Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Reviews and Intent To Revoke Orders in Part: Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products From Germany

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-428-815, C-428-817]

Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed

Circumstances Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Reviews and

Intent To Revoke Orders in Part: Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon

Steel Flat Products From Germany

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: August 2, 1999.

SUMMARY: On June 11, 1999, the U.S. Department of Commerce (the

Department) received a request on behalf of Bethlehem Steel

Corporation, Ispat Inland Steel, LTV Steel Company, Inc., National

Steel Corporation, and U.S. Steel Group, a unit of USX Corporation,

petitioners in the above mentioned cases, for changed circumstances

antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) reviews for the purpose

of revoking in part the AD and CVD orders with respect to specific

corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Germany.

Petitioners' letter confirmed a 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.

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary

results.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Chaves (202-482-0414) or Linda

Ludwig (202-482-3833), Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Enforcement

Group III, Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

U.S. Department of

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Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C.

20230.

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 (April, 1998).

Background

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

certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Germany (58

FR 43756). On August 19, 1993, the Department published the AD order on

certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Germany (58

FR 44170).

On June 11, 1999, petitioners requested partial revocation of the

AD and CVD orders pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Act and section

351.222(g) of the Department's regulations, with respect to specific

corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Germany described

below.

Scope of the Review

The corrosion-resistant steel products covered by these AD/CVC

orders include flat-rolled carbon steel products, of rectangular shape,

either clad, plated, or coated with corrosion-resistant metals such as

zinc, aluminum, or zinc-, aluminum-, nickel- or iron-based alloys,

whether or not corrugated or painted, varnished or coated with plastics

or other nonmetallic substances in addition to the metallic coating, in

coils (whether or not in successively superimposed layers) and of a

width of 0.5 inch or greater, or in straight lengths which, if of a

thickness less than 4.75 millimeters, are of a width of 0.5 inch or

greater and which measures at least 10 times the thickness or if of a

thickness of 4.75 millimeters or more are of a width which exceeds 150

millimeters and measures at least twice the thickness, as currently

classifiable in the HTS under item numbers 7210.31.0000, 7210.39.0000,

7210.41.0000, 7210.49.0030, 7210.49.0090, 7210.60.0000, 7210.70.6030,

7210.70.6060, 7210.70.6090, 7210.90.1000, 7210.90.6000, 7210.90.9000,

7212.21.0000, 7212.29.0000, 7212.30.1030, 7212.30.1090, 7212.30.3000,

7212.30.5000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, 7212.60.0000,

7215.90.1000, 7215.90.5000, 7217.12.1000, 7217.13.1000, 7217.19.1000,

7217.19.5000, 7217.22.5000, 7217.23.5000, 7217.29.1000, 7217.29.5000,

7217.32.5000, 7217.33.5000, 7217.39.1000, and 7217.39.5000. Although

the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and Customs

purposes, the written description of the merchandise under review is

dispositive.

Included in these orders 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 bevelled or rounded

at the edges. Excluded from these orders are flat-rolled steel products

either plated or coated with tin, lead, chromium, chromium oxides, both

tin and lead (``terne plate''), or both chromium and chromium oxides

(``tin-free steel''), whether or not painted, varnished or coated with

plastics or other nonmetallic substances in addition to the metallic

coating. Also excluded are clad products in straight lengths of 0.1875

inch or more in composite thickness and of a width which exceeds 150

millimeters and measures at least twice the thickness, and certain clad

stainless flat-rolled products, which are three-layered corrosion-

resistant carbon steel flat-rolled products less than 4.75 millimeters

in composite thickness that consist of a carbon steel flat-rolled

product clad on both sides with stainless steel in a 20%-60%-20% ratio.

Merchandise covered by these changed circumstances reviews and

partial revocations are shipments of certain corrosion-resistant carbon

steel flat products that are deep-drawing carbon steel strip, roll-clad

on both sides with aluminum (AlSi) foils in accordance with St3 LG as

to EN 10139/10140. The merchandise's chemical composition encompasses a

core material of U St 23 (continuous casting) in which carbon is less

than 0.08; manganese is less than 0.30; phosphorous is less than 0.20;

sulfur is less than 0.015; aluminum is less than 0.01; and the cladding

material is a minimum of 99% aluminum with silicon/copper/iron of less

than 1%. The products are in strips with thicknesses of 0.07mm to 4.0mm

(inclusive) and widths of 5mm to 800mm (inclusive). The thickness ratio

of aluminum on either side of steel may range from 3%/94%/3% to 10%/

80%/10%.

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 corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat

products from Germany to determine whether partial revocation of the AD

and CVD orders is warranted. 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 corrosion-resistant steel 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

certain corrossion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Germany,

as described above.

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

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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 corrosion-resistant carbon steel

flat products from Germany covered by these requests that are not

subject to final results of an administrative review. 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 of the Department's regulations.

Robert S. LaRussa,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-19752 Filed 7-30-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P