Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Steel Wire Rod From Belgium

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[A-423-807]

Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Steel

Wire Rod From Belgium

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 13, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Grebasch or Erik Warga, Office

of Antidumping Investigations, Import Administration, U.S. Department

of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20230; telephone (202) 482-3773 or (202) 482-0922.

Preliminary Determination

We preliminarily determine that imports of steel wire rod from

Belgium are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at

less than fair value, as provided in section 733 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

Since the initiation of this investigation on March 7, 1994, (59 FR

11773, March 14, 1994), the following events have occurred:

On March 31, 1994, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)

issued an affirmative preliminary injury determination in this case.

On April 7, 1994, the Department issued an antidumping duty

questionnaire to Forges de Thy-Marcinelle (``Thy-Marcinelle'') for the

investigation. The questionnaire had four sections: section A,

requesting general information; section B, requesting information on

U.S. sales; section C, requesting information on home market sales; and

section D, requesting information on cost of production and constructed

value. In that same month, the Department presented the antidumping

duty questionnaire to Thy-Marcinelle, because it represented at least

60 percent of exports to the United States during the POI.

On April 22, 1994, Thy-Marcinelle requested a two-week extension

for filing the response to the Department's questionnaire. The

Department granted this extension request.

In May 1994, Thy-Marcinelle notified the Department that it would

not be participating in this investigation.

Scope of Investigation

The products covered by this investigation are hot-rolled carbon

steel and alloy steel wire rod, in coils, of approximately round cross

section, between 0.20 and 0.75 inches in solid cross-sectional

diameter. The following products are excluded from this investigation:

Free-machining steel containing 0.03% or more of lead,

0.05% or more of bismuth, 0.08% or more of sulfur, more than 0.4% of

phosphorus, more than 0.05% of selenium, and/or more than 0.01% of

tellurium;

Wire rod, which is 5.5 mm or less in diameter, with

tensile strength greater than or equal to 1040 Mega-Pascals (MPa), and

the following chemical content, by weight: carbon greater than or equal

to 0.79 percent, aluminum less than or equal to 0.005 percent,

phosphorous plus sulfur less than or equal to 0.040 percent and

nitrogen less than or equal to 0.006 percent;

Wire rod, which is 7.9 to 18.0 mm in diameter, containing

0.48 to 0.73 percent carbon by weight and certified as having partial

decarburization and seams no more than 0.075 mm in depth; and

Stainless steel rods, tool steel rods, ball bearing steel

and deformed concrete reinforcing bars (as defined in the Harmonized

Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)).

The products under investigation are currently classifiable under

subheadings 7213.31.3000, 7213.31.6000, 7213.39.0030, 7213.39.0090,

7213.41.3000, 7213.41.6000, 7213.49.0030, 7213.49.0090, 7213.50.0020,

7213.50.0040, 7213.50.0080, 7227.20.000, 7227.90.6000, and 7227.90.6050

of the HTSUS. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for

convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope

of this investigation is dispositive.

Period of Investigation

The period of investigation is September 1, 1993, through February

28, 1994.

Such or Similar Comparisons

We have determined that the merchandise covered by this

investigation constitutes a single category of ``such or similar''

merchandise.

Best Information Available

Because Thy-Marcinelle failed to respond to our questionnaire, we

based our determination on best information available (BIA) pursuant to

section 776(c) of the Act which provides that the Department shall use

BIA when a party refuses to provide requested information.

In determining what rate to use as BIA, the Department follows a

two-tiered methodology, whereby the Department normally assigns lower

margins to those respondents who cooperated in an investigation and

margins based on more adverse assumptions for those respondents who did

not cooperate in an investigation. According to the Department's two-

tiered BIA methodology outlined in the Final Determination of Sales at

Less Than Fair Value: Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products,

Certain Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products, and Certain Cut-to-

Length Carbon Steel Plate From Belgium, 58 FR 37083 (July 9, 1993),

when a company refuses to provide the information requested in the form

required, or otherwise significantly impedes the Department's

investigation, it is appropriate for the Department to assign to that

company the higher of (1) The highest margin alleged in the petition,

or (2) the highest calculated rate of any respondent in the

investigation. (See Allied Signal Aerospace Co. v. United States, 996

F. 2d 1185, 1191-92 (Fed. Cir. 1993).) Because there were no

cooperative respondents in this investigation, we are assigning to all

exporters, as BIA, a margin of 52.34 percent, the highest margin

calculated in the petition (adjusted for methodological errors as

explained in the initiation notice).

Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 733(d)(1) of the Act, we are directing

the Customs Service to suspend liquidation of all entries of steel wire

rod from Belgium 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 preliminary dumping margin, as

shown below. The suspension of liquidation will remain in effect until

further notice.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Margin

Manufacturer/producer/exporter percentage

------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Companies............................................... 52.34

------------------------------------------------------------------------

ITC Notification

In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the

ITC of our determination. 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 before the later of

120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days

after our final determination.

Public Comment

In accordance with 19 CFR 353.38, case briefs or other written

comments in at least ten copies must be submitted to the Assistant

Secretary for Import Administration no later than June 28, 1994, and

rebuttal briefs, no later than July 1, 1994. In accordance with 19 CFR

353.38(b), we will hold a public hearing, if requested, to afford

interested parties an opportunity to comment on arguments raised in

case or rebuttal briefs. Tentatively, the hearing will be held on July

7, 1994, at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Department of Commerce, room 3708, 14th

Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230. Parties

should confirm by telephone the time, date, and place of the hearing 48

hours before the scheduled time.

Interested parties who wish to request a hearing, or to participate

if one is requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant

Secretary for Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room

B-099, within ten days of the publication of this notice. Requests

should contain: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone number;

(2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to be

discussed. In accordance with 19 CFR 353.38(b), oral presentations will

be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If this investigation

proceeds normally, we will make our final determination within 75 days

of the signing of this preliminary determination.

This determination is published pursuant to section 733(f) of the

Act and 19 CFR 353.15(a)(4).

Dated: June 6, 1994.

Susan G. Esserman,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 94-14311 Filed 6-10-94; 8:45 am]

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