U.S. ITC Answers Court-Ordered Remand,Votes to Continue Dumping Duties on Bearings

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) voted yesterday, November 17, 2003, to continue dumping duties on ball bearings, as determined in their five-year sunset review and published in 2000. The Commission said, "The Commission found on remand that revoking the existing antidumping duty orders on imports of ball bearings from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States within a reasonably foreseeable time." The vote was required because the United States Court of International Trade remanded the ITC's original decision back for clarification and vote. Background Many of these dumping duties on bearings go back to 1976 and 1987 findings that bearings were being sold into the United States at less than fair value ("dumped"), damaging the domestic industry. The Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires the Department of Commerce to revoke antidumping duties after five years unless the Department of Commerce and the ITC determine that revoking the duties would result in repeat violations and/or further damage to the domestic industry. The reviews can either be short, expedited reviews or full reviews with public hearings, questionnaires, and solicited input from involved parties. In 1999, due to input from a wide number of bearing manufacturers, the ITC voted to conduct full five-year (Sunset) reviews concerning certain bearings from China, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Romania, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In those reviews, the ITC determined whether revoking the existing antidumping finding and antidumping duty orders would, "be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time." Completing it investigation in early 2000, the ITC made the decision to revoke antidumping findings on tapered roller bearings from Japan, Hungary and Romania, and on ball bearings from Romania and Sweden, on cylindrical roller bearing from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and spherical plain bearings from Germany and Japan. In 2000, the ITC also decided to keep antidumping duties on tapered roller bearings from China and on ball bearings from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Spherical plain bearings from France also continued with antidumping duties. In April 2003, Timken appealed the revocation of dumping duties on bearings from Japan, via a filing with the United States Court of International Trade. Timken argued that, for a variety of factual and procedural reasons, the ITC's 4-to-1 vote to rescind dumping duties on tapered roller bearings from Japan should not be allowed to stand. NSK Ltd. and its divisions, NTN and its divisions, and Koyo Seiko opposed Timken's arguments. The court remanded the final determination back to the ITC to: (a) explain the likely impact of TRB imports Japan on the entire United States TRB industry; (b) further investigate and explain the basis that Japanese TRB producers used to report their capacity to produce TRBs to the commission; (c) further explain the Commission's findings in the context of the TRB business cycle. In September 2003, NMB, NSK-RHP, NSK, SKF, NTN, NTN-BCA, Barden and FAG appealed a wide variety and various aspects of the June 2000 Sunset review; specifically, the decision to continue dumping duties on ball bearings. The United States Court of International Trade found against the companies on some issues but again remanded the 2000 review back to the ITC to: "(1) explain how commodity-like the Commission deems the other antifriction bearings; and (2)(a) apply this Court's finding as to the meaning of the term "likely" in determining, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1675a(a)(7) whether to cumulate subject imports of ball bearings from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, (b) reconcile the error alleged by NMB with respect to NMB's sister company, if the Commission utilizes NMB's sister company in the Commission's cumulation determination, and (c) apply this Court's finding as to the meaning of the term "likely" in determining, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1675a(a)(1), whether revocation of antidumping duty orders on ball bearings from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury." Yesterday's 3-0 vote by the ITC, continuing the findings and duties as-is, will be further explained by the ITC in its report back to the CIT which is due by December 2, 2003. The ITC said its, "remand determinations will be delivered to the Court of International Trade by December 2, 2003. The ITC's public report, "Ball Bearings from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom (Views on Remand) (Inv. Nos. 731-TA-391-394, 396, and 399 (Review) (Remand), USITC Publication 3648, December 2003)," will contain the views of the Commission."