Antidumping: Stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Germany,
[Federal Register: December 13, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 238)]
[Notices]
[Page 73729-73731]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13de05-40]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
(A-428-825)
Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils From Germany; Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review.
SUMMARY: On August 8, 2005, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of administrative review of the antidumping duty order covering stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Germany. See Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils from Germany; Notice of Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 70 FR 45682 (August 8, 2005) (Preliminary Results). The merchandise covered by this order is stainless steel sheet and strip in coils as described in the ``Scope of the Order'' section of this notice. The period of review (POR) is July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004. We invited parties to comment on our Preliminary Results. Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made changes to the margin calculation. Therefore, the final results differ from the preliminary results. The final weighted-average dumping margin for the reviewed firm is listed below in the section entitled ``Final Results of the Review.''
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 13, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah Scott, Tyler Weinhold, or Robert James, AD/CVD Operations, Office 7, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 482-2657, (202) 482-1121 or (202) 482-0649, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On August 8, 2005, the Department of Commerce published the preliminary results of administrative review of the antidumping order covering stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Germany. See Preliminary Results. In the Preliminary Results we invited parties to provide comments. In response, the Department received case briefs from ThyssenKrupp Nirosta GmbH, ThyssenKrupp VDM GmbH (TKVDM), ThyssenKrupp Nirosta Pr[auml]zisionsband GmbH (TKNP), and their various affiliates (collectively, TKN) and from Allegheny Ludlum, North American Stainless, Local 3303 United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO/CLC, and Zanesville Armco Independent Organization (collectively, Petitioners) on September 7, 2005. Petitioners submitted a rebuttal brief on September 14, 2005. TKN did not submit a rebuttal brief.
Scope of the Order
The products covered by this order are certain stainless steel sheet and strip in coils. Stainless steel is an alloy steel containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or more of chromium, with or without other elements. The subject sheet and strip is a flat-rolled product in coils that is greater than 9.5 mm in width and less than 4.75 mm in thickness, and that is annealed or otherwise heat treated and pickled or otherwise descaled. The subject sheet and strip may also be further processed (e.g., cold-rolled, polished, aluminized, coated, etc.) provided that it maintains the specific dimensions of sheet and strip following such processing. The merchandise subject to this order is currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) at subheadings: 7219.13.0031, 7219.13.0051, 7219.13.0071, 7219.1300.81 \1\, 7219.14.0030, 7219.14.0065, 7219.14.0090, 7219.32.0005, 7219.32.0020, 7219.32.0025, 7219.32.0035, 7219.32.0036, 7219.32.0038, 7219.32.0042, 7219.32.0044, 7219.33.0005, 7219.33.0020, 7219.33.0025, 7219.33.0035, 7219.33.0036, 7219.33.0038, 7219.33.0042, 7219.33.0044, 7219.34.0005, 7219.34.0020, 7219.34.0025, 7219.34.0030, 7219.34.0035, 7219.35.0005, 7219.35.0015, 7219.35.0030, 7219.35.0035, 7219.90.0010, 7219.90.0020, 7219.90.0025, 7219.90.0060, 7219.90.0080, 7220.12.1000, 7220.12.5000, 7220.20.1010, 7220.20.1015, 7220.20.1060, 7220.20.1080, 7220.20.6005, 7220.20.6010, 7220.20.6015, 7220.20.6060, 7220.20.6080, 7220.20.7005, 7220.20.7010, 7220.20.7015, 7220.20.7060, 7220.20.7080, 7220.20.8000, 7220.20.9030, 7220.20.9060, 7220.90.0010, 7220.90.0015, 7220.90.0060, and 7220.90.0080. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the Department's written description of the merchandise under this order is dispositive.
\1\ Due to changes to the HTS numbers in 2001, 7219.13.0030, 7219.13.0050, 7219.13.0070, and 7219.13.0080 are now 7219.13.0031, 7219.13.0051, 7219.13.0071, and 7219.13.0081, respectively.
Excluded from the scope of the order are the following: (1) Sheet and strip that is not annealed or otherwise heat treated and pickled or otherwise descaled, (2) sheet and strip that is cut to length, (3) plate (i.e., flat-rolled stainless steel products of a thickness of 4.75 mm or more), (4) flat wire (i.e., cold-rolled sections, with a prepared edge, rectangular in shape, of a width of not more than 9.5 mm), and (5) razor blade steel. Razor blade steel is a flat-rolled product of stainless steel, not further worked than cold-rolled (cold- reduced), in coils, of a width of not more than 23 mm and a thickness of 0.266 mm or less, containing, by weight, 12.5 to 14.5 percent chromium, and certified at the time of entry to be used in the manufacture of razor blades. See chapter 72 of the HTSUS, ``Additional U.S. Note'' 1(d).
Flapper valve steel is also excluded from the scope of the order. This product is defined as stainless steel strip in coils containing, by weight, between 0.37 and 0.43 percent carbon, between 1.15 and 1.35 percent molybdenum, and between 0.20 and 0.80 percent manganese. This steel also contains, by weight, phosphorus of 0.025 percent or less, silicon of between 0.20 and 0.50 percent, and sulfur of 0.020 percent or less. The product is manufactured by means of vacuum arc remelting, with inclusion controls for sulphide of no more than 0.04 percent and for oxide of no more than 0.05 percent. Flapper valve steel has a tensile strength of between 210 and 300 ksi, yield strength of between 170 and 270 ksi, plus or minus 8 ksi, and a hardness (Hv) of between 460 and 590. Flapper valve steel is most commonly used to produce specialty flapper valves in compressors.
[[Page 73730]]
Also excluded is a product referred to as suspension foil, a specialty steel product used in the manufacture of suspension assemblies for computer disk drives. Suspension foil is described as 302/304 grade or 202 grade stainless steel of a thickness between 14 and 127 microns, with a thickness tolerance of plus-or-minus 2.01 microns, and surface glossiness of 200 to 700 percent Gs. Suspension foil must be supplied in coil widths of not more than 407 mm, and with a mass of 225 kg or less. Roll marks may only be visible on one side, with no scratches of measurable depth. The material must exhibit residual stresses of 2 mm maximum deflection, and flatness of 1.6 mm over 685 mm length.
Certain stainless steel foil for automotive catalytic converters is also excluded from the scope of this order. This stainless steel strip in coils is a specialty foil with a thickness of between 20 and 110 microns used to produce a metallic substrate with a honeycomb structure for use in automotive catalytic converters. The steel contains, by weight, carbon of no more than 0.030 percent, silicon of no more than 1.0 percent, manganese of no more than 1.0 percent, chromium of between 19 and 22 percent, aluminum of no less than 5.0 percent, phosphorus of no more than 0.045 percent, sulfur of no more than 0.03 percent, lanthanum of less than 0.002 or greater than 0.05 percent, and total rare earth elements of more than 0.06 percent, with the balance iron.
Permanent magnet iron-chromium-cobalt alloy stainless strip is also excluded from the scope of this order. This ductile stainless steel strip contains, by weight, 26 to 30 percent chromium, and 7 to 10 percent cobalt, with the remainder of iron, in widths 228.6 mm or less, and a thickness between 0.127 and 1.270 mm. It exhibits magnetic remanence between 9,000 and 12,000 gauss, and a coercivity of between 50 and 300 oersteds. This product is most commonly used in electronic sensors and is currently available under proprietary trade names such as ``Arnokrome III.'' \2\
\2\ ``Arnokrome III'' is a trademark of the Arnold Engineering Company.
Certain electrical resistance alloy steel is also excluded from the scope of this order. This product is defined as a non-magnetic stainless steel manufactured to American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) specification B344 and containing, by weight, 36 percent nickel, 18 percent chromium, and 46 percent iron, and is most notable for its resistance to high temperature corrosion. It has a melting point of 1390 degrees Celsius and displays a creep rupture limit of 4 kilograms per square millimeter at 1000 degrees Celsius. This steel is most commonly used in the production of heating ribbons for circuit breakers and industrial furnaces, and in rheostats for railway locomotives. The product is currently available under proprietary trade names such as ``Gilphy 36.'' \3\
\3\ ``Gilphy 36'' is a trademark of Imphy, S.A.
Certain martensitic precipitation-hardenable stainless steel is also excluded from the scope of this order. This high-strength, ductile stainless steel product is designated under the Unified Numbering System (UNS) as S45500-grade steel, and contains, by weight, 11 to 13 percent chromium, and 7 to 10 percent nickel. Carbon, manganese, silicon and molybdenum each comprise, by weight, 0.05 percent or less, with phosphorus and sulfur each comprising, by weight, 0.03 percent or less. This steel has copper, niobium, and titanium added to achieve aging, and will exhibit yield strengths as high as 1700 Mpa and ultimate tensile strengths as high as 1750 Mpa after aging, with elongation percentages of 3 percent or less in 50 mm. It is generally provided in thicknesses between 0.635 and 0.787 mm, and in widths of 25.4 mm. This product is most commonly used in the manufacture of television tubes and is currently available under proprietary trade names such as ``Durphynox 17.'' \4\
\4\ ``Durphynox 17'' is a trademark of Imphy, S.A.
Finally, three specialty stainless steels typically used in certain industrial blades and surgical and medical instruments are also excluded from the scope of this order. These include stainless steel strip in coils used in the production of textile cutting tools (e.g., carpet knives).\5\ This steel is similar to AISI grade 420 but containing, by weight, 0.5 to 0.7 percent of molybdenum. The steel also contains, by weight, carbon of between 1.0 and 1.1 percent, sulfur of 0.020 percent or less, and includes between 0.20 and 0.30 percent copper and between 0.20 and 0.50 percent cobalt. This steel is sold under proprietary names such as ``GIN4 Mo.'' The second excluded stainless steel strip in coils is similar to AISI 420-J2 and contains, by weight, carbon of between 0.62 and 0.70 percent, silicon of between 0.20 and 0.50 percent, manganese of between 0.45 and 0.80 percent, phosphorus of no more than 0.025 percent and sulfur of no more than 0.020 percent. This steel has a carbide density on average of 100 carbide particles per 100 square microns. An example of this product is ``GIN5'' steel. The third specialty steel has a chemical composition similar to AISI 420 F, with carbon of between 0.37 and 0.43 percent, molybdenum of between 1.15 and 1.35 percent, but lower manganese of between 0.20 and 0.80 percent, phosphorus of no more than 0.025 percent, silicon of between 0.20 and 0.50 percent, and sulfur of no more than 0.020 percent. This product is supplied with a hardness of more than Hv 500 guaranteed after customer processing, and is supplied as, for example, ``GIN6.'' \6\
\5\ This list of uses is illustrative and provided for descriptive purposes only.
\6\ ``GIN4 Mo,'' ``GIN5'' and ``GIN6'' are the proprietary grades of Hitachi Metals America, Ltd.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised by parties in the case briefs and in Petitioners' rebuttal brief to this administrative review are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum from Stephen Claeys, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration to Joseph A. Spetrini, Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration (Decision Memorandum), dated December 6, 2005, which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues which parties have raised and to which we have responded, all of which are in the Decision Memorandum, is attached to this notice as an appendix. The Decision Memorandum is on file in room B-099 of the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the internet at http://www.ia.ita.doc.gov. The paper copy and electronic version of the
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
Changes Since the Preliminary Results
Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made changes to the margin calculation. The changes are listed below:
We have calculated home market early payment discounts and rebates on a concern (i.e., affiliated-family grouping) basis rather than on the basis of individual customers, where applicable.
We have disregarded from our analysis all home market sales by Nirosta Service Center (NSC) that were coded as sales of non- prime merchandise.
For the preliminary results, certain cost of production (COP) data had been inadvertently eliminated from our analysis, thereby causing
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certain U.S. sales to be excluded from our analysis since they had no matching cost data. Therefore, for these final results we inserted programming language to maintain these COP data in our analysis.
We corrected the data in the grade field for certain home market observations that had been coded incorrectly.
Final Results of the Review
We determine the following percentage weighted-average margin exists for the period July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2004:
Weighted Average Manufacturer/Exporter
Margin (percentage)
TKN.................................................
9.50
Assessment
The Department shall determine, and U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. In accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), the Department calculates an assessment rate for each importer of the subject merchandise. Upon issuance of the final results of this review, if any importer-specific assessment rates calculated in the final results are above de minimis (i.e., at or above 0.5 percent), we will issue appraisement instructions directly to CBP to assess antidumping duties on appropriate entries by applying the assessment rate to the entered value of the merchandise. To determine whether the duty- assessment rate covering the period is de minimis, in accordance with the requirement set forth in 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2), we have calculated an importer-specific assessment ad valorem rate by aggregating the dumping margins calculated for all U.S. sales to each customer or importer and dividing this amount by the total quantity sold to that customer or importer. Where the importer-specific ad valorem rate is greater than de minimis, and where the respondent has reported reliable entered values, we instruct CBP to apply the assessment rate to the entered value of the importer's entries during the POR. The Department will issue appropriate assessment instructions directly to CBP within 15 days of publication of the final results of this review.
Cash Deposit Requirements
The following deposit requirements will be effective upon publication of this notice of final results of administrative review for all shipments of stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Germany entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication, as provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Tariff Act): (1) The cash deposit rate for the reviewed company will be the rate shown above; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated companies not listed above, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the original less-than-fair- value (LTFV) investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 13.48 percent. This rate is the ``All Others'' rate from the amended final determination in the LTFV investigation of stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Germany. See Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils From Germany: Amended Final Determination of Antidumping Duty Investigation, 67 FR 15178, 15179 (March 29, 2002).
These deposit requirements shall remain in effect until publication of the final results of the next administrative review.
Reimbursement
This notice also serves as a final reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping or countervailing duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping or countervailing duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of doubled antidumping duties.
Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders
This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to administrative protective orders (APO) of their responsibility concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely written notification of the return or destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO is a violation which is subject to sanction.
We are issuing and publishing this notice in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Tariff Act.
Dated: December 6, 2005. Joseph A. Spetrini, Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
Appendix
Comments and Responses 1. Whether to Split Gauge Group 70 2. Calculation of Interest Expense 3. Home Market Rebates and Early Payment Discounts 4. Distinguishing between Prime and Non-Prime Sales in Conducting the Cost Test 5. Treatment of Non-Dumped Sales 6. Reclassification of Non-Prime Products 7. Dropped U.S. Sales 8. Misclassified Grades
[FR Doc. E5-7281 Filed 12-12-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S
