[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 188 (Thursday, September 27, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49347-49349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24229]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-821-813]
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Not Less Than Fair
Value: Pure Magnesium From the Russian Federation
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of final determination of sales at not less than fair
value.
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EFFECTIVE DATE: September 27, 2001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alysia Wilson or Shawn Thompson,
[[Page 49348]]
AD/CVD Enforcement Group I, Office 2, Import Administration,
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone:
(202) 482-0108 or (202) 482-1776, respectively.
Summary: The Department of Commerce is conducting an antidumping
duty investigation of pure magnesium from the Russian Federation. We
determine that sales have not been made at less than fair value.
The Applicable Statute: Unless otherwise indicated, all citations
to the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) are references to the
provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective date of the
amendments made to the Act by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA).
In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the
Department of Commerce's (``Department's'') regulations are to 19 CFR
part 351 (2000).
Final Determination: We determine that pure magnesium from the
Russian Federation (Russia) is not being, nor is it likely to be, sold
in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in
section 735 of the Act.
Case History
The preliminary determination in this investigation was issued on
April 23, 2001. See, Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Not Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium From the Russian Federation,
66 FR 21319 (April 30, 2001) (Preliminary Determination).
In May and June, 2001, we conducted verification of the
questionnaire responses submitted by each of the respondents in this
investigation (i.e., Avisma Titanium Magnesium Works (Avisma),
Greenwich Metals Corporation (Greenwich), and Solikamsk Magnesium Works
(SMW)).
In July 2001, we received case briefs from the petitioners (i.e.,
Magnesium Corporation of America, the United Steelworkers of America,
USWA 482 and 8319, and Concerned Employees of Northwest Alloys, Inc.),
the three respondents noted above, and a U.S. producer of magnesium-
based reagent mixtures and importer of magnesium products (i.e.,
Rossborough Manufacturing Co. (Rossborough)). Also in July 2001, we
received rebuttal briefs from the petitioners, Avisma, Greenwich, and
Rossborough.
Although the deadline for this determination was originally
September 12, 2001, in light of the events of September 11, 2001 and
the subsequent closure of the Federal Government for reasons of
security, the timeframe for issuing this determination has been
extended by two days.
Scope of Investigation
The scope of this investigation includes imports of pure magnesium
products, regardless of chemistry, form, or size, including, without
limitation, ingots, raspings, granules, turnings, chips, powder, and
briquettes.
Pure magnesium includes: (1) Products that contain at least 99.95
percent primary magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as ``ultra-
pure'' magnesium); (2) products that contain less than 99.95 percent
but not less than 99.8 percent primary magnesium, by weight (generally
referred to as ``pure'' magnesium); (3) chemical combinations of pure
magnesium and other material(s) in which the pure magnesium content is
50 percent or greater, but less than 99.8 percent, by weight, that do
not conform to an ``ASTM Specification for Magnesium Alloy'' \1\
(generally referred to as ``off-specification pure'' magnesium); and
(4) physical mixtures of pure magnesium and other material(s) in which
the pure magnesium content is 50 percent or greater, but less than 99.8
percent, by weight. Excluded from this order are mixtures containing 90
percent or less pure magnesium by weight and one or more of certain
non-magnesium granular materials to make magnesium-based reagent
mixtures. The non-magnesium granular materials which the Department is
aware are used to make such excluded reagents are: Lime, calcium metal,
calcium silicon, calcium carbide, calcium carbonate, carbon, slag
coagulants, fluorspar, nephaline syenite, feldspar, aluminum, alumina
(Al2O3), calcium aluminate, soda ash,
hydrocarbons, graphite, coke, silicon, rare earth metals/mischmetal,
cryolite, silica/fly ash, magnesium oxide, periclase, ferroalloys,
dolomitic lime, and colemanite. A party importing a magnesium-based
reagent which includes one or more materials not on this list is
required to seek a scope clarification from the Department before such
a mixture may be imported free of antidumping duties.
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\1\ The meaning of this term is the same as that used by the
American Society for Testing and Materials in its Annual Book of
ASTM Standards: Volume 01.02 Aluminum and Magnesium Alloys.
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The merchandise subject to this investigation is classifiable under
items 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, and 8104.30.00 of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings
are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.
For a full discussion of scope comments and determinations, see the
accompanying September 14, 2001, Issue and Decision Memorandum from
Richard W. Moreland, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration, to Faryar Shirzad, Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration (``Issues and Descision Memorandum''), Comment 12, which
is on file in the Central Records Unit of the main Department building
(``B-099'') and on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov.
Period of Investigation
The period of investigation (``POI'') is April 1, 2000, through
September 30, 2000, which corresponds to the two most recent fiscal
quarters prior to the month of the filing of the petition (i.e.,
October 2000).
Nonmarket Economy Country Status for Russia
The Department has treated Russia as a nonmarket economy (NME)
country in all past antidumping duty investigations and administrative
reviews. See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Hot-Rolled Flat-Rolled Carbon-Quality Steel Products from
the Russian Federation, 64 FR 38626 (July 19, 1999); Titanium Sponge
from the Russian Federation: Final Results of Antidumping
Administrative Review, 64 FR 1599 (Jan. 11, 1999); Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cut-to-Length
Carbon Steel Plate from the Russian Federation, 62 FR 61787 (Nov. 19,
1997); Notice of Final Determination of Sale at Less Than Fair Value:
Pure Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium from the Russian Federation, 60 FR
16440 (Mar. 30, 1995) (Magnesium 1995 Investigation). A designation as
a NME remains in effect until it is revoked by the Department. See
section 771(18)(C) of the Act. No party in this investigation has
requested a revocation of Russia's NME status. Therefore, we have
continued to treat Russia as a NME in this investigation. For further
details, see the Preliminary Determination.
Separate Rates
In our preliminary determination, we found that Avisma and SMW had
met the criteria for the application of separate antidumping rates. We
have not received any other information since the preliminary
determination which would warrant reconsideration of our separate rates
determination with respect to these two companies. Therefore, we
continue to find that
[[Page 49349]]
Avisma and SMW should be assigned individual dumping margins.
Regarding Greenwich, as stated in the Preliminary Determination,
since Greenwich is located in a market economy country and is not
affiliated with a Russian producer/exporter, we calculated a separate
rate in accordance with our practice. See Notice of Final Determination
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Bicycles From the People's Republic
of China, 61 FR 19026, 19027 (Apr. 30, 1996).
Russia-Wide Rate
As explained in the Preliminary Determination, in all NME cases,
the Department implements a policy whereby there is a rebuttable
presumption that all exporters or producers located in the NME comprise
a single exporter under common government control, the ``NME entity.''
The Department assigns a single NME rate to the NME entity unless an
exporter can demonstrate eligibility for a separate rate.
Information on the record of this investigation indicates that
Avisma and SMW were the only Russian producers and/or exporters of the
subject merchandise with sales or shipments to the United States during
the POI. Based upon our examination and clarification of Customs data,
we have determined that there are no other Russian producers and/or
exporters of the subject merchandise and consequently none which were
required to respond to the Department's questionnaire. See the
memorandum from Christopher Priddy to the file entitled ``Examination
of Customs Data for Pure Magnesium Russian Imports During the Period of
Investigation'' dated April 23, 2001. We have not received any other
information since the Preliminary Determination which would warrant
reconsideration of this determination. Therefore, we have continued not
to assign a Russia-wide rate in this investigation.
Surrogate Country
For purposes of the final determination, we find that South Africa
remains the appropriate primary surrogate country for Russia. For
further discussion and analysis regarding the surrogate country
selection for Russia, see the Preliminary Determination.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case briefs by parties to this proceeding
and to which we have responded are listed in the Appendix to this
notice and addressed in the Decision Memorandum, which is hereby
adopted by this notice. Parties can find a complete discussion of the
issues raised in this investigation and the corresponding
recommendations in this public memorandum, which is on file in the
Central Records Unit, room B-099 of the main Commerce building. In
addition, a complete version of the Decision Memorandum can be accessed
directly on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov. The paper copy and
electronic version of the Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made certain
changes to the margin calculations. For a discussion of these changes,
see the ``Margin Calculations'' section of the Decision Memorandum.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified the
information submitted by the respondents for use in our final
determination. We used standard verification procedures including
examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original
source documents provided by the respondents.
Final Determination
We determine that the following percentage weighted-average margins
exist for the period April 1, 2000 through September 30, 2000:
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Margin
Manufacturer/exporter (percent)
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Avisma Titanium Magnesium Works............................ 0.00
Greenwich Metals Corporation............................... 0.00
Solikamsk Magnesium Works.................................. 0.00
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Suspension of Liquidation
Because the estimated weighted-average dumping margins for all the
examined companies are 0.00 percent, we are not directing the Customs
Service to suspend liquidation of entries of pure magnesium from
Russia.
Notification of the International Trade Commission
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the
International Trade Commission of our determination.
This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written
notification of return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to
judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with
the regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act.
Dated: September 14, 2001.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
Appendix--Issues in the Decision Memorandum
Comment 1: Valuation of Factory Overhead and Profit
Comment 2: Adjustment to Factory Overhead for Cell Rebuild Costs
Comment 3: Knowledge of Destination of Sales--Avisma
Comment 4: By-Product Processing Costs--Avisma
Comment 5: Treatment of Sulfur and Boric Acid--Avisma
Comment 6: Chlorine Offset Purity Levels--Avisma
Comment 7: Rounding Surrogate Value Used for Electricity--Avisma
Comment 8: Trial Shipments--Greenwich
Comment 9: Date of Sale--Greenwich
Comment 10: U.S. Freight Expenses--SMW
Comment 11: U.S. Warehousing Expenses--SMW
Comment 12: Scope
Comment 13: Standing
[FR Doc. 01-24229 Filed 9-26-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P