NOTICES

                   DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

             International Trade Administration

                           [C-489-502]

  Certain Welded Carbon Steel Pipe and Tube and Welded Carbon Steel
                            Line Pipe
   From Turkey: Amended Final Results of Countervailing Duty
                         Administrative
         Reviews in Accordance With Decision Upon Remand

                  Wednesday, October 18, 2000

  *62334

  AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade
  Administration, Department of Commerce.

  ACTION: Notice of Amendment to Final Results of Countervailing
  Duty Administrative Reviews in Accordance with Decision Upon
  Remand.

  SUMMARY: On July 5, 2000, the United States Court of
  International Trade (CIT) affirmed the Department of Commerce's
  (the Department) Final Results of Redetermination on Remand
  Pursuant to Mannesmann-Sumerbank Boru Endustrisi T.A.S. v.
  United States, Slip Op. 00-50 (CIT May 3, 2000), (Slip Op. 00-74).
  These Final Results apply to the Department's countervailing
  duty administrative reviews of the countervailing duty orders
  on certain welded carbon steel pipe and tube and welded carbon
  steel line pipe from Turkey covering the period January 1, 1996
  through December 31, 1996. In accordance with the CIT's
  instructions, the Department has recalculated the subsidy rates using
  a sales denominator inclusive of exchange rate gains and losses.

  EFFECTIVE DATE: October 18, 2000.

  FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Moore or
  Michael Grossman, AD/CVD Enforcement Office VI, Group II, Import
  Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 4012, 14th
  Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230;
  telephone (202) 482-2786.

  SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 16, 1998, the
  Department published in the Federal Register (63 FR 18885) the final
  results and partial rescission of its administrative reviews of the
  countervailing duty orders on certain welded carbon steel pipe
  and tube and welded carbon steel line pipe from Turkey for the
  period January 1, 1996 through December 31, 1996. Subsequently,
  respondents challenged the Department's final results before the CIT
  regarding the Department's determination to calculate the benefits
  from the freight rebate program at the time of receipt, and the
  Department's methodology of excluding foreign exchange gains, "kur
  farki," from the denominator of the subsidy equation.
  In the 1996 administrative reviews of the countervailing duty
  orders, the Department determined that benefits from the freight
  rebate program are bestowed at the time of receipt. The Department
  also determined that foreign exchange gains should be excluded
  from the sales denominators because foreign exchange gains are not
  income that is derived from sales, but income from fluctuations of
  the relative value of the dollar versus the Turkish Lira. Therefore, the
  Department excluded foreign exchange gains from the sales
  denominators.
  On December 23, 1999, the CIT affirmed the Department's
  determination regarding the freight rebate program. However, the
  CIT remanded to the Department to either 

*62335

  include foreign
  exchange gains in the denominator of the subsidy margin calculation
  or provide an adequate explanation of how this case differs from
  prior determinations, where the subsidy margin calculation was
  performed in this manner. The CIT also stated that if the Department
  took the latter course of action, it must also explain why Turkish
  generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and respondents'
  accounting methods are unreliable and distortive. See
  Mannesmann-Sumerbank Boru Endustrisi T.A.S. v. United States, 86
  F. Supp. 2d 1266, 1275 (CIT 1999). In accordance with that remand
  order, on March 17, 2000, the Department submitted its first Final
  Results of Redetermination on Remand, which explained how the
  prior determinations cited by the court reflected a practice no longer
  ascribed to by the Department, and why Turkish GAAP and the
  respondents' accounting methods are irrelevant in regards to the
  issue at hand.
  The CIT, in its May 3, 2000, decision found that the Department's
  explanation failed to substantiate its practice or its reasonableness,
  and remanded to the Department to recalculate the subsidy rates
  using a sales denominator inclusive of exchange rate gains and
  losses. (Slip Op. 00-50). On June 2, 2000, the Department
  recalculated the subsidy rates using a sales denominator inclusive of
  exchange rate gains and losses, as instructed by the CIT. On July 5,
  2000, the CIT sustained the Department's second Final Results of
  Redetermination on Remand. (Slip Op. 00-74).

  Results of Remand

  In accordance with the court's second remand instructions, the
  Department has recalculated the benefits under each program, and
  the company-specific total ad valorem rates for the 1996 period.
  Therefore, we are amending the final results of administrative
  reviews.
  The final countervailing duty rates for the 1996 period of review
  are as follows:
   
  ----------------------------------------------------------- 
     Manufacturer/exporter of line pipe      Ad valorem rate 
  ----------------------------------------------------------- 
    Mannesmann-Sumerbank .............................. 3.75% 
  ----------------------------------------------------------- 
   
   
  --------------------------------------------------------------- 
     Manufacturer/exporter of pipe and tube      Ad valorem rate 
  --------------------------------------------------------------- 
    Borusan Group ......................................... 2.85% 
  --------------------------------------------------------------- 
   
  The Department will instruct the Customs Service to assess
  countervailing duties on all appropriate entries. The Department
  will issue liquidation instructions directly to the Customs Service.
  The above rates will not affect the cash deposit requirements for pipe
  and tube currently in effect, which will continue to be based on the
  rates found to exist in the most recently completed review. The
  order on line pipe was revoked effective January 1, 2000, pursuant
  to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act, as amended. See Notice of Final
  Results of Sunset Review and Revocation of Countervailing Duty
  Order: Welded Carbon Steel Line Pipe from Turkey, 64 FR 30305
  (June 7, 1999).
  This amendment to the final results of countervailing duty
  administrative reviews notice is in accordance with section 751(a)(1)
  of the Tariff Act, as amended, (19 U.S.C. 1675 (a)(1)), 19 CFR 351.213,
  and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(5).
  Dated: October 10, 2000.

  Troy H. Cribb,

  Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

  [FR Doc. 00-26763 Filed 10-17-00; 8:45 am]

  BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P