Rates Change for 11 AD Orders on Certain EC Steel and Pasta Due to Implementation of WTO Finding on 'Zeroing
The International Trade Administration has issued a notice which implements findings under Section 129 in eleven of twelve European Community antidumping investigations, effective April 23, 2007, in order to implement a World Trade Organization panel report finding that the ITA’s use of "zeroing" in average-to-average comparison AD investigations is inconsistent with U.S. obligations under the WTO Agreements.
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(See ITT's Online Archives or 01/08/07 and 01/29/07 news, (Ref: 07010825) and (Ref: 07012930), for BP summaries of the end of the ITA's use of "zeroing" in average-to-average AD duty investigations effective February 22, 2007.)
Recalculated Rates for 11 EC AD Investigations (Results in Certain Revocations)
According to the ITA, the implementation of its Section 129 findings results in certain recalculated rates for 11 EC AD investigations which, in some cases, has resulted in revocations. These changes are effective April 23, 2007 as follows:
| Company | Recalculated AD Rate |
|---|---|
| Corus Staal BV (Corus)1 | 0.00% (from 2.59%) |
| UGITECH S.A. (formerly Ugine Savoie Imphy, S.A.) (UGITECH)2 | 0.00% (from 3.9%) |
| All Others Rate | 35.92% (from 3.9%)3 |
| BGH Group of Companies (BGH) | 2.59% (from 13.63%) |
| Walzwerke Einsal GmbH (Einsal)2 | de minimis (from 4.17%) |
| Edelstahl Witten-Krefeld GmbH | 10.82% (from 15.40%) |
| Krupp Edelstahlprofile GmbH | 31.25% (from 32.32%) |
| All Others Rate | 15.16% (from 16.96%) |
| Acciaiera Valbruna S.r.l.2 | 0.00% (from 2.50%) |
| Acciaiera Foroni S.p.A. 2 | 0.00% (from 7.07%) |
| Rodacciai S.p.A. 2 | 0.00% (from 3.83%) |
| All Others Rate | 6.60% (from 3.81%)3 |
| Corus Engineering Steels Ltd. 2 | 0.00% (from 4.48%) |
| All Others Rate | 83.85% (from 4.48%)3 |
| Fagersta Stainless AB1 | 0.00% (from 5.71%) |
| Roldan S.A. | 2.71% (from 4.76%) |
| All Others Rate | 2.71% (from 4.76%) |
| Cogne Acciai Speciali S.r.l. | 11.25% (from 12.73%) |
| All Others Rate | 11.25% (from 12.73%) |
| Ugine & ALZ Belgium (formerly ALZ N.V.) | 8.54% (from 9.84%) |
| All Others Rate | 8.54% (from 9.84%) |
| Palini and Bertoli S.p.A. | 7.64% (from 7.85%) |
| All Others Rate | 7.64% (from 7.85%) |
| Arrighi S.p.A. Industrie Alimentari | 20.84% (from 21.34%) |
| Liguori Pastificio Dal 1820 S.p.A. | 12.14% (from 12.41%) |
| Pastificio Fratelli Pagani S.p.A. | 18.23% (from 18.30%) |
| La Molisana Industrie Alimentari S.p.A. | 14.78% (unchanged) |
| All Others Rate | 15.45% (from 12.09%) |
1The ITA states that since this company is the only respondent, it is revoking this order effective April 23, 2007.
2The ITA states that it is revoking the order for this company effective April 23, 2007.
3The ITA states that since there are no non-adverse facts available above de minimis margins remaining, pursuant to ITA practice, the all-others rate is based on a simple average of the zero rates and the AFA rates.
The ITA notes that for any company whose rate was based on total AFA, the rates have not been changed.
Revocations, Cash Deposits and Suspension of Liquidation
The ITA has issued the following cash deposit and liquidation instructions:
Liquidation, discontinued cash deposit for Netherlands carbon steel, Sweden wire rod. With respect to certain hot-rolled carbon steel from the Netherlands and stainless steel wire rod from Sweden, the ITA will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to liquidate, without regard to AD duties, entries of the subject merchandise with a time of entry on or after April 23, 2007, and to discontinue collection of cash deposits, as these orders are revoked.
Liquidation, discontinued cash deposit for de minimis, zero rate companies. For the other nine AD investigations, for those companies with a recalculated de minimis rate or a rate of zero, the ITA will instruct CBP to liquidate, without regard to AD duties, entries of the subject merchandise with a time of entry on or after April 23, 2007, and to discontinue collection of cash deposits, as the orders are revoked for these companies.
Continued suspension of liquidation, cash deposit for all others. The ITA will instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise from all other exporters or producers, and CBP shall continue to require a cash deposit. The Section 129 determination all-others rate will be the new cash deposit rate for all exporters of subject merchandise for whom the ITA has not calculated an individual rate.
The ITA notes that the cash deposit rates will remain unchanged for those companies that it is not revoking and whose cash deposit rates since the original investigation have been superseded by administrative reviews.
Section 129 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) provides the basic legal provisions through which the U.S. would make and implement new AD or countervailing duty determinations consistent with an adverse WTO report.
With respect to stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Italy (A-475-824), the ITA states that one interested party made allegations of computational errors in calculating the weighted-average dumping margin. The ITA found that there was a reasonable basis to investigate the allegations further, and has postponed its decision in that proceeding in order to place additional information on the administrative record, and allow interested parties additional time to comment.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/02/07 news, (Ref: 07030220), for BP summary of the draft results of these Section 129 proceedings.)
ITA contact -- Daniel O'Brien (202) 482-1376
ITA notice (FR Pub 05/04/07) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/07-2212.pdf
BP Note
The ITA has previously stated that it had previously revoked the AD duty orders associated with three other investigations challenged by the EC: (1) Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from France (A-427-816), (2) Certain Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils from France (A-427-814), and (3) Certain Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils from the United Kingdom (A-412-818). (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/08/05 and 08/08/05 news, (Ref: 05120830) and (Ref: 05080835), for BP summaries of these revocations, respectively.)