Initiation of Changed Circumstances Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews: Leather From Argentina, Wool From Argentina, Oil Country Tubular Goods From Argentina, and Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat-Rolled Products From Argentina

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-357-803, C-357-403, C-357-002, C-357-005]

Initiation of Changed Circumstances Countervailing Duty

Administrative Reviews: Leather From Argentina, Wool From Argentina,

Oil Country Tubular Goods From Argentina, and Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel

Flat-Rolled Products From Argentina

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Initiation of changed circumstances countervailing duty

administrative reviews: Leather from Argentina, wool from Argentina,

oil country tubular goods from Argentina, and cold-rolled carbon steel

flat-rolled products from Argentina.

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SUMMARY: On September 6, 1995, the Court of Appeals for the Federal

Circuit, in a case involving imports of Mexican ceramic tile, ruled

that, absent an injury determination by the International Trade

Commission (ITC), the Department of Commerce (the Department) may not

assess countervailing duties under 19 U.S.C. 1303(a)(1) (1988; repealed

1994) on entries of dutiable merchandise which occurred after April 23,

1985, the date Mexico became ``a country under the Agreement.''

Ceramica Regiomontana v. U.S., Court No. 95-1026 (Fed. Cir., Sept. 6,

1995) (Ceramica).

Argentina attained the status of ``a country under the Agreement''

on September 20, 1991. Therefore, in consideration of the Ceramica

decision, we are initiating changed circumstances administrative

reviews of the countervailing duty orders on leather, wool, oil country

tubular goods (OCTG), and cold-rolled carbon steel flat-rolled products

from Argentina, which were in effect when Argentina became a country

under the Agreement. These orders, which were issued under 19 U.S.C.

1303, have entries that have not yet been liquidated. Other Argentine

orders that were in effect at the time Argentina became a country under

the Agreement have since been revoked and all entries liquidated.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 2, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Albright or Cameron Cardozo,

Office of Countervailing Compliance, Import Administration,

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

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

(202) 482-2786.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On September 6, 1995, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

ruled that the Department may not assess countervailing duties under

section 19 U.S.C. 1303(a)(1) on entries from Mexico of dutiable

merchandise which occurred after April 23, 1985, the effective date of

Mexico's Bilateral Agreement with the U.S. through which Mexico became

a ``country under the Agreement.'' (Ceramica at 8). After Mexico became

a ``country under the Agreement,'' the only provision under which the

Department could continue to impose countervailing duties was 19 U.S.C.

1671(a)(1988), as amended by Uruguay Round Agreements Act (1994), which

requires the ITC to conduct an injury determination. 19 U.S.C.

1671(a)(2). The ITC never conducted an injury investigation regarding

imports to the United States of Mexican ceramic tile. As a result, the

Department amended the previous revocation of the order on Ceramic Tile

from Mexico to make the revocation effective April 23, 1985, rather

than January 1, 1995, in

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recognition of the Ceramica decision (61 FR 6630; February 21, 1996).

The effective date of Argentina's bilateral agreement with the

United States, under which it attained the status of a ``country under

the Agreement,'' is September 20, 1991. To date, the ITC has not

conducted injury investigations regarding imports to the United States

of Argentine OCTG, leather, wool, or cold-rolled carbon steel flat-

rolled products. Therefore, the Department is conducting this review to

determine whether it has the authority to assess countervailing duties

on entries of these products occurring after September 20, 1991.

The Department is currently conducting administrative reviews of

the order on OCTG covering the 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994 review

periods. For the order on cold-rolled carbon steel flat-rolled

products, the Department is currently conducting reviews of the 1991,

1992, and 1993 review periods. There are no current reviews of leather

and wool.

Previously, all of these countervailing duty orders were determined

to be subject to section 753 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (as amended by

the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994) (``the Act''). Countervailing

Duty Order; Opportunity to Request a Section 753 Injury Investigation,

60 FR 27,963 (May 26, 1995). For the order on cold-rolled carbon steel

flat-rolled products, because no domestic interested parties exercised

their right under section 753(a) of the Act to request an injury

investigation, the ITC made a negative injury determination with

respect to the order, pursuant to section 753(b)(4) of the Act, and the

Department revoked this countervailing duty order, effective January 1,

1995, pursuant to section 753(b)(3)(B) of the Act.

Revocation of Countervailing Duty Orders, 60 FR 40,568 (August 9,

1995). For each of the orders on OCTG, leather, and wool, a domestic

interested party requested an injury investigation pursuant to section

753(a) of the Act. Therefore, these orders are still in effect pending

the outcome of the ITC's injury investigation and entries covered by

the orders are subject to the following cash deposit rates: OCTG, zero;

leather, 8.02 percent to 24.16 percent; and Wool, 6.23 percent.

Scope of the Reviews

OCTG

Imports covered by this review include shipments of Argentine oil

country tubular goods. Oil country tubular goods include hollow steel

products of circular cross-section intended for use in the drilling of

oil or gas and oil well casing, tubing and drill pipe or carbon or

alloy steel, whether welded or seamless, manufactured to either

American Petroleum Institute (API) or proprietary specifications. The

scope covers both finished and unfinished OCTG. The products covered in

this review are provided for under item numbers of the Harmonized

Tariff Schedule (HTS): 7304.20.20, 7304.20.40, 7304.20.50, 7304.20.60,

7304.20.80, 7304.39.00, 7304.51.50, 7304.20.70, 7304.59.60, 7304.59.80,

7304.90.70, 7305.20.40, 7305.20.60, 7305.20.80, 7305.31.40, 7305.31.60,

7305.39.10, 7305.39.50, 7305.90.10, 7305.90.50, 7306.20.20, 7306.20.30,

7306.20.40, 7306.20.60, 7306.20.80, 7306.30.50, 7306.50.50, 7306.60.70,

7306.90.10. The HTS subheadings are provided for convenience and

Customs purposes. The written description remains dispositive.

Wool

Imports covered by these reviews include shipments of Argentine

wool finer than 44s and not on the skin. These products are provided

for under item numbers of the HTS: 5101.11.60, 5101.19.60, 5101.21.40,

and 5101.29.40. The HTS subheadings are provided for convenience and

Customs purposes. The written description remains dispositive.

Leather

Imports covered by these reviews include shipments of Argentine

leather. The types of leather that are covered include bovine

(excluding upper and lining leather not exceeding 28 square feet,

buffalo leather, and upholstery leather), sheep (excluding vegetable

pretanned sheep and lambskin leather), swine, reptile (excluding

vegetable pretanned and not fancy reptile leather), patent leather,

calf and kip patent laminated, and metalized leather. Leather is an

animal skin that has been subjected to certain treatment to make it

serviceable and resistant to decomposition. It is used in the footwear,

clothing, furniture and other industries. The types of leather included

within the scope are currently classified under HTS item numbers

4104.10.60, 4104.10.80, 4104.21.00, 4104.22.00, 4104.29.50, 4104.29.90,

4104.31.50, 4104.31.60, 4104.31.80, 4104.39.50, 4104.39.60, 4104.39.80,

4105.12.00, 4105.19.00, 4105.20.30, 4105.20.60, 4107.10.00, 4107.29.60,

4107.90.30, 4107.90.60, 4109.00.30, 4109.00.40, and 4109.00.70. The HTS

subheadings are provided for convenience and Customs purposes. The

written description remains dispositive.

Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat-Rolled Products

Imports covered by these reviews include shipments of Argentine

cold-rolled carbon steel flat-rolled products, whether or not

corrugated or crimped; whether or not painted or varnished and whether

or not pickled; not cut, not pressed, and not stamped to non-

rectangular shape; not coated or plated with metal; over 12 inches in

width and under 0.1875 inches in thickness whether or not in coils; as

currently provided for under the following item numbers of the HTS:

7209.11.00, 7209.12.00, 7209.13.00, 7209.14.00, 7209.21.00, 7209.22.00,

7209.23.00, 7209.24.00, 7209.31.00, 7209.32.00, 7209.33.00, 7209.34.00,

7209.41.00, 7209.42.00, 7209.43.00, 7209.44.00, 7209.90.00, 7210.70.00,

7211.30.50, 7211.41.70, 7211.49.50, 7211.90.00, 7212.40.50. The HTS

item numbers are provided for convenience and Customs purposes. The

written description remains dispositive.

Initiation of Changed Circumstances Countervailing Duty Administrative

Reviews

We are hereby notifying the public that we are initiating changed

circumstances administrative reviews of the countervailing duty orders

on leather, wool, OCTG, and cold-rolled carbon steel flat-rolled

products from Argentina. The Department is initiating these reviews to

determine whether it has the authority to assess countervailing duties

on entries of these products occurring after September 20, 1991, the

date on which Argentina attained the status as a country under the

Agreement. In doing so, the Department will examine, among any other

issues raised, the following factors: (1) The applicability of the

Ceramica decision to the four Argentine cases involved in these

reviews; (2) if the Ceramica decision is applicable, whether it is

necessary to determine if injury exists now or existed at the time of

Argentina's bilateral agreement; and (3) the implications of section

753 of the Act on OCTG, leather, and wool (i.e., should the requests

for section 753 injury investigations in those cases affect our

decisions on the above issues).

We invite interested parties to comment on this action,

specifically on the issues detailed above. Interested parties may

submit written arguments in case briefs within 30 days of the date of

publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to arguments

raised in case briefs, may be submitted seven days after the time limit

for filing the

[[Page 14555]]

case brief. Parties must specify which of the four orders their

comments or rebuttal briefs address. In addition, interested parties

may only comment with respect to the order(s) for which they are

interested parties; they may not submit comments for the other orders.

Parties who submit arguments in this proceeding are requested to submit

with the argument: (1) The name of the interested party on behalf of

which the argument is submitted, (2) a statement of the issue, and (3)

a brief summary of the argument. Copies of case briefs and rebuttal

briefs must be served on interested parties in accordance with 19 CFR

355.38(e).

Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under

administrative protective orders in accordance with 19 CFR 355.34(b).

This notice is published in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of

the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(b)(1) and 19 CFR 355.22(h).

Dated: March 22, 1996.

Susan G. Esserman,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 96-7892 Filed 4-1-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P