Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Sweden: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-401-805]

Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Sweden: Final

Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of final results of antidumping duty administrative

review.

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SUMMARY: On May 14, 1997, the Department of Commerce (the Department)

published the preliminary results of its administrative review of the

antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate from

Sweden. This review covers one manufacturer/exporter, SSAB Svenskt Stal

AB (SSAB), of the subject merchandise for the period August 1, 1995

through July 31, 1996. We gave interested parties an opportunity to

comment on our preliminary results. We received no comments and have

not changed the results from those presented in the preliminary results

of review.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 5, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carrie Blozy, Doreen Chen, or Stephen

Jacques, Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1391, (202) 482-0162, and

(202) 482-3434, respectively.

The Applicable Statute and Regulations: Unless otherwise indicated,

all citations to the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Tariff Act),

are to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective date of

the amendments made to the Tariff Act by the Uruguay Round Agreements

Act (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all citations to

the Department's regulations are to the regulations at 19 CFR 353

(1996).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On May 14, 1997, the Department published in the Federal Register

(62 FR 26473) the preliminary results of its administrative review of

the antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate

from Sweden (58 FR 44162). For the preliminary results, we were unable

to calculate a margin based on SSAB's response and therefore determined

its dumping margin entirely on the basis of facts available. This facts

available determination relied upon adverse inferences, as the

Department determined that SSAB had not cooperated by acting to the

best of its ability in responding to requests for information. We gave

interested parties an opportunity to comment on our preliminary

results. We received no comments. We have now completed the

administrative review in accordance with section 751(a) of the Tariff

Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).

Scope of Review

Certain cut-to-length plate includes hot-rolled carbon steel

universal mill plates (i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces

or in a closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 millimeters but not

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exceeding 1,250 millimeters and of a thickness of not less than 4

millimeters, not in coils and without patterns in relief), of

rectangular shape, neither clad, plated nor coated with metal, whether

or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic

substances; and certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat-rolled products in

straight lengths, of rectangular shape, hot rolled, neither clad,

plated, nor coated with metal, whether or not painted, varnished, or

coated with plastics or other nonmetallic substances, 4.75 millimeters

or more in thickness and of a width which exceeds 150 millimeters and

measures at least twice the thickness, as currently classifiable in the

HTS under item numbers 7208.40.3030, 7208.40.3060, 7208.51.0030,

7208.51.0045, 7208.51.0060, 7208.52.0000, 7208.53.0000, 7208.90.0000,

7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 7211.13.0000, 7211.14.0030, 7211.14.0045,

7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000. Included are

flat-rolled products of non-rectangular cross-section where such cross-

section is achieved subsequent to the rolling process (i.e., products

which have been worked after rolling)--for example, products which have

been beveled or rounded at the edges. Excluded is grade X-70 plate.

These HTS item numbers are provided for convenience and Customs

purposes. The written description remains dispositive.

The period of review (POR) is August 1, 1995, through July 31,

1996.

Use of Facts Available

Following the initiation of this review, on September 17, 1996, the

Department sent respondent a questionnaire seeking information

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

to the United States during the POR. On October 21, 1996, the due date

for section A of the Department's questionnaire, SSAB made a timely

withdrawal of its request for a review of this POR. However, because

petitioners had also requested an administrative review, the review was

not terminated. Additionally, SSAB stated it would not be participating

in the review and requested assignment, as facts available, of the

first administrative review margin, 8.28 percent. Thus, SSAB refused to

respond to all sections of the questionnaire.

On January 8, 1997, petitioners requested that the Department

assign to SSAB as facts available, 34 percent, the highest rate from

the antidumping petition.

SSAB made no attempt in this review to contact the Department to

discuss how it should proceed, nor did it respond to any section of the

questionnaire. Thus, the Department has found that, in not responding

to the questionnaire, SSAB failed to cooperate by not acting to the

best of its ability to comply with requests for information from the

Department. Therefore, pursuant to section 776(b) of the 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 the record. In the previous segment

of the proceeding, the Department chose an adverse facts available rate

of 24.23%; this represented the average rate based on corroborated

petition data. In this segment of the proceeding, we have chosen as

adverse facts available the highest rate based on corroborated petition

data, i.e., 34%. Our decision to use a rate higher than the average

petition rate is consistent with our decision in the preceding

administrative review because, in that review, ``while SSAB did not act

to the best of its ability in responding to our cost information

requests, it did cooperate with respect to certain aspects of this

review.'' See Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Sweden,

Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 61 FR

51898, 51900 (October 4, 1996); see also, Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon

Steel Plate from Sweden, Final Results of Antidumping Duty

Administrative Review, 62 FR 18396, 18401 (April 15, 1997). In this

case, SSAB, in contrast to its level of cooperation in the previous

segment of the proceeding, has not cooperated at all with our requests

for information.

Section 776(b) authorizes the Department to use as adverse facts

available information derived from the petition, the final

determination, a previous administrative review, or other information

placed on the record. Section 776(c) provides that the Department

shall, to the extent practicable, corroborate ``secondary information''

by reviewing independent sources reasonably at its disposal. The SAA,

at 870, makes it clear that ``secondary information'' includes

information from the petition in the LTFV investigation and information

from a previous section 751 review of the subject merchandise. The SAA

also provides that ``corroborate'' means simply that the Department

will satisfy itself that the secondary information to be used has

probative value. Id.

The Department used an average of the petition rates as total

adverse facts available in the previous segment of this proceeding. The

Department explained in that review that it had corroborated the

petition information. Id. For the purposes of the final results, we

continue to regard the petition information as corroborated.

Duty Absorption

Because we received no comments on duty absorption, we uphold the

preliminary results on this issue. We find duty absorption on all

sales.

Final Results of Review

As a result of our review, we determine the dumping margin (in

percent) for the period August 1, 1995, through July 31, 1996 to be as

follows:

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

Margin

Manufacturer/exporter (percent)

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SSAB........................................................ 34.00

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The Department shall determine, and the U.S. Customs Service shall

assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. The Department

will issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service.

Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective

upon publication of these final results for all shipments of the

subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn 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 SSAB will be the

rate stated above; (2) for merchandise exported by manufacturers or

exporters not covered in this review but covered in the original LTFV

investigation or previous review, the cash deposit will continue to be

the most recent rate published in the final determination or final

results for which the manufacturer or exporter received a company-

specific rate; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this

review, or the original investigation, but the manufacturer is, the

cash deposit rate will be that established for the manufacturer of the

merchandise in these final results of review or the LTFV investigation;

and (4) if neither the exporter nor the manufacturer is a firm covered

in this or any previous review, the cash deposit rate will be 24.23

percent, the all others rate established in the LTFV investigation.

(See Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Sweden, Final

Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 58 FR 37213 (July 9,

1993).) These deposit requirements

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shall remain in effect until publication of the final results of the

next administrative review.

Notification of Interested Parties

This notice also serves as a final 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 notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to

administrative protective orders (APOs) of their responsibility

concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under

APO in accordance with 19 CFR 353.34(d)(1). Timely written notification

of the return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial

protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the

regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

This administrative review and notice are in accordance with

section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR

353.22(c)(5).

Dated: August 27, 1997.

Robert S. LaRussa,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 97-23607 Filed 9-4-97; 8:45 am]

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