[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 2, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58-59]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-32244]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-046]


Notice of Final Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review: Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan

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

ACTION: Notice of final results of changed circumstances antidumping 
duty administrative review.

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SUMMARY: On November 21, 2001, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published a notice of initiation and preliminary results of 
a changed circumstances review of the antidumping duty finding on 
polychloroprene rubber from Japan. See Notice of Initiation and 
Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review: Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan, 66 FR 58436 
(November 21, 2001) (Preliminary Results). We have now completed that 
review. For these final results, as in the Preliminary Results, we have 
determined that the restructured manufacturing and marketing joint 
ventures, Showa DDE Manufacturing KK (SDEM) and DDE Japan Kabushiki 
Kaisha (DDE Japan), are the successor-in-interest companies to Dupont 
Showa Denko (SDP) and its predecessor, Showa Neoprene, for purposes of 
determining antidumping liability in this proceeding.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 2, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron Trentham or Tom Futtner, AD/CVD 
Enforcement, Group II, Office 4, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-
6320 or (202) 482-3814, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The Applicable Statute and Regulations

    Unless otherwise stated, all citations to the Tariff Act of 1930, 
as amended (the Act), are references to the provisions as of 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 references to the regulations of the Department are to 
19 CFR part 351 (2001).

Background

    In a letter dated September 27, 2001, DuPont Dow Elastomers L.L.C. 
(Dupont Dow) and DDE Japan advised the Department that in 1998, SDP was 
restructured. The production portion of SDP was renamed SDEM. Further, 
the marketing end of SDP's business was separated from SDEM and renamed 
DDE Japan. According to Dupont Dow and DDE Japan, these entities were 
renamed to reflect Dupont Dow's participation in the joint ventures and 
to make the companies more globally competitive. Nevertheless, like SDP 
and similar to Showa Neoprene, the two firms, SDEM and DDE Japan, 
remained jointly owned ventures of Dupont Dow and Showa Denko KK.
    On November 21, 2001, the Department published a notice of 
initiation and preliminary results of a changed circumstances review of 
the antidumping duty finding on polychloroprene rubber from Japan. See 
Preliminary Results. Interested parties were invited to comment on the 
preliminary results. On December 11, 2001, Dupont Dow Elastomers L.L.C. 
and DDE Japan Kabushiki Kaisha submitted comments. See Comments section 
below.

Scope of Review

    Imports covered by this review are shipments of polychloroprene 
rubber, an oil resistant synthetic rubber also known as polymerized 
chlorobutadiene or neoprene, currently classifiable under items 
4002.42.00, 4002.49.00, 4003.00.00, 4462.15.21 and 4462.00.00 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). HTSUS item 
numbers are provided for convenience and for U.S. Customs Service 
purposes. The written descriptions remain dispositive.

Successorship

    In making a successor-in-interest determination, the Department 
examines several factors including, but not limited to, changes in: (1) 
Management; (2) production facilities; (3) supplier relationships; and 
(4) customer base. See Brass Sheet and Strip from Canada: Notice of 
Final Results of Antidumping Administrative Review, 57 FR 20460, 20462 
(May 13, 1992) (Canadian Brass). While no one or several of these 
factors will necessarily provide a dispositive indication, the 
Department will generally consider the new company to be the successor 
to the previous company if its resulting operation is not materially 
dissimilar to that of its predecessor. See, e.g., Industrial Phosphoric 
Acid from Israel:

[[Page 59]]

Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 59 FR 6944, 6945 
(February 14, 1994) and Canadian Brass, 57 FR 20460. Therefore, if the 
evidence demonstrates that, with respect to the production and sale of 
the subject merchandise, the new company essentially operates as the 
same business entity as the former company, the Department will assign 
the new company the cash deposit rate of its predecessor.
    We have examined the information provided by Dupont Dow and DDE 
Japan in their September 27, 2001 letter and determined that SDEM and 
DDE Japan are the successor-in-interest companies to SDP and its 
predecessor, Showa Neoprene. The management, production facilities, 
supplier relationships, sales facilities and customer base are 
essentially unchanged from those of SDP, and before that, Showa 
Neoprene. Therefore, we determine that the new joint venture entities 
essentially operate in the same manner as the predecessor companies of 
SDP and Showa Neoprene.

Final Results of Review

    Based on our analysis in the Preliminary Results, we find that 
effective January 1, 1998, the restructured manufacturing and marketing 
joint ventures, SDEM and DDE Japan, are the successor-in-interest 
companies to Dupont Showa Denko (SDP) and its predecessor, Showa 
Neoprene. Further, SDEM and DDE Japan should be given the same 
antidumping duty treatment as SDP and its predecessor, Showa Neoprene, 
i.e., zero percent antidumping duty cash deposit rate.

Comment: Successorship Effective Date

    DuPont Dow and DDE Japan state that the final determination should 
explicitly indicate that, according to the facts on the record, SDEM 
and DDE Japan became the successor-in-interest companies to SDP and its 
predecessor, Showa Neoprene, effective January 1, 1998. Department's 
Position: We agree with DuPont Dow and DDE Japan and the effective date 
of January 1, 1998 is reflected in the Final Results of Review section 
below.

Cash Deposit

    The cash deposit determination from this changed circumstances 
review will apply to all entries of the subject merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of the final results of this changed circumstances review. 
This deposit rate shall remain in effect until publication of the final 
results of the next relevant administrative review. We will instruct 
the U.S. Customs Service accordingly.

Notification

    This notice also serves as a final reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (APOs) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Failure to timely notify 
the Department in writing of the return/destruction of APO material is 
a sanctionable violation.
    We are issuing these final results and notice in accordance with 
sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and Sec. 351.216 of the 
Department's regulations.

    Dated: December 21, 2001.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-32244 Filed 12-31-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P