Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof From France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom; Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-427-801, A-475-801, A-588-804, A-559-801, A-401-801, A-549-801, A-

412-801]

Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and

Parts Thereof From France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand,

and the United Kingdom; Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty

Administrative Reviews

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

United States Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of amended final results of administrative reviews.

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SUMMARY: The United States Court of International Trade and the United

States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit have affirmed the

Department of Commerce's final remand results affecting final

assessment rates for the administrative reviews of the antidumping duty

orders on antifriction bearings (other than tapered roller bearings)

and parts thereof from France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Sweden,

Thailand, and the United Kingdom. The classes or kinds of merchandise

covered by these reviews are ball bearings and parts thereof,

cylindrical roller bearings and parts thereof, and spherical plain

bearings and parts thereof. The period of review is May 1, 1992,

through April 30, 1993. As there is now a final and conclusive court

decision in these cases (with the exception of the case on Japan for

which certain decisions are on appeal to the Court of Appeals for the

Federal Circuit), we are amending our final results of reviews and we

will instruct the U.S. Customs Service to liquidate entries subject to

these reviews with the exception of those still under appeal.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 13, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Tabash or Robin Gray, AD/CVD

Enforcement, Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

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

Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-5047 or (202) 482-4023,

respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute

Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of

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

as of December 31, 1994. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all

citations to the Department of Commerce's (the Department's)

regulations are to the regulations as codified at 19 CFR part 353

(1995).

Background

On February 28, 1995, the Department published its final results of

administrative reviews of the antidumping duty orders on antifriction

bearings (other than tapered roller bearings) and parts thereof from

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the

United Kingdom, covering the period May 1, 1992, through April 30, 1993

(AFBs 4). See Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller

Bearings) and Parts Thereof From France, et al.; Final Results of

Antidumping Duty

[[Page 49443]]

Administrative Reviews, Partial Termination of Administrative Reviews,

and Revocation In Part of Antidumping Duty Orders, 60 FR 10900,10959

(February 28, 1995). These final results were amended on March 31,

1995, May 15, 1995, June 13, 1995, June 29, 1995, December 19, 1995,

and August 8, 1997 (see 60 FR 16608, 60 FR 25887, 60 FR 31143, 60 FR

33791, 60 FR 65264, and 62 FR 42745, respectively). The classes or

kinds of merchandise covered by these reviews are ball bearings and

parts thereof (BBs), cylindrical roller bearings and parts thereof

(CRBs), and spherical plain bearings and parts thereof (SPBs). A

domestic producer, the Torrington Company, and a number of respondent

interested parties filed lawsuits with the United States Court of

International Trade (CIT) challenging the final results. These lawsuits

were litigated at the CIT and the United States Court of Appeals for

the Federal Circuit (CAFC). In the course of this litigation, the CIT

and CAFC issued a number of orders and opinions, of which the following

have resulted in changes to the antidumping margins calculated in AFBs

4:

The Torrington Company v. United States, Slip Op. 97-107 (CIT

September 17, 1997) with respect to France;

The Torrington Company v. United States, Slip Op. 97-136 (CIT

September 19, 1997) with respect to Sweden;

The Torrington Company v. United States, Slip Op. 97-29 (CIT March

7, 1997) with respect to Sweden;

NSK Ltd. v. United States, Slip Op. 95-163 (CIT September 25, 1995)

with respect to Japan;

NSK Ltd. v. United States, Slip Op. 97-154 (CIT November 20, 1997)

with respect to Japan;

NSK Ltd. v. United States, Slip Op. 98-34 (CIT March 24, 1998) with

respect to Japan;

FAG Italia S.p.A. and FAG Bearings Corporation; SKF USA Inc., and

SKF Industrie S.p.A. v. United States et al. (FAG/SKF/Torrington), Slip

Op. 96-187 (CIT November 22, 1996) with respect to Italy;

The Torrington Company v. United States, Slip Op. 98-116 (CIT

August 12, 1998) with respect to Singapore;

The Torrington Company v. United States, Slip Op. 97-140 (CIT

September 26, 1997) with respect to Thailand; the CAFC upheld the CIT

on October 7, 1998, at 156 F. 3d 1361 (Fed. Cir. 1998);

FAG U.K. et al v. United States, Slip Op. 97-77 (CIT June 18, 1997)

with respect to the United Kingdom; the CAFC dismissed appeal number

97-1550 on December 5, 1997.

In the context of the above-cited litigation, the CIT (in some

cases based on decisions by the CAFC) ordered the Department to make

methodological changes and to recalculate the antidumping margins for

certain firms under review. Specifically, the CIT ordered the

Department, inter alia, to make the following changes on a company-

specific basis:

SNR France--correct a ministerial error;

SKF France--correct a ministerial error;

Nachi Japan--correct a clerical error;

NSK Japan--

(1) correct a clerical error,

(2) apply a tax-neutral methodology in computing the value-added

tax adjustment,

(3) deny the adjustment to foreign market value for NSK's return

rebates and post-sale price adjustments, and

(4) exclude NSK's zero-priced sample transfers from its U.S. sales

database;

IKS Japan--

(1) correct the erroneous calculation of a negative United States

price for certain observations and

(2) correct the erroneous inclusion of movement expenses incurred

in Japan in the calculation of movement expenses for further-

manufactured merchandise;

FAG Italy--

(1) use the approved tax-neutral methodology for adjusting for

value-added taxes,

(2) explain the circumstances in which it will apply the

reimbursement regulation in an exporter's sales price (ESP) situation,

and

(3) correct the clerical error and recalculate FAG's margin to

include margins for best information available sales;

SKF Italy--

(1) use the approved tax-neutral methodology for adjusting for

value-added taxes,

(2) explain the circumstances in which it will apply the

reimbursement regulation in an ESP situation, and

(3) correct a clerical error;

NMB/Pelmec--recalculate NMB's constructed value (CV) and cost of

production (COP) after allocating research and development costs of

Minebea Co., Ltd., over total consolidated cost of sales;

SKF Sweden--

(1) treat Astra and Asea Brown Bovery as unrelated to SKF Sverige

AB,

(2) use a tax-neutral value-added tax methodology,

(3) explain when the reimbursement regulation would apply in an ESP

situation,

(4) consider whether a company-specific arm's-length test is

warranted and, if so, to apply such a test, and

(5) to correct clerical errors in the computer program;

NMB/Pelmec Thailand--

(1) recalculate NMB's CV and COP after allocating research and

development costs of Minebea Co., Ltd., over total consolidated cost of

sales, and

(2) correct the packing expense clerical error;

FAG-Barden and NSK-RHP U.K.--

(1) correct the clerical error with respect to FAG's U.S. sales,

(2) use the approved tax-neutral methodology for adjusting for

value-added taxes,

(3) correct the clerical error in the conversion of insurance costs

to dollars in cases in which the U.S. sales were already valued in

dollars, and

(4) correct a clerical error in the application of value-added tax

to the HEDGE value.

The CIT affirmed the Department's final remand results affecting

final assessment rates for all the above cases (except the reviews

involving certain Japanese companies which are still subject to further

litigation). As there are now final and conclusive court decisions in

these actions, we are amending our final results of review in these

matters, with the exception of those cases which are still under

appeal, and we will subsequently instruct the Customs Service to

liquidate entries subject to these reviews.

Amendment to Final Results

Pursuant to section 516A(e) of the Act, we are now amending the

final results of administrative reviews of the antidumping duty orders

on antifriction bearings (other than tapered roller bearings) and parts

thereof from France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the

United Kingdom, except for those cases still under appeal, for the

period May 1, 1992, through April 30, 1993. The revised weighted-

average margins are as follows:

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

Company BBs CRBs SPBs

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

FRANCE

SKF............................................. 2.37 (1) 37.98

SNR 1.89 2.58 (2)

ITALY

FAG............................................. 2.48 (1) ......

SKF 3.68 0.00 ......

JAPAN

IKS............................................. 4.65 (2) (2)

Nachi........................................... 12.46 1.03 (2)

NSK 16.10 10.37 (1)

SINGAPORE

NMB/Pelmec...................................... 4.70 ...... ......

SWEDEN

SKF............................................. 13.55 10.62 ......

THAILAND

NMB/Pelmec...................................... 0.01 ...... ......

[[Page 49444]]

UNITED KINGDOM

FAG-Barden...................................... 4.65 8.22 ......

NSK-RHP......................................... 14.49 20.03 ......

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1 No U.S. sales during the review period.

2 No review requested.

Accordingly, the Department will determine and the U.S. Customs

Service will assess appropriate antidumping duties on entries of the

subject merchandise made by firms covered by these reviews. Individual

differences between United States price and foreign market value may

vary from the percentages listed above. The Department has already

issued appraisement instructions to the Customs Service for certain

companies whose margins have not changed from those announced in AFBs 4

and the previous amendments. For companies covered by these amended

results, the Department will issue appraisement instructions to the

U.S. Customs Service after publication of these amended final results

of reviews.

We are issuing and publishing this determination in accordance with

sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

Dated: September 1, 1999.

Richard W. Moreland,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-23775 Filed 9-10-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P