Large Newspaper Printing Presses and Components Thereof, Whether Assembled or Unassembled, From Japan: Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Intent To Revoke Antidumping Order, In Part

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-837]

Large Newspaper Printing Presses and Components Thereof, Whether

Assembled or Unassembled, From Japan: Preliminary Results of Changed

Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Intent To

Revoke Antidumping Order, In Part

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of changed circumstances and

intent to revoke antidumping duty order, in part.

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SUMMARY: At the request of Goss Graphic Systems, Inc., the petitioner

and a U.S. producer of the subject merchandise, the Department of

Commerce is conducting a changed circumstances administrative review of

the antidumping duty order on large newspaper printing presses and

components thereof, whether assembled or unassembled, from Japan to

determine whether to revoke in part the order with respect to large

newspaper printing presses and components thereof, whether assembled or

unassembled. Goss states that it has no interest in maintaining the

antidumping duty order on subject merchandise from Japan with respect

to the specific category of large newspaper printing presses and

components thereof, whether assembled or unassembled, identified in its

request. We preliminarily determine to revoke the order, in part, with

respect to these specific systems, as described below under ``Scope of

Review.'' We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary

results.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 3, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David J. Goldberger or Dinah

McDougall, Office 2, AD/CVD Enforcement Group I, Import Administration,

Room B099, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of

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

20230; telephone (202) 482-4136 or (202) 482-3773, respectively.

The 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. In addition, unless otherwise indicated,

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

regulations are to the regulations at 19 CFR Part 351 (1999).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On September 4, 1996, the Department published in the Federal

Register (61 FR 46621) the antidumping duty order on large newspaper

printing presses (``LNPP'') and components thereof, whether assembled

or unassembled, from Japan. On May 28, 1999, Goss Graphic Systems, Inc.

(``Goss'') requested that the Department conduct a changed

circumstances administrative review to determine, pursuant to 19 CFR

351.216(b), whether to revoke in part the antidumping duty order on

LNPPs from Japan with regard to imports of the elements and components

of LNPP systems, and additions thereto, imported to fulfill a contract

for one or more complete LNPP systems, as described in detail below

under ``Scope of Review.'' Goss states that it is no longer interested

in maintaining the order as applied to the category of merchandise

described in the request.

KBA North America (``KBA''), a U.S. producer and an affiliate of

the German respondent Koenig & Bauer-Albert AG in the German less-than-

fair-value (``LTFV'') investigation of LNPP from Germany, Tokyo Kikai

Seisakusho, Ltd.

[[Page 59740]]

(``TKS''), a respondent in the current administrative review of the

order on LNPPs from Japan, and MAN Roland, Inc. (``MAN Roland''), a

U.S. producer and an affiliate of the other respondent in the German

LTFV investigation, MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG, submitted comments in

opposition to Goss' request, which they note, among other things, is

limited to a very specific product covered by the antidumping duty

order. KBA has also questioned Goss' claim that it represents

``substantially all'' of the U.S. industry. Mitsubishi Heavy

Industries, Ltd. (``MHI''), the other respondent in the current

administrative review of the order on LNPPs from Japan, supports Goss'

request.

Scope of Review

The products covered by this changed circumstances review are

elements and components of LNPP systems, and additions thereto,

imported to fulfill a contract for one or more complete LNPP systems

which feature a 22 inch cut-off, 50 inch web width and a rated speed no

greater than 75,000 copies per hour. In addition to the specifications

set out in this paragraph, all of which must be met in order for the

product to fall within this changed circumstances review, the product

must also possess all of the specifications detailed in the five (5)

numbered sections following this paragraph and in any figures

referenced below. If one or more of these criteria is not fulfilled,

the product is not within the scope of this changed circumstances

review:

1. Printing Unit: A printing unit which is a color keyless blanket-

to-blanket tower unit with a fixed gain infeed and fixed gain outfeed,

with a rated speed no greater than 75,000 copies per hour, which

includes the following features:

Each tower consisting of four levels, one or more of which

must be populated.

Plate cylinders which contain slot lock-ups and blanket

cylinders which contain reel rod lock-ups both of which are of solid

carbon steel with nickel plating and with bearers at both ends which

are configured in-line with bearers of other cylinders.

Keyless inking system which consists of a passive feed ink

delivery system, an eight roller ink train, and a non-anilox and non-

porous metering roller.

The dampener system which consists of a two nozzle per

page spraybar and two roller dampener with one chrome drum and one form

roller.

The equipment contained in the color keyless ink delivery

system is designed to achieve a constant, uniform feed of ink film

across the cylinder without ink keys. This system requires use of

keyless ink which accepts greater water content.

2. Folder: A module which is a double 3:2 rotary folder with 160

pages collect capability and double (over and under) delivery, with a

cut-off length of 22 inches. The upper section consists of three-high

double formers (total of 6) with six sets of nipping rollers.

3. RTP: A component which is of the two-arm design with core drives

and core brakes, designed for 50 inch diameter rolls; and arranged in

the press line in the back-to-back configuration (left and right hand

load pairs).

4. Conveyance and Access Apparatus: Conveyance and access apparatus

capable of manipulating a roll of paper more than two newspaper

broadsheets across through the production process, and a drive system

which is of conventional shafted design.

5. Computerized Control System: A computerized control system,

which is any computer equipment and/or software designed specifically

to control, monitor, adjust, and coordinate the functions and

operations of large newspaper printing presses or press components.

The order with regard to imports of other LNPPs is not affected by

this request.

Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty

Administrative Review

Pursuant to section 751(d) of the Act, the Department may partially

revoke an antidumping duty order based on a review under section 751(b)

of the Act. Section 782(h)(2) of the Act and Sec. 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. The

Department interprets ``substantially all'' production to mean at least

85 percent of production of the domestic like product (i.e., the

merchandise produced in the United States that corresponds to the scope

of the proceeding) (see, e.g., Preliminary Results of Changed

Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review : Oil Country

Tubular Goods From Mexico, 64 FR 14213-14214, March 24, 1999).

In order to determine whether ``substantially all'' of the domestic

producers supported revocation in part of the order, the Department

requested domestic production information from Goss and KBA (MAN Roland

did not identify any domestic production). Based on their responses, we

have preliminarily determined that Goss represents at least 85 percent

of the domestic production of the domestic like product and thus

accounts for ``substantially all'' of the production of the domestic

like product. This lack of interest by the domestic industry

constitutes sufficient changed circumstances to warrant partial

revocation of the order (see, e.g., Final Results of Changed

Circumstances Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Reviews, and

Revocation of Orders in Part: Certain Cut-To-Length Carbon Steel Plate

from Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom, 64 FR 46343, August 25,

1999). The objections raised by other interested parties do not provide

a basis for rejecting Goss' request. Therefore, the Department is

notifying the public of its intent to revoke in part the antidumping

duty order on LNPP from Japan with respect to the import of the

elements and components of LNPP systems and additions thereto as

described above.

If final revocation in part occurs, we intend to instruct the U.S.

Customs Service (Customs) to liquidate without regard to antidumping

duties, and to refund any estimated antidumping duties collected for

all entries, of the merchandise described above, made on or after

September 4, 1996, as requested by the petitioner. Further, we intend

to issue instructions to Customs requiring that a party importing the

merchandise described above submit a certification to Customs

certifying that the imported merchandise meets the specifications of

the merchandise covered by the revocation in part. The current

requirement for a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties on LNPP

from Japan with regard to the specified merchandise will continue

unless and until we publish a final determination to revoke in part.

Public Comment

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary

results. Parties who submit argument in this proceeding are requested

to submit with the argument (1) a statement of the issue, and (2) a

brief summary of the argument. Any interested party may request a

hearing within 10 days of the date of publication of this notice. Any

hearing, if requested, will be held no later than 25 days after the

date of publication of this notice, or the first workday thereafter.

Case briefs may be submitted by interested parties not later than 15

days after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal

[[Page 59741]]

briefs, limited to the issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed

not later than 20 days after the date of publication of this notice.

All written comments shall be submitted in accordance with 19 CFR

351.303 and shall be served on all interested parties on the

Department's service list in accordance with 19 CFR 351.303. Persons

interested in attending the hearing should contact the Department for

the date and time of the hearing. The Department will publish the final

results of this changed circumstances review, including the results of

its analysis of issues raised in any written comments.

This notice is in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1)

of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.222.

Dated: October 28, 1999.

Richard Moreland,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-28762 Filed 11-2-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P