Petitioners submitted a ministerial error allegation with respect to

Tag : graphite
 On August 21, 2008, the Department of Commerce (theDepartment) published the preliminary determination of sales atless than fair value (LTFV) in the antidumping investigation ofsmall diameter graphite electrodes (graphite electrodes) from thePeople's Republic of China (PRC). See Small Diameter GraphiteElectrodes From the People's Republic of China: PreliminaryDetermination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement ofFinal Determination, and Affirmative Preliminary Determination ofCritical Circumstances, in Part, 73 FR 49408 (August 21, 2008)(Preliminary Determination). We are amending our PreliminaryDetermination to correct certain ministerial errors with respect tothe antidumping duty margin calculation for the Fangda Group. /1/The corrections to the Fangda Group's margin also affect the marginapplied to companies receiving a separate rate.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 22, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Magd Zalok or Drew Jackson, AD/CVD Operations, Office 4, ImportAdministration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Departmentof Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington,DC, 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4162 or (202) 482-4406,respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 21, 2008, the Departmentpublished in the Federal Register the preliminary determinationthat graphite electrodes from the PRC are being, or are likely tobe, sold in the United States at LTFV, as provided in section 733of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the "Act"). See PreliminaryDetermination.
On August 25, 2008, the Fangda Group, as well as SGL Carbon LLCand Superior Graphite Co. (collectively "petitioners") filed timelyallegations of ministerial errors in the Department's preliminarycalculation of the Fangda Group's dumping margin. On August 26,2008, petitioners submitted a ministerial error allegation withrespect to Fushun Jinly Petrochemical Carbon Co., Ltd. (FushunJinly). On August 28, 2008, per the Department's request,petitioners submitted information regarding the affect the allegederrors have on the dumping margin calculated for the Fangda Group.
After reviewing the allegations, we have determined that thePreliminary Determination included significant ministerial errors.Therefore, in accordance with section 351.224(e) of theDepartment's regulations, we have made changes, as described below,to the Preliminary Determination.
Period of Investigation
The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2007, throughDecember 31, 2007. This period corresponds to the two most recentfiscal quarters prior to the month of the filing of the petition,January 2008. See section 351.204(b)(1) of the Department'sregulations.
Scope of Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation includes all smalldiameter graphite electrodes of any length, whether or notfinished, of a kind used in furnaces, with a nominal or actualdiameter of 400 millimeters (16 inches) or less, and whether or notattached to a graphite pin joining system or any other type ofjoining system or hardware. Small diameter graphite electrodes aremost commonly used in primary melting, ladle metallurgy, andspecialty furnace applications in industries including foundries,smelters, and steel refining operations. Small diameter graphiteelectrodes subject to this investigation are currently classifiedunder the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)subheading 8545.11.0000. The HTSUS number is provided forconvenience and customs purposes, but the written description ofthe scope is dispositive.
Significant Ministerial Error
Ministerial errors are defined in section 735(e) of the Act as"errors in addition, subtraction, or other arithmetic function,clerical errors resulting from inaccurate copying, duplication, orthe like, and any other type of unintentional error which theadministering authority considers ministerial." Section 351.224(e)of the Department's regulations provides that the Department "willanalyze any comments received and, if appropriate, correct anysignificant ministerial error by amending the preliminarydetermination . . . ." A significant ministerial error is definedas a ministerial error, the correction of which, singly or incombination with other errors, would result in (1) a change of atleast five absolute percentage points in, but not less than 25percent of, the weighted-average dumping margin calculated in theoriginal (erroneous) preliminary determination, or (2) a differencebetween a weighted-average dumping margin of zero or de minimis anda weighted-average dumping margin of greater than de minimis orvice versa. See section 351.224(g) of the Department's regulations.
Ministerial Error Allegations
The petitioners allege that, with respect to the Fangda Group,the Department: (1) did not deduct marine insurance from U.S.prices and used the wrong surrogate value for marine insurance; (2)incorrectly excluded packing costs from normal value and used thewrong surrogate value for wooden boards (a packing material); (3)deducted from U.S. prices only a truncated value, not the completevalue, of foreign brokerage and handling expenses; (4) incorrectlyrelied on Indian import data for the period July 1, 2007 throughDecember 1, 2007, instead of July 1, 2007 through December 31,2007; (5) did not include the cost of self-produced calcinedpetroleum coke in direct material costs, and (6) incorrectlyclassified the baking scrap and graphite scrap that were reused inthe production process as by-product offsets, rather than directmaterials. With respect to Fushun Jinly, petitioners reiteratedtheir allegation that the Department incorrectly relied on Indianimport data for the period July 1, 2007 through December 1, 2007,instead of July 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007. The Fangda Groupalleges that the Department inadvertently assigned raw petroleumcoke the surrogate value for calcined petroleum coke and failed toconvert this surrogate value from rupees to U.S. dollars.
Amended Preliminary Determination
We have determined that the Department made certain ministerialerrors in calculating the preliminary dumping margin for the FangdaGroup by failing to: (1) properly deduct marine insurance andbrokerage and handling expenses from U.S. prices, (2) properlyinclude the cost of packing and raw petroleum coke in normal value,and (3) properly treat the cost of baking and graphite scrap. Theseministerial errors, in combination, qualify as significantministerial errors pursuant to section 351.224(g) of theDepartment's regulations because they result in a change of morethan five absolute percentage points to the Fangda Group's dumpingmargin. Accordingly, we have corrected errors alleged bypetitioners and the Fangda Group. We found no ministerial errorswith respect to Fushun Jinly. See Memorandum to Abdelali Elouaradiafrom Magd Zalok and Drew Jackson, Analysts, Allegation ofMinisterial Errors, dated concurrently with this Federal Registernotice.
As a result of correcting the above errors in the Fangda Group'sdumping margin calculation, the dumping margin for the companiesgranted separate-rate status must also be revised because thedumping margin for those companies was partially derived from theFangda Group's dumping margin.
As a result of corrections of ministerial errors, the revisedweight-average dumping margins are as follows:




The weight-average dumping margins for Fushun Jinly and thePRC-wide entity have not changed from the margins determined in theoriginal preliminary determination. Those margins are as follows:




Retroactive Application of Amended Preliminary DeterminationMargins
For the Fangda Group and the separate rate applicants, we willinstruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to require a cashdeposit or the posting of a bond equal to the applicableweighted-average margins indicated above, for all entries ofsubject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, forconsumption on or after 90 days prior to the publication date ofthe Preliminary Determination, August 21, 2008. For Fushun Jinlyand the PRC-wide entity, we will instruct CBP to require a cashdeposit or the posting of a bond equal to the applicableweighted-average margins indicated above, for all entries ofsubject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, forconsumption on or after the publication date of the PreliminaryDetermination.
International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notifiedthe International Trade Commission ("ITC") of our amendedpreliminary determination. If our final determination isaffirmative, the ITC will make its final determination as towhether the domestic industry in the United States is materiallyinjured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of importsof graphite electrodes, or sales (or the likelihood of sales) forimportation, of the merchandise under investigation, within 45 daysof our final determination.
This determination is issued and published in accordance withsections 733(f), 735(a)(2), and 777(i) of the Act and sections351.210(g) and 351.224(e) of the Department's regulations.
Dated: September 15, 2008.
Stephen J. Claeys,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-22109 Filed 9-19-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S
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