Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof From the People's Republic of China

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice of antidumping duty order.

EFFECTIVE DATES:

December 2, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Daniel J. Alexy, Stephen Cho, or Audrey Twyman, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1540, (202) 482-3798, or (202) 482-3534, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of Order

The merchandise subject to this antidumping duty order consists of hand trucks manufactured from any material, whether assembled or unassembled, complete or incomplete, suitable for any use, and certain parts thereof, namely the vertical frame, the handling area and the projecting edges or toe plate, and any combination thereof.

A complete or fully assembled hand truck is a hand-propelled barrow consisting of a vertically disposed frame having a handle or more than one handle at or near the upper section of the vertical frame; at least two wheels at or near the lower section of the vertical frame; and a horizontal projecting edge or edges, or toe plate, perpendicular or angled to the vertical frame, at or near the lower section of the vertical frame. The projecting edge or edges, or toe plate, slides under a load for purposes of lifting and/or moving the load.

That the vertical frame can be converted from a vertical setting to a horizontal setting, then operated in that horizontal setting as a platform, is not a basis for exclusion of the hand truck from the scope of this petition. That the vertical frame, handling area, wheels, projecting edges or other parts of the hand truck can be collapsed or folded is not a basis for exclusion of the hand truck from the scope of the petition. That other wheels may be connected to the vertical frame, handling area, projecting edges, or other parts of the hand truck, in addition to the two or more wheels located at or near the lower section of the vertical frame, is not a basis for exclusion of the hand truck from the scope of the petition. Finally, that the hand truck may exhibit physical characteristics in addition to the vertical frame, the handling area, the projecting edges or toe plate, and the two wheels at or near the lower section of the vertical frame, is not a basis for exclusion of the hand truck from the scope of the petition.

Examples of names commonly used to reference hand trucks are hand truck, convertible hand truck, appliance hand truck, cylinder hand truck, bag truck, dolly, or hand trolley. They are typically imported under heading 8716.80.50.10 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), although they may also be imported under heading 8716.80.50.90. Specific parts of a hand truck, namely the vertical frame, the handling area and the projecting edges or toe plate, or any combination thereof, are typically imported under heading 8716.90.50.60 of the HTSUS. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the Department's written description of the scope is dispositive.

Excluded from the scope are small two-wheel or four-wheel utility carts specifically designed for carrying loads like personal bags or luggage in which the frame is made from telescoping tubular material measuring less than 5/8 inch in diameter; hand trucks that use motorized operations either to move the hand truck from one location to the next or to assist in the lifting of items placed on the hand truck; vertical carriers designed specifically to transport golf bags; and wheels and tires used in the manufacture of hand trucks.

Antidumping Duty Order

In accordance with section 735(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (“the Act”), the Department published its final determination that hand trucks from the PRC are being sold in the United States at less than fair value. See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof from the People's Republic of China, 69 FR 60980 (October 14, 2004). Subsequently, the Department amended its final determination of the antidumping duty investigation of hand trucks from the PRC to correct certain ministerial errors in the final margin calculation. See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof from the People's Republic of China, 69 FR 65410 (November 12, 2004). On November 23, 2004, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) notified the Department that a U.S. industry is “threatened with material injury,” within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act, by reason of less-than-fair-value imports of hand trucks from the PRC.

According to section 736(b)(2) of the Act, duties shall be assessed on subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the ITC's notice of final determination if that determination is based on the threat of material injury and is not accompanied by a finding that injury would have resulted without the imposition of suspension of liquidation of entries since the Department's preliminary determination. In addition, section 736(b)(2) of the Act requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to refund any cash deposits or bonds of estimated antidumping duties posted since the Department's preliminary antidumping determination if the ITC's final determination is threat-based.

Because the ITC's final determination is based on the threat of material injury and is not accompanied by a finding that injury would have resulted but for the imposition of suspension of liquidation of entries since the Department's preliminary determination, section 736(b)(2) of the Act is applicable to this order. Therefore, the Department will direct CBP to assess, upon further advice, antidumping duties on all unliquidated entries of hand trucks from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the ITC's notice of final determination of threat of material injury in the Federal Register and to terminate the suspension of liquidation for entries of hand trucks from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption prior to that date. The Department will also instruct CBP to refund any cash deposits made, or bonds posted, between the publication date of the Department's preliminary antidumping determination and the publication date of the ITC's final determination.

On or after the date of publication of the ITC's notice of final determination in the Federal Register, CBP must require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties, cash deposits for the subject merchandise equal to the weighted-average antidumping duty margins as noted below:

This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to hand trucks from the PRC, 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 in accordance with section 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211.