Anhydrous Sodium Metasilicate From France; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-427-098]

Anhydrous Sodium Metasilicate From France; Preliminary Results of

Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

agency: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

action: Notice of preliminary results of Antidumping Duty

Administrative Review.

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

summary: In response to a request by the petitioner, the PQ

Corporation, the Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting

an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on anhydrous

sodium metasilicate (ASM) from France. This review covers Rhone Poulenc

Chime DeBase (Rhone Poulenc), a manufacturer/exporter of this

merchandise to the United States, and the period January 1, 1993

through December 31, 1993. The firm failed to submit a timely response

to our questionnaire. As a result, we have preliminarily determined to

use best information available for cash deposit and appraisement

purposes.

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary

results.

effective date: October 20, 1994.

for further information contact: Joseph A. Fargo or Richard Rimlinger,

Office of Antidumping Compliance, Import Administration, International

Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-

4733.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On January 5, 1994, the Department published in the Federal

Register (59 FR 564) a notice of ``Opportunity to Request an

Administrative Review'' of the antidumping duty order on ASM from

France. On January 24, 1994, the petitioner, the PQ Corporation,

requested an administrative review of Rhone Poulenc, a manufacturer/

exporter of this merchandise to the United States. We initiated the

review, covering the period January 1, 1993, through December 31, 1993,

on March 14, 1994 (59 FR 11769). The Department is now conducting this

review in accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as

amended (the Tariff Act).

Scope of the Review

Imports covered by the review are shipments of ASM, a crystallized

silicate (Na2 SiO3) which is alkaline and readily soluble in

water. Applications include waste paper de-inking, ore-flotation,

bleach stabilization, clay processing, medium or heavy duty cleaning,

and compounding into other detergent formulations. This merchandise is

classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedules (HTS) item numbers

2839.11.00 and 2839.19.00. The HTS item numbers are provided for

convenience and Customs purposes. The written description remains

dispositive.

The review covers Rhone Poulenc and the period January 1, 1993

through December 31, 1993.

Use of Best Information Available

We mailed the antidumping questionnaire to Rhone Poulenc, the only

manufacturer/exporter of this merchandise to the United States. Rhone

Poulenc failed to submit a timely response to our questionnaire. The

Department has therefore decided to use the best information available

(BIA) in determining the rate for this firm.

When a company fails to provide the information requested in a

timely manner, or otherwise significantly impedes the Department's

review, the Department considers the company uncooperative and

generally assigns to that company the higher of: (1) the highest rate

assigned to any company in a previous review or the investigation or

(2) the highest rate for a responding company with shipments during the

review period. See 19 CFR 353.37(b) and Final Results of Antidumping

Duty Administrative Review Portable Electric Typewriters from Japan

(November 4, 1991, 56 FR 56393). In this case, for BIA, we assigned to

Rhone Poulenc a margin of 60 percent, the highest rate from a prior

review. See Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,

Anhydrous Sodium Metasilicate from France (52 FR 33856, September 8,

1987).

Preliminary Results of the Review

As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that a margin

of 60 percent exists for Rhone Poulenc for the period January 1, 1993

through December 31, 1993.

Parties to the proceeding may request disclosure within five days

of the date of publication of this notice. Any interested party may

request a hearing within 10 days of publication. Case briefs and/or

written comments from interested parties may be submitted not later

than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal brief sand

rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues raised in the case

briefs and comments, may be filed not later than 37 days after the date

of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 44 days after

the date of publication, or the first workday thereafter. The

Department will publish the final results of the administrative review,

including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any such

written comments or at a hearing.

Upon completion of this administrative review, the Department will

issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service.

Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective

upon publication of the final results of administrative review for all

shipments of ASM from France, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for

consumption on or after the publication date, as provided by section

751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for the reviewed

company will be that established in the final results of this

administrative review; (2) for exporters not covered in this review,

but covered in previous reviews or the original less-than-fair-value

(LTFV) investigation, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the

company-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the

exporter is not a firm covered in this review, previous reviews, or the

original LTFV investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit

rate will be that established for the most recent period for the

manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all

other manufactures or exporters will be 60 percent. On May 25, 1993,

the Court of International trade in Floral Trade Council v. United

States, 822 F. Supp 766 (1993), and Federal-Mogul Corporation and

Terrington Company v. United States, 822 F. Supp. 822 (1993),

determined that once an ``all others'' rate is established for a

company, it can only be changed through an administrative review. The

Department has determined that in order to implement these decisions it

is appropriate to maintain the original ``all others'' rate from the

LTFV investigation or that rate as amended for correction of clerical

errors or as a result of litigation in proceedings governed by

antidumping duty orders for the purposes of establishing cash deposits

in all current and future administrative reviews.

Because this proceeding is governed by an antidumping duty order,

the ``all others'' rate for the purposes of this review will be 60

percent, the ``all others'' rate established in the final notice of the

LTFV investigation (46 FR 1667, January 7, 1981).

These requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until

publication of the final results of the next administrative review.

This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their

responsibility under 19 CFR 353.26 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 double antidumping duties.

This administrative review and notice are in accordance with

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

353.22.

Dated: October 5, 1994.

Susan G. Esserman,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 94-26055 Filed 10-19-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M