Postponement of Final Antidumping Duty Determinations: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and Korea; Postponement of Final Countervailing Duty Determinations: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From France, India, Indonesia, Italy, and Korea; and Amendment of the Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From Indonesia

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-427-816, A-533-817, A-560-805, A-475-826, A-588-847, A-580-836, C-

427-817, C-533-818, C-560-806, C-475-827, C-580-837]

Postponement of Final Antidumping Duty Determinations: Certain

Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From France, India,

Indonesia, Italy, Japan and Korea; Postponement of Final Countervailing

Duty Determinations: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate

Products From France, India, Indonesia, Italy, and Korea; and Amendment

of the Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:

Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From

Indonesia

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: On July 26, 1999, the Department of Commerce (the Department)

published in the Federal Register its preliminary affirmative

determinations in the countervailing duty investigations of certain

cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate products from France, India,

Indonesia, Italy, and the Republic of Korea (see Preliminary

Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final

Countervailing Duty Determination With Final Antidumping Duty

Determination: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate From

France, 64 FR 40430 (July 26, 1999), India (64 FR 40438), Indonesia (64

FR 40457), Italy (64 FR 40416), and the Republic of Korea (64 FR

40445)). These notices aligned the schedules for the final

determinations with the companion antidumping investigations. On July

29, 1999, the Department published in the Federal Register its

preliminary determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations

of certain cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate products from

France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (see

Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain

Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From France, 64 FR

41198 (July 29, 1999), India (64 FR 41202) Indonesia (64 FR 41206),

Italy (64 FR 41213), Japan (64 FR 41218), and the Republic of Korea (64

FR 41224)). Respondents in each of the AD investigations requested that

the Department postpone its final determinations by sixty days. In

addition, the respondents in the AD investigations of France, Italy,

and Korea alleged that the Department made ministerial errors in its

preliminary determinations for those countries. Furthermore, the

petitioners alleged that the Department made ministerial errors in its

preliminary AD determination for Indonesia.

In response to the respondents' requests, the Department is

postponing the final determinations in the above-referenced

investigations. Furthermore, after reviewing the ministerial error

allegations, the Department is amending its preliminary AD

determination with respect to Indonesia only.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 25, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The following individuals of Import

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

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20230:

James Terpstra at (202) 482-3965 regarding cases A-427-816, A-533-817,

and A-580-836; Wendy Frankel at (202) 482-5849 regarding cases A-475-

826, and A-588-847; Irene Darzenta Tzafolias at (202) 482-0922

regarding case A-560-805; Roy Malmrose at (202) 482-5414 regarding case

C-427-817; and Richard Herring at (202) 482-4149 regarding cases C-533-

818, C-560-806, C-475-827, and C-580-837.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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, all citations

to the Department's regulations are to the regulations at 19 CFR Part

351 (1999).

Scope of the Investigations

The products covered by the scope of these investigations are

certain hot-rolled carbon-quality steel: (1) Universal mill plates

(i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces or in a closed box

pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm but not exceeding 1250 mm, and of a

nominal or actual thickness of not less than 4 mm, which are cut-to-

length (not in coils) and without patterns in relief), of iron or non-

alloy-quality steel; and (2) flat-rolled products, hot-rolled, of a

nominal or actual thickness of 4.75 mm or more and of a width which

exceeds 150 mm and measures at least twice the thickness, and which are

cut-to-length (not in coils). Steel products to be included in the

scope are of rectangular, square, circular or other shape and of

rectangular or non-rectangular cross-section where such non-rectangular

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. Steel

products that meet the noted physical characteristics that are painted,

varnished or coated with plastic or other non-metallic substances are

included within this scope. Also, specifically included in this scope

are high strength, low alloy (HSLA) steels. HSLA steels are recognized

as steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as chromium,

copper, niobium, titanium, vanadium, and molybdenum. Steel products to

be included in this scope, regardless of Harmonized Tariff Schedule of

the United States (HTSUS) definitions, are products in which: (1) Iron

predominates, by weight, over each of the other contained elements, (2)

the carbon content is two percent or less, by weight, and (3) none of

the elements listed below is equal to or exceeds the quantity, by

weight, respectively indicated: 1.80 percent of manganese, or 1.50

percent of silicon, or 1.00 percent of copper, or 0.50 percent of

aluminum, or 1.25 percent of chromium, or 0.30 percent of cobalt, or

0.40 percent of lead, or 1.25 percent of nickel, or 0.30 percent of

tungsten, or 0.10 percent of molybdenum, or 0.10 percent of niobium, or

0.41 percent of titanium, or 0.15 percent of vanadium, or 0.15 percent

zirconium. All products that meet the written physical description, and

in which the chemistry quantities do not equal or exceed any one of the

levels listed above, are within the scope of these investigations

unless otherwise specifically excluded. The following products are

specifically excluded from these investigations: (1) Products clad,

plated, or coated with metal, whether or not painted, varnished or

coated with plastic or other non-metallic substances; (2) SAE grades

(formerly AISI grades) of series 2300 and above; (3) products made to

ASTM A710 and A736 or their proprietary equivalents; (4) abrasion-

resistant steels (i.e., USS AR 400, USS AR 500); (5) products made to

ASTM A202, A225, A514 grade S, A517 grade S, or their proprietary

equivalents; (6) ball bearing steels; (7) tool steels; and (8) silicon

manganese steel or silicon electric steel.

The merchandise subject to these investigations is classified in

the HTSUS under subheadings: 7208.40.3030, 7208.40.3060, 7208.51.0030,

7208.51.0045, 7208.51.0060, 7208.52.0000, 7208.53.0000, 7208.90.0000,

[[Page 46342]]

7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 7211.13.0000, 7211.14.0030, 7211.14.0045,

7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, 7225.40.3050,

7225.40.7000, 7225.50.6000, 7225.99.0090, 7226.91.5000, 7226.91.7000,

7226.91.8000, 7226.99.0000.

Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and

Customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise under

investigation is dispositive.

Postponement of the Final Determinations

In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act, during July and

August, 1999, exporters accounting for a significant proportion of the

exports of subject merchandise from each of the countries named in the

above-referenced AD investigations requested that the Department

postpone its final determinations until 135 days after publication of

its preliminary determinations. These same exporters also requested

that the Department extend provisional antidumping measures from a

four-month period to not more than six months pursuant to section

733(d) of the Act. Accordingly, the Department has decided to extend

the final determinations in the above-referenced AD investigations

because for each investigation (1) the Department's preliminary

determination was affirmative for at least one exporter requesting a

postponement, (2) the exporters requesting the postponement account for

a significant proportion of the exports of subject merchandise from

their respective countries, and (3) no compelling reasons exist for the

Department to deny the exporters' requests for a postponement.

Therefore, the Department has decided to postpone the final

determinations until not later than 135 days after publication of the

preliminary determinations in the Federal Register. The postponed final

determinations will be due on December 11, 1999. Suspension of

liquidation will be extended accordingly.

In addition, because the countervailing duty investigations of

Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From France,

India, Indonesia, Italy and Korea have been aligned with the

antidumping duty investigations under section 705(a)(1) of the Act, the

time limit for completion of the final determinations in the

countervailing duty investigations will be the same date, December 11,

1999, as the final determinations of the concurrent antidumping

investigations.

Amended Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:

Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From

Indonesia

On July 28, 1999, Bethlehem Steel Corporation and U.S. Steel Group,

a unit of USX Corporation, two of the petitioners, alleged that the

Department made certain ministerial errors in calculating the cost of

production used in the preliminary AD determination for the Indonesian

respondent PT Gunawan Dianjaya Steel (Gunawan)/PT Jaya Pari Steel

Corporation (Jaya Pari). None of the respondents in the AD

investigation of Indonesia alleged any ministerial errors nor did they

comment on petitioners' ministerial error allegation. The Department

has reviewed its preliminary calculations for Gunawan/Jaya Pari and

agrees that it made certain ministerial errors within the meaning of 19

CFR 351.224(f) (for further detail see the Memorandum Regarding

Ministerial Error Allegations from The Team to Louis Apple, Director,

Office II, AD/CVD Enforcement I, dated August 9, 1999). In addition,

the Department finds these ministerial errors to be significant as

defined by 19 CFR 351.224(g). A significant ministerial error is

defined as a correction which, singly or in combination with other

errors, (1) would result in a change of at least five absolute

percentage points in, but not less than 25 percent of, the weighted

average dumping margin calculated in the original (erroneous)

preliminary determination; or (2) would result in a difference between

a weighted-average dumping margin of zero or de minimis and a weighted-

average dumping margin of greater than de minimis or vice versa.

Therefore, the Department is amending its preliminary AD determination

with respect to Gunawan/Jaya Pari in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(e).

Because the Department based the weighted-average margin for all

Indonesian manufactures/exporters of the merchandise under

investigation, other than PT Krakatau Steel, on Gunawan/Jaya Pari's

weighted-average margin, the Department is also amending the ``all

others'' margin. As a result of the correction of these ministerial

errors, the Department has determined that the following amended

weighted-average dumping margins apply for Indonesia:

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

Amended

weighted-

Manufacturer/Exporter average

margin

(percent)

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

Gunawan Dianjaya Steel/PT Jaya Pari Steel Corporation...... 43.59

All Others................................................. 43.59

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

ITC Notification

In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, the Department has

notified the ITC of the amended AD determination. If the final

determinations are affirmative, the ITC will determine whether imports

of the merchandise under investigation are materially injuring, or

threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry before the later of 120

days after the date of the preliminary determinations or 45 days after

the final determinations.

Public Comment

Interested parties may submit case briefs or other written comments

for a particular investigation to the Assistant Secretary for Import

Administration by no later than seven days after receipt of all

verification reports issued in that investigation. Parties may submit

rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, within five

days after the deadline for filing case briefs. A list of authorities

used and an executive summary of issues should accompany any briefs

submitted to the Department. This summary should be limited to five

pages total, including footnotes. In accordance with section 774 of the

Act, the Department will hold a public hearing for each investigation,

if requested, in order to afford interested parties an opportunity to

comment on arguments raised in case or rebuttal briefs. Any hearings

will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and

Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230. The date, time, and

room number for the hearings is to be determined. Parties should

confirm by telephone the date, time, and room number for each hearing

48 hours before the hearing is to begin. Interested parties who wish to

request a hearing, or to participate if one is requested, must submit a

written request to the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration,

U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1870, no later than August 28, 1999.

Requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and telephone

number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to

be discussed. At the hearing, each party may make an affirmative

presentation only on issues raised in that party's case brief, and may

make rebuttal presentations only on arguments included in that party's

rebuttal brief. See 19 CFR 351.310(c).

[[Page 46343]]

The Department is publishing this notice of postponement of the

final determinations and amendment to the preliminary AD determination

for Indonesia pursuant to section 735(a) of the Act and 19 CFR

351.210(g) and 19 CFR 351.224(e).

Dated: August 17, 1999.

Bernard Carreau,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-22082 Filed 8-24-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P