.12.00.05,

7219.12.00.20, 7219.12.00.25,

7219.12.00.50, 7219.12.00.55,

7219.12.00.65, 7219.12.0070,

7219.12.00.80, 7219.31.00.10,

7219.90.00.10, 7219.90.00.20,

7219.90.00.25, 7219.90.00.60,

7219.90.00.80, 7220.11.00.00,

7220.20.10.10, 7220.20.10.15,

7220.20.10.60, 7220.20.10.80,

7220.20.60.05, 7220.20.60.10,

7220.20.60.15, 7220.20.60.60,

7220.20.60.80, 7220.90.00.10,

7220.90.00.15, 7220.90.00.60, and

7220.90.00.80. Although the HTS

subheadings are provided for

convenience and Customs purposes, the

written description of the merchandise

under investigation is dispositive.

Period of Review

The POR is November 4, 1998 through

April 30, 2000.

Preliminary Rescission of Review

The Department has previously

determined that ‘‘{s}ales of merchandise

that can be demonstrably linked with

entries prior to the suspension of

liquidation are not subject merchandise

and therefore are not subject to review

by the Department.’’ See Certain

Stainless Wire Rods From France: Final

Results of Antidumping Duty

Administrative Review, 61 FR 47874,

47875 (September 11, 1996); see also

Antidumping Duties; Countervailing

Duties; Final rule, 62 FR 27295, 27314

(May 19, 1997).

Ta Chen has certified that of TCI’s

resales of YUSCO’s merchandise from

its U.S. warehouse inventory during the

POR, all merchandise entered before the

POR. Therefore, such merchandise

entered prior to the suspension of

liquidation. The only merchandise TCI

purchased from YUSCO during the POR

entered the United States and was

resold after the POR. While petitioners

reference evidence from the original

investigation that TCI sold subject

merchandise out of inventory on

December 18, 1998, the Department’s

Customs inquiry indicates that such

merchandise did not enter the United

States after the suspension of

liquidation. Accordingly, in this review,

it has not been established that there

were any sales of subject merchandise

which entered during the POR.

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), the

Department may rescind an

administrative review, in whole or with

respect to a particular exporter or

producer, if the Secretary concludes

that, during the period covered by the

review, there were no entries, exports,

or sales of the subject merchandise.

Since the evidence shows that there

were no entries of certain stainless steel

plate in coils made by either YUSCO or

Ta Chen from Taiwan during the POR,

the Department is preliminarily

rescinding this review in accordance

with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3). The cash

deposit rate for YUSCO will remain at

8.02 percent, for YUSCO/Ta Chen will

remain at 10.20 percent, and for ‘‘all

other’’ producers/exporters of the

subject merchandise will remain at 7.39

percent, the rates established in the

most recent segment of this proceeding.

See Notice of Final Determination of

Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless

Steel Plate in Coils from Taiwan, 64 FR

15493 (March 31, 1999).

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309,

interested parties may submit written

comments in response to this

preliminary rescission. Case briefs must

be submitted within 14 days after the

date of publication of this notice and

rebuttal briefs, limited to arguments

raised in the case briefs, must be

submitted no later than 7 days after the

time limit for filing case briefs. Case and

rebuttal briefs must be served on

interested parties in accordance with 19

CFR 351.303(f).

This notice is published in

accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(4).

Dated: November 21, 2000.

Troy H. Cribb,

Assistant Secretary for Import

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–30804 Filed 12–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

COMMITTEE FOR THE

IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE

AGREEMENTS

Announcement of Import Restraint

Limits and Guaranteed Access Levels

for Certain Cotton, Wool and ManMade Fiber Textile Products Produced

or Manufactured in the Dominican

Republic

November 28, 2000.

AGENCY: Committee for the

Implementation of Textile Agreements

(CITA).

ACTION: Issuing a directive to the

Commissioner of Customs establishing

limits and guaranteed access levels.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Naomi Freeman, International Trade

Specialist, Office of Textiles and

Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce,

(202) 482–4212. For information on the

quota status of these limits, refer to the

Quota Status Reports posted on the

bulletin boards of each Customs port,

call (202) 927–5850, or refer to the U.S.

Customs website at http://

www.customs.gov. For information on

embargoes and quota re-openings, call

(202) 482–3715.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: Section 204 of the Agricultural

Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854);

Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as

amended.

The import restraint limits and

Guaranteed Access Levels (GALs) for

textile products, produced or

manufactured in the Dominican

Republic and exported during the

period January 1, 2001 through

December 31, 2001 are based on limits

notified to the Textiles Monitoring Body