Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 102 /Thursday, May 28, 1998 / Notices 29179

This proposal does not request any new

authority under FTZ procedures in

terms of products or components, but it

does involve a potential increase in the

facility’s level of production under FTZ

procedures. NASI will operate the

proposed sites as an integral part of

Subzone 124B.

In accordance with the Board’s

regulations, a member of the FTZ Staff

has been designated examiner to

investigate the application and report to

the Board.

Public comment on the application is

invited from interested parties.

Submissions (original and 3 copies)

shall be addressed to the Board’s

Executive Secretary at the address

below. The closing period for their

receipt is July 27, 1998. Rebuttal

comments in response to material

submitted during the foregoing period

may be submitted during the subsequent

15-day period (to August 11, 1998).

A copy of the application and

accompanying exhibits will be available

for public inspection at each of the

following locations:

Office of the Port Director, U.S. Customs

Service, 110 North Airline Avenue,

Gramercy, LA 70052

Office of the Executive Secretary,

Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room

3716, U.S. Department of Commerce,

14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC 20230

Dated: May 20, 1998.

Dennis Puccinelli,

Acting Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–14153 Filed 5–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Order No. 981]

Expansion of Foreign-Trade Zone 33;

Pittsburgh, PA

Pursuant to its authority under the

Foreign-Trade Zones Act of June 18,

1934, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a–81u),

the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the

Board) adopts the following Order:

Whereas, an application from the

Regional Industrial Development

Corporation of Southwestern

Pennsylvania, grantee of Foreign-Trade

Zone 33, for authority to expand FTZ

33-Site 1 and Site 2 and to include two

new sites in Pittsburgh and Leetsdale,

Pennsylvania, within the Pittsburgh

Customs port of entry area, was filed by

the Board on November 17, 1997 (FTZ

Docket 79–97, 62 FR 63315, 11/28/97);

Whereas, notice inviting public

comment was given in Federal Register

and the application has been processed

pursuant to the FTZ Act and the Board’s

regulations; and,

Whereas, the Board adopts the

findings and recommendations of the

examiner’s report, and finds that the

requirements of the FTZ Act and

Board’s regulations are satisfied, and

that the proposal is in the public

interest;

Now, therefore, the Board hereby

orders:

The application to expand FTZ 33 is

approved, subject to the Act and the

Board’s regulations, including Section

400.28, and subject to the standard

2,000-acre activation limit for the

overall zone project.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 14th day of

May 1998.

Robert S. LaRussa,

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Import

Administration, Alternate Chairman, ForeignTrade Zones Board.

Attest:

Dennis Puccinelli,

Acting Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–14152 Filed 5–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A–122–823]

Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From

Canada; Initiation of Anticircumvention

Inquiry on Antidumping Duty Order

AGENCY: Import Administration,

International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of initiation of

anticircumvention inquiry; cut-to-length

carbon steel plate from Canada.

SUMMARY: In response to a request from

Kentucky Electric Steel Company

(Kentucky Steel), the Department of

Commerce (the Department) is initiating

an anticircumvention inquiry to

determine whether imports of boronadded grader blade and draft key steel,

falling within the physical dimensions

outlined in the scope of the order, are

circumventing the antidumping duty

order on cut-to-length carbon steel plate

from Canada (58 FR 44162, August 19,

1993).

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 28, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gideon Katz, Eric Scheier, or Maureen

Flannery, Import Administration,

International Trade Administration,

U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th

Street and Constitution Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC, 20230; telephone:

(202) 482–4733.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute

Unless otherwise stated, 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

stated, all citations to the Department’s

regulations are references to the

regulations as codified at 62 FR 27296

(May 19, 1997).

Background

On March 14, 1997, the Department

initiated a scope inquiry to determine

whether certain cut-to-length carbon

steel plate used to make grader blades

and draft keys (‘‘grader blade’’ and

‘‘draft key’’ steel) that contain small

amounts of boron (approximately 0.0016

percent by weight) fall within the scope

of the order on certain cut-to-length

carbon steel plate from Canada. The

Department gave interested parties the

opportunity to provide comments

pursuant to 19 CFR § 353.29(i) and 19

CFR 353.29(g).

On January 16, 1998, the Department

issued a ruling, based on 19 CFR

§ 353.29(i), that boron-added grader

blade and draft key steel falls outside

the scope of the order. The Department

concluded that, because the petition

relied on the HTS definition of carbon

steel, which excluded other-alloy steel

(i.e. steel containing more than 0.0008

percent boron), and because the petition

equated the term ‘carbon steel’ with the

HTS term ‘non-alloy steel’, variants of

grader blade and draft key steel which

contain at least 0.0008 percent boron by

weight fell outside the scope of the

order. Specifically, the HTSUS defines

the term ‘‘steel’’ as certain ‘‘ferrous

materials * * * usually malleable and

which contain by weight two percent or

less of carbon. * * * ’’ and defines the

term ‘‘non-alloy’’ steel as steel other

than A) ‘‘stainless steel’’, i.e. alloy steel

containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or

less of carbon and 10.5 percent or more

of chromium or B) ‘‘other alloy steel, i.e.

steel * * * containing by weight 0.3

percent or more of aluminum or 0.0008

percent or more of boron. See HTSUS,

Chapter 72, Note 1(d) and (f).

The Department also solicited

comments from interested parties

concerning the possible applicability of

the ‘‘minor alterations’’ provision

pursuant to 19 CFR 353.29(g) (now

codified as § 351.225(i), see 62 FR

27296, 27404 (May 19, 1997)).
29180 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 102 /Thursday, May 28, 1998 / Notices

On January 30, 1998, Kentucky Steel

requested that the Department conduct

an anticircumvention inquiry pursuant

to section 781(c) of the Tariff Act to

determine whether imports of certain

cut-to-length steel plate used to make

grader blades and draft keys (‘‘grader

blade’’ and ‘‘draft key’’ steel) that

contain small amounts of boron

(approximately 0.0016 percent by

weight) and fall within the physical

dimensions outlined in the scope of the

order, are circumventing the

antidumping duty order on certain cutto-length carbon steel plate from

Canada.

Scope

The scope language contained in the

final determination and antidumping

duty order describes the covered

merchandise as follows:

Although the Harmonized Tariff Schedule

of the United States (HTS) subheadings are

provided for convenience and customs

purposes, our written descriptions of the

scope of these proceedings are dispositive

* * *.

Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate

These products 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 coils 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 7208.31.000, 7208.32.000,

7208.33.1000, 7208.33.5000, 7208.41.000,

7208.42.000, 7208.43.0000, 7208.90.0000,

7210.70.3000, 7210.90.0000, 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 these

investigations 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 beveled or

rounded at the edges. Excluded from these

investigations is grade X–70 plate.

Final Determination; Certain ColdRolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From

Argentina, 58 FR 37063 (July 9, 1993),

Appendix I

See also Antidumping Duty Orders:

Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon

Steel Flat Products and Certain Cut-toLength Carbon Steel Plate From Canada,

58 FR 44162 (August 19, 1993).

Kentucky Steel now alleges that since

publication of the antidumping duty

order, exporters of certain cut-to-length

carbon steel plate from Canada have

been circumventing the order by

exporting carbon steel plate with small

amounts of boron added. According to

Kentucky Steel, the ‘‘inclusion of 0.0016

percent boron by weight to high carbon

grader blade and draft key steel

constitutes a minor alteration’’ and is

thus within the meaning of the

provisions detailed in section 781(c) of

the Tariff Act. See Anticircumvention

Application, January 30, 1998 at 4.

Kentucky Steel describes the

merchandise that is the subject of this

anticircumvention inquiry as cut-tolength plate made of high-carbon steel

to which boron has been added.

Kentucky Steel defines ‘‘high carbon’’

steel to be steel of AISI or SAE grades

1050, 1152, or 1552, or higher, i.e.

carbon steels that may contain 0.55% or

more carbon by weight.

Initiation of Anticircumvention

Proceeding

Section 781(c) of the Tariff Act states

that the Department may find

circumvention of an order when

products which are of the class or kind

of merchandise subject to an

antidumping duty order have been

‘‘altered in form or appearance in minor

respects * * * whether or not included

in the same tariff classification.’’ The

applicant asserts that, while the statute

is silent as to what factors to consider

in determining whether alterations are

properly considered ‘‘minor,’’ the

legislative history of this provision

indicates that there are certain factors

which should be considered before

reaching an anticircumvention

determination.

The applicant cites to the Senate

Finance Committee report on the

Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness

Act of 1988 (which amended the Tariff

Act of 1930 to include the

anticircumvention provisions contained

in section 781), which states:

[I]n applying this provision, the Commerce

Department should apply practical

measurements regarding minor alterations, so

that circumvention can be dealt with

effectively, even where such alterations to an

article technically transform it into a

differently designated article. The Commerce

Department should consider such criteria as

the overall physical characteristics of the

merchandise, the expectations of the ultimate

users, the use of the merchandise, the

channels of marketing and the cost of any

modification relative to the total value of the

imported products. S. Rep. No. 71, 100th

Cong., 1st Sess. 100 (1987).

The applicant has presented evidence

with respect to each of the criteria listed

in the Senate report. Each of these

criteria is addressed below.

Overall Physical Characteristics

The cut-to-length plate for grader

blades and draft keys at issue in this

proceeding have small amounts, usually

about 0.0016 percent by weight, of

boron added to high carbon steel (high

carbon being defined by the applicant as

steel containing at least 0.55 percent

carbon by weight). The applicant claims

that while boron, like carbon, is added

to steel to improve ‘‘hardenability,’’

when the level of carbon is already at

0.60 percent by weight or above, the

added boron’s effect on the final

product is negligible. The applicant

asserts that grader blade and draft key

steel products are composed of upwards

of 0.70 percent carbon, sufficiently high

levels to render the addition of boron

immaterial to the performance

characteristics of the final product. The

applicant also claims that practice in the

industry is not to add boron to higher

carbon steels, like AISI grades 1070 and

1084, which are used to make grader

blades and draft keys.

Expectations of the Ultimate Users

The applicant maintains that carbon

steel plate users are purchasing

imported plate with the expectation that

the product be hard and durable, and

that these characteristics are imparted

by the presence of sufficient levels of

carbon. The applicant states that

consumers of this product are fully

aware that carbon steel of the sort at

issue here does not rely on or benefit

from the presence of boron, and thus

‘‘do not expect, seek, or desire’’ its

presence. The applicant notes that its

own marketing officials have been

advised that many consumers of the

product do not know that it contains

boron, and that there is no significant

price difference between plain carbon

and boron-added versions of the

product imported from Canada.

Use of the Merchandise

The applicant maintains that, with or

without boron, high carbon grader blade

and draft key steel have the same uses:

making blades on grading equipment

and locking devices on railroad

couplings. The applicant states that

knowledgeable purchasers would be

aware that there are no uses of higher

carbon steel plate containing 0.0016

percent boron that cannot fully be met

without boron, and that the addition of

boron neither responds to a new need in
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 102 /Thursday, May 28, 1998 / Notices 29181

the market, nor improves the way

existing technical needs are met.

Channels of Marketing

The applicant states that steel

producers, with few exceptions, sell

directly to manufacturers of grader

blades and draft keys through company

sales forces. The applicant claims that,

because carbon grader blade and draft

key steels are used for precisely the

same products as are the boron-added

versions of the products, boron-added

grader blade and draft key carbon steel

from Canada is sold in precisely the

same sales channels as plain grader

blade and draft key carbon steel from

Canada.

Cost of Modification

The applicant alleges that, by adding

about 0.0016 percent boron to high

carbon steels, Canadian producers have

been able to avoid dumping duties

ranging from 1.47 percent to 68.7

percent, and that the cost of avoiding

these duties, relative to the total value

of the product itself, is negligible. The

applicant estimates that Canadian

producers can realize a value of 1.25

percent to 68.5 percent by avoiding the

duties under the order in this case by

adding 0.0016 percent boron to their

product.

Other interested parties, Co-Steel

Lasco, Caterpillar Inc., and Algoma

Steel Inc., submitted comments arguing

that the Department cannot initiate a

‘‘minor alterations’’ anticircumvention

inquiry on a type of merchandise which

the Department has previously

determined to be outside the scope of

the order. These interested parties base

their argument on the decision of the

Court of International Trade (CIT) in

Hylsa, S.A. v. United States, Slip Op.

98–10 (February 3, 1998), which upheld

the earlier decision of the CIT in

Wheatland Tube Co. v. United States,

973 F. Supp. 149 (CIT 1997). As the

Department disagrees with the decision

in Hylsa, and as it is appealing this

decision to the Federal Circuit, the

Department is not bound to apply it to

the determination of whether to initiate

the requested inquiry.

Based on our evaluation of the

application, we determine that a formal

inquiry is warranted. Accordingly, we

are initiating a circumvention inquiry

concerning the antidumping duty order

on cut-to-length carbon steel plate from

Canada, pursuant to section 781(c) of

the Tariff Act. In accordance with 19

CFR 351.225(l)(2), we will not instruct

the Customs Service to suspend

liquidation and require a cash deposit of

estimated duties on the merchandise

which is the subject of this inquiry

unless and until we issue an affirmative

preliminary determination.

The Department will, following

consultation with the interested parties,

establish a schedule for questionnaires

and comments on the issues. The

Department intends to issue its final

determination within 300 days of the

date of publication of this initiation.

This notice is published in

accordance with section 781(c) of the

Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. 1677j(c)) and 19

CFR 351.225.

Dated: May 20, 1998.

Robert S. LaRussa,

Assistant Secretary for Import

Administration.

[FR Doc. 98–14150 Filed 5–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 051898B]

New England Fishery Management

Council; Public Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery

Management Council (Council) is

scheduling a public meeting of its

enforcement oversight committee in

June, 1998 to consider actions affecting

New England fisheries in the exclusive

economic zone (EEZ).

Recommendations from this group will

be brought to the full Council for formal

consideration and action, if appropriate.

DATES: The meeting will be held on June

16, 1998. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for specific dates and

times.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in

Saugus, MA. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for specific locations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul

J. Howard, Executive Director, New

England Fishery Management Council

(781) 231–0422. Requests for special

accommodations should be addressed to

the New England Fishery Management

Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA

01906–1036; telephone: (781) 231–0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Meeting Dates and Agenda

Tuesday, June 16, 1998, 9:30 a.m.—

Enforcement Committee.

Meeting

Location: Council Office, 5 Broadway,

Saugus, MA 01906; telephone (781)

231–0422.

The committee will discuss the

effectiveness of current management

measures, especially of trip limits, and

review the penalty schedule used by

General Counsel Northeast.

Although other issues not contained

in this agenda may come before this

Committee for discussion, in accordance

with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act,

those issues may not be the subject of

formal action during this meeting.

Action will be restricted to those issues

specifically listed in this notice.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul

J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5

days prior to the meeting dates.

Dated: May 21, 1998.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98–14127 Filed 5–27–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 052198B]

Marine Mammals

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of application for

amendment.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that

Moana Productions, Inc., 311 Portlock

Road, Honolulu, HI 96825, has

requested an amendment to

Photography Permit No. 867–1388.

DATES: Written or telefaxed comments

must be received on or before June 29,

1998.

ADDRESSES: The amendment request

and related documents are available for

review upon written request or by

appointment in the following office(s):

Permits and Documentation Division,

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS,

1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705,

Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713–

2289);

Regional Administrator, Alaska

Region, NMFS, 709 W. 9th Street,