Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Stainless Steel Wire Rod From Italy

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-475-820]

Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Stainless Steel Wire Rod From

Italy

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 15, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shawn Thompson or Irina Itkin, Import

Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

20230; telephone: (202) 482-1776 or (202) 482-0656, respectively.

The Applicable Statute

Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of

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

January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to the 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 part 351, 62 FR 27296 (May 19, 1997).

Scope of Order

For purposes of this order, stainless steel wire rod (SSWR)

comprises products that are hot-rolled or hot-rolled annealed and/or

pickled and/or descaled rounds, squares, octagons, hexagons or other

shapes, in coils, that may also be coated with a lubricant containing

copper, lime or oxalate. SSWR is made of alloy steels containing, by

weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or more of

chromium, with or without other elements. These products are

manufactured only by hot-rolling or hot-rolling, annealing, and/or

pickling and/or descaling, are normally sold in coiled form, and are of

solid cross-section. The majority of SSWR sold in the United States is

round in cross-sectional shape, annealed and pickled, and later cold-

finished into stainless steel wire or small-diameter bar.

The most common size for such products is 5.5 millimeters or 0.217

inches in diameter, which represents the smallest size that normally is

produced on a rolling mill and is the size that most wire-drawing

machines are set up to draw. The range of SSWR sizes normally sold in

the United States is between 0.20 inches and 1.312 inches diameter. Two

stainless steel grades, SF20T and K-M35FL, are excluded from the scope

of the order. The chemical makeup for the excluded grades is as

follows:

SF20T

Carbon--0.05 max

Manganese--2.00 max

Phosphorous--0.05 max

Sulfur--0.15 max

Silicon--1.00 max

Chromium--19.00/21.00

Molybdenum--1.50/2.50

Lead--added (0.10/0.30)

Tellurium--added (0.03 min)

K-M35FL

Carbon--0.015 max

Silicon--0.70/1.00

Manganese--0.40 max

Phosphorous--0.04 max

Sulfur--0.03 max

Nickel--0.30 max

Chromium--12.50/14.00

Lead--0.10/0.30

Aluminum--0.20/0.35

The products subject to this order are currently classifiable under

subheadings 7221.00.0005, 7221.00.0015, 7221.00.0030, 7221.00.0045, and

7221.00.0075 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience

and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is

dispositive.

Antidumping Order

In accordance with section 735(a) of the Act, on July 20, 1998, the

Department made its final determination that SSWR from Italy, is being,

or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value

(63 FR 40422 (July 29, 1998)). On September 8, 1998, in accordance with

section 735(d) of the Act, the U.S. International Trade Commission

(ITC) notified the Department of its final determination, pursuant to

section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, that a U.S. industry is materially

injured by reason of imports of stainless steel wire rod from Italy.

In accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, the Department

will direct Customs officers to assess, upon further advice by the

administering authority, antidumping duties equal to the amount by

which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price of

the merchandise for all relevant entries of stainless steel wire rod

from Italy, except for imports manufactured and exported by Acciaierie

Valbruna S.r.l. or its subsidiary Acciaierie di Bolzano SpA. For all

other manufacturers/exporters, antidumping duties will be assessed on

all unliquidated entries of stainless steel wire rod from Italy

entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after March

5, 1998, the date on which the Department published its preliminary

determination notice in the Federal Register (63 FR 10831).

On or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal

Register, Customs officers must require, at the same time as importers

would normally deposit estimated duties, the following cash deposits

for the subject merchandise:

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

Cash

Manufacturer/producer/exporter deposit

rate

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

Cogne Acciai Speciali S.r.l................................ 12.73

All Others................................................. 12.73

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

The ``All Others'' rate applies to all manufacturers/exporters of

stainless steel wire rod not specifically listed above, except for

Acciaierie Valbruna S.r.l. and Acciaierie di Bolzano SpA.

Article VI (5) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1947)

prohibits assessing dumping duties on the portion of the margin

attributable to an export subsidy. In this case, the product under

investigation is subject to a countervailing duty investigation (see

Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain Stainless

Steel Wire Rod From Italy, 63 FR 40474 (July 29, 1998)). Therefore, for

all entries of SSWR from Italy, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for

consumption on or after the date on which the order in the companion

countervailing duty investigation is published in the Federal Register,

we will request for duty deposit purposes that the Customs Service

deduct the portion of the margin attributable to export subsidies from

the countervailing duty investigation. The antidumping cash deposit

rates, as adjusted for export subsidies, are as follows:

[[Page 49328]]

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

Cash

Manufacturer/producer/exporter deposit

rate

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

Cogne Acciai Speciali S.r.l................................ 12.72

All Others................................................. 12.72

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

This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to

stainless steel wire rod from Italy, pursuant to section 736(a) of the

Act. Interested parties may contact the Central Records Unit, Room B-

099 of the Main Commerce Building, for copies of an updated list of

antidumping duty orders currently in effect.

This order is published in accordance with section 736(a) of the

Act and 19 CFR 351.211.

Dated: September 10, 1998.

Richard W. Moreland,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 98-24769 Filed 9-14-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P