Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigation: Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From the People's Republic of China, 43591-43597 [E7-15200]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 150 (Monday, August 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43591-43597]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15200]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-912]


Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigation: Certain New 
Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From the People's Republic of China

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

DATES: Effective Date: August 6, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurel LaCivita or Charles Riggle, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 8, Import

[[Page 43592]]

Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-4243 or (202) 482-0650, respectively.

Initiation of Investigation

The Petition

    On June 18, 2007, the Department of Commerce (``Department'') 
received a petition on imports of certain new pneumatic off-the-road 
tires (``certain OTR tires'') from the People's Republic of China 
(``PRC'') filed in proper form by Titan Tire Corporation, a subsidiary 
of Titan International, Inc. (``Titan''), and the United Steel, Paper 
and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and 
Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC (``USW''), 
(collectively, ``Petitioners'') on behalf of the domestic industry 
producing certain OTR tires. The period of investigation (``POI'') is 
October 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007.
    In accordance with section 732(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (``the Act''), Petitioners alleged that imports of certain OTR 
tires from the PRC are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United 
States at less than fair value within the meaning of section 731 of the 
Act, and that such imports are materially injuring an industry in the 
United States. The Department issued supplemental questions to 
Petitioners on June 21 and 22, 2007. Petitioners filed an amendment to 
the petition on June 22, 2007 and responded to both questionnaires on 
June 27, 2007.

Scope of Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain OTR tires. 
For a full description of the scope of the investigation, please see 
the Scope of Investigation in Attachment I of this notice.

Comments on the Scope of the Investigation

    During our review of the petition, we discussed the scope with 
Petitioners to ensure that it accurately reflects the product for which 
the domestic industry is seeking relief. During this review, we noted 
that, while the Department typically prefers to rely upon physical 
characteristics to determine the scope of product coverage, the scope 
description proposed by Petitioners relied upon, in part, end-use 
applications as a method for determining scope coverage. As discussed 
in the preamble to the Department's regulations, we are setting aside a 
period for interested parties to raise issues regarding product 
coverage. See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final Rule, 62 
FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997). The Department encourages all 
interested parties to submit comments on the scope of the 
investigation, including whether the definition of covered merchandise 
should be based on end-use application, and whether additional 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') numbers 
should be included in the scope description. The deadline for 
submitting such comments is fourteen calendar days after publication of 
this initiation notice. Rebuttal comments are due seven calendar days 
after the deadline for submitting comments on the scope of the 
investigation. Comments should be addressed to Import Administration's 
Central Records Unit in Room 1870, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230--Attention: 
Laurel LaCivita, Room 4416. The period of scope consultations is 
intended to provide the Department with ample opportunity to consider 
all comments and consult with interested parties prior to the issuance 
of the preliminary determination.

Determination of Industry Support for the Petition

    Section 732(b)(1) of the Act requires that a petition be filed on 
behalf of the domestic industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act 
provides that a petition meets this requirement if the domestic 
producers or workers who support the petition account for: (i) At least 
25 percent of the total production of the domestic like product; and 
(ii) more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like 
product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support 
for, or opposition to, the petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D) of 
the Act provides that, if the petition does not establish support of 
domestic producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of 
the total production of the domestic like product, the Department 
shall: (i) Poll the industry or rely on other information in order to 
determine if there is support for the petition, as required by 
subparagraph (A), or (ii) determine industry support using a 
statistically valid sampling method.
    Section 771(4)(A) of the Act defines the ``industry'' as the 
producers as a whole of a domestic like product. Thus, to determine 
whether a petition has the requisite industry support, the statute 
directs the Department to look to producers and workers who produce the 
domestic like product. The International Trade Commission (ITC), which 
is responsible for determining whether ``the domestic industry'' has 
been injured, must also determine what constitutes a domestic like 
product in order to define the industry. While both the Department and 
the ITC must apply the same statutory definition regarding the domestic 
like product (section 771(10) of the Act), they do so for different 
purposes and pursuant to a separate and distinct authority. In 
addition, the Department's determination is subject to limitations of 
time and information. Although this may result in different definitions 
of the like product, such differences do not render the decision of 
either agency contrary to law. See USEC, Inc. v. United States, 132 F. 
Supp. 2d 1, 8 (CIT 2001), citing Algoma Steel Corp. Ltd. v. United 
States, 688 F. Supp. 639, 644 (CIT 1988), aff'd 865 F.2d 240 (Fed. Cir. 
1989), cert. denied 492 U.S. 919 (1989).
    Section 771(10) of the Act defines the domestic like product as ``a 
product which is like, or in the absence of like, most similar in 
characteristics and uses with, the article subject to an investigation 
under this subtitle.'' Thus, the reference point from which the 
domestic like product analysis begins is ``the article subject to an 
investigation,'' (i.e., the class or kind of merchandise to be 
investigated, which normally will be the scope as defined in the 
petition).
    With regard to the domestic like product, the Petitioners do not 
offer a definition of domestic like product distinct from the scope of 
the investigation. Based on our analysis of the information submitted 
on the record, we have determined that certain OTR tires constitute a 
single domestic like product and we have analyzed industry support in 
terms of that domestic like product. For a discussion of the domestic 
like product analysis in this case, see the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation Initiation Checklist: Certain Off-the-Road Tires from the 
People's Republic of China (PRC), Industry Support at Attachment II (AD 
Initiation Checklist), on file in the Central Records Unit (CRU), Room 
B-099 of the main Department of Commerce building. On July 6, 2007, the 
Department extended the initiation deadline by 20 days to poll the 
domestic industry in accordance with section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act, 
because it was ``not clear from the petitions whether the industry 
support criteria have been met * * *'' See Extension of the Deadline 
for Determining the Adequacy of the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing 
Duty Petitions: New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from the People's 
Republic of China, 72 FR 38816 (July 16, 2007). On July 16, 2007, we 
issued polling questionnaires to all

[[Page 43593]]

known domestic producers of certain OTR tires identified in the 
petitions and by the Department's research. The questionnaires are on 
file in the CRU. For a detailed discussion of the responses received, 
see AD Initiation Checklist at Attachment II.
    Based on an analysis of the data collected, we determine that the 
Petitioners have demonstrated industry support representing over 50 
percent of the total production of the domestic like product. 
Therefore, the domestic producers or workers who support the petition 
account for at least 25 percent of the total production of the domestic 
like product, and the requirements of section 732(c)(4)(A)(i) of the 
Act are met. Furthermore, given that the Petitioners represent more 
than 50 percent of the total production of the domestic like product, 
the requirements of section 732(c)(4)(A)(ii) of the Act are also met. 
Accordingly, we determine that this petition is filed on behalf of the 
domestic industry within the meaning of section 732(b)(1) of the Act. 
See AD Initiation Checklist at Attachment II.
    The Department finds that the Petitioners filed the petition on 
behalf of the domestic industry because they are interested parties as 
defined in sections 771(9)(C) and (D) of the Act and they have 
demonstrated sufficient industry support with respect to the 
countervailing duty investigation that they are requesting the 
Department initiate. See AD Initiation Checklist at Attachment II.

Allegations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

    The following is a description of the allegations of sales at less 
than fair value upon which the Department based its decision to 
initiate this investigation on imports of certain OTR tires from the 
PRC. The source of data for the deductions and adjustments relating to 
the U.S. price as well as normal value (``NV'') for the PRC are also 
discussed in the AD Initiation Checklist. Should the need arise to use 
any of this information as facts available under section 776 of the Act 
in our preliminary or final determinations, we will reexamine the 
information and revise the margin calculations, if appropriate.

Export Price

    Petitioners relied on nineteen U.S. prices for certain OTR tires 
manufactured in the PRC and offered by U.S. distributors for sale in 
the United States. The prices provided were invoice prices for specific 
models of certain OTR tires falling within the scope of this petition 
for delivery to the U.S. customer during the POI. Petitioners deducted 
from the invoice prices the costs associated with exporting and 
delivering the product, which include ocean freight and insurance, and 
foreign brokerage and handling, distributor costs and profit, U.S. 
inland freight and, where applicable, U.S. duties. Petitioners did not 
deduct foreign-inland-freight charges or domestic brokerage and 
handling (in China) from the export price (``EP'') because such costs 
were included in the valuation of international movement expenses. See 
Volume I of the petition at Exhibit 5.

Normal Value

    Petitioners stated that the PRC is a non-market economy (``NME'') 
and no determination to the contrary has yet been made by the 
Department. In previous investigations, the Department has determined 
that the PRC is a NME. See, e.g., Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value and Partial Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances: Certain Polyester Staple Fiber from the People's 
Republic of China, 72 FR 19690 (April 19, 2007). In accordance with 
section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, the presumption of NME status remains 
in effect until revoked by the Department. The presumption of NME 
status for the PRC has not been revoked by the Department and remains 
in effect for the purpose of initiating this investigation. 
Accordingly, the NV of the product is appropriately based on factors of 
production valued in a surrogate market-economy country in accordance 
with section 773(c) of the Act. In the course of this investigation, 
all parties will have the opportunity to provide relevant information 
related to the issues of the PRC's NME status and the granting of 
separate rates to individual exporters.
    Petitioners selected India as the surrogate country. Petitioners 
argued that, pursuant to section 773(c)(4) of the Act, India is an 
appropriate surrogate country because it is a market-economy country 
that is at a comparable level of economic development to that of the 
PRC and is a significant producer and exporter of certain OTR tires. 
See Volume I of the petition at Exhibits 6 and 7. Based on the 
information provided by Petitioners, we believe that their use of India 
as a surrogate country is appropriate for purposes of initiating this 
investigation. After the initiation of the investigation, we will 
solicit comments regarding surrogate-country selection. Also, pursuant 
to 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3)(i), interested parties will be provided an 
opportunity to submit publicly available information to value factors 
of production within 40 calendar days after the date of publication of 
the preliminary determination.
    Petitioners provided dumping margin calculations using the 
Department's NME methodology as required by 19 CFR 351.202(b)(7)(i)(C) 
and 19 CFR 351.408. Petitioners calculated NV based on consumption 
rates for inputs used to produce certain OTR tires experienced by U.S. 
producers. In accordance with section 773(c)(4) of the Act, Petitioners 
valued factors of production, where possible, on reasonably available, 
public surrogate country data. To value certain factors of production, 
Petitioners used official Indian government import statistics, 
excluding shipments from countries previously determined by the 
Department to be NME countries and excluding shipments into India from 
Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, because the Department 
has previously excluded prices from these countries because they may 
maintain broadly-available, non-industry specific export subsidies. 
See, e.g., Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof From the People's 
Republic of China: Final Results of Administrative Review and Final 
Results of New Shipper Review, 72 FR 27287 and Issues and Decision 
Memorandum at Comment 23 (May 15, 2007). Petitioners valued two 
separate inputs using Indonesian import statistics gathered from 
Statistics Indonesia, the official Indonesian import statistics, 
because it claimed that the Indian import values were aberrationally 
high. Citing Saccharin from the People's Republic of China: Final 
Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 71 FR 7515, 7516 (February 13, 2006) and The Timken Company v. 
United States, 59 F. Supp. 2d 1371, 1375-76 (CIT 1999) (sustaining the 
Department's practice of resorting to a second surrogate country when 
the values in the primary surrogate country are deemed to be 
inappropriate), Petitioners explained that the Department looks to 
secondary countries when a particular value in the primary country is 
questionable. See Volume I of the petition at Exhibit 8B.
    For inputs valued in Indian rupees and not contemporaneous with the 
POI, Petitioners developed an inflation factor based on import prices 
into India as published in Chemical Weekly. See Volume II of the 
petition at Exhibit 8F. Where such information was unavailable, 
Petitioners used information from the wholesale price indices (``WPI'') 
in India as published in the International Financial Statistics 
(``IFS'') of the International Monetary Fund (``IMF'') for input prices 
during

[[Page 43594]]

the period preceding the POI. Id. In addition, Petitioners made 
currency conversions, where necessary, based on the average exchange 
rate for the POI, based on monthly exchange rates published by the U.S. 
Federal Reserve Board. See Volume I of the petition at Exhibit 5 and 
8K.
    We revised Petitioners' calculation of the surrogate values for 
material inputs to include more contemporaneous data than was provided 
in the petition, and to base our calculations on a single source of 
information. As a result, we valued raw material inputs using the 
weighted-average unit import values derived from the Monthly Statistics 
of the Foreign Trade of India, as published by the Directorate General 
of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics of the Ministry of Commerce 
and Industry, Government of India in the World Trade Atlas, available 
at https://www.gtis.com/wta.htm (``WTA'') for the period July through 
December 2006, which includes the first three months of the POI, and 
the three months immediately preceding the POI. We made no adjustments 
for inflation since the surrogate values for this period include a 
significant portion of the POI. In addition, we corrected the values 
for certain factors to correct clerical errors made by Petitioners in 
the transcription of the U.S. dollar values recorded for the POI by 
Statistics Indonesia into the normal value calculations. See Exhibits 
8B and 8E of the petition and AD Initiation Checklist at Attachments V 
and V-R. We also calculated the surrogate values for two factors for 
which there were no imports into India during the period July to 
December 2006 using the most contemporaneous values available in the 
Indian WTA data. We made appropriate adjustments for inflation. See AD 
Initiation Checklist at Attachments V and V-R.
    The Department calculates and publishes the surrogate values for 
labor to be used in NME cases on its Web site. Therefore, to value 
labor, Petitioners used a labor rate of $0.83 per hour, published on 
the Department's Web site, https://ia.ita.doc.gov/wages, in accordance 
with the Department's regulations. See 19 CFR 351.408(c)(3) and AD 
Initiation Checklist.
    Petitioners valued electricity in the production of certain OTR 
tires based on the Indian electricity rate as reported in the Key World 
Energy Statistics 2003, published by the International Energy Agency 
for the year 2000. See Volume II of the petition at Exhibit 8J. 
Petitioners valued water by calculating the weighted-average rate of 
water for industrial use from various regions as reported by the 
Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation at https://midcindia.org. 
dated June 1, 2003. Id. Petitioners valued natural gas using the rate 
published by the Gas Authority of India Ltd. Web site, a supplier of 
natural gas in India, covering the period January through June 2002. 
Id. In each case, Petitioners inflated these figures to the POI using 
information published in IFS. See Volume II of the petition at Exhibit 
8I. We revised these calculations to take into account more current 
information concerning the WPI in India based on the IFS statistics. 
See AD Initiation Checklist at Attachments 5 and 5-H through 5-M.
    For the NV calculations, Petitioners derived the figures for 
factory overhead, selling, general and administrative expenses, and 
profit from the financial ratios of seven Indian producers of 
merchandise that is either identical or similar to the domestic like 
product: Apollo Tyres Ltd. (``Apollo''), Balkrishna Industries Limited 
(``Balkrishna''), CEAT Limited (``CEAT''), Goodyear India 
(``Goodyear''), J.K. Industries Ltd. (``J.K. Industries''), MRF Limited 
(``MRF'') and TVS Srichakra Limited (``TVS''). The financial statements 
provided covered the periods of April 2004 to March 2005 (Apollo), 
October 2004 to September 2005 (J.K. Industries, MRF Ltd.), January to 
December 2005 (``Goodyear'') and April 2005 to March 2006 (CEAT, 
Balkrishna, Apollo and TVS). We accepted the information presented in 
the financial statements provided in Volume I of the petition at 
Exhibit 8N for Balkrishna, CEAT and TVS for the purposes of initiation, 
because these data appear to be the most contemporaneous and best 
information on such expenses currently available to Titan. We did not 
use the information from the financial statements for Apollo, Goodyear, 
J.K. Industries and MRF, because of the availability of more 
contemporaneous information from Balkrishna, CEAT and TVS.
    We made one adjustment to Petitioners' calculations of the 
financial ratios: We excluded commissions from the calculation of 
selling, general and administrative expenses (``SG&A'') because 
commissions are ordinarily accounted for in the calculation of U.S. 
price. Therefore, in order to avoid double counting direct selling 
expenses, we omitted them from the calculation of the financial ratio 
for SG&A. See AD Initiation Checklist at Attachment V and V-Q.
    Based on the data provided by Petitioners, there is reason to 
believe that imports of certain OTR tires from the PRC are being, or 
are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value. 
Based upon comparisons of EP to the NV, calculated in accordance with 
section 773(c) of the Act, the estimated calculated dumping margins for 
certain OTR tires from the PRC range from 30.49 percent to 210.48 
percent.

Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and Causation

    Petitioners allege that the U.S. industry producing the domestic 
like product is being materially injured by reason of the imports of 
the subject merchandise sold at less than NV. Petitioners contend that 
the industry's injured condition is illustrated by the reduced market 
share, lost sales, reduced production and capacity utilization, reduced 
shipments, underselling and price depressing and suppressing effects, 
lost revenue and sales, reduced employment, decline in financial 
performance, decrease in capital expenditure, and increase in import 
penetration. We have assessed the allegations and supporting evidence 
regarding material injury and causation, and we have determined that 
these allegations are properly supported by adequate evidence and meet 
the statutory requirements for initiation. See AD Initiation Checklist 
at Attachment III.

Separate-Rates Application

    On April 5, 2005, the Department modified the process by which 
exporters and producers may obtain separate-rate status in NME 
investigations. See Policy Bulletin 05.1: ``Separate-Rates Practice and 
Application of Combination Rates in Antidumping Investigations 
Involving Non-Market Economy Countries,'' available on the Department's 
Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf. The process now 
requires the submission of a separate-rate status application. Based on 
our experience in processing separate-rate applications in antidumping 
duty investigations, we have modified the application for this 
investigation to make it more administrable and easier for applicants 
to complete. See Certain Steel Nails from the People's Republic of 
China and the United Arab Emirates: Initiation of Antidumping Duty 
Investigations, 72 FR 38816 (July 16, 2007); Initiation of Antidumping 
Duty Investigation: Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from the 
People's Republic of China, 72 FR 36663 (July 5, 2007); and, Initiation 
of Antidumping Duty Investigations: Coated Free Sheet Paper from 
Indonesia, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea, 
71 FR 68537 (November 27, 2006). The specific requirements for 
submitting the

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separate-rate application in this investigation are outlined in detail 
in the application itself, which will be available on the Department's 
Web site at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/ on the date of publication of this 
initiation notice in the Federal Register. Submission of the separate-
rate application is due no later than August 20, 2007.

NME Respondent Selection and Quantity and Value Questionnaire

    For NME investigations, it is the Department's practice to request 
quantity and value information from all known exporters identified in 
the petition. Although many NME exporters respond to the quantity and 
value information request, at times some exporters may not have 
received the quantity and value questionnaire or may not have received 
it in time to respond by the specified deadline. Therefore, the 
Department typically requests the assistance of the NME government in 
transmitting the Department's quantity and value questionnaire to all 
companies who manufacture and export subject merchandise to the United 
States, as well as to manufacturers who produce the subject merchandise 
for companies who were engaged in exporting subject merchandise to the 
United States during the POI. The quantity and value data received from 
NME exporters is used as the basis to select the mandatory respondents.
    The Department requires that the respondents submit a response to 
both the quantity and value questionnaire and the separate-rates 
application by the respective deadlines in order to receive 
consideration for separate-rate status. Appendix II of this notice 
contains the quantity and value questionnaire that must be submitted by 
all NME exporters no later than August 20, 2007. In addition, the 
Department will post the quantity and value questionnaire along with 
the filing instructions on the Department's Web site at https://
ia.ita.doc.gov/ia-highlights-and-news.html. The Department will send 
the quantity and value questionnaire to those exporters identified in 
Volume I of the petition at Exhibit 4, and to the PRC government.

Use of Combination Rates in an NME Investigation

    The Department will calculate combination rates for certain 
respondents that are eligible for a separate rate in this 
investigation. The Separate-Rates and Combination Rates Bulletin states 
the following:

{w{time} hile continuing the practice of assigning separate rates 
only to exporters, all separate rates that the Department will now 
assign in its NME investigations will be specific to those producers 
that supplied the exporter during the period of investigation. Note, 
however, that one rate is calculated for the exporter and all of the 
producers which supplied subject merchandise to it during the period 
of investigation. This practice applies both to mandatory 
respondents receiving an individually calculated separate rate as 
well as the pool of non-investigated firms receiving the weighted-
average of the individually calculated rates. This practice is 
referred to as the application of ``combination rates'' because such 
rates apply to specific combinations of exporters and one or more 
producers. The cash-deposit rate assigned to an exporter will apply 
only to merchandise both exported by the firm in question and 
produced by a firm that supplied the exporter during the period of 
investigation.

    See Separate-Rates and Combination Rates Bulletin, at 6.

Initiation of Antidumping Investigation

    Based upon our examination of the petition on certain OTR tires 
from the PRC, we find that the petition meets the requirements of 
section 732 of the Act. Therefore, we are initiating an antidumping 
duty investigation to determine whether imports of certain OTR tires 
from the PRC are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States 
at less than fair value. Unless postponed, we will make our preliminary 
determination no later than 140 calendar days after the date of 
publication of this initiation notice.

Distribution of Copies of the Petition

    In accordance with section 732(b)(3)(A) of the Act, a copy of the 
public version of the petition has been provided to the government of 
the PRC.

International Trade Commission Notification

    We have notified the ITC of our initiation, as required by section 
732(d) of the Act.

Preliminary Determination by the ITC

    The ITC will preliminarily determine, within 25 days after the date 
on which it receives notice of this initiation, whether there is a 
reasonable indication that imports of certain OTR tires from the PRC 
are causing material injury, or threatening to cause material injury, 
to a U.S. industry. See section 733(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act. A negative 
ITC determination will result in the investigation being terminated; 
otherwise, this investigation will proceed according to statutory and 
regulatory time limits.
    This notice is issued and published pursuant to section 777(i) of 
the Act.

    Dated: July 30, 2007.
Stephen J. Claeys,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix I--Scope of The Investigation

Attachment I--Scope of the Investigation for the Petitions Covering 
Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From the People's Republic of 
China

    The products covered by the scope are new pneumatic tires designed 
for off-the-road (OTR) and off-highway use, subject to exceptions 
identified below. Certain OTR tires are generally designed, 
manufactured and offered for sale for use on off-road or off-highway 
surfaces, including but not limited to, agricultural fields, forests, 
construction sites, factory and warehouse interiors, airport tarmacs, 
ports and harbors, mines, quarries, gravel yards, and steel mills. The 
vehicles and equipment for which certain OTR tires are designed for use 
include, but are not limited to: (1) Agricultural and forestry vehicles 
and equipment, including agricultural tractors,\1\ combine 
harvesters,\2\ agricultural high clearance sprayers,\3\ industrial 
tractors,\4\ log-skidders,\5\ agricultural implements, highway-towed 
implements, agricultural logging, and agricultural, industrial, skid-
steers/mini-loaders; \6\ (2) construction vehicles and equipment, 
including earthmover articulated dump products, rigid frame haul 
trucks,\7\ front end loaders,\8\ dozers,\9\

[[Page 43596]]

lift trucks, straddle carriers,\10\ graders,\11\ mobile cranes, 
compactors; and (3) industrial vehicles and equipment, including smooth 
floor, industrial, mining, counterbalanced lift trucks, industrial and 
mining vehicles other than smooth floor, skid-steers/mini-loaders, and 
smooth floor off-the-road counterbalanced lift trucks.\12\ The 
foregoing list of vehicles and equipment generally have in common that 
they are used for hauling, towing, lifting, and/or loading a wide 
variety of equipment and materials in agricultural, construction and 
industrial settings. The foregoing descriptions are illustrative of the 
types of vehicles and equipment that use certain OTR tires, but are not 
necessarily all-inclusive. While the physical characteristics of 
certain OTR tires will vary depending on the specific applications and 
conditions for which the tires are designed (e.g., tread pattern and 
depth), all of the tires within the scope have in common that they are 
designed for off-road and off-highway use. Except as discussed below, 
OTR tires included in the scope of the petitions range in size (rim 
diameter) generally but not exclusively from 8 inches to 54 inches. The 
tires may be either tube-type or tubeless, radial or non-radial, and 
intended for sale either to original equipment manufacturers or the 
replacement market. The subject merchandise is currently classifiable 
under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') 
subheadings: 4011.20.10.25, 4011.20.10.35, 4011.20.50.30, 
4011.20.50.50, 4011.61.00.00, 4011.62.00.00, 4011.63.00.00, 
4011.69.00.00, 4011.92.00.00, 4011.93.40.00, 4011.93.80.00, 
4011.94.40.00, and 4011.94.80.00. While HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and Customs purposes, our written description of the 
scope is dispositive.
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    \1\ Agricultural tractors are four-wheeled vehicles usually with 
large rear tires and small front tires that are used to tow farming 
equipment.
    \2\ Combine harvesters are used to harvest crops such as corn or 
wheat.
    \3\ Agricultural sprayers are used to irrigate agricultural 
fields.
    \4\ Industrial tractors are four-wheeled vehicles usually with 
large rear tires and small front tires that are used to tow 
industrial equipment.
    \5\ A log skidder has a grappling lift arm that is used to 
grasp, lift and move trees that have been cut down to a truck or 
trailer for transport to a mill or other destination.
    \6\ Skid-steer loaders are four-wheel drive vehicles with the 
left-side drive wheels independent of the right-side drive wheels 
and lift arms that lie alongside the driver with the major pivot 
points behind the driver's shoulders. Skid-steer loaders are used in 
agricultural, construction and industrial settings.
    \7\ Haul trucks, which may be either rigid frame or articulated 
(i.e., able to bend in the middle) are typically used in mines, 
quarries and construction sites to haul soil, aggregate, mined ore, 
or debris.
    \8\ Front loaders have lift arms in front of the vehicle. It can 
scrape material from one location to another, carry material in its 
bucket or load material into a truck or trailer.
    \9\ A dozer is a large four-wheeled vehicle with a dozer blade 
that is used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., 
typically around construction sites. They can also be used to 
perform ``rough grading'' in road construction.
    \10\ A straddle carrier is a rigid frame, engine-powered machine 
that is used to load and offload containers from container vessels 
and load them onto (or off of) tractor trailers.
    \11\ A grader is a vehicle with a large blade used to create a 
flat surface. Graders are typically used to perform ``finish 
grading.'' Graders are commonly used in maintenance of unpaved roads 
and road construction to prepare the base course onto which asphalt 
or other paving material will be laid.
    \12\ A counterbalanced lift truck is a rigid frame, engine-
powered machine with lift arms that has additional weight 
incorporated into the back of the machine to offset or 
counterbalance the weight of loads that it lifts so as to prevent 
the vehicle from overturning. An example of a counterbalanced lift 
truck is a counterbalanced fork lift truck. Counterbalanced lift 
trucks may be designed for use on smooth floor surfaces, such as a 
factory or warehouse, or other surfaces, such as construction sites, 
mines, etc.
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    Specifically excluded from the scope are new pneumatic tires 
designed, manufactured and offered for sale primarily for on-highway or 
on-road use, including passenger cars, race cars, station wagons, sport 
utility vehicles, minivans, mobile homes, motorcycles, bicycles, on-
road or on-highway trailers, light trucks, and trucks and buses. Such 
tires generally have in common that the symbol ``DOT'' must appear on 
the sidewall, certifying that the tire conforms to applicable motor 
vehicle safety standards. Such excluded tires may also have the 
following designations that are used by the Tire and Rim Association:

Prefix Letter Designations

    P--Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on passenger 
cars;
    LT--Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on light 
trucks; and,
    ST--Identifies a special tire for trailers in highway service.

Suffix Letter Designations

    TR--Identifies a tire for service on trucks, buses, and other 
vehicles with rims having specified rim diameter of nominal plus 
0.156'' or plus 0.250'';
    MH--Identifies tires for Mobile Homes;
    HC--Identifies a heavy duty tire designated for use on ``HC'' 15'' 
tapered rims used on trucks, buses, and other vehicles. This suffix is 
intended to differentiate among tires for light trucks, and other 
vehicles or other services, which use a similar designation.
    Example: 8R17.5 LT, 8R17.5 HC;
    LT--Identifies light truck tires for service on trucks, buses, 
trailers, and multipurpose passenger vehicles used in nominal highway 
service; and
    MC--Identifies tires and rims for motorcycles.
    The following types of tires are also excluded from the scope: 
Pneumatic tires that are not new, including recycled or retreaded tires 
and used tires; non-pneumatic tires, including solid rubber tires; 
tires of a kind used on aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, and vehicles 
for turf, lawn and garden, golf and trailer applications; and, tires of 
a kind used for mining and construction vehicles and equipment that 
have a rim diameter equal to or exceeding 39 inches. Such tires may be 
distinguished from other tires of similar size by the number of plies 
that the construction and mining tires contain (minimum of 16) and the 
weight of such tires (minimum 1500 pounds).

Appendix II--Quantity and Value Questionnaire

    Where it is not practicable to examine all known producers/
exporters of subject merchandise, section 777A(c)(2) of the Tariff Act 
of 1930 (as amended) permits us to investigate (1) A sample of 
exporters, producers, or types of products that is statistically valid 
based on the information available at the time of selection, or (2) 
exporters and producers accounting for the largest volume and value of 
the subject merchandise that can reasonably be examined.
    In the chart below, please provide the total quantity and total 
value of all your sales of merchandise covered by the scope of this 
investigation (See scope section of this notice), produced in the PRC, 
and exported/shipped to the United States during the period October 1, 
2006, through March 31, 2007.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Market                       Total quantity          Terms of sale            Total value
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States..................................
1. Export Price Sales..........................
2..............................................
    a. Exporter name...........................
    b. Address.................................
    c. Contact.................................
    d. Phone No................................
    e. Fax No..................................
3. Constructed Export Price Sales..............
4. Further Manufactured Sales..................
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
        Total Sales............................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 43597]]

Total Quantity

    Please report quantity on a metric ton basis. If any conversions 
were used, please provide the conversion formula and source.

Terms of Sales

    Please report all sales on the same terms, such as ``free on 
board'' at port of export.

Total Value

    All sales values should be reported in U.S. dollars. Please provide 
any exchange rates used and their respective dates and sources.

Export Price Sales

    Generally, a U.S. sale is classified as an export price sale when 
the first sale to an unaffiliated customer occurs before importation 
into the United States.
    Please include any sales exported by your company directly to the 
United States.
    Please include any sales exported by your company to a third-
country market economy reseller where you had knowledge that the 
merchandise was destined to be resold to the United States.
    If you are a producer of subject merchandise, please include any 
sales manufactured by your company that were subsequently exported by 
an affiliated exporter to the United States.
    Please do not include in your figures any sales of merchandise 
manufactured in Hong Kong.

Constructed Export Price Sales

    Generally, a U.S. sale is classified as a constructed export price 
sale when the first sale to an unaffiliated customer occurs after 
importation. However, if the first sale to the unaffiliated customer is 
made by a person in the United States affiliated with the foreign 
exporter, constructed export price applies even if the sale occurs 
prior to importation.
    Please include any sales exported by your company directly to the 
United States.
    Please include any sales exported by your company to a third-
country market economy reseller where you had knowledge that the 
merchandise was destined to be resold to the United States.
    If you are a producer of subject merchandise, please include any 
sales manufactured by your company that were subsequently exported by 
an affiliated exporter to the United States.
    Please do not include in your figures any sales of merchandise 
manufactured in Hong Kong.

Further Manufactured Sales

    Further manufacture or assembly (including re-packing) sales 
(further manufactured sales'') refers to merchandise that undergoes 
further manufacture or assembly in the United States before being sold 
to the first unaffiliated customer.
    Further manufacture or assembly costs include amounts incurred for 
direct materials, labor and overhead, plus amounts for general and 
administrative expense, interest expense, and additional packing 
expense incurred in the country of further manufacture, as well as all 
costs involved in moving the product from the U.S. port of entry to the 
further manufacturer.
[FR Doc. E7-15200 Filed 8-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P