On Monday, February 4, 2002, the Department of Commerce ("the Department") announced its final determination in the antidumping duty investigation of automotive replacement glass ("ARG") windshields from the People’s Republic of China ("PRC"). We found that producers/exporters of ARG from the PRC have sold their product below fair value. Final antidumping margins ranged from 3.7 to 124.5 percent.

Background: The antidumping duty ("AD") petition was filed on behalf of the U.S. automotive replacement glass windshield industry by the following domestic producers: PPG Industries, Inc., Safelite Glass Corp., and Apogee Enterprises, Inc. On October 24, 2001, the Department published the amended preliminary determination for this case. The period of investigation is July 1, 2000 through December 31, 2000.

Product Description: For purposes of this investigation, the products covered are imports of automotive replacement glass windshields, and parts thereof, whether clear or tinted, whether coated or not, and whether or not they include antennas, ceramics, mirror buttons or VIN notches, and whether or not they are encapsulated. Automotive replacement glass windshields are laminated safety glass (i.e., two layers of (typically float) glass with a sheet of clear or tinted plastic in between (usually polyvinyl butyral)), which are produced and sold for use by automotive glass installation shops to replace windshields in automotive vehicles (e.g., passenger cars, light trucks, vans, sport utility vehicles, etc.) that are cracked, broken or otherwise damaged.

Automotive replacement glass windshields subject to this investigation are currently classifiable under subheading 7007.21.10.10 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States ("HTSUS"). Specifically excluded from the scope of this investigation are laminated automotive windshields sold for use in original assembly of vehicles. While HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and Customs purposes, our written description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Critical Circumstances: The Department determines for the final results that critical circumstances exist for imports of ARG windshields from the PRC manufactured and/or exported by the PRC-wide entity. However, we find for the final results that critical circumstances do not exist for FYG, Xinyi, Benxun, TCGI, Changchun, Guilin, and Wuhan. If the International Trade Commission ("ITC") also finds critical circumstances, imports of this product from the named companies will be suspended for liquidation 90 days prior to the publication of the DOC’s preliminary determination.

Case Calendar: