Notice of Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Brass Sheet and Strip From Canada

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-122-601]

Notice of Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty

Administrative Review: Brass Sheet and Strip From Canada

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty

Administrative Review.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: January 4, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paige Rivas or James Terpstra, Office

of Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Enforcement, Office Four, Group II,

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.

Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0651 or 482-3965,

respectively.

Applicable Statute and Regulations

Unless otherwise stated, all citations to the Tariff Act of 1930,

as amended (the Act) are references to the provisions effective 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 Department's regulations are to 19 CFR

part 351 (1998).

Amendment to Final Results

On August 9, 1999, the Department determined that sales of brass

sheet and strip from Canada were made at less than normal value during

the 1997 period of review. This review covers one respondent, Wolverine

Tube Inc. (Wolverine). See Brass Sheet and Strip from Canada: Final

Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Notice of Intent

Not To Revoke Order in Part, 64 FR 46344 (August 25, 1999).

On August 18, 1999, the petitioners, (Hussey Copper, Ltd.; The

Miller Company; Olin Corporation; Revere Copper Products, Inc.;

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers;

International Union-Allied Industrial Workers of America (AFL-CIO);

Mechanics Educational Society of America (Local 56), and United

Steelworkers of America), timely filed an allegation that the

Department had made several clerical errors in the final margin

computer program. Petitioners requested that we correct the errors and

publish a notice of amended final determination in the Federal

Register. See 19 CFR 351.224(e). Petitioners' submission alleges the

following errors:

The Department overstated the reduction to Wolverine's

cost of manufacture to eliminate potential double-counting of

Wolverine's warranty expense. This reduction to Wolverine's cost of

manufacture occurred when the Department agreed with Wolverine's claim

that ``a portion of the warranty expenses associated with the

manufacturing costs of re-working defective merchandise is already

included in the reported COP and that the inclusion of such costs in

warranty expenses would result in double-counting.'' See Final Results

Analysis Memo, Eleventh Administrative Review 1/1/97-12/31/97

(``Analysis Memo'') at 4. As a result, the Department reduced ``the

reported COP expenses to account for these costs'' to ``avoid double

counting.'' Id. According to petitioners, the overstatement of the

reduction to Wolverine's cost of manufacture occurred because the

Department calculated an adjustment factor by dividing Wolverine's

total variable warranty expense by Wolverine's total labor and overhead

costs (excluding the cost of materials), and applied this adjustment

factor to Wolverine's total cost of manufacture (including cost of

materials). The adjustment factor derived from Wolverine's labor and

overhead costs should have been applied only to Wolverine's total labor

and overhead costs to yield the correct amount of the adjustment to

Wolverine's total cost of manufacture. Instead, the Department applied

the adjustment factor to the sum of fabrication cost and metal cost in

its final margin calculation program and overstated the reduction to

Wolverine's cost of manufacture.

The Department failed to correct a width for one of

Wolverine's U.S. sales that the Department acknowledged in its Final

Results of Review to be incorrect. See 64 FR at 46345 (Comment 2).

The Department failed to include in its final margin

program the exchange losses associated with its accounts

[[Page 280]]

payable and reported in the new computer field EXCHNG provided by

Wolverine to the Department on March 25, 1999. Petitioner states that

the Department should add the computer field EXCHNG to the revised cost

of production (RCOP). Wolverine added a new computer field EXCHNG to

its COP and CV databases for exchange losses associated with its

accounts payable to include additional costs that were not reported in

the original computer field TOTCOM. Wolverine did include these

additional costs in the computer field for revised TOTCOM (RTOTCOM).

However, because the Department started its cost calculations using the

original computer field TOTCOM, the additional costs included in EXCHNG

were not included in the Department's final margin analysis.

Wolverine did not comment on the clerical error allegations.

After reviewing the petitioners' allegations, we have determined,

in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224, that the final results includes the

above-mentioned clerical errors. Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR

351.224(e), we are amending the final results of the antidumping duty

review of brass sheet and strip from Canada. The revised dumping margin

is listed below.

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Margin

Exporter/producer percentage

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Wolverine................................................. 0.83

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In addition, we note that the assessment instructions in the

original final results of review misstated the way in which the

assessment rates were calculated. Therefore, this amended final results

of review provides the corrected formulation given below.

The Department shall determine, and the U.S. Customs Service

(Customs) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries.

We will issue importer-specific appraisement instructions to Customs.

For assessment purposes, we have calculated importer-specific ad

valorem duty assessment rates for the merchandise based on the ratio of

the total amount of dumping duties calculated for the examined sales to

the entered value of sales used to calculate those duties. This notice

serves as a final reminder to importers of their responsibility under

19 CFR 351.402(f) 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 doubled antidumping

duties.

We are issuing and publishing this determination in accordance with

section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)), 19 CFR 351.213,

and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(5).

Dated: December 27, 1999.

Holly A. Kuga,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 00-28 Filed 1-3-00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P