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
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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
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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:
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Manufacturer/exporter of line pipe Ad valorem rate
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mannesmann-Sumerbank .............................. 3.75%
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Manufacturer/exporter of pipe and tube Ad valorem rate
---------------------------------------------------------------
Borusan Group ......................................... 2.85%
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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