Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof From Germany, Italy, and Sweden; Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-428-801, A-475-801, A-401-801]

Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and

Parts Thereof From Germany, Italy, and Sweden; Amended Final Results of

Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of final court decision and amended final results of

administrative reviews.

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SUMMARY: On May 7, 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the

Federal Circuit affirmed the United States Court of International

Trade's affirmation of the Department of Commerce's final remand

results affecting final assessment rates for the third administrative

reviews of the antidumping duty orders on antifriction bearings (other

than tapered roller bearings) and parts thereof from Germany, Italy,

and Sweden with respect to SKF. The classes or kinds of merchandise

covered by these reviews are ball bearings and parts thereof,

cylindrical roller bearings and parts thereof, and spherical plain

bearings and parts thereof. As there is now a final and conclusive

court decision in these actions, we are amending our final results of

reviews and we will instruct the U.S. Customs Service to liquidate

entries subject to these reviews.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 16, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Dirstine or Richard Rimlinger,

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.

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

Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4033 or (202) 482-4477.

Applicable Statute

Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of

1930, as amended (the Act), are references to the provisions in effect

as of December 31, 1994. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all

citations to the Department of Commerce's (the Department's)

regulations are to the regulations as codified at 19 CFR Part 353

(April 1, 1997).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On July 26, 1993, the Department published its final results of

administrative reviews of the antidumping duty orders on antifriction

bearings (other than tapered roller bearings) and parts thereof from

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand,

and the United Kingdom, covering the period May 1, 1991 through April

30, 1992 (AFBs III) (58 FR 39729). These final results were amended on

August 9, 1993, September 30, 1993, December 15, 1993, February 28,

1994, and April 16, 1998 (see 58 FR 42288, 58 FR 51055, 58 FR 65576, 59

FR 9469, and 63 FR 18877, respectively). The classes or kinds of

merchandise covered by these reviews are ball bearings and parts

thereof (BBs), cylindrical roller bearings and parts thereof (CRBs),

and spherical plain bearings and parts thereof (SPBs). Subsequently,

two domestic producers, the Torrington Company and Federal-Mogul, and a

number of other interested parties filed lawsuits with the U.S. Court

of International Trade (CIT) challenging the final results. These

lawsuits were litigated at the CIT and the United States Court of

Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). On April 16, 1998, as a result

of a final court decision, we issued amended final results for all

firms whose dumping margins had changed as a result of litigation

except for SKF GmbH (SKF Germany), SKF Industrie S.p.A. (SKF Italy),

and SKF Sverige AB (SKF Sweden). See Antifriction Bearings (Other Than

Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof from France, et al.; Amended

Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews (63 FR 18877)

(Amended Final Results). At that time, our determination of SKF

Germany's, SKF Italy's, and SKF Sweden's dumping margins were still

subject to outstanding litigation.

On May 7, 1998, the CAFC affirmed the CIT's decision in Federal-

Mogul Corp. v. United States, 951 F. Supp. 1026 (Federal-Mogul). The

Torrington Company and Federal-Mogul Corporation v. United States, 1998

U.S. App. LEXIS 12370 (May 7, 1998) (Torrington). The CIT's decision in

Federal-Mogul affirmed the Department's remand results which were

prepared pursuant to the CIT's earlier decision in Federal-Mogul Corp.

v. United States, 918 F. Supp. 386 (1996), with respect to SKF Germany,

SKF Italy, and SKF Sweden, among others, and dismissed the case. As a

result of this and other litigation cited in our April 16, 1998, notice

of Amended Final Results, we have made methodological changes and

recalculated the dumping margins for SKF Germany, SKF Italy, and SKF

Sweden. Specifically, the Department has, inter alia, (1) reconsidered

its methodology for computing inventory carrying costs; (2) denied an

adjustment to foreign market value (FMV) for home market (HM) pre-sale

freight expenses where FMV was calculated using purchase price; (3)

developed a methodology which removes post-sale price adjustments and

rebates paid on sales of out-of-scope merchandise from its calculations

of FMV or, if no viable method could be developed, denied such an

adjustment in its calculation of FMV; and (4) corrected certain

clerical errors.

As there is now a final and conclusive court decision with respect

to SKF Germany, SKF Italy, and SKF Sweden, we are amending our final

results of review for these companies and we will subsequently instruct

the U.S. Customs Service to liquidate the relevant entries subject to

these reviews.

Amendment to Final Results

Pursuant to section 516A(e) of the Act, we are now amending the

final results of administrative reviews of the antidumping duty orders

on antifriction bearings (other than tapered roller bearings) and parts

thereof from Germany, Italy, and Sweden, for the period May 1, 1991,

through April 30, 1992, with respect to SKF Germany, SKF Italy, and SKF

Sweden. The revised weighted-average percentage margins are as follows:

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

Company BBs CRBs SPBs

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

Germany

SKF.................................... 17.66 8.66 8.98

Italy

SKF.................................... 4.98 0.00

Sweden

SKF.................................... 7.77 4.80

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Accordingly, the Department will determine and the U.S. Customs

Service will assess appropriate antidumping duties on entries of the

subject merchandise produced by SKF Germany, SKF Italy, and SKF Sweden.

Individual differences between United States price and foreign market

value may vary from the percentages listed above. The Department will

issue appraisement instructions to the U.S. Customs Service after

publication of these amended final results of reviews.

This notice is published pursuant to section 751(a) of the Act.

[[Page 38370]]

Dated: July 2, 1998.

Joseph A. Spetrini,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 98-18881 Filed 7-15-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P