Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom: Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Reviews, and Intent To Revoke Orders in Part

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-412-814, A-428-816, A-405-802, C-412-815, C-428-817]

Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From Finland, Germany

and the United Kingdom: Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of

Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Reviews,

and Intent To Revoke Orders in Part

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of initiation and preliminary results of changed

circumstances antidumping duty and countervailing duty reviews, and

intent to revoke orders in part.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: July 7, 1999.

SUMMARY: On May 12, 1999, the Department of Commerce (the Department)

received a request on behalf of Bethlehem Steel Corporation and U.S.

Steel Group--A Unit of USX Corporation (Bethlehem & U.S. Steel),

petitioners in these cases, for changed circumstances antidumping (AD)

and countervailing duty (CVD) reviews and an intent to revoke in part

the AD and CVD orders with respect to specific cut-to-length carbon

steel plate from Germany and the United Kingdom and the AD order with

respect to specific cut-to-length carbon steel plate from Finland. A

telephone conversation on May 17, 1999, with counsel on behalf of all

other petitioners (Inland Steel Industries, Inc., LTV Steel Company,

Inc., National Steel Corporation, AK Steel Corporation, Gulf States

Steel Inc. of Alabama, Sharon Steel Corporation, and WCI Steel Inc.)

confirmed petitioners' lack of interest in the continuation of the AD

and CVD orders with respect to the subject merchandise defined in the

Scope of the Review section below (See Memorandum to the File).

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary

results.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Ludwig (AD reviews on Finland

and the United Kingdom), James Doyle or Becky Hagen (AD review on

Germany), Robert Copyak (CVD reviews on Germany and the United

Kingdom), Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

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

Washington D.C. 20230; telephone (202) 482-3833, (202) 482-0159, (202)

482-1102, or (202) 482-2209, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute and Regulations

Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are

references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective

date of the amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (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.

Background

On August 17, 1993, the Department published the CVD orders on

certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate from Germany and the United

Kingdom (58 FR 43756 and 43748, respectively). On August 19, 1993, the

Department published the AD orders on certain cut-to-length carbon

steel plate from Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom (58 FR 44165,

44170, and 44168, respectively).

On May 12, 1999, Bethlehem Steel and U.S. Steel, petitioners,

requested partial revocation of the AD and CVD orders pursuant to

section 751(d)(1) of the Act, with respect to specific carbon steel

plate imports from the United Kingdom, Germany and Finland described

below.

Scope of the Review

The products covered by these AD/CVD orders constitute one ``class

or kind'' of merchandise: certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate.

These

[[Page 36667]]

products include 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 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 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (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, and 7212.50.0000. Included are flat-rolled

products of nonrectangular 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 dispostive.

Merchandise covered by these changed circumstances reviews and

partial revocations are shipments of certain carbon cut-to-length steel

plate with a maximum thickness of 80 mm in steel grades BS 7191, 355 EM

and 355 EMZ, as amended by Sable Offshore Energy Project specification

XB MOO Y 15 0001, types 1 and 2.

Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances AD and

CVD Reviews, and Intent To Revoke Orders in Part

At the request of the petitioners, in accordance with sections

751(d)(1) and 751(b)(1) of the Act and section 351.216 of the

Department's regulations, the Department is initiating changed

circumstances reviews of certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate from

Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom to determine whether partial

revocation of the AD and CVD orders is warranted with respect to the

cut-to-length carbon steel plate subject to these requests. Section

782(h)(2) of the Act and section 351.222(g)(1)(i) of the Department's

regulations provide that the Department may revoke an order (in whole

or in part) if it determines that producers accounting for

substantially all of the production of the domestic like product have

no further interest in the order, in whole or in part. In addition, in

the event the Department determines that expedited action is warranted,

section 351.221(c)(3)(ii) of the regulations permits the Department to

combine the notices of initiation and preliminary results.

In accordance with section 751(b) of the Act and sections

351.222(g)(l)(i) and 351.221(c)(3) of the Department's regulations, we

are initiating these changed circumstances reviews and have determined

that expedited action is warranted. Our decision to expedite these

reviews stems from the domestic industry's lack of interest in applying

the AD and CVD orders to the specific carbon steel plate covered by

these requests.

Based on the expression of no interest by petitioners and absent

any objection by any other domestic interested parties, we have

preliminarily determined that substantially all of the domestic

producers of the like product have no interest in continued application

of the AD and CVD orders to the plate subject to these requests.

Therefore, we are notifying the public of our intent to revoke, in

part, the AD and CVD orders as they relate to imports of plate

described above from Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Public Comment

Interested parties may submit case briefs and/or written comments

no later than 14 days after the date of publication of these

preliminary results. Rebuttal briefs and rebuttals to written comments,

limited to issues raised in such briefs or comments, may be filed no

later than 21 days after the date of publication. The Department will

issue the final results of these changed circumstances reviews, which

will include the results of its analysis raised in any such written

comments, no later than 270 days after the date on which these reviews

were initiated, or within 45 days if all parties agree to our

preliminary determinations. See section 351.216(e) of the Department's

regulations.

If final revocation occurs, we will instruct the U.S. Customs

Service to end the suspension of liquidation and to refund, with

interest, any estimated AD and CVD duties collected for all

unliquidated entries of the specific carbon steel plate covered by

these requests from Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom. The

current requirement for a cash deposit of estimated AD and CVD duties

on all subject merchandise will continue unless and until it is

modified pursuant to the final results of these changed circumstances

reviews.

This initiation of review and notice are in accordance with

sections 751(b) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(b)) and 19 CFR 351.216,

351.221, and 351.222.

Dated: June 25, 1999.

Richard W. Moreland,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-17221 Filed 7-6-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P