Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan; Preliminary Results and Termination In-Part of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[A-588-046]

Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan; Preliminary Results and

Termination In-Part of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results and termination in-part of

Antidumping Duty Administrative Review.

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has conducted an administrative

review of the antidumping finding on polychloroprene rubber from Japan.

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results

and termination in-part. 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: April 5, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy F. Unger, Jr. or Thomas Futtner,

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) 482-0651

or 482-3814.

[[Page 15222]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On December 6, 1973, the Department of the Treasury published in

the Federal Register (38 FR 35393) the antidumping finding on

polychloroprene rubber (rubber) from Japan. On December 6, 1994, the

Department of Commerce (the Department) published a notice of

``Opportunity to Request Administrative Review'' (59 FR 62710). On

December 29, 1994, the petitioner, E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company,

Inc. (Du Pont), requested that we conduct an administrative review for

the period December 1, 1993, through November 30, 1994, covering eight

producers and/or exporters: Denki Kaguku, K.K. (Denki), Denki/Hoei

Sangyo Co., Ltd. (Denki/Hoei Sangyo), Mitsui Bussan K.K. (Mitsui

Bussan), Showa Neoprene K.K. (Showa), Showa/Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd.

(Showa/Hoei Sangyo), Suzugo Corporation (Suzugo), Tosoh Corporation

(Tosoh) (formerly Toyo Soda), and Tosoh/Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd. (Tosoh/

Hoei Sangyo).

We published a notice of initiation of the antidumping

administrative review on these companies on January 13, 1995 (60 FR

3192). The Department has now conducted the administrative review in

accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.

Applicable Statute and Regulations

The Department has conducted this administrative review in

accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Action 1930, as amended (the

Tariff Act). Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute

and to the Department's regulations refer to the provisions as they

existed on December 31, 1994.

Scope of the Review

Imports covered by the review are shipments of polychloroprene

rubber, an oil resistance synthetic rubber also known as polymerized

chlorobutadiene or neoprene, currently classifiable under items

4002.42.00, 4002.49.00, 4003.00.00, 4462.15.21 and 4462.00.00. HTS item

numbers are provided for convenience and for Customs purposes. The

written descriptions remain dispositive.

Preliminary Results and Termination In-Part of Review

Denki, Mitsui Bussan, and Tosoh responded that they had no

shipments during the period of review (POR). The petitioner withdrew

its review request for Showa. Therefore, we are terminating in-part

this administrative review with respect to Showa.

We were unable to locate the remaining companies, Denki/Hoei

Sangyo, Showa/Hoei Sangyo, Suzugo, and Tosoh/Hoei Sangyo, in spite of

requests for assistance from various sources including the American

Embassy in Tokyo, the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the

U.S. Customs Service. Therefore, we were unable to conduct

administrative reviews for these firms, and upon issuance of the final

results we will instruct the U.S. Customs Service to continue to assess

any entries by these firms at the rate determined by the last completed

administrative review on November 26, 1984 (49 FR 46454) (see Certain

Fresh Cut Flowers from Colombia; Preliminary Results of Antidumping

Duty Administrative Review, Partial Termination of Administrative

Reviews, and Notice of Intent to Revoke Order (In Part) (``Flowers from

Colombia''), 60 FR 30271 (June 8, 1995)).

The U.S. Customs Service verified that none of the respondents had

entries of subject merchandise during the POR. Because Denki, Mitsui

Bussan, and Tosoh, had no shipments of this merchandise to the United

States during the POR, the Department has preliminarily assigned each

of them the cash deposit rate determined for that company in the last

completed administrative review (see Flowers from Colombia). We have

preliminarily determined that the following margins exist for the POR:

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

Percent

Manufacturer/producer/exporter margin

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

Denki......................................................... \1\ 0.00

Mitsui Bussan................................................. \1\ 0.00

Tosoh......................................................... \1\ 0.00

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

\1\ No shipments during the POR. Rate is from the last administrative

review in which there were shipments.

Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective

for all shipments of the subject merchandise, entered, or withdrawn

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

final results of this administrative review, as provided for by section

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

companies will be those rates established in the final results of this

review; (2) The cash deposit rate for subject merchandise exported by

manufacturers or exporters not covered in this review, but covered in

previous reviews or in the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV)

investigation, will be based upon the most recently published rate in a

final result or determination for which the manufacturer or exporter

received a company-specific rate; (3) The cash deposit rate for subject

merchandise exported by an exporter not covered in this review, a prior

review, or the original investigation, but where the manufacturer of

the merchandise has been covered by this or a prior final results or

determination, will be based upon the most recently published company-

specific rate for that manufacturer; and (4) The cash deposit rate for

merchandise exported by all other manufacturers and exporters, who are

not covered by these or any previous administrative review conducted by

the Department, will be the ``all others'' rate established in the

original LTFV investigation.

These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect

until publication of the final results of the next administrative

review. Interested parties may request disclosure within five days of

the date of publication of this notice, and may request a hearing

within 10 days of the date of publication. Any hearing, if requested,

will be held as early as convenient for the parties but not later than

44 days after the date of publication or the first workday thereafter.

Case briefs or other written comments from interested parties may be

submitted not later than 30 days after the date of publication of this

notice. Rebuttal briefs and rebuttal comments, limited to issues raised

in the case briefs, may be filed not later than 37 days after the date

of publication. The Department will publish the final results of this

administrative review, including its results of its analysis of issues

raised in any such written comments.

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: March 21, 1996.

Susan G. Esserman,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 96-8365 Filed 4-4-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P