63 FR 49328 September 15, 1998 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [A-588-843] Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Stainless Steel Wire Rod From Japan AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. EFFECTIVE DATE: September 15, 1998. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sunkyu Kim or John Maloney, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2613 or (202) 482-1503, respectively. The Applicable Statute Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), are references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to the Act by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department of Commerce's (the Department's) regulations are references to 19 CFR Part 351 (62 FR 27296 (May 19, 1997)). Scope of Order The scope of this order consists of stainless steel wire rod (SSWR) products that are hot-rolled or hot-rolled annealed and/or pickled and/ or descaled rounds, squares, octagons, hexagons or other shapes, in coils, that may also be coated with a lubricant containing copper, lime or oxalate. SSWR is made of alloy steels containing, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or more of chromium, with or without other elements. These products are manufactured only by hot- rolling or hot-rolling, annealing, and/or pickling and/or descaling, are normally sold in coiled form, and are of solid cross-section. The majority of SSWR sold in the United States is round in cross-sectional shape, annealed and pickled, and later cold-finished into stainless steel wire or small-diameter bar. The most common size for such products is 5.5 millimeters or 0.217 inches in diameter, which represents the smallest size that normally is produced on a rolling mill and is the size that most wire-drawing machines are set up to draw. The range of SSWR sizes normally sold in the United States is between 0.20 inches and 1.312 inches diameter. Two stainless steel grades, SF20T and K-M35FL, are excluded from the scope of this order. The chemical makeup for the excluded grades is as follows: SF20T Carbon--0.05 max Manganese--2.00 max Phosphorous--0.05 max Sulfur--0.15 max Silicon--1.00 max Chromium--19.00/21.00 Molybdenum--1.50/2.50 Lead--added (0.10/0.30) Tellurium--added (0.03 min) K-M35FL Carbon--0.015 max Silicon--0.70/1.00 Manganese--0.40 max Phosphorous--0.04 max Sulfur--0.03 max Nickel--0.30 max Chromium--12.50/14.00 Lead--0.10/0.30 Aluminum--0.20/0.35 The products covered by the order are currently classifiable under subheadings 7221.00.0005, 7221.00.0015, 7221.00.0030, 7221.00.0045, and 7221.00.0075 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this order is dispositive. Antidumping Duty Order In accordance with section 735(a) of the Act, on July 20, 1998, the Department made its final determination that SSWR from Japan, is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (63 FR 40434 (July 29, 1998)). On September 8, 1998, the International Trade Commission (ITC) notified the Department of its final determination, pursuant to section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of imports of the subject merchandise from Japan. In accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, the Department will direct Customs officers to assess, upon further advice by the administering authority, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price or constructed export price of the merchandise for all entries of SSWR from Japan, except for merchandise produced and sold by Hitachi Metals Ltd., which received a zero margin. These antidumping duties will be assessed on all unliquidated entries of SSWR from Japan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after March 5, 1998, the date on which the Department published its preliminary determination in the Federal Register (63 FR 10854). On or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register, Customs officers must require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties on this merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-average antidumping duty margins as noted below. The ``All Others'' rate applies to all exporters of SSWR not specifically listed below. The weighted-average dumping margins are as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted-average Exporter/manufacturer margin percentage --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hitachi Metals Ltd....................... 0.00 Daido Steel Co. Ltd...................... 34.21 Nippon Steel Corporation................. 21.18 Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd............. 34.21 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd........ 34.21 All Others............................... 25.26 --------------------------------------------------------------------- This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to SSWR from Japan, pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested parties may contact the Central Records Unit, Room B-099 of the Main Commerce Building, for copies of an updated list of antidumping duty orders currently in effect. This order is published pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211. [[Page 49329]] Dated: September 10, 1998. Richard W. Moreland, Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration. [FR Doc. 98-24770 Filed 9-14-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P