[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 45 (Friday, March 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10540-10542]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5701]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-533-810]


Stainless Steel Bar From India: 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: Stainless steel bar from India.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting 
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on stainless 
steel bar from India in response to a request by one manufacturer/
exporter, Isibars Limited (``Isibars'). This review covers sales of the 
subject merchandise to the United States during the period August 4, 
1994 through January 31, 1996.
    We have preliminarily determined that sales have not 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 liquidate subject entries without regard to 
antidumping duties.
    Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results. Parties who submit argument are requested to submit with the 
argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the 
argument.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 7, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Yeske or Zak Smith, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 
20230; telephone (202) 482-0189 or (202) 482-1279, respectively.

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. In addition, unless otherwise 
indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are to the 
current regulations, as amended by the interim regulations published in 
the Federal Register on May 11, 1995 (60 FR 25130).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 29, 1996, the Department received a request from 
Isibars to conduct an administrative review of the antidumping duty 
order on stainless steel bar from India. The Department published in 
the Federal Register, on March 19, 1996, a notice of initiation of an 
administrative review of Isibars covering the period August 4, 1994 
through January 31, 1996 (61 FR 11184). In a notice published on August 
20, 1996, the Department extended the time limit for the preliminary 
results of the review until February 28, 1997 (61 FR 43042). The 
Department is now conducting this review in accordance with section 751 
of the Act and section 353.22 of its interim regulations.

Scope of Review

    Imports covered by this review are shipments of stainless steel bar 
(``SSB''). SSB means articles of stainless steel in straight lengths 
that have been either hot-rolled, forged, turned, cold-drawn, cold-
rolled or otherwise cold-finished, or ground, having a uniform solid 
cross section along their whole length in the shape of circles, 
segments of circles, ovals, rectangles (including squares), triangles, 
hexagons, octagons, or other convex polygons. SSB includes cold-

[[Page 10541]]

 finished SSBs that are turned or ground in straight lengths, whether 
produced from hot-rolled bar or from straightened and cut rod or wire, 
and reinforcing bars that have indentations, ribs, grooves, or other 
deformations produced during the rolling process.
    Except as specified above, the term does not include stainless 
steel semi-finished products, cut length flat-rolled products (i.e., 
cut length rolled products which if less than 4.75 mm in thickness have 
a width measuring at least 10 times the thickness, or if 4.75 mm or 
more in thickness having a width which exceeds 150 mm and measures at 
least twice the thickness), wire (i.e., cold-formed products in coils, 
of any uniform solid cross section along their whole length, which do 
not conform to the definition of flat-rolled products), and angles, 
shapes and sections.
    The SSB subject to these orders is currently classifiable under 
subheadings 7222.10.0005, 7222.10.0050, 7222.20.0005, 7222.20.0045, 
7222.20.0075, and 7222.30.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (``HTSUS'). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the 
scope of these orders is dispositive.

Period of Review

    This review covers one manufacturer/exporter, Isibars, and the 
period August 4, 1994 through January 1, 1996.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified information 
provided by the respondent by using standard verification procedures, 
including on-site inspection of the respondent's facilities, the 
examination of appropriate sales and financial records, and selection 
of original documentation containing relevant information. Our 
verification results are outlined in the public version of the 
verification report.

United States Price

    In calculating United States Price (``USP'), we used export price 
(``EP'), in accordance with section 772(a) of the Act, because the 
subject merchandise was sold directly to the first unaffiliated 
purchaser in the United States prior to importation into the United 
States and constructed export price was not otherwise indicated.
    We calculated EP based on the price from Isibars to an unaffiliated 
customer prior to importation into the United States. In accordance 
with section 772(c)(2) of the Act, we made deductions for foreign 
inland freight, international freight, and containerization/handling 
charges.
    Isibars claimed an upward adjustment to USP for a ``duty drawback'' 
scheme. Under this scheme the Indian government grants import duty 
credits equal to a certain percentage of the FOB value of SSB exports. 
The amount of the credit is intended to reflect the amount of duties 
that would have been paid on the input product, wire rod, had the input 
actually been imported. However, there is no requirement that Isibars 
actually import the input product, and in fact, Isibars did not import 
wire rod during the POR. The import credits can be used to offset 
import duties on any products imported by Isibars. It is the 
Department's practice to allow an upward adjustment to USP for duty 
drawback only if there is a reasonable link between the duties imposed 
and those rebated. In this case, there is no such link. Therefore, we 
have not made the adjustment.

Normal Value

    In order to determine whether there was a sufficient volume of 
sales in the home market to serve as a viable basis for calculating NV, 
we compared respondent's volume of home market sales of the foreign 
like product to the volume of U.S. sales of the subject merchandise, in 
accordance with section 773(a) of the Act. Because the aggregate volume 
of home market sales of the foreign like product was greater than five 
percent of the aggregate volume of U.S. sales of the subject 
merchandise, we determined that the home market provides a viable basis 
for calculating NV. Therefore, in accordance with section 
773(a)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we based NV on the prices at which the 
foreign like product was first sold for consumption in the exporting 
country, in the usual commercial quantities, in the ordinary course of 
trade and at the same level of trade as the U.S. sales. Isibars 
reported, and we verified, no difference in the level of trade between 
home market and U.S. sales; therefore, an adjustment pursuant to 
section 773(a)(7)(A) is unwarranted.
    We compared the EPs of individual transactions, pursuant to section 
777A(d)(2) of the Act, to the weighted-average price of contemporaneous 
sales of the foreign like product. We based NV on ex-factory prices to 
unaffiliated purchasers in the home market. We adjusted for differences 
in packing costs between the two markets. We made circumstance-of-sale 
adjustments for differences in credit costs and bank charges between 
the two markets. Isibars reported that it paid commissions in the home 
market, but not the U.S. market. We have not adjusted for the home 
market commissions, however, because Isibars failed to report the U.S. 
indirect selling expenses which would be used to offset the home market 
commissions.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of our comparison of EP and NV, we preliminarily 
determine that the following weighted-average dumping margin exists:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Manufacturer/exporter                  Period        Margin 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isibars.....................................     8/4/94-1/1/96      0.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Parties to the proceeding may request disclosure within five days 
of the date of publication of this notice. Any interested party may 
request a hearing within 10 days of publication. Any hearing, if 
requested, will be held 34 days after the publication of this notice, 
or the first workday thereafter. Interested parties may submit case 
briefs within 20 days of the date of publication of this notice. 
Rebuttal briefs, which must be limited to issues raised in the case 
briefs, may be filed not later than 27 days after the date of 
publication of this notice. Parties who submit argument are requested 
to submit with the argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a 
brief summary of the argument. The Department will issue the final 
results of this administrative review, which will include the results 
of its analysis of issues raised in any such comments, within 120 days 
of publication of these preliminary results.
    Upon completion of this administrative review, the Department will 
issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service. The 
results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of 
antidumping duties on entries of merchandise sold during the POR and 
covered by the determination and for future deposits of estimated 
duties.
    The following deposit requirement will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this antidumping duty 
administrative review for all shipments of stainless steel bar from 
India entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the publication date, as provided for by section 751(a)(1) of the Act: 
(1) The cash deposit rate for the reviewed company will be the rate 
established in the final results of this review; (2) if the exporter is 
not a firm covered in this review, but was covered in a previous review 
or the original less-than-fair-value (``LTFV'') investigation, the cash 
deposit rate will

[[Page 10542]]

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 
previous review, or the original 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; and (4) 
the cash deposit rate for all other manufacturers and/or exporters of 
this merchandise, shall be 12.45 percent, the ``all others'' rate 
established in the LTFV investigation (59 FR 66915, December 28, 1994).
    These 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 353.26 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 
section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR 
353.22(c).

    Dated: February 28, 1997.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 97-5701 Filed 3-6-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P