SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute and Regulations

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 (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are to the regulations at 19 CFR part 351 (1999).

Background

On August 13, 1999, the Department of Commerce (the Department) received a request on behalf of Watanabe Trading Co., Ltd. (Watanabe) and Byram Steel Trading Co. (Byram) for a changed circumstance review and an intent to revoke in part the antidumping duty (AD) order with respect to specific stainless steel sheet and strip from Japan. The Department received a letter on August 30, 1999, from petitioners (Allegheny Ludlum Corporation, Armco, Inc., J&L Specialty Steel, Inc., Washington Steel Division of Bethlehem Steel Corporation (formerly Lukens, Inc.), the United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO/CLC, the Butler Armco Independent Union and the Zanesville Armco Independent Organization, Inc. of CA) expressing no opposition to the request of Watanabe and Byram for revocation in part of the order pursuant to a changed circumstance review with respect to the subject merchandise defined in the Scope of the Review section below.

We preliminarily determined that petitioners' affirmative statement of no interest constituted changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review and partial revocation of the order. Consequently, on February 8, 2000, the Department published an initiation of a changed circumstances review and preliminary results of review with an intent to revoke the order in part (65 FR 6155).

The merchandise under review is currently classifiable under subheading 7220.20.70 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope is dispositive.

Scope of Changed Circumstance Review

The products covered by this exclusion request and changed circumstances review are stainless steel welding electrode strips that are manufactured in accordance with American Welding Society (AWS) specification ANSI/AWS A5.9-93. The products are 0.5 mm in thickness, 60 mm in width, and in coils of approximately 60 pounds each. The products are limited to the following AWS grade classifications: ER 308L, ER 309L, ER 316L and ER 347, and a modified ER 309L or 309LCb which meets the following chemical composition limits (by weight):

Carbon—0.03% maximum

Chromium—20.0-22.0%

Nickel—10.0-12.0%

Molybdenum—0.75% maximum

Manganese—1.0-2.5%

Silicon—0.65% maximum

Phosphorus—0.03% maximum

Sulphur—0.03% maximum

Copper—0.75% maximum

Columbium—8 times the carbon level minimum—1.0% maximum

Comments

In the preliminary results, we provided parties the opportunity to comment. We did not receive any comments from the interested parties.

Final Results of Review and Partial Revocation of the Antidumping Duty Order

The affirmative statement of no interest by petitioners concerning the steel coil ( i.e., stainless steel welding electrode strips) and the fact that no interested parties objected to or otherwise commented on our preliminary results of review, constitute changed circumstances sufficient to warrant partial revocation of the order. Therefore, the Department is partially revoking the order on stainless steel sheet and strip in coils with respect to the product described above, in accordance with sections 751(b) and (d) and 782(h) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.222(g)(i). This partial revocation applies to all unliquidated entries of the above-described merchandise not subject to final results of administrative review as of the date of publication in the Federal Register of these final results of changed circumstances review.

The Department will instruct the Customs Service (Customs) to proceed with liquidation, without regard to antidumping duties, of any unliquidated entries of steel coil ( i.e., stainless steel welding electrode strips), as specifically described in the “Scope of Changed Circumstance Review” section above, and entered, or withdrawn from the warehouse, for consumption on or after March 24, 2000. The Department will further instruct Customs to refund with interest any estimated duties collected with respect to unliquidated entries of steel coils ( i.e., stainless steel welding electrode strips) entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after the publication date of the final results of this changed circumstances review, in accordance with section 778 of the Act and 19 CFR 351.222(f)(4).

This notice also serves as a final reminder to parties subject to ( printed page 17857) administrative protection orders (APOs) of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.34(d)(1997). Failure to timely notify the Department in writing of the return/destruction of APO material is a sanctionable violation.

This changed circumstances review, partial revocation of the antidumping duty order, and notice are in accordance with sections 751(b) and (d) and 782(h) of the Act and sections 351.216, 351.2221(c)(3), and 351.222(g) of the Department's regulations.