Amendment to Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination: Bicycles From the People's Republic of China

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

Amendment to Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair

Value and Postponement of Final Determination: Bicycles From the

People's Republic of China

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 13, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Terpstra or Katherine Johnson,

Office of Antidumping Investigations, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th

and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202)

482-3965 or (202) 482-4929, 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 Rounds Agreements Act (URAA).

Scope of Investigation

The product covered by this investigation is bicycles of all types,

whether assembled or unassembled, complete or incomplete, finished or

unfinished, including industrial bicycles, tandems, recumbents, and

folding bicycles. For purposes of this investigation, the following

definitions apply irrespective of any different definition that may be

found in Customs rulings, U.S. Customs law, or the Harmonized Tariff

Schedule of the United States (HTSUS): (1) The term ``unassembled''

means fully or partially unassembled or disassembled; (2) the term

``incomplete'' means lacking one or more parts or components with which

the complete bicycle is intended to be equipped; and (3) the term

``unfinished'' means wholly or partially unpainted or lacking decals or

other essentially aesthetic material. Specifically, this investigation

is intended to cover: (1) Any assembled complete bicycle, whether

finished or unfinished; (2) any unassembled complete bicycle, if

shipped in a single shipment, regardless of how it is packed and

whether it is finished or unfinished; and (3) any incomplete bicycle,

defined for purposes of this investigation as a frame, finished or

unfinished, whether or not assembled together with a fork, and imported

in the same shipment with any two of the following components: (a) The

rear wheel; (b) the front wheel; (c) a rear derailleur; (d) a front

derailleur; (e) any one caliper or cantilever brake; (f) an integrated

brake lever and shifter, or separate brake lever and click stick lever;

(g) crankset; (h) handlebars, with or without a stem; (i) chain; (j)

pedals; and (k) seat (saddle), with or without seat post and seat pin.

The scope of this investigation is not intended to cover bicycle

parts except to the extent that they are attached to or in the same

shipment as an unassembled complete bicycle or an incomplete bicycle,

as defined above.

Complete bicycles are classifiable under subheadings 8712.00.15,

8712.00.25, 8712.00.35, 8712.00.44, and 8712.00.48 of the 1995 HTSUS.

Incomplete bicycles, as defined above, may be classified for tariff

purposes under any of the aforementioned HTSUS subheadings covering

complete

[[Page 64017]]

bicycles or under HTSUS subheadings 8714.91.20-8714.99.80, inclusive

(covering various bicycle parts). The HTSUS subheadings are provided

for convenience and customs purposes. The written description of the

scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Case History

On November 1, 1995 (60 FR 56567, November 9, 1995), the Department

of Commerce (``the Department'') made its affirmative preliminary

determination of sales at less than fair value in the above-referenced

investigation. On November 7, 1994, we disclosed our calculations for

the preliminary determination to counsel for petitioners, counsel for

Bo-An Bike (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (``Bo-An''); CATIC Bicycle Co., Ltd.

(``CATIC''); China Bicycle Co. (Holdings) Ltd. (``CBC''); Giant China

Co., Ltd. (``Giant''); Hua Chin Bicycle (S.Z.) Co., Ltd. (``Hua

Chin''); Merida Bicycle (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (``Merida''); Shenzhen

Overlord Bicycle Co., Ltd. (``Overlord''); and Universal Cycle

Corporation (Guangzhou) (``UCC''), and counsel for Shun Lu Bicycle

Company (``Chitech''), respondents in this investigation.

On November 9 and 20, 1995, respondents alleged that ministerial

errors had occurred in the calculations and requested that these errors

be corrected and an amended preliminary determination be issued

reflecting these corrections. As discussed below, we find that most of

these errors constitute ministerial errors within the meaning of 19 CFR

353.28(d) (hereinafter ``ministerial errors'').

For all companies, we miscalculated factory overhead in three ways:

(1) We mistakenly used cumulative depreciation instead yearly

depreciation; (2) we inadvertently included factory overhead, packing

and certain SG&A expenses in the denominator of the calculation; and

(3) we misapplied the calculation formula to one company's financial

statements.

For CATIC and CBC, we inadvertently double-counted the value of

certain components. For Hua Chin, we miscalculated the factor valuation

for one component. For Merida, we miscalculated brokerage expenses and

double-counted certain other expenses. For Universal, we miscalculated

packing.

In preparing the recalculations for the ministerial errors

described above, we noted several minor unintentional errors in the

programming for Bo-An, CBC, Hua Chin, and UCC. These constitute

ministerial errors within the meaning of 19 CFR 353.28(d). Although not

noted by other parties, we are correcting these errors for those

companies whose calculations we are already revising. (See memorandum

from The Team to Barbara R. Stafford dated November 29, 1995.)

Amendment of Preliminary Determination

The Department has stated that it will amend a preliminary

determination only to correct for significant ministerial errors (i.e.,

corrections that result in a difference of 5 absolute percentage points

and that are at least 25 percent greater or less than the preliminary

margin, and corrections resulting in a margin of zero or de minimis).

(See Notice of Amended Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less than

Fair Value: Disposable Lighters from the People's Republic of China, 60

FR 9008 (February 16, 1995), Notice of Amended Preliminary

Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value: Fresh Cut Roses from

Colombia, 59 FR 51554 (October 12, 1994), and Amendment to Preliminary

Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value: Sweaters Wholly or in

Chief Weight of Man-Made Fiber from Hong Kong, 55 FR 19289 (May 9,

1990).)

Given the facts of this investigation, as noted above, the

Department hereby amends its preliminary determination to correct for

the ministerial errors involved for Hua Chin, Merida, Overlord, and

UCC, since the correction of the ministerial errors results in de

minimis or zero margins for those companies.

We are not amending the preliminary margins of Chitech and CBC

because the corrections of the ministerial errors do not result in a

difference of five absolute percentage points from the preliminary

margin rates, nor do they result in de minimis margins.

Finally, we are not amending the preliminary margins of Bo-An,

CATIC, and Giant because those companies were preliminarily found not

to be selling at less than fair value. (See memorandum from The Team to

Barbara R. Stafford dated November 29, 1995, for a detailed discussion

of the ministerial error allegations and the Department's analysis).

The revised estimated margins are as follows:

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

Weighted-average margin

Manufacturer/producer/exporter percentage

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

Bo-An..................................... 0.00.

CATIC..................................... 0.00.

Giant..................................... 0.00.

Hua Chin.................................. 1.56 (de minimis).

Merida.................................... 0.00.

CBC....................................... 5.69.

Overlord.................................. 1.54 (de minimis).

Chitech................................... 5.29.

UCC....................................... 0.55 (de minimis).

PRC-Wide Rate............................. 61.67.

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

The PRC-Wide rate applies to all entries of subject merchandise

except for entries from exporters/factories that are identified

individually above.

Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, the Department

will direct the U.S. Customs Service to continue to require a cash

deposit or posting of a bond for all entries of subject merchandise

from the PRC for CBC and Chitech that are entered, or withdrawn from

warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this

notice in the Federal Register. The Department will direct the U.S.

Customs Service to terminate suspension of liquidation for Merida,

Overlord, UCC, and Hua Chin. Furthermore, any entries by Merida,

Overlord, UCC, and Hua Chin which were suspended as a result of the

preliminary determination will be liquidated. The ``PRC-Wide'' rate

established in the preliminary determination remains the same. The

suspension of liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.

ITC Notification

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

ITC of the amended preliminary determination.

Postponement of Final Determination

On November 6 and 9, 1995, respondents representing a significant

proportion of exports to the United States of subject merchandise

requested a 60-day postponement of the final determination, in

accordance with 19 U.S.C. section 1673d(a)(2) and 19 CFR 353.20(b).

Pursuant to 19 CFR 353.20(b), because our preliminary determination is

affirmative, and no compelling reasons for denial exist, we are

postponing the date of the final determination. Because of the federal

government shutdown, the date of the final determination will be

extended by an additional six days, the number of days of the shutdown,

to March 29, 1996.

The deadline for interested parties to submit additional publicly

available information concerning surrogate values is February 13, 1996.

Rebuttal comments on this information must be submitted no later than

February 23, 1996.

The revised deadlines for submitting case briefs and rebuttal

briefs are March 1, 1996, and March 8, 1996,

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respectively. On November 20, 1995, petitioners requested that a

hearing be held. At this time the hearing is scheduled for March 12,

1996, the time and place to be determined, at the U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20230. Parties should confirm by telephone the time, date, and place of

the hearing 48 hours before the scheduled time.

This notice is published pursuant to section 733(f) of the Act and

19 CFR 353.15(a)(4).

Dated: December 4, 1995.

Susan G. Esserman,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 95-30276 Filed 12-12-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P