Wire rods are made of alloy steels containing carbon and chromium

Tag : steel wire
The Department of Commerce (the Department) received arequest for initiation of a changed-circumstances review of theantidumping duty order on stainless steel wire rods (wire rods)from India from India Steel Works Limited (India Steel). Afterreviewing this request, we preliminarily determine that India Steelis the successor-in-interest to Isibars Limited (Isibars) andshould therefore be accorded the same treatment previously accordedto Isibars with respect to the antidumping duty order on wire rodsfrom India. Interested parties are invited to comment on thesepreliminary results.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 25, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edythe Artman or Minoo Hatten,AD/CVD Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, InternationalTrade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street andConstitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202)482-3931 and (202) 482-1690, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 1, 1993, the Departmentpublished an antidumping duty order on wire rods from India. SeeAntidumping Duty Order: Certain Stainless Steel Wire Rods fromIndia, 58 FR 63335 (December 1, 1993). On August 4, 2008, theDepartment received a request for a changed-circumstances review ofthis order from India Steel to determine if, for purposes of theantidumping law, India Steel is the successor-in-interest toIsibars.
Sales of wire rods from India produced by Isibars were lastexamined by the Department in the administrative review of theorder covering the period December 1, 2002, through November 30,2003. As a result of this review, Isibars received a cash-depositrate of 30.10 percent. See Stainless Steel Wire Rod From India:Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 70FR 47177 (August 12, 2005) (Amended Final Results).
Scope of the Review
The merchandise under review is wire rods, which are hot-rolledor hot-rolled annealed and/or pickled rounds, squares, octagons,hexagons or other shapes, in coils. Wire rods are made of alloysteels containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and10.5 percent or more of chromium, with or without other elements.These products are only manufactured by hot-rolling and arenormally sold in coiled form, and are of solid cross section. Themajority of wire rods sold in the United States are round incross-section shape, annealed, and pickled. The most common size is5.5 millimeters in diameter.
The wire rods subject to this order are currently classifiableunder subheadings 7221.00.0005, 7221.00.0015, 7221.00.0030,7221.00.0045, and 7221.00.0075 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule ofthe United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings areprovided for convenience and customs purposes, the writtendescription of the merchandise subject to the order is dispositiveof whether the merchandise is covered by the order.
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed-Circumstances Review
Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, asamended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.216, the Department will conducta changed-circumstances review upon receipt of informationconcerning, or a request from an interested party for review of, anantidumping duty order which shows changed circumstances sufficientto warrant a review of the order. The Department finds that thedocumentation that India Steel submitted with its August 4, 2008,request constitutes sufficient evidence of changed circumstances towarrant such a review. Thus, in accordance with section 751(b) ofthe Act, the Department is initiating a changed-circumstancesreview to determine whether India Steel is thesuccessor-in-interest to Isibars for purposes of determiningantidumping duty liability with respect to imports of wire rodsfrom India.
Furthermore, 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii) permits the Department tocombine the notice of initiation of a changed-circumstances reviewand the notice of preliminary results for the review in a singlenotice if the Department concludes that expedited action iswarranted. As explained below, we find that the evidence providedby India Steel is sufficient to preliminarily determine that thiscompany is the successor-in-interest to Isibars.
In making a successor-in-interest determination, the Departmentexamines several factors including, but not limited to, changes in:(1) management; (2) production facilities; (3) supplierrelationships; and (4) customer base. See, e.g., Notice of FinalResults of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty AdministrativeReview: Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan, 67 FR 58 (January 2,2002); Brass Sheet and Strip from Canada: Final Results ofAntidumping Duty Administrative Review, 57 FR 20460, 20461 (May 13,1992). While no single factor or combination of factors willnecessarily provide a dispositive indication of asuccessor-in-interest relationship, the Department will generallyconsider the new company to be the successor to the previouscompany if the new company's resulting operation is not materiallydissimilar to that of its predecessor. See, e.g., Fresh and ChilledAtlantic Salmon from Norway; Final Results of Changed CircumstancesAntidumping Duty Administrative Review, 64 FR 9979 (March 1, 1999)(Salmon from Norway); Industrial Phosphoric Acid from Israel; FinalResults of Changed Circumstances Review, 59 FR 6944, 6945 (February14, 1994). Thus, if the record evidence demonstrates that, withrespect to the production and sale of the subject merchandise, thenew company operates as the same business entity as the predecessorcompany, the Department may assign the new company the cash depositrate of its predecessor. See, e.g., Salmon from Norway, 64 FR at9980.
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221, we preliminarily determinethat India Steel is the successor-in-interest to Isisbars. In itsAugust 4, 2008, submission, India Steel provided evidencesupporting its claim to be the successor-in-interest to Isibars.Specifically, it provided the following documentation:
(1) the minutes of the September 29, 2007, annual generalmeeting of Isibars, showing that the name change was voted upon andapproved unanimously;
(2) a certified copy of a "Fresh Certificate of IncorporationConsequent upon Change of Name," dated October 22, 2007, and issuedby the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which shows the namechange;
(3) a list of the stockholders and board of directors before andafter the name change, showing that they are identical;
(4) an organizational chart before and after the name change,showing that India Steel has the same organizational structure asIsibars;
(5) lists of suppliers and customers before and after the namechange, indicating that they are identical;
(6) samples of letters and e-mails sent to customers announcingthe name change;
(7) documentation demonstrating that India Steel has the same'permanent account number', or taxpayer identification number, asIsibars;
(8) a detailed description of the production facilities thatexisted before and after the name change indicating that IndiaSteel has the same production facilities as Isibars;
(9) documentation demonstrating that India Steel maintains thesame bank account as Isibars; and
(10) certificates of importer and exporter codes for Isibars andIndia Steel, issued by the Government of India showing that thecodes are identical before and after the name change.
In summary, India Steel has presented evidence to establish aprima facie case of its successorship status. Isibars's name changeto India Steel has not changed the operations of the company in ameaningful way. India Steel's management, production facilities,supplier relationships, and customer base are substantiallyunchanged from those of Isibars. The record evidence demonstratesthat the new entity essentially operates in the same manner as thepredecessor company. Consequently, we preliminarily determine thatIndia Steel should be assigned the same antidumping duty treatmentas Isibars, i.e., a 30.10 percent antidumping duty cash-depositrate. See Amended Final Results.
The cash deposit determination from this changed-circumstancesreview will apply to all entries of the subject merchandise enteredor withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after the date ofpublication of the final results of this changed-circumstancesreview. See Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from Italy;Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 68FR 25327 (May 12, 2003). This deposit rate shall remain in effectuntil publication of the final results of the next administrativereview in which India Steel is reviewed.
Public Comment
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminaryresults. Written comments may be submitted no later than 14 daysafter the date of publication of these preliminary results.Rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues raised in suchcomments, may be filed no later than 21 days after the date ofpublication. The Department will issue the final results of thischanged-circumstances review, which will include the results of itsanalysis raised in any such written comments, no later than 270days after the date on which this review was initiated, or within45 days if all parties agree to our preliminary results. See 19 CFR351.216(e).
This notice is published in accordance with section 751(b)(1)and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221.
Dated: September 18, 2008.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-22551 Filed 9-24-08; 8:45 am]
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