Certain Forged Stainless Steel Flanges From India; Preliminary Results of New Shipper Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-809]

Certain Forged Stainless Steel Flanges From India; Preliminary

Results of New Shipper Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of new shipper antidumping duty

administrative reviews.

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SUMMARY: In response to requests by two manufacturer/exporters, Isibars

Ltd. (Isibars) and Patheja Forgings and Auto Parts Ltd. (Patheja), the

Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting new shipper

administrative reviews of the antidumping duty order on certain forged

stainless steel flanges (flanges) from India. The review covers sales

during the period September 1, 1995 through February 29, 1996. We have

preliminarily determined that Isibars sold subject merchandise at not

less than normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR), and that

Patheja has a dumping margin of 4.80%. Interested parties are invited

to comment on these preliminary results. Parties who submit argument in

this proceeding are requested to submit with the argument (1) a

statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 25, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Killiam or John Kugelman,

Office of AD/CVD Enforcement, Group III, Import Administration,

International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th

Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20230; telephone:

(202) 482-2704 or 482-0649, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute and Regulations

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 Round Agreements Act (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise

indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are to the

current regulations, as amended by the interim regulations published in

the Federal Register on May 11, 1995 (60 FR 25130).

Background

Isibars, by letters dated February 29, April 12, and April 22,

1996, and Patheja, by a letter dated February 28, 1996, each requested

a new shipper review pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act and

section 353.22(h) of the Department's interim regulations, which govern

determinations of antidumping duties for new shippers. These provisions

state that, among other requirements, a producer or exporter requesting

a new shipper review must include with its request the date on which

the merchandise was first entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for

consumption, or, if it cannot certify as to the date of first entry,

the date on which it first shipped the merchandise for export to the

United States (interim regulations, section 353.22(h)(2)(i)).

Neither respondent was able to provide the shipment date at the

time of their requests for review because the shipments had not yet

occurred. However, both companies did certify that the shipments were

imminent. Based on the information which the respondents provided in

their requests we determined that the requirements cited above were

adequately fulfilled. The respondents later provided the shipment dates

in their questionnaire responses.

On May 6, 1996, the Department published a notice of initiation

these new shipper reviews of Isibars and Patheja (61 FR 20223). The

Department is now conducting these reviews in accordance with section

751 of the Act and section 353.22 of its interim regulations.

Scope of the Reviews

The products covered by this order are certain forged stainless

steel flanges both finished and not finished, generally manufactured to

specification ASTM A-182, and made in alloys such as 304, 304L, 316,

and 316L. The scope includes five general types of flanges. They are

weld neck, used for butt-weld line connection; threaded, used for

threaded line connections; slip-on and lap joint, used with stub-ends/

butt-weld line connections; socket weld, used to fit pipe into a

machined recession; and blind, used to seal off a line. The sizes of

the flanges within the scope range generally from one to six inches;

however, all sizes of the above-described merchandise are included in

the scope. Specifically excluded from the scope of this order are cast

stainless steel flanges. Cast stainless steel flanges generally are

manufactured to specification ASTM A-351. The flanges subject to this

order are currently classifiable under subheadings 7307.21.1000 and

7307.21.5000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

(HTSUS). The HTSUS

[[Page 59862]]

subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes. The

written description of the scope of this order remains dispositive.

The reviews cover two Indian manufacturers/exporters, Isibars and

Patheja, and the period September 1, 1995 through February 29, 1996.

Export Price (EP)

We used EP, in accordance with section 772(a) of the Act, based on

the price from the respondents because the sales were made prior to

importation into the United States, and constructed export price was

not otherwise indicated.

We based date of sale on the date of the purchase order, because

respondents have provided clear evidence that sale terms were agreed to

in writing in the purchase order. Moreover, because respondents

produced the subject merchandise to order, renegotiation of material

terms was unlikely.

In accordance with section 772(c)(2) of the Act, we made

deductions, where appropriate, for movement expenses, which were

comprised of customs brokerage and handling expenses, home market

inland freight, international freight, and insurance. No other

adjustments were claimed or allowed.

Normal Value (NV)

A. Viability

For Isibars, in order to determine whether there was a sufficient

volume of sales in the home market to serve as a viable basis for

calculating NV, we compared Isibars--volume of home market sales of the

foreign like product to the volume of U.S. sales of the subject

merchandise, in accordance with section 773(a)(1)(C) of the Act.

Because Isibars--aggregate volume of home market sales of the foreign

like product was greater than five percent of its aggregate volume of

U.S. sales of the subject merchandise, we determined that the home

market provides a viable basis for calculating NV.

Patheja had no domestic or third country sales of flanges during

the POR. Therefore, in accordance with section 773(a)(4) of the Act, we

used constructed value for comparison with EP.

B. Level of Trade

As set forth in section 773(a)(1)(B)(i) of the Act and in the

Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) accompanying the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act, at 829-831, to the extent practicable, the Department

will calculate NV based on sales at the same level of trade (LOT) as

the U.S. sales. Isibars did not request an adjustment for LOT. To

ensure that no such adjustment was necessary, we requested and examined

information on the selling activities associated with each phase of

marketing in each of Isibars's markets; since there were no differences

in such selling activities in either market, and since all sales in

both markets were at a single LOT, we compared sales at this sole LOT.

C. Constructed Value (CV)

For Patheja, in accordance with section 773(e) of the Act, we

calculated CV based on Patheja's cost of materials and fabrication

employed in producing the subject merchandise, selling, general and

administrative expenses (SG&A) incurred in connection with the

production and sale of the foreign like product, credit expenses on

U.S. sales, and U.S. packing costs. We used the costs of materials,

fabrication, SG&A, and profit as reported in the CV portion of

Patheja's questionnaire response. We based Patheja's profits on the

amounts it realized in connection with the production and sale in India

of merchandise in the same general category of products as the subject

merchandise, in accordance with Section 773(e)(1)(B) of the Act. Since

payment had not been made, in calculating credit expenses on Patheja's

U.S. sale, we used the number of days between shipment from the factory

and the date of the supplemental questionnaire response, the latest

date for which we have information on the record concerning the sale in

question. We used the U.S. packing costs reported in the U.S. sales

portion of Patheja's questionnaire response.

D. Price-to-Price Comparisons

For Isibars, for price-to-price comparisons, we based NV on the

prices at which the foreign like products were first sold for

consumption in the home market to an unaffiliated party, in the usual

commercial quantities, in the ordinary course of trade, and at the same

level of trade as the EP, in accordance with section 773(a)(1)(B) of

the Act. Isibars made all home market and EP sales of subject

merchandise at the same level of trade.

Pursuant to section 777A(d)(2) of the Act, for Isibars we compared

the EPs of individual U.S. transactions to the average prices of

contemporaneous sales of the foreign like product. We calculated NV

based on FOB factory as reported. There were no packing costs on home

market sales. Prices were reported net of value-added taxes (VAT) and,

therefore, no adjustment for VAT was necessary. We made circumstance-

of-sale adjustments, where appropriate, for differences in credit

expenses. We added U.S. packing expenses to Isibars' home market

prices. No other adjustments were claimed or allowed.

Preliminary Results of the Reviews

As a result of our comparison of EP to NV, we preliminarily

determine that the following weighted-average dumping margins exist:

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

Margin

Manufacturer/exporter Period percent

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

Isibars.................................... 9/1/95-2/29/96 0.00

Patheja.................................... 9/1/95-2/29/96 4.80

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

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. Any hearing, if

requested, will be held 34 days after the date of publication, or the

first workday thereafter. Case briefs from interested parties may be

submitted not later than 20 days after the date of publication.

Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be

filed not later than 27 days after the date of publication. Parties who

submit argument in this proceeding are requested to submit with the

argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the

argument. The Department will issue the final results of the new

shipper administrative reviews, including the results of its analysis

of issues raised in any case or rebuttal briefs, within 90 days of

issuance of these preliminary results.

Upon completion of these new shipper reviews, the Department will

issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service. The

results of these reviews shall be the basis for the assessment of

antidumping duties on entries of merchandise sold during the POR and

covered by the determination and for future deposits of estimated

duties.

Furthermore, upon completion of these reviews, the posting of a

bond or security in lieu of a cash deposit, pursuant to section

751(a)(2)(B)(iii) of the Act and section 353.22(h)(4) of the

Department's interim regulations, will no longer be permitted and,

should the final results yield a margin of dumping, a cash deposit will

be required for each entry of the merchandise. The following deposit

requirements will be effective upon publication of the final results of

these new shipper antidumping duty administrative reviews for all

shipments of flanges from India manufactured by Isibars or Patheja,

entered, or withdrawn

[[Page 59863]]

from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as

provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rate for

the reviewed companies will be those established in the final results

of these new shipper administrative reviews; (2) for exporters not

covered in these reviews, 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 these

reviews, 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 manufacturers or exporters will

continue to be 162.14 percent, the all others rate established in the

LTFV investigation (59 FR 5994, February 9, 1994).

These requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until

publication of the final results of the next administrative reviews.

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.

These new shipper administrative reviews and this notice are in

accordance with section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act (19 U.S.C.

1675(a)(2)(B)) and 19 CFR 353.22(h).

Dated: November 1, 1996.

Robert S. LaRussa,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 96-30044 Filed 11-22-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P