NOTICES

                        DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

                    International Trade Administration

       Fasteners From Japan; Preliminary Results of Administrative Review of
                        Countervailing Duty Order

                         Monday, December 6, 1982

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 AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

 ACTION: Notice of Preliminary Results of Administrative Review of Countervailing
 Duty Order.

 SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has conducted an administrative review of the
 countervailing duty order on certain fasteners from Japan. The review covers the
 period January 1, 1980 through December 31, 1980. As a result of this review, the
 Department has preliminarily determined the amount of the aggregate net subsidy to be
 0.15 percent of the f.o.b. invoice price of the merchandise. The Department considers this
 rate to be de minimis. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary
 results.

 EFFECTIVE DATE: December 6, 1982.

 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Joseph A. Black or Richard Moreland, Office of
 Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce,
 Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 377-2786.

 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

 Background

 On October 29, 1981, the Department of Commerce ("the Department") published in the
 Federal Register (46 FR 53484) the final results of its last administrative review of the
 countervailing duty order on certain fasteners from Japan (42 FR 23147, May 6,
 1977; 44 FR 31972, June 4, 1979) and announced its intent to conduct the next
 administrative review by the end of May 1982. As required by section 751 of the Tariff
 Act of 1930 ("the Tariff Act"), the Department has now conducted that administrative
 review.

 Scope of the Review

 Imports covered by the review are all fasteners currently classifiable under items
 646.5400 and 646.5600, and non-metric fasteners currently classifiable under items
 646.1700, 646.4000, 646,4100, 646.4920, 646.4940, 646.5100, 646.5300, 646.5800,
 646.6020, 646.6040, 646.6320, 646.6340, 646.6500, 646.7200, 646.7400, 646.7500,
 646.7600 and 646.7800 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated. The
 review covers the period January 1, 1980 through December 31, 1980, and two programs
 found countervailable in the final determinations plus other lending programs that were
 included in our last review.

 These programs are: (1) The deferral of income taxes on export earnings under the
 Overseas Market Development Reserve ("OMDR"), (2) benefits received under the
 "Temporary Measures Act for Small and Midsized Businesses With Regard to the High Yen
 Exchange Market" ("High Yen Law"), and (3) other loans given at preferential rates by the
 People's Finance Corporation, the Bank of Commerce and Industrial Cooperatives, the
 Small Business Finance Corporation, and the Japan Development Bank. We determined
 in our last administrative review that the benefits from one additional program, export
 promotion assistance provided by the Japanese External Trade Organization ("JETRO"),
 which had been previously held countervailable, were not subsidies within the meaning
 of the Tariff Act.

 Analysis of Programs

 (1) OMDR. The OMDR program is offered by the Japanese government to firms with a total
 capitalization of 500 million yen, or less. The program allows a firm the opportunity to
 set aside a portion of income earned on overseas operations. The amount set aside
 escapes taxation for upt to 5 years. Twenty percent of the amount set aside must be
 returned to taxable income each year, and the total amount must be returned by the end
 of the fifth year. We have treated the taxes owed on these amounts set aside as zero
 interest loans made by the government, and have calculated the benefit under the OMDR
 program to be 0.12 percent ad valorem.
 
(2) High Yen Law. During the period of review, the fastener industry took advantage of
 two of the four methods of assistance originally available under the High Yen Law, loans
 at preferential rates and deferment of repayment of those loans. The third method, the
 right to carry back current losses for up to three years in order to offset income,
 corporate, and local taxes paid in prior years, was terminated in 1979. The final method
 of assistance, special government credit guarantees, was not utilized by the fastener
 industry. We have calculated the aggregate benefit derived from the High Yen Law to be
 0.03 percent ad valorem.
 
(3) Other Preferential Loan Programs. Based on information received from the Japanese
 government we find that there were no preferential loans given to the fastener industry
 during the period of review by the People's Finance Corporation, the Bank of Commerce
 and Industrial Cooperatives, the Small Business Finance Corporation or the Japan
 Development Bank.

 Preliminary Results of Review

 As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that the aggregate net subsidy
 conferred by the programs cited above is 0.15 percent ad valorem. We consider this rate,
 since it is less than 0.5 percent ad valorem, to be de minimis.
 Accordingly, the Department intends to instruct the Customs Service to liquidate
 shipments of this merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption
 on or after January 1, 1980 and exported on or before December 31, 1980 without regard
 to countervailing duties.
 Further, the Department intends to instruct the Customs Service to continue to waive the
 collection of a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties, as provided for by
 section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act, on all shipments entered, or withdrawn from
 warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of the
 current review. This deposit waiver shall remain in effect until publication of the final
 results of the next administrative review.
 Interested parties may submit written comments on these preliminary results within 30
 days of the date of publication of this notice and may request disclosure and/or a hearing
 within 10 days of the date of publication. Any request for an administrative protective
 order must be made no later than 5 days after the date of publication. The Department
 will publish the final results of this administrative review including the results of its
 analysis of issues raised in any such written comments or at a hearing.
 This administrative review and notice are in accordance with section 751(a)(1) of the
 Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and section 355.41 of the Commerce Regulations (19 CFR
 355.41).

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 Dated: December 1, 1982.

 Gary N. Horlick,

 Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

 [FR Doc. 82-33169 Filed 12-3-82; 8:45 am]

 BILLING CODE 3510-25-M