Commerce Announces Final Results of Changed-Circumstances Review of Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from the United Kingdom
November 9, 2009The Department of Commerce (Commerce) published an antidumping duty order on ball bearings and parts thereof from the United Kingdom on May 15, 1989. On July 12, 2001, Commerce revoked the antidumping duty order on ball bearings and parts thereof from the United Kingdom with respect to SNFA Bearings Ltd. (SNFA UK).
On January 26, 2007, SNFA UK, a subsidiary of SNFA S.A.S.U. (SNFA), and SKF UK Ltd. (SKF UK) notified Commerce of a change in the ownership of SNFA. Specifically, SNFA UK and SKF UK notified Commerce that, on July 4, 2006, through its subsidiary SKF Holding France S.A., AB SKF purchased all outstanding shares of SNFA. On March 9, 2007, Commerce initiated a changed circumstances review of the antidumping duty order on ball bearings and parts thereof from the United Kingdom.
On January 30, 2008, SKF UK and SNFA UK notified Commerce that the companies had moved SNFA UK’s production facilities to the grounds of SKF UK’s Stonehouse operations and that SNFA UK’s assets had been legally transferred to SKF UK. SKF UK and SNFA UK also explained that, with the asset transfer, SNFA UK began operating as a part of SKF UK. On May 27, 2008, Commerce preliminarily found that SKF UK is the successor-in-interest to SNFA UK. Commerce invited interested parties to comment on the preliminary results. Commerce received case and rebuttal briefs and did not hold a hearing.
The products covered by the order are ball bearings and parts thereof. The products include all bearings that employ balls as the rolling element. Imports of the products are classified under the following categories: antifriction balls, ball bearings with integral shafts, ball bearings (including radial ball bearings) and parts thereof, and housed or mounted ball bearing units and parts thereof.
Imports of these products are classified under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 3926.90.45, 4016.93.00, 4016.93.10, 4016.93.50, 6909.19.5010, 8431.20.00, 8431.39.0010, 8482.10.10, 8482.10.50, 8482.80.00, 8482.91.00, 8482.99.05, 8482.99.2580, 8482.99.35, 8482.99.6595, 8483.20.40, 8483.20.80, 8483.50.8040, 8483.50.90, 8483.90.20, 8483.90.30, 8483.90.70, 8708.50.50, 8708.60.50, 8708.60.80, 8708.70.6060, 8708.70.8050, 8708.93.30, 8708.93.5000, 8708.93.6000, 8708.93.75, 8708.99.06, 8708.99.31, 8708.99.4960, 8708.99.50, 8708.99.5800, 8708.99.8080, 8803.10.00, 8803.20.00, 8803.30.00, 8803.90.30, and 8803.90.90.
As a result of changes to the HTSUS, effective February 2, 2007, the subject merchandise is also classifiable under the following additional HTSUS item subheadings: 8708.30.5090, 8708.40.7500, 8708.50.7900, 8708.50.8900, 8708.50.9150, 8708.50.9900, 8708.80.6590, 8708.94.75, 8708.95.2000, 8708.99.5500, 8708.99.68, and 8708.99.8180. Although the HTSUS item numbers above are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of the order remains dispositive.
For the reasons stated in the preliminary results and the Decision Memo, Commerce continues to find that SKF (UK) Ltd. is the successor-in-interest to SNFA UK and, as a result, should be accorded the same treatment as SKF UK. Accordingly, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all shipments of the subject merchandise produced or exported by either SNFA UK or SKF UK’s SNFA operations and entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the publication date of the notice (PDF) in the Federal Register at 18.64%, which is the current cash-deposit rate for SKF UK. The deposit requirement will remain in effect until further notice.
For further information, contact: Kristin Case at (202) 482-3174 or Richard Rimlinger at (202) 482-4477, AD/CVD Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.
