Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Round Wire From Japan

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-588-844]

Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:

Stainless Steel Round Wire From Japan

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 9, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jarrod Goldfeder or John Brinkmann at

(202) 482-1784 or (202) 482-5288, respectively, Office of AD/CVD

Enforcement 2, Import Administration, International Trade

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

Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.

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 (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise

[[Page 17318]]

indicated, all citations to Department of Commerce (Department)

regulations refer to the regulations codified at 19 CFR Part 351 (April

1998).

Final Determination

We determine that stainless steel round wire from Japan is being

sold, or is likely to be sold, in the United States at less than fair

value (LTFV), as provided in section 733 of the Act. The estimated

margins are shown in the Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

section of this notice.

Case History

The preliminary determination in this investigation was issued on

November 12, 1998. See Notice of Preliminary Determinations of Sales at

Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determinations--

Stainless Steel Round Wire From Canada, India, Japan, Spain, and

Taiwan; Preliminary Determination of Sales at Not Less Than Fair Value

and Postponement of Final Determination--Stainless Steel Round Wire

From Korea, 63 FR 60402 (November 18, 1998) (preliminary

determination).

Scope of Investigation

The scope of this investigation covers stainless steel round wire

(SSRW). SSRW is any cold-formed (i.e., cold-drawn, cold-rolled)

stainless steel product of a cylindrical contour, sold in coils or

spools, and not over 0.703 inch (18 mm) in maximum solid cross-

sectional dimension. SSRW is made of iron-based alloys containing, by

weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or more of

chromium, with or without other elements. Metallic coatings, such as

nickel and copper coatings, may be applied.

The merchandise subject to this investigation is classifiable under

subheadings 7223.00.1015, 7223.00.1030, 7223.00.1045, 7223.00.1060, and

7223.00.1075 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience

and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise under

investigation is dispositive.

Period of Investigation

The period of the investigation (POI) is January 1, 1997, through

December 31, 1997. This period corresponds to the four most recent

fiscal quarters prior to the month of the filing of the petition (i.e.,

March 1998).

Facts Available

Suzuki Metal Industry Co., Ltd. (Suzuki) and Nippon Seisen Co.,

Ltd. (Nippon Seisen) did not respond to our questionnaires. Section

776(a)(2) of the Act provides that, if an interested party (A)

withholds information that has been requested by the Department; (B)

fails to provide such information in a timely manner or in the form or

manner requested subject to sections 782(c)(1) and (e) of the Act; (C)

significantly impedes a proceeding under the antidumping statute; or

(D) provides such information but the information cannot be verified,

the Department shall, subject to subsection 782(d) of the Act, use

facts otherwise available in reaching the applicable determination.

Because these firms failed to respond to our questionnaires and because

the relevant subsections of section 782 of the Act do not apply, we

must use facts otherwise available to calculate the dumping margins for

these companies.

Section 776(b) of the Act provides that adverse inferences may be

used when an interested party fails to cooperate by not acting to the

best of its ability to comply with the Department's requests for

information. See also Statement of Administrative Action accompanying

the URAA, H.R. Rep. No. 316, Vol.1, 103d Cong., 2d Sess. 870 (1994)

(SAA). The lack of response by Suzuki and Nippon Seisen to the

Department's antidumping questionnaires constitutes a failure by these

respondents to act to the best of their abilities to comply with a

request for information, within the meaning of section 776 of the Act.

Thus, the Department has determined that, in selecting among the facts

otherwise available, an adverse inference is warranted.

Because we were unable to calculate margins for these respondents

in this investigation, we assigned these respondents the highest margin

in the petition (recalculated by the Department, as appropriate). This

approach is consistent with Department practice. See Notice of Final

Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Wire

Rod from Germany, 63 FR 40433 (July 29, 1998). The highest petition

margin is 29.56 percent.1

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\1\ At the time of initiation, we did not accept the U.S. and

home market packing data set forth in the petition, and we revised

the dumping margins in that petition so as to not reflect any

adjustment for packing. In reviewing the petition margin

calculations for the preliminary determination in the Japan case, we

noted that the denominator for the margins was erroneously based on

home market price, rather than U.S. price. We have revised the

margins accordingly. See Memorandum from Jarrod Goldfeder to the

file, dated November 19, 1998.

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Section 776(b) states that an adverse inference may include

reliance on information derived from the petition or any other

information placed on the record. See also SAA at 829-831. Section

776(c) of the Act provides that, when the Department relies on

secondary information (such as the petition) in using the facts

otherwise available, it must, to the extent practicable, corroborate

that information from independent sources that are reasonably at its

disposal.

During our pre-initiation analysis of the petition, we reviewed the

adequacy and accuracy of the secondary information in the petition from

which the margins were calculated, to the extent that appropriate

information was available for this purpose. See Initiation of

Antidumping Duty Investigations: Stainless Steel Round Wire from

Canada, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Spain, and Taiwan, 63 FR

26150, 26151 (May 12, 1998). However, we are aware of no other

independent sources of information that would enable us to corroborate

the components of the margin calculation in the petition further. The

implementing regulation to section 776 of the Act, 19 CFR 351.308(c),

states that ``[t]he fact that corroboration may not be practicable in a

given circumstance will not prevent the Secretary from applying an

adverse inference as appropriate and using the secondary information in

question.'' Additionally, we note that the SAA at 870 specifically

states that, where ``corroboration may not be practicable in a given

circumstance,'' the Department may nevertheless apply an adverse

inference. Finally, the margins calculated for respondents in the other

round wire investigations are in many instances of the same order of

magnitude as the margins in the corresponding petitions, suggesting

that the information contained in the round wire petitions is generally

reliable.

Interested Party Comments

No parties commented on the preliminary determination.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we are

directing the Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation of all

entries of stainless steel round wire from Japan that are entered, or

withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after November 18,

1998, the date of publication of the preliminary determination in the

Federal Register. The Customs Service shall continue to require a cash

deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the weighted-average amount

by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price, as indicated in

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the chart below. The suspension of liquidation instructions will remain

in effect until further notice. The weighted-average dumping margins

are as follows:

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

Weighted-

average

Exporter/manufacturer margin

percentage

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

Nippon Seisen.............................................. 29.56

Suzuki..................................................... 29.56

All Others................................................. 15.20

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

Section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act provides that, where the estimated

weighted-average dumping margins established for all exporters and

producers individually investigated are zero or de minimis margins or

are determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, the Department

may use any reasonable method to establish the estimated all-others

rate for exporters and producers not individually investigated. In this

case, the margin assigned to the two companies investigated is based on

facts available. Therefore, consistent with the SAA, at 873, we are

using an alternative method. As our alternative, we have based the all-

others rate on a simple average of the margins in the petition, as

revised at the time of initiation of this investigation.

ITC Notification

In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the

International Trade Commission (ITC) of our determination. As our final

determination is affirmative, the ITC will, within 45 days, determine

whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material

injury to, the U.S. industry. If the ITC determines that material

injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will

be terminated and all securities posted will be refunded or canceled.

If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Department will

issue an antidumping duty order directing the Customs Service to assess

antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise entered,

or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective

date of the suspension of liquidation.

We are issuing and publishing this determination in accordance with

sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

Dated: April 2, 1999.

Richard W. Moreland,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-8923 Filed 4-8-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P