Chrome-Plated Lug Nuts From the People's Republic of China; Amendment of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 230 (Tuesday, December 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66119-66120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31981]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-570-808]


Chrome-Plated Lug Nuts From the People's Republic of China; 
Amendment of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

ACTION: Notice of Amendment to Final Results of the Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review of Chrome-Plated Lug Nuts from the People's 
Republic of China.

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

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SUMMARY: On October 7, 1998, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published the final results of its administrative review of 
the antidumping order on chrome-plated lug nuts (lug nuts) from the 
People's Republic of China (PRC). See Chrome-Plated Lug Nuts From the 
People's Republic of China; Final Results of Antidumping Duty Review, 
63 FR 53872 (October 7, 1998) (final results). The review covered the 
period September 1, 1996 through August 31, 1997.
    We gave interested parties the opportunity to provide comments 
concerning ministerial errors. We received comments from Jiangsu Rudong 
Grease Gun Factory (Rudong) alleging a ministerial error. After 
considering this comment, we have amended the final results of the 
review.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Gilgunn or Maureen Flannery, 
Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Enforcement Group III, Office 9, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20230; 
telephone (202) 482-0648 and (202) 482-3020, respectively.

Applicable Statute

    Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are 
references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective 
date of the amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Act) by the 
Uruguay Round Agreements Act. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, 
all citations to the Department's regulations are to the provisions 
codified at 19 CFR part 353 (April 1, 1997).

Scope of Review

    The products covered by this review are one-piece and two-piece 
chrome-plated and nickel-plated lug nuts from the PRC. The subject 
merchandise includes chrome-plated and nickel-plated lug nuts, finished 
or unfinished, which are more than \11/16\ inches (17.45 millimeters) 
in height and which have a hexagonal (hx) size of at least \3/4\ inches 
(19.05 millimeters) but not over one inch (25.4 millimeters), plus or 
minus \1/16\ of an inch (1.59 millimeters). The term ``unfinished'' 
refers to unplated and/or unassembled chrome-plated lug nuts. The 
subject merchandise is used for securing wheels to cars, vans, trucks, 
utility vehicles, and trailers. Excluded from the order are zinc-plated 
lug nuts, finished or unfinished, stainless steel capped lug nuts, and 
chrome-plated lock nuts.
    The merchandise under review is currently classifiable under item 
7318.16.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise is 
dispositive.

Amendment of Final Results

    Rudong alleges that the Department made a clerical error in 
calculating the Indian inflation factor it applied to certain surrogate 
Indian data. In the preliminary results, Rudong states, for certain 
inputs the Department used surrogate Indian data obtained from the 
period September through December 1996. This surrogate Indian data was 
adjusted upwards by an average inflation index for the period of 
September through December 1996. In the final results, the Department 
extended its use of surrogate Indian data to include newly available 
data for the months of January through May 1997. Rudong contends that 
the Department should have therefore extended its inflation index to 
include inflation data for the months of January through May 1997.
    We agree with Rudong. The Indian inflation index should cover the 
same period as the surrogate Indian data. Therefore, the Indian 
inflation index applied to steel wire rod data should be extended to 
include the months of January through May 1997. This affects the 
calculations of steel wire rod value as this is the only value for 
which the data period was expanded in the final results. As defined by 
section 751(h)

[[Page 66120]]

Act, the term ``ministerial error'' includes errors ``in addition, 
subtraction, or other arithmetic function, clerical errors resulting 
from inaccurate copying, duplication, or the like, and any other type 
of unintentional error which the [Department] considers ministerial.'' 
The Department's error in not extending the inflation index period when 
it expanded the data period was clearly an oversight of this nature. 
Therefore, we are amending the final results.

Amended Final Results of Review

    We determine that the following dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Margin
         Manufacturer/exporter              Time period       (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jiangsu Rudong, Grease Gun Factory.....     9/1/96-8/31/97          1.23
PRC-Wide rate..........................     9/1/96-8/31/97         44.99
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department shall determine, and the Customs Service shall 
assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. Individual 
differences between export price and normal value (NV) may vary from 
the percentage stated above for Rudong. We have calculated importer-
specific duty assessment rates for lug nuts by dividing the total 
dumping margins (calculated as the difference between NV and export 
price) for each importer/customer by the total number of units sold to 
that importer/customer. We will direct Customs to assess the resulting 
per-unit dollar amount against each unit of merchandise in each of the 
importer's/customer's entries during the review period. The Department 
will issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service.
    Furthermore, the following deposit rates will be effective upon 
publication of this notice of final results of review for all shipments 
of lug nuts from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the publication date, as provided for by 
section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) for Rudong, which was found to 
merit a separate rate for the final results of this review, the cash 
deposit rate will be 1.23 percent; (2) for all other PRC exporters, the 
cash deposit rate will be the PRC-wide rate; and (3) for non-PRC 
exporters of subject merchandise from the PRC, the cash deposit rate 
will be the rate applicable to a PRC supplier of that exporter.
    These deposit rates, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
publication of the final results of the next administrative review.
    This notice serves as a final reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate regarding 
the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the 
relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this 
requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and subsequent assessment 
of double antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.306. See 63 FR 24391, 24403 (May 4, 
1998). Timely written notification of the return/destruction of APO 
materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an 
APO is a sanctionable violation.
    This administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR 351.221.

    Dated: November 23, 1998.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-31981 Filed 11-30-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P