[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 91 (Thursday, May 9, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21158-21159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-11629]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-588-838]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Clad Steel Plate From Japan

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 9, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Grebasch, Dorothy Tomaszewski, 
or Erik Warga, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 3099, Washington, D.C. 20230; 
telephone: (202) 482-3773, (202) 482-0631, or (202) 482-0922, 
respectively.

THE APPLICABLE STATUTE: 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 (URAA).

FINAL DETERMINATION: As explained in the memoranda from the Assistant 
Secretary for Import Administration dated November 22, 1995, and 
January 11, 1996, the Department of Commerce (the Department) has 
exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines for the duration of the 
partial shutdowns of the Federal Government from November 15 through 
November 21, 1995, and December 16, 1995, through January 6, 1996. 
Thus, all deadlines in this investigation have been extended by 28 
days, i.e., one day for each day (or partial day) the Department was 
closed. As such, the deadline for this final determination is no later 
than May 2, 1996.
    We determine that clad steel plate from Japan is being sold in the 
United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 
735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The estimated 
margins are shown in the ``Suspension of Liquidation'' section of this 
notice.

Case History

    There has been no activity regarding this case, since the February 
22, 1996, preliminary determination. See Notice of Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Clad Steel Plate from 
Japan February 22, 1996, (61 FR 7469, February 28, 1996).

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation is all clad \1\ steel plate of a 
width of 600 millimeters (``mm'') or more and a composite thickness of 
4.5 mm or more. Clad steel plate is a rectangular finished steel mill 
product consisting of a layer of cladding material (usually stainless 
steel or nickel) which is metallurgically bonded to a base or backing 
of ferrous metal (usually carbon or low alloy steel) where the latter 
predominates by weight.
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    \1\ Cladding is the association of layers of metals of different 
colors or natures by molecular interpenetration of the surfaces in 
contact. This limited diffusion is characteristic of clad products 
and differentiates them from products metalized in other manners 
(e.g., by normal electroplating). The various cladding processes 
include pouring molten cladding metal onto the basic metal followed 
by rolling; simple hot-rolling of the cladding metal to ensure 
efficient welding to the basic metal; any other method of deposition 
or superimposing of the cladding metal followed by any mechanical or 
thermal process to ensure welding (e.g., electro-cladding), in which 
the cladding metal (nickel, chromium, etc.) is applied to the basic 
metal by electroplating, molecular interpenetration of the surfaces 
in contact then being obtained by heat treatment at the appropriate 
temperature with subsequent cold-rolling. See Harmonized Commodity 
Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes, Chapter 72, General 
Note (IV) (C)(2)(e).
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    Stainless clad steel plate is manufactured to American Society for 
Testing and Materials (``ASTM'') specifications A263 (400 series 
stainless types) and A264 (300 series stainless types). Nickel and 
nickel-base alloy clad steel plate is manufactured to ASTM 
specification A265. These specifications are illustrative but not 
necessarily all-inclusive. Clad steel plate within the scope of this 
investigation is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (``HTSUS'') 7210.90.10.00. Although the HTSUS 
subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, our 
written description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation (POI) is September 1, 1994, through 
August 31, 1995.

Facts Available

    For reasons discussed in the preliminary determination, the 
Department, pursuant to section 776 of the Act, has used the facts 
available. For a discussion of the reasons for application of the facts 
available, and the selection of the petition margin as the facts 
available, see the preliminary determination.
    The Department has not received any comments since the preliminary 
determination on its application of facts available. In accordance with 
section 776(c) of the Act, the Department attempted to corroborate the 
petition information by comparing the petition information on export 
price to U.S. Customs data and Japanese export statistics. Both of 
these sources record prices based on the HTSUS subheading 
7210.90.10.00, and support the prices contained in the petition. (See 
memorandum dated February 16, 1996.)
    Because Lukens Steel Company (the petitioner) based the normal 
value calculation on constructed value in the petition, we were able to 
examine the supporting documentation regarding the valuation of 
variable costs for labor, electricity, natural gas, and other factors 
(principally backing steel and insert metal costs) in Japan and because 
that supporting information was from independent, public sources, we 
found that those costs have probative value.

Fair Value Comparisons

    As noted above, as in our preliminary determination, this final 
determination has been made using the margin in the petition as the 
facts avialable.

All-Others Rate

    Under section 735(c)(5) of the Act, the ``all-others rate'' will 
normally be a weighted average of the weighted-average dumping margins 
established for all exporters and producers, but will exclude any zero 
or de minimis margins, or any margins based entirely on the facts 
available. However, this provision also states that if there are no 
margins other than those that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely 
on the facts available, the Department may use other reasonable methods 
to calculate the all-others rate, including a weighted-average of such 
margins. In this case, the only margin on the record is the facts 
available margin of 118.53 percent that the Department assigned to JSW. 
Therefore, the Department determines the all-others rate to be 118.53 
percent as well.

[[Page 21159]]

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c) of the Act, we are directing the 
Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of 
Clad Plate Steel from Japan that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse for consumption, on or after the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. The Customs Service shall require a 
cash deposit or posting of a bond equal to the estimated amount by 
which the normal value exceeds the export price as shown below. The 
suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.
    The dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin  
                    Exporter/Manufacturer                     Percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Japan Steel Company.....................................      118.53
All Others..................................................      118.53
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    The all others rate applies to all entries of subject merchandise.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the 
ITC of our determination. As our final determination is affirmative, 
the ITC will within 45 days determine whether these imports are 
materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry. 
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Department will 
issue an antidumping duty order directing Customs officials to assess 
antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective 
date of the suspension of liquidation.
    This determination is published pursuant to section 735(d) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 353.20(a)(4).

Paul L. Joffe
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
    Dated: May 2, 1996.
[FR Doc. 96-11629 Filed 5-08-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P