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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-401-806]

Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Stainless Steel Wire Rod From

Sweden

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 15, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Smith or Everett Kelly, Import

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

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

20230; telephone: (202) 482-1766 or (202) 482-4194, 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 in diameter.

Certain stainless steel grades are excluded from the scope of the

order. SF20T and K-M35FL are excluded. The following proprietary grades

of Kanthal AB are also excluded: Kanthal A-1, Kanthal AF, Kanthal A,

Kanthal D, Kanthal DT, Alkrothal 14, Alkrothal 720, and Nikrothal 40.

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

Kanthal A-1

Carbon--0.08 max

Silicon--0.70 max

Manganese--0.40 max

Aluminum--5.30 min, 6.30 max

Iron--balance

Chromium--20.50 min, 23.50 max

Kanthal AF

Carbon--0.08 max

Silicon--0.70 max

Manganese--0.40 max

Chromium--20.50 min, 23.50 max

Aluminum--4.80 min, 5.80 max

Iron--balance

Kanthal A

Carbon--0.08 max

Silicon--0.70 max

Manganese--0.50 max

Chromium--20.50 min, 23.50 max

Aluminum--4.80 min, 5.80 max

Iron--balance

Kanthal D

Carbon--0.08 max

Silicon--0.70 max

Manganese--0.50 max

Chromium--20.50 min, 23.50 max

Aluminum--4.30 min, 5.30 max

Iron--balance

Kanthal DT

Carbon--0.08 max

Silicon--0.70 max

Manganese--0.50 max

Chromium--20.50 min, 23.50 max

Aluminum--4.60 min, 5.60 max

Iron--balance

Alkrothal 14

Carbon--0.08 max

Silicon--0.70 max

Manganese--0.50 max

Chromium--14.00 min, 16.00 max

Aluminum--3.80 min, 4.80 max

Iron--balance

Alkrothal 720

Carbon--0.08 max

Silicon--0.70 max

Manganese--0.70 max

Chromium--12.00 min, 14.00 max

Aluminum--3.50 min, 4.50 max

Iron--balance

Nikrothal 40

Carbon--0.10 max

Silicon--1.60 min, 2.50 max

Manganese--1.00 max

Chromium--18.00 min, 21.00 max

Nickel--34.00 min, 37.00 max

Iron--balance

The products investigated 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 scope

of this order is dispositive.

Antidumping Order

On September 8, 1998, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act,

the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) notified the Department

that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of SSWR

from Sweden, pursuant to section 735(b)(1)(A) of the Act. Therefore, in

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

direct the United States Customs Service to assess, upon further advice

by the Department, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the

normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price and

constructed export price of the merchandise for all relevant entries of

SSWR from Sweden. These antidumping duties will be assessed on all

unliquidated entries of SSWR from Sweden 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 10825).

[[Page 49330]]

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 cash deposits listed below

for the subject merchandise. The All Others rate applies to all

exporters of SSWR not specifically listed below.

The weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

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

Weighted-

average

Manufacturer/producer margin

percentage

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

Fagersta Stainless AB................................... 5.71

All Others.............................................. 5.71

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

This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to

stainless steel wire rod from Sweden, 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. 98-24771 Filed 9-14-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P