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.

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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

Chimie de Base (Rhone Poulenc), a manufacturer/exporter of this

merchandise to the United States, and the period January 1, 1994

through December 31, 1994. The firm failed to submit a response to our

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

facts otherwise available for cash deposit and appraisement purposes.

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary

results.

Parties who submit argument in this proceeding are requested to

submit with each argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief

summary of the argument.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 8, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Ross 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 12, 1995, the Department published in the Federal

Register (60 FR 7995) a notice of ``Opportunity to Request an

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

France. On January 18, 1995, the petitioner, PQ Corporation, requested

an administrative review of Rhone Poulenc, a manufacturer/exporter of

this merchandise to the United States. We initiated the review on

February 15, 1995 (60 FR 8629). The Department is now conducting this

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

amended by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (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

classified 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, 1994

through December 31, 1994 (POR).

Use of Facts Otherwise Available

Following the initiation of this review, the Department sent Rhone

Poulenc, the only known manufacturer/exporter of this merchandise to

the United States, a questionnaire seeking information necessary to

conduct a review of any shipments that firm may have made to the United

States during the 1994 POR. Rhone Poulenc did not respond to the

questionnaire. Because necessary information is not available on the

record for the 1994 POR as a result of Rhone Poulenc withholding the

requested information, we must make our preliminary determination based

on facts otherwise available (section 776(a) of the Tariff Act).

The Department finds that, in not responding to the questionnaire,

Rhone Poulenc failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its

ability to comply with a request for information from the Department.

Therefore, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Tariff Act, we may, in

making our determination, use an adverse inference in selecting from

the facts otherwise available. This adverse inference may include

reliance on data derived from the petition, a previous determination in

an investigation or review, or any other information placed on record.

Accordingly, in this case, we preliminary assign to Rhone Poulenc a

margin of 60 percent, the margin calculated in the original

investigation using information provided by Rhone Poulenc (see

Anhydrous Sodium Metasilicate From France--Final Determination of Sales

at Less Than Fair Value, 45 FR 77498 (Nov. 24, 1980)).

Because the margin selected for this review is based on information

obtained in the course of an earlier segment of the proceeding, the

Department is required, pursuant to section 776(c) of the Tariff Act,

to corroborate this information to the extent practicable. This means

that the Department must satisfy itself that the secondary information

used has probative value (See Statement of Administrative Action

accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreement Act, published in H. Doc. 103-

106, 103d Cong., 2d Sess. at 870). In this case, the margin assigned to

Rhone Poulenc is credible and relevant because it is based on data from

the same producer to which the margin is being applied. This margin is

also credible because it is reasonable to believe that, had Rhone

Poulenc been selling in the United States at a lower margin of dumping,

it would have provided the requested information. Finally, it is

necessary to use this information because no other suitable information

is available. This is a case-specific determination. Cases

[[Page 9426]]

involving other circumstances may require other approaches to

corroboration.

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, 1994

through December 31, 1994.

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 briefs and

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(a0(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-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

manufacturers or exporters will be 60 percent.

Because this proceeding is governed by an antidumping duty order

(46 FR 1667, January 7, 1981), 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 (45 FR 77498, November

24, 1980).

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: February 28, 1996.

Paul L. Joffe,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 96-5425 Filed 3-7-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M