[Federal Register: May 2, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 86)]
[Notices]
[Page 24310-24312]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02my08-116]
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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION
[Investigation No. 731-TA-1010 (Review)]
Lawn and Garden Steel Fence Posts From China
AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.
ACTION: Institution of a five-year review concerning the antidumping
duty order on lawn and garden steel fence posts from China.
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SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives notice that it has instituted a
review pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.
1675(c)) (the Act) to determine whether revocation of the antidumping
duty order on lawn and garden steel fence posts from China would be
likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury.
Pursuant to section 751(c)(2) of the Act, interested parties are
requested to respond to this notice by submitting the information
specified below to the Commission;\1\ to be assured of consideration,
the deadline for responses is June 20, 2008. Comments on the adequacy
of responses may be filed with the Commission by July 15, 2008. For
further information concerning the conduct of this review and rules of
general application, consult the Commission's Rules of Practice and
Procedure, part 201, subparts A through E (19 CFR part 201), and part
207, subparts A, D, E, and F (19 CFR part 207).
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\1\ No response to this request for information is required if a
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) number is not
displayed; the OMB number is 3117-0016/USITC No. 08-5-181,
expiration date June 30, 2008. Public reporting burden for the
request is estimated to average 15 hours per response. Please send
comments regarding the accuracy of this burden estimate to the
Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20436.
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EFFECTIVE DATE: May 1, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Messer (202-205-3193), Office of
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information
on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-
1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need special
assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact the
Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information concerning
the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its Internet server
(http://www.usitc.gov). The public record for this review may be viewed
on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at http://edis.usitc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background.--On June 12, 2003, the Department of Commerce issued an
antidumping duty order on imports of lawn and garden steel fence posts
from China (68 FR 35197). The Commission is conducting a review to
determine whether revocation of the order would be likely to lead to
continuation or recurrence of material injury to the domestic industry
within a reasonably foreseeable time. It will assess the adequacy of
interested party responses to this notice of institution to determine
whether to conduct a full review or an expedited review. The
Commission's determination in any expedited review will be based on the
facts available, which may include information provided in response to
this notice.
Definitions.--The following definitions apply to this review:
(1) Subject Merchandise is the class or kind of merchandise that is
within the scope of the five-year review, as defined by the Department
of Commerce.
(2) The Subject Country in this review is China.
(3) The Domestic Like Product is the domestically produced product
or products which are like, or in the absence of like, most similar in
characteristics and uses with, the Subject Merchandise. In its original
determination, the Commission found a single Domestic Like Product of
lawn and garden fence posts consistent with Commerce's scope.
(4) The Domestic Industry is the U.S. producers as a whole of the
Domestic Like Product, or those producers whose collective output of
the Domestic Like Product constitutes a major proportion of the total
domestic production of the product. In its original determination, the
Commission found that the domestic industry consists of all domestic
producers of lawn and garden steel fence posts.
(5) The Order Date is the date that the antidumping duty order
under review became effective. In this review, the Order Date is June
12, 2003.
(6) An Importer is any person or firm engaged, either directly or
through a parent company or subsidiary, in importing the Subject
Merchandise into the United States from a foreign manufacturer or
through its selling agent.
Participation in the review and public service list.--Persons,
including industrial users of the Subject Merchandise and, if the
merchandise is sold at the retail level, representative consumer
organizations, wishing to participate in the review as parties must
file an entry of appearance with the Secretary to the Commission, as
provided in section 201.11(b)(4) of the Commission's rules, no later
than 21 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
The Secretary will maintain a public service list containing the names
and addresses of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties
to the review.
Former Commission employees who are seeking to appear in Commission
five-year reviews are advised that they may appear in a review even if
they participated personally and substantially in the corresponding
underlying original investigation. The Commission's designated agency
ethics official recently has advised that a five-year review is no
longer considered the ``same particular matter'' as the corresponding
underlying original investigation for purposes of 18 U.S.C. 207, the
post employment statute for Federal employees, and Commission rule
201.15(b) (19 CFR 201.15(b)). This advice was developed in consultation
with the Office of Government Ethics. Consequently, former employees
are no longer required to seek Commission approval to appear in a
review under Commission rule 19 CFR 201.15, even if the corresponding
underlying original investigation was pending when they were Commission
employees. For further ethics advice on this matter, contact Carol
McCue Verratti, Deputy Agency Ethics Official, at 202-205-3088.
Limited disclosure of business proprietary information (BPI) under
an administrative protective order (APO) and APO service list.--
Pursuant to section 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the Secretary
will make BPI submitted in this review available to authorized
applicants under the APO issued in the review, provided that the
application is made no later than 21 days after publication of this
notice in the Federal Register. Authorized applicants must represent
interested parties, as defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to
the review. A separate service list will be maintained by the Secretary
for those parties authorized to receive BPI under the APO.
Certification.--Pursuant to section 207.3 of the Commission's
rules, any person submitting information to the Commission in
connection with this review must certify that the information is
accurate and complete to the best of the submitter's knowledge. In
making the certification, the submitter will be deemed to consent,
unless otherwise
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specified, for the Commission, its employees, and contract personnel to
use the information provided in any other reviews or investigations of
the same or comparable products which the Commission conducts under
Title VII of the Act, or in internal audits and investigations relating
to the programs and operations of the Commission pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
Appendix 3.
Written submissions.--Pursuant to section 207.61 of the
Commission's rules, each interested party response to this notice must
provide the information specified below. The deadline for filing such
responses is June 20, 2008. Pursuant to section 207.62(b) of the
Commission's rules, eligible parties (as specified in Commission rule
207.62(b)(1)) may also file comments concerning the adequacy of
responses to the notice of institution and whether the Commission
should conduct an expedited or full review. The deadline for filing
such comments is July 15, 2008. All written submissions must conform
with the provisions of sections 201.8 and 207.3 of the Commission's
rules and any submissions that contain BPI must also conform with the
requirements of sections 201.6 and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. The
Commission's rules do not authorize filing of submissions with the
Secretary by facsimile or electronic means, except to the extent
permitted by section 201.8 of the Commission's rules, as amended, 67
Fed. Reg. 68036 (November 8, 2002). Also, in accordance with sections
201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's rules, each document filed by a
party to the review must be served on all other parties to the review
(as identified by either the public or APO service list as
appropriate), and a certificate of service must accompany the document
(if you are not a party to the review you do not need to serve your
response).
Inability to provide requested information.--Pursuant to section
207.61(c) of the Commission's rules, any interested party that cannot
furnish the information requested by this notice in the requested form
and manner shall notify the Commission at the earliest possible time,
provide a full explanation of why it cannot provide the requested
information, and indicate alternative forms in which it can provide
equivalent information. If an interested party does not provide this
notification (or the Commission finds the explanation provided in the
notification inadequate) and fails to provide a complete response to
this notice, the Commission may take an adverse inference against the
party pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act in making its determination
in the review.
Information To Be Provided In Response To this Notice of
Institution: As used below, the term ``firm'' includes any related
firms.
(1) The name and address of your firm or entity (including World
Wide Web address if available) and name, telephone number, fax number,
and E-mail address of the certifying official.
(2) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is a U.S.
producer of the Domestic Like Product, a U.S. union or worker group, a
U.S. importer of the Subject Merchandise, a foreign producer or
exporter of the Subject Merchandise, a U.S. or foreign trade or
business association, or another interested party (including an
explanation). If you are a union/worker group or trade/business
association, identify the firms in which your workers are employed or
which are members of your association.
(3) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is willing to
participate in this review by providing information requested by the
Commission.
(4) A statement of the likely effects of the revocation of the
antidumping duty order on the Domestic Industry in general and/or your
firm/entity specifically. In your response, please discuss the various
factors specified in section 752(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675a(a))
including the likely volume of subject imports, likely price effects of
subject imports, and likely impact of imports of Subject Merchandise on
the Domestic Industry.
(5) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. producers of
the Domestic Like Product. Identify any known related parties and the
nature of the relationship as defined in section 771(4)(B) of the Act
(19 U.S.C. Sec. 1677(4)(B)).
(6) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. importers of
the Subject Merchandise and producers of the Subject Merchandise in the
Subject Country that currently export or have exported Subject
Merchandise to the United States or other countries since the Order
Date.
(7) If you are a U.S. producer of the Domestic Like Product,
provide the following information on your firm's operations on that
product during calendar year 2007 (report quantity data in pounds and
value data in U.S. dollars, f.o.b. plant). If you are a union/worker
group or trade/business association, provide the information, on an
aggregate basis, for the firms in which your workers are employed/which
are members of your association.
(a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total U.S. production of the Domestic Like Product
accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
(b) The quantity and value of U.S. commercial shipments of the
Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s); and
(c) The quantity and value of U.S. internal consumption/company
transfers of the Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s).
(8) If you are a U.S. importer or a trade/business association of
U.S. importers of the Subject Merchandise from the Subject Country,
provide the following information on your firm's(s') operations on that
product during calendar year 2007 (report quantity data in pounds and
value data in U.S. dollars). If you are a trade/business association,
provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms which are
members of your association.
(a) The quantity and value (landed, duty-paid but not including
antidumping duties) of U.S. imports and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total U.S. imports of Subject Merchandise from the
Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') imports;
(b) The quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping
duties) of U.S. commercial shipments of Subject Merchandise imported
from the Subject Country; and
(c) The quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping
duties) of U.S. internal consumption/company transfers of Subject
Merchandise imported from the Subject Country.
(9) If you are a producer, an exporter, or a trade/business
association of producers or exporters of the Subject Merchandise in the
Subject Country, provide the following information on your firm's(s')
operations on that product during calendar year 2007 (report quantity
data in pounds and value data in U.S. dollars, landed and duty-paid at
the U.S. port but not including antidumping duties). If you are a
trade/business association, provide the information, on an aggregate
basis, for the firms which are members of your association.
(a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total production of Subject Merchandise in the Subject
Country accounted for by your firm's(s') production; and
(b) The quantity and value of your firm's(s') exports to the United
States of Subject Merchandise and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total exports to the United States of Subject Merchandise
from the Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') exports.
(10) Identify significant changes, if any, in the supply and demand
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conditions or business cycle for the Domestic Like Product that have
occurred in the United States or in the market for the Subject
Merchandise in the Subject Country since the Order Date, and
significant changes, if any, that are likely to occur within a
reasonably foreseeable time. Supply conditions to consider include
technology; production methods; development efforts; ability to
increase production (including the shift of production facilities used
for other products and the use, cost, or availability of major inputs
into production); and factors related to the ability to shift supply
among different national markets (including barriers to importation in
foreign markets or changes in market demand abroad). Demand conditions
to consider include end uses and applications; the existence and
availability of substitute products; and the level of competition among
the Domestic Like Product produced in the United States, Subject
Merchandise produced in the Subject Country, and such merchandise from
other countries.
(11) (Optional) A statement of whether you agree with the above
definitions of the Domestic Like Product and Domestic Industry; if you
disagree with either or both of these definitions, please explain why
and provide alternative definitions.
Authority: This review is being conducted under authority of
title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published
pursuant to section 207.61 of the Commission's rules.
By order of the Commission.
Issued: April 12, 2008.
Marilyn R. Abbott,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. E8-9664 Filed 5-1-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P