Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 47 / Friday, March 10, 1995 / Notices 13119

International Trade Administration

[A–357–810]

Amended Preliminary Determination of

Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Oil

Country Tubular Goods From

Argentina

AGENCY: Import Administration,

International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 10, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

Beck or Jennifer Stagner, Office of

Antidumping Investigations, Import

Administration, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution

Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC. 20230;

telephone (202) 482–3464 or (202) 482–

1673, respectively.

Scope of Investigation

For purposes of this investigation,

OCTG are hollow steel products of

circular cross-section, including oil well

casing, tubing, and drill pipe, of iron

(other than cast iron) or steel (both

carbon and alloy), whether seamless or

welded, whether or not conforming to

American Petroleum Institute (API) or

non-API specifications, whether

finished or unfinished (including green

tubes and limited service OCTG

products). This investigation does not

cover casing, tubing, or drill pipe

containing 10.5 percent or more of

chromium. The OCTG subject to this

investigation is currently classified in

the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States (HTSUS) under item

numbers: 7304.20.10.00, 7304.20.10.10,

7304.20.10.20, 7304.20.10.30,

7304.20.10.40, 7304.20.10.50,

7304.20.10.60, 7304.20.10.80,

7304.20.20.00, 7304.20.20.10,

7304.20.20.20, 7304.20.20.30,

7304.20.20.40, 7304.20.20.50,

7304.20.20.60, 7304.20.20.80,

7304.20.30.00, 7304.20.30.10,

7304.20.30.20, 7304.20.30.30,

7304.20.30.40, 7304.20.30.50,

7304.20.30.60, 7304.20.30.80,

7304.20.40.00, 7304.20.40.10,

7304.20.40.20, 7304.20.40.30,

7304.20.40.40, 7304.20.40.50,

7304.20.40.60, 7304.20.40.80,

7304.20.50.10, 7304.20.50.15,

7304.20.50.30, 7304.20.50.45,

7304.20.50.50, 7304.20.50.60,

7304.20.50.75, 7304.20.60.10,

7304.20.60.15, 7304.20.60.30,

7304.20.60.45, 7304.20.60.50,

7304.20.60.60, 7304.20.60.75,

7304.20.70.00, 7304.20.80.00,

7304.20.80.30, 7304.20.80.45,

7304.20.80.60, 7305.20.20.00,

7305.20.40.00, 7305.20.60.00,

7305.20.80.00, 7306.20.10.30,

7306.20.10.90, 7306.20.20.00,

7306.20.30.00, 7306.20.40.00,

7306.20.60.10, 7306.20.60.50,

7306.20.80.10, and 7306.20.80.50.

Although the HTSUS subheadings are

provided for convenience and customs

purposes, our written description of the

scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Applicable Statute and Regulations

Unless otherwise indicated, all

citations to the statute and to the

Department’s regulations are in

reference to the provisions as they

existed on December 31, 1994.

References to the Antidumping and

Countervailing Duties: Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking and Request for

Public Comments (57 FR 1131, January

10, 1992) (concerning correction of

ministerial errors in a preliminary

determination), which were withdrawn

on January 3, 1995 (60 FR 80), are

provided solely for further explanation

of the Department’s practice and

procedures with respect to correction of

ministerial errors. The subject matter of

these regulations is being considered in

connection with an ongoing rulemaking

proceeding which, among other things,

is intended to conform the Department’s

regulations to the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act.

Amendment of Preliminary

Determination

In accordance with section 733(b) of

the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the

Act) (19 U.S.C. 1673b(b)), on February 2,

1995, the Department of Commerce (the

Department) published its preliminary

determination that OCTG from

Argentina were being sold at less than

fair value (60 FR 6503, February 2,

1995).

On February 3, 1995, Siderca S.A.I.C.

(Siderca), the respondent in the

investigation, timely alleged that the

Department had made a ministerial

error in its preliminary determination

and requested that the Department

correct this error. This alleged error

involved different U.S. further

manufacturing costs associated with the

same control number. Siderca stated

that the reported control numbers were

based on the merchandise as imported

into the United States. Certain products

that were identical as imported and

therefore had identical control numbers

were further manufactured into different

products with different corresponding

costs.

Siderca argued that the Department

incorrectly averaged different U.S.

manufactured costs by imported

product (i.e. control number) instead of

matching the individual sales

transactions with the submitted costs

applicable to that transaction. Siderca

stated that correcting for the error would

change the preliminary antidumping

margin to 0.42%, a de minimis amount,

and therefore the preliminary

determination would be negative.

Pursuant to 19 CFR 353.28(c)(1994),

the Department may correct ‘‘ministerial

errors’’ in its calculations. A

‘‘ministerial error’’ is defined in 19 CFR

353.28(d)(1994) as ‘‘an error in addition,

subtraction, or other arithmetic

function, clerical error resulting from

inaccurate copying, duplication, or the

like, and any other type of unintentional

error which the Secretary considers

ministerial.’’ We agreed with Siderca

that matching sales to further

manufacturing costs based on control

number was a ministerial error (see the

February 27, 1995, memorandum from

the team to Barbara R. Stafford).

Furthermore, in accordance with the

proposed regulations concerning the

correction of ministerial errors, 19 CFR

353.15(g)(4)(ii) (57 FR 1131, 1133,

January 10, 1992), the Department will

correct ministerial errors in a

preliminary determination if the errors

constitute ‘‘significant ministerial

errors.’’ Under the proposed rules, a

ministerial error would be ‘‘significant’’

if the correction of the error:

(A) Would result in a change of at

least 5 absolute percentage points in,

but not less than 25 percent of, the

dumping margin calculated in the

original (erroneous) preliminary

determination; or

(B) Would result in a difference

between a dumping margin of zero (or

de minimis) and a margin of greater than

de minimis.

After correcting for the ministerial

error, the margin for Siderca changed to

0.42%, a de minimis amount. Therefore,

this error is ‘‘significant’’ as defined in

the Department’s proposed regulations.

Thus, the Department is hereby

amending its preliminary determination

to correct for this ministerial error.

Discontinuation of Suspension of

Liquidation

Since the amended margin for Siderca

is now de minimis, we are directing the

Customs Service to discontinue

suspending liquidation of all entries of

OCTG from Argentina, as defined in the

‘‘Scope of Investigation’’ section of this

notice, that are entered, or withdrawn

from warehouse, for consumption on or

after February 2, 1995, the date of

publication of the original preliminary

determination in the Federal Register.

Furthermore, we are directing the

Customs Service to refund all cash

deposits or postings of a bond which
13120 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 47 / Friday, March 10, 1995 / Notices

have been collected on the subject

merchandise from Argentina.

ITC Notification

In accordance with section 733(f) of

the Act, we have notified the ITC of our

amended preliminary determination.

In accordance with section 735(b)(3),

if our final determination is affirmative,

the ITC will determine whether these

imports are materially injuring, or

threaten material injury to, the U.S.

industry within 75 days after the date of

that affirmative final determination.

Public Comment

In accordance with 19 CFR 353.38,

case briefs or other written comments in

at least ten copies may be submitted by

any interested party to the Assistant

Secretary for Import Administration no

later than May 2, 1995, and rebuttal

briefs no later than May 9, 1995. We

request that parties in this case provide

an executive summary of no more than

two pages in conjunction with case

briefs on the major issues to be

addressed. Further, briefs should

contain a table of authorities. Citations

to Commerce determinations and court

decisions should include the page

number where cited information

appears. In preparing the briefs, please

begin each issue on a separate page. In

accordance with 19 CFR 353.38(b), we

will hold a public hearing to give

interested parties an opportunity to

comment on arguments raised in case or

rebuttal briefs. Tentatively, the hearing

will be held on May 19, 1995, at 10:00

a.m. at the U.S. Department of

Commerce, Room 1414, 14th Street and

Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20230. Parties should

confirm the time, date, and place of the

hearing 48 hours before the scheduled

time.

This determination is published

pursuant to section 733(f) of the Act (19

U.S.C. 1673b(f)) and 19 CFR

353.15(a)(4).

Dated: March 6, 1995.

Susan G. Esserman,

Assistant Secretary for Import

Administration.

[FR Doc. 95–6011 Filed 3–9–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

(A–570–839)

Notice of Postponement of Preliminary

Antidumping Duty Determination:

Certain Partial-Extension Steel Drawer

Slides With Rollers From the People’s

Republic of China

AGENCY: Import Administration,

International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 10, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

Brinkmann (202–482–5288) or Michelle

Frederick (202–482–0186), Office of

Antidumping Investigations, Import

Administration, International Trade

Administration, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.

POSTPONEMENT OF PRELIMINARY

DETERMINATION: On November 21, 1994,

the Department of Commerce (‘‘the

Department’’) initiated an antidumping

duty investigation of certain partialextension steel drawer slides with

rollers (‘‘drawer slides’’) from the

People’s Republic of China (PRC) (59 FR

60773, November 28, 1994). The notice

of initiation stated that if this

investigation proceeds normally, the

Department would issue its preliminary

determination on or before April 9,

1995.

On December 15, 1994, the U.S.

International Trade Commission

determined that there is a reasonable

indication that a U.S. domestic industry

is threatened with material injury by

reason of imports of drawer slides from

the PRC (59 FR 65787, December 21,

1994).

This investigation is rendered

extraordinarily complicated by the

novel issue of government ownership of

exporters of subject merchandise.

Furthermore, information available to

the Department indicates that there are

many producers/exporters of the subject

merchandise. The process of identifying

all exporters who sold subject

merchandise to the United States during

the POI caused significant delays in

issuing our questionnaire. In addition,

we determine at this time that

respondent parties in this investigation

appear to be cooperating.

For these reasons, pursuant to

sections 733(c)(1)(B)(i) (II) and (III) of

the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the

Act), we determine that this

investigation is extraordinarily

complicated and that additional time is

necessary to make the preliminary

determination in accordance with

733(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act. Therefore, we

are postponing our preliminary

determination in this investigation until

no later than May 30, 1995.

This notice is published pursuant to

section 733(c)(2) of the Act of 1930, as

amended, and 19 CFR 353.15(d).

Dated: March 3, 1995.

Barbara R. Stafford,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Investigations,

Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 95–6012 Filed 3–9–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

National Institute of Standards and

Technology

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality

Award’s Board of Overseers

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards

and Technology, DOC.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal

Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app.

2, notice is hereby given that there will

be a meeting of the Board of Overseers

of the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award on Wednesday, April 5,

1995, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The

Board of Overseers consists of nine

members prominent in the field of

quality management and appointed by

the Secretary of Commerce, assembled

to advise the Secretary of Commerce on

the conduct of the Baldrige Award. The

purpose of the meeting on April 5, 1995,

will be for the Board of Overseers to

receive and then discuss reports from

the National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST) and the Judges Panel

of the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award. These reports and

discussions will cover the following

topics: overview of the Award process;

status of the 1994/1995 Award cycles

and application trends; update on pilot

programs; status of legislation; the

responsibility of Judges and Overseers;

and technology transfer discussions

regarding the Conference Board regional

series, the Quest for Excellence

Conference and State and local

networks.

DATES: The meeting will convene April

5, 1995, at 8:30 a.m., and adjourn at 5

p.m. on April 5, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the National Institute of Standards and

Technology, Administration Building

Conference Room (seating capacity 36,

includes 24 participants), Gaithersburg,

Maryland 20899.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Curt W. Reimann, Director for

Quality Programs, National Institute of

Standards and Technology,

Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899,

telephone number (301) 975–2036.