Form OINV-Sunset-Purcha Purchaser Questionnaire (Sunset Investigation)

Information collections for import injury investigations (producers, importers, purchasers, and foreign producer questionnaires and institution notices for 5-year reviews)

Sunset US Purchaser Questionnaire

Sunset Investigations Purchaser

OMB: 3117-0016

⚠️ Notice: This form may be outdated. More recent filings and information on OMB 3117-0016 can be found here:

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Business Proprietary

U.S. Purchasers’ Questionnaire – CERTAIN Page 2

PURCHASERS’ QUESTIONNAIRE

PRODUCT FROM COUNTRY

This questionnaire must be received by the Commission by no later than INSERT DATE

See page 4 of the Instruction Booklet for filing instructions.

The information called for in this questionnaire is for use by the United States International Trade Commission in connection with its countervailing duty/antidumping duty review investigation concerning PRODUCT from COUNTRY (inv. No. 701/731-TA-xxx (Review)). The information requested in the questionnaire is requested under the authority of the Tariff Act of 1930, title VII. This report is mandatory and failure to reply as directed can result in a subpoena or other order to compel the submission of records or information in your possession (19 U.S.C. § 1333(a)). Further information on this questionnaire can be obtained from ECONOMIST (202-205-xxxx).

Name of firm

Address

City State Zip code

World Wide Web address

Has your firm purchased PRODUCT (as defined in the instruction booklet) from any source (domestic or foreign) at any time since January 1, 2002?

NO (Sign the certification below and promptly return only this page of the questionnaire to the Commission)

YES (Read the instruction booklet carefully, complete all parts of the questionnaire, and return the entire

questionnaire to the Commission so as to be received by the date indicated above)

CERTIFICATION

I certify that the information herein supplied in response to this questionnaire is complete and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief and understand that the information submitted is subject to audit and verification by the Commission.

By signing this certification I also grant consent for the Commission, and its employees and contract personnel, to use the information provided in this questionnaire and throughout this review in any other import-injury investigations or reviews conducted by the Commission on the same or similar merchandise. (If you do not consent to such use, please note the certification accordingly.)

I acknowledge that information submitted in this questionnaire response and throughout this review may be used by the Commission, its employees, and contract personnel who are acting in the capacity of Commission employees, for developing or maintaining the records of this review or related proceedings for which this information is submitted, or in internal audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations of the Commission pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Appendix 3. I understand that all contract personnel will sign non-disclosure agreements.

	I agree to the above certification
Name and Title of Authorized Official

Signature of Authorized Official	Date
	Ext.:
E-mail address	Phone	Fax

The questions in this questionnaire have been reviewed with market participants to ensure that issues of concern are adequately addressed and that data requests are sufficient, meaningful, and as limited as possible. Public reporting burden for this questionnaire is estimated to average XX hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering the data needed, and completing and reviewing the questionnaire. Send comments regarding the accuracy of this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW, Washington, DC 20436.

I-1. (a) Please report below the actual number of hours required and the cost to your firm of preparing the reply to this questionnaire and completing the form.

hours dollars

I-1. (b) We are interested in any comments you may have for improving this questionnaire in general or the clarity of specific questions. Please attach such comments to your response or send them to the above address.

I-2. Provide the name and address of establishment(s) covered by this questionnaire (see page 3 of the instruction booklet for reporting guidelines). If your firm is publicly traded, please specify the stock exchange and trading symbol.

I-3. Is your firm owned, in whole or in part, by any other firm?

No Yes‑‑List the following information.

Firm name	Address	Extent of ownership

I-4. Does your firm have any related firms, either domestic or foreign, which are engaged in importing PRODUCT from COUNTRY into the United States or which are engaged in exporting PRODUCT from COUNTRY to the United States?

No Yes‑‑List the following information.

Firm name	Address	Affiliation

I-5. Does your firm have any related firms, either domestic or foreign, which are engaged in the production of PRODUCT?

No Yes‑‑List the following information.

Firm name	Address	Affiliation

I-6. In Part III of this questionnaire we request a copy of your company’s business plan. Does your company or any related firm have a business plan or any internal documents that describe, discuss, or analyze expected future market conditions for PRODUCT?

No Yes--Please provide the requested documents. If you are not providing the

requested documents, please explain why not.

_________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

II-1. Report, as indicated below, your firm’s purchases (either directly or through a sales agent or broker) of PRODUCT. Report based on delivery date, not order date.

Quantity (SPECIFY), value (in $1,000)
Item	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
PURCHASES OF PRODUCT PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES
Quantity¹
Value
PURCHASES OF PRODUCT PRODUCED IN COUNTRY
Quantity¹
Value
PURCHASES OF PRODUCT PRODUCED IN ALL OTHER COUNTRIES²
Quantity¹
Value
¹If reporting quantities in any other measurement than “QUANTITY,” please specify here: ² Please name these other countries:

II-2. If the relative levels of your firm’s purchases of PRODUCT from different sources (both domestic and foreign) have changed since YEAR OF ORDER (the year the countervailing duty/antidumping duty order under review became effective), please list the country, state whether the relative share from that country has increased or decreased, and state the reason.

Country	Increase/Decrease	Reason

II-3. (a) Did your firm purchase PRODUCT from COUNTRY before YEAR OF ORDER?

No skip to (c) Yes

(b) If yes, has your pattern of purchasing PRODUCT from COUNTRY changed since YEAR OF ORDER?

No, our pattern of purchasing is essentially unchanged.

Yes, we discontinued purchases from COUNTRY because of the order.

Yes, we reduced purchases from COUNTRY because of the order.

Yes, but we changed the pattern of purchases from COUNTRY for reasons other

than the order (please explain below).

(c) Has your pattern of purchasing PRODUCT from nonsubject foreign sources changed since YEAR OF ORDER (please check all that apply).

We did not purchase from nonsubject foreign sources before or after the order.

No, our pattern of purchasing is essentially unchanged.

Yes, we increased purchases from nonsubject countries because of the order.

Yes, but we changed our pattern of purchases from nonsubject countries for reasons

other than the order (please explain below).

III-1. Which of the following best describes your firm as a purchaser of PRODUCT (check all that apply, noting the specific end uses if known)?

END USER TYPE 1 ( )

END USER TYPE 2 ( )

DISTRIBUTOR ( )

Other ( )

III-2 (a) If your firm is a distributor or reseller of PRODUCT, what are the major types of consumers to which you sell PRODUCT?

(b) Do you compete for sales to your customers with the manufacturers or importers from which you purchase PRODUCT?

III-3. If your firm is an end user of PRODUCT, list in order of quantity of PRODUCT consumed, the top 3 products for which your firm purchases PRODUCT as a component part or input. Please indicate what percentage of the total cost is accounted for by PRODUCT (and NOTE: this percentage should not add to 100 percent).

Product you produce	Percent of cost accounted for by PRODUCT
1.	1.
2.	2.
3.	3.

III-4. (a) If your firm is an end user of PRODUCT, has the demand for your firm’s final products incorporating PRODUCT changed since YEAR OF ORDER?

Increased Unchanged Decreased

(b) Has this had any effect on your firm’s demand for PRODUCT?

III-5. Have there been any changes in the end uses of PRODUCT since YEAR OF ORDER?

No Yes--Discuss the changes, noting the time period in which they occurred.

III-6. Do you anticipate any changes in terms of the end uses of PRODUCT in the future?

No Yes--Please describe and identify the time period. Provide any underlying assumptions, along with relevant portions of business plans or other supporting documentation, that address this issue.

III-7. (a) Can other products be substituted for PRODUCT?

No Yes--Please list these substitute products in order of importance.

(1) (2) (3)

(b) For each possible substitute product, please give examples of applications and end uses for which they are substitutes.

No Yes--Please explain.

III-8. Have there been any changes in the number or types of products that can be substituted for PRODUCT since YEAR OF ORDER?

No Yes--Please explain.

III-9. Do you anticipate any changes in terms of the substitutability of other products for PRODUCT in the future?

No Yes--Please describe. Provide any underlying assumptions, along with relevant portions of business plans or other supporting documentation, that address this issue.

III-10. How has demand within the United States for PRODUCT changed since YEAR OF ORDER?

Increased Unchanged Decreased

Other (describe)

What were the principal factors affecting changes in demand?

How has demand outside the United States for PRODUCT changed since YEAR OF ORDER?

Increased Unchanged Decreased

Other (describe)

What were the principal factors affecting changes in demand?

III-11. Do you anticipate any future changes in PRODUCT demand in the United States and, if known, the rest of the world?

No Yes--Please describe and identify the time period. Provide any underlying assumptions, along with relevant portions of business plans or other supporting documentation, that address this issue.

III-12. Please provide as separate attachments to this request any studies, surveys, etc., that you are aware of that quantify and/or otherwise discuss PRODUCT demand and/or factors affecting PRODUCT demand in the (1) United States, (2) each of the major producing/ consuming countries, including those subject to this review, and (3) the world as a whole. Of particular interest is such data on an annual basis from YEAR OF ORDER to the present and forecasts of these demand data.

III-13. Have any changes occurred in any factors affecting supply (e.g., changes in availability or prices of raw materials, energy or labor; transportation conditions; production capacity and/or methods of production; technology; export markets; or alternative production opportunities) that affected the availability of U.S.-produced PRODUCT in the U.S. market since YEAR OF ORDER?

No Yes--Please note the time period(s) of any such changes, the factors(s) involved, and the impact such changes had on your shipment volumes and prices.

III-14. Is buying a product that is produced in the United States an important factor in your firm’s purchases of PRODUCT (please check ALL that apply)?

Yes--Purchases of domestic product are required by law or regulation (for example, government purchases under “Buy American” provisions). This involves percent of all purchases of PRODUCT.

Yes--Purchases of domestic product are not required by law or regulation, but are by your customers. This involves percent of all purchases of PRODUCT.

Yes--Purchases of domestic product are required for other reasons (please specify these reasons below). This involves percent of all purchases of PRODUCT.

III-15. (a) Is the PRODUCT market subject to business cycles or conditions of competition distinctive to PRODUCT?

No Yes--Please explain and provide estimates of the duration of any such cycle.

(b) Has the emergence of new markets for PRODUCT since YEAR OF ORDER affected the business cycles or conditions of competition distinctive to PRODUCT?

No Yes--Please explain any such changes.

III-16. Who are your major competitors?

III-17. Does your firm, and to the extent that you know, do your customers make purchasing decisions involving PRODUCT based on the producer of the PRODUCT you purchase?

Your firm: Always Usually Sometimes Never

Your customers: Always Usually Sometimes Never

If at least sometimes, please discuss how your firm or your customers determine the producer and why this information is important.

Your firm:

Your customers:

III-18. Does your firm, and to the extent that you know, do your customers make purchasing decisions involving PRODUCT based on the country of origin of the PRODUCT you purchase?

Your firm: Always Usually Sometimes Never

Your customers: Always Usually Sometimes Never

If at least sometimes, please discuss how your firm or your customers determine the source and why this information is important.

Your firm:

Your customers:

III-19. (a) How frequently do you make purchases?

Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Annually

Other (specify) )

(b) Do you expect this purchasing pattern to change in the next two years?

No Yes--How and why do you expect these changes to occur?

III-20. How many suppliers do you generally contact before making a purchase?

III-21. (a) Do purchases of PRODUCT usually involve negotiations between supplier and purchaser?

No Yes--Please describe these negotiations. In your response, please comment on whether purchasers generally quote competing prices as part of the negotiation process.

(b) Does your firm tend to vary its purchases from a given supplier within a specified time period based on the price offered for that period?

No Yes--Specify the time period.

III-22. Have you changed suppliers in the last 5 years?

No Yes--Please list the supplier or suppliers and indicate whether the firm was added or dropped as a supplier. Also give the reasons for the change and how frequently you change suppliers.

III-23. (a) Are you aware of any new suppliers, either foreign or domestic, that have entered the market in the last 3 years?

No Yes--Please identify the firms and indicate how you became aware of them.

(b) Do you expect new PRODUCT suppliers to enter the market in the future?

No Yes--Please provide details, noting the specific future time period in your response.

III-24. Do you require your suppliers to become certified or prequalified with respect to the quality, chemistry, strength, or other performance characteristic of the PRODUCT they sell to your firm?

No Yes-- percent of purchases in 2007 Yes–all purchases

Please provide a general description of the certification or qualification process and the time required.

III-25. Briefly describe the factors that you consider when qualifying a new supplier (e.g., quality of product, reliability of supplier, etc.) and estimate the time it takes to certify or qualify a new supplier.

III-26. Since YEAR OF THE ORDER, have any domestic or foreign producers failed in their attempts to certify or qualify their PRODUCT with your firm or have any producers lost their approved status?

No Yes--Please identify these firms, the countries where they are located, and the reasons why they failed the certification/qualification.

III-27. (a) For the factors listed below, please rate each in terms of its importance in your purchase decision for PRODUCT.

	VERY IMPORTANT	SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT	NOT IMPORTANT
Availability …………………………
Delivery terms ………………………
Delivery time ……………………….
Discounts offered …………………...
Extension of credit ………………….
Minimum quantity requirements…….
Packaging …………………………...
Price ………………………………...
Product consistency ………………...
Product range ……………………….
Quality meets industry standards ……
Quality exceeds industry standards …
Reliability of supply ………………..
Technical support/service …………..
U.S. transportation costs ……………
Other (specify):
…………...
…………...
…………...

III-27. (b) Please list, in order of their importance, the three major factors generally considered by your firm in deciding from whom to purchase PRODUCT for any one order (examples include current availability, extension of credit, prearranged contracts, price, quality exceeding specifications or industry standards, range of supplier’s product line, traditional supplier, etc.).

Other factors or comments:

III-28. What characteristics does your firm consider when determining the quality of PRODUCT?

III-29. How often does your firm purchase the PRODUCT that is offered at the lowest price?

Always Usually Sometimes Never.

III-30. Please list the names of any firms you considered price leaders in the PRODUCT market since YEAR OF ORDER. A price leader is defined as (1) one or more firms that initiate a price change, either upward or downward, that is followed by other firms, or (2) one or more firms that have a significant impact on prices. A price leader does not necessarily have to be the lowest priced supplier. For those firms identified as a price leader, please specify the time period in which a price change was communicated, whether the price change was upward or downward, and whether it covered a specific geographic region or a specific product type.

III-31. Please describe how the above firm(s) exhibited price leadership.

III-32. How frequently does the price of the PRODUCT you are purchasing change?

III-33. Does your firm purchase PRODUCT over the internet?

No Yes--Please describe, noting the estimated percentage of your firm’s total purchases of PRODUCT in 2007 accounted for by internet purchases.

III-34. (a) As an attachment to this questionnaire, please identify and discuss any improvements/changes in the U.S. PRODUCT industry since YEAR OF ORDER and explain fully, to the extent possible, the factor(s), including the order(s) under review, that was/(were) responsible for each improvement/change.

(b) Please also discuss fully, to the extent possible, any improvements/changes that you anticipate in the future in the U.S. PRODUCT industry. Identify the specific future time period covered in your response, and discuss the factors that you believe would be responsible for each improvement/change.

III-35. What do you think will be the likely effects of any revocation of the countervailing duty order/antidumping duty order for imports of PRODUCT from COUNTRY? As appropriate, please discuss any potential effects of revocation of the countervailing duty order/antidumping duty order on (1) the future activities of your firm and (2) the U.S. market as a whole. Please note the future time period to which you are referring. Attach additional pages if necessary.

(1) Activities of your firm:

(2) Entire U.S. market:

IV-1. Please indicate the countries of origin for PRODUCT for which your firm has actual marketing/pricing knowledge.

United States

COUNTRY

Other countries (Please specify )

IV-2. Is PRODUCT produced in the United States and in other countries interchangeable (i.e., can they physically be used in the same applications)? Please indicate below, using “A” to indicate that the products from a specified country-pair are always interchangeable, “F” to indicate that the products are frequently interchangeable, “S” to indicate that the products are sometimes interchangeable, “N” to indicate that the products are never interchangeable, and “0” to indicate no familiarity with products from a specified country-pair.¹

Country-pair	United States	COUNTRY 1	COUNTRY 2	COUNTRY 3	Other countries
United States
COUNTRY 1
COUNTRY 2
COUNTRY 3
¹ For any country-pair producing PRODUCT which is sometimes or never interchangeable, please explain the factors that limit or preclude interchangeable use:

IV-3. Do you or your customers ever specifically order PRODUCT from one country in particular over other possible sources of supply?

No Yes--Please identify all relevant countries (including the United States and both subject and nonsubject foreign countries) from which you or your customers prefer to order, and indicate why PRODUCT from these countries is preferred over product from other countries (please note the specific product in your response).

IV-4. Are certain grades/types/sizes of PRODUCT available from only a single source (domestic or foreign, including both subject and nonsubject countries)?

No Yes--Please identify the source and the grade/type/size.

IV-5. If you purchased PRODUCT from one source although a comparable product was available from another source at a lower price, please explain your reasons for doing so (please specify by country, including the United States and both subject and nonsubject foreign countries). Possibilities might include transaction characteristics such as length of time to fill orders, minimum order size, reliability of supply, etc.

IV-6. For the factors listed below, please rate how PRODUCT produced in each country you identified in your response to the first question in Part IV compares with PRODUCT produced in each of the other countries you identified (including the United States and both subject and nonsubject foreign countries). Copy this page as necessary to cover all possible country combinations and please attach any comments you care to make concerning your responses, especially in comparisons where you rate product from one country superior or inferior to product from another.

Electronic submissions: For each country comparison manually copy and paste IV-6 in a new page in this document as necessary. (At the end of IV-6, insert a page break (Menu: Insert-Break-Page break), copy IV-6 and paste in the new page.)

	compared to
(specify country)		(specify country)

	SUPERIOR	COMPARABLE	INFERIOR
Availability …………………………
Delivery terms ………………………
Delivery time ……………………….
Discounts offered …………………...
Extension of credit ………………….
Lower price¹ ………………………...
Lower U.S. transportation costs¹……..
Minimum quantity requirements……..
Packaging …………………………...
Product consistency ………………...
Product range ……………………….
Quality meets industry standards ……
Quality exceeds industry standards …
Reliability of supply ………………..
Technical support/service …………..
Other (specify)
¹ A rating of “superior” on price and U.S. transportation costs indicates that the first country generally has lower prices/U.S. transportation costs than the second country.

IV-7. (a) How often does domestically produced PRODUCT meet minimum quality specifications for your uses or your customers’ uses?

Always Usually Sometimes Rarely or never

(b) How often does imported subject PRODUCT meet minimum quality specifications for your uses or your customers’ uses?

Always Usually Sometimes Rarely or never

(c) How often does imported non-subject PRODUCT meet minimum quality specifications for your uses or your customers’ uses?

Country Always Usually Sometimes Rarely or never

IV-8. (a) Since YEAR OF ORDER, has there been a change in the price of PRODUCT? If so, has the price of U.S.-produced PRODUCT changed more or less than the price of imported PRODUCT from COUNTRY?

No change in price

Prices have changed by the same amount

Price of U.S.-produced PRODUCT has changed relative to the price of PRODUCT from COUNTRY

(b) If the price of U.S.-produced PRODUCT has changed relative to the price of PRODUCT from COUNTRY, the price of U.S.-produced PRODUCT is now relatively

Higher Lower

Please identify below the names and addresses of your firm’s five largest suppliers for PRODUCT during YEAR OF THE ORDER. Please also provide the name and telephone number of a contact person and the share of the quantity of your firm’s total shipments of PRODUCT that each of these customers accounted for in 2007.

No.	Supplier’s name	Street address (not P.O. box), city, state, and zip code	Contact person	Area code and telephone number	Share of 2007 purchases (%)
1
2
3
4
5

File Type	application/msword
File Title	Purchaser questionnaire - sunset
Author	Fred Ruggles
Last Modified By	USITC
File Modified	2008-03-27
File Created	2008-03-18