Certain Steel Products from France; Notice of Final Court Decision and Amended Final Determination of Countervailing Duty Investigation

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-427-810]

Certain Steel Products from France; Notice of Final Court

Decision and Amended Final Determination of Countervailing Duty

Investigation

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of final court decision and amended final determination

of countervailing duty investigation.

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SUMMARY: On August 24, 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal

Circuit affirmed the U.S. Court of International Trade's decisions

sustaining the Department of Commerce's final determination in the

countervailing duty investigation of certain steel products from

France, as modified by two remand determinations. As there is now a

final and conclusive court decision in this action, we are amending our

final determination.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rosa Jeong or Blanche Ziv, Office of

Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Enforcement, Group I, Import

Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 3099, 14th Street and

Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-3853

and 482-4207, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On July 9, 1993, the Department of Commerce (the Department)

published notice of its final affirmative countervailing duty

determination of certain steel products from France. The Department's

final determination is set forth in Final Affirmative Countervailing

Duty Determinations; Certain Steel Products from France, 58 FR 37304

(July 9, 1993), and in relevant parts of the General Issues Appendix to

Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination; Certain Steel

Products from Austria, 58 FR 37217, 37231-36 (July 9, 1993). Subsequent

to the publication of the Department's countervailing duty order, the

petitioners and the respondents challenged the Department's final

determination before the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT).

Thereafter, the CIT issued its decision in British Steel plc v.

United States, 879 F. Supp. 1254 (CIT 1995), which addressed general

issues common to various countervailing duty investigations of certain

steel products which, including the French investigation, had been

before the Department concurrently. While affirming the Department's

final determination on other general issues, the CIT rejected the

Department's reliance on IRS tables showing industry-specific average

useful life of assets in determining an allocation period of 15 years.

In a subsequent remand determination dated June 30, 1995, the

Department calculated a company-specific allocation period for Usinor

Sacilor based on the average useful life of non-renewable physical

assets, and the CIT affirmed it. British Steel plc v. United States,

929 F. Supp. 426 (CIT 1996).

Meanwhile, the CIT addressed issues specific to the French

investigation in three decisions, which affirmed the Department's final

determination on all but one issue. With regard to that issue, in

Inland Steel Industries, Inc. v. United States, 967 F. Supp. 1338

(1997), the CIT accepted the Department's request for a voluntary

remand. Specifically, during the verification of Usinor Sacilor's

questionnaire responses, the Department had discovered that six Credit

National loans included in the 1991 consolidation of outstanding Credit

National loans were export promotion loans. Although in its final

concurrence memorandum the Department stated that it would determine

these loans to be specific, it inadvertently overlooked these loans in

its final determination and calculations. On July 7, 1997, the

Department filed its required remand results with the CIT, which were

affirmed on December 5, 1997. Inland Steel Industries, Inc. v. United

States, 985 F. Supp. 132 (CIT 1997).

Consistent with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's

(CAFC) decision in Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 (Fed. Cir.

1990), once the CIT litigation was concluded, the Department published

a ``Notice of Court Decision'' in the Federal Register on January 12,

1998 (63 FR 1827). In that notice, we stated that we would continue to

suspend liquidation of any subject merchandise entered, or

[[Page 67562]]

withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption until a final and conclusive

decision in the case was reached. We also announced that we would

instruct the Customs Service to change the relevant cash deposit rates

in the event that the CIT's ruling is not appealed or the CAFC issues a

final decision affirming the CIT's ruling.

On August 24, 1999, in Inland Steel Industries, Inc. v. United

States, 188 F.3d 1349 (Fed. Cir. 1999), the CAFC affirmed the CIT's

decisions on all issues before it. On November 4, 1999, the CAFC issued

its mandate.

Therefore, as there is now a final and conclusive court decision in

this case, we are amending our final determination.

Amendment to Final Determination

Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1516a(e), we are now amending our final

determination in certain steel products from France. The recalculated

net subsidy rate for all programs for Usinor Sacilor and the country-

wide rate is 15.13% ad valorem. We will instruct the Customs Service to

change the cash deposit requirements accordingly. In addition, because

there have been no requests for administrative reviews of the

countervailing duty order, the Department will instruct the Customs

Service to proceed with liquidation of subject merchandise entered on

or after December 7, 1992, the date of the Department's preliminary

determination, and before April 6, 1993, the date on which the

Department's authority to impose provisional measures lapsed as

explained in the final determination, 58 FR at 37314, as well as

subject merchandise entered on or after August 17, 1993, the date on

which the countervailing duty order was published, and before December

31, 1998, which is the last day of the most recent period for which no

administrative review was requested.

Dated: November 19, 1999.

Joseph A. Spetrini,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-31300 Filed 12-1-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P