[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 111 (Monday, June 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34646-34648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13702]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-832]
Pure Magnesium from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary
Results of 2011-2012 Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure
magnesium from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The period of
review (``POR'') is May 1, 2011, through April 30, 2012. The review
covers two exporters of subject merchandise, Tianjin Magnesium Metal
Co., Ltd. (``TMM'') and Tianjin Magnesium International Co., Ltd.
(``TMI''). However, the Department preliminarily finds that TMI did not
have reviewable transactions during the POR. Based on an analysis of
the facts of this case and the evidence on the record, the Department
preliminarily finds that TMM and Company A \1\ are appropriately
collapsed and treated as a single entity for purposes of calculating a
dumping margin in this proceeding.\2\ In addition, we preliminarily
determine that TMM/Company A made sales of subject merchandise at less
than normal value during the POR.
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\1\ The identity of ``Company A'' is proprietary. See Memorandum
from Andrew Medley, International Trade Compliance Analyst, through
Melissa Skinner, Director, Antidumping and Countervailaing Duty
Operations, Office 8, to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary
for AD/CVD Operations, entitled, ``2011-2012 Administrative Review
of the Antidumping Duty Order on Pure Magnesium from the People's
Republic of China: Preliminary Affiliation and Collapsing
Memorandum,'' dated concurrently with this memorandum (``Affiliation
and Collapsing Memorandum'').
\2\ See Affiliation and Collapsing Memorandum.
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DATES: Effective Date: June 10, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brendan Quinn or Andrew Medley, AD/CVD
Operations, Office 8, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5848 or (202) 482-4987,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Scope of Order
Merchandise covered by the order is pure magnesium regardless of
chemistry, form or size, unless expressly excluded from the scope of
the order. Pure magnesium is a metal or alloy containing by weight
primarily the element magnesium and produced by decomposing raw
materials into magnesium metal.\3\ Pure magnesium products covered by
the order are currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States (``HTSUS'') subheadings 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00,
8104.20.00, 8104.30.00, 8104.90.00, 3824.90.11, 3824.90.19 and
9817.00.90. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience
and customs purposes, our written description of the scope is
dispositive.
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\3\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to
Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration, entitled, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Pure Magnesium
from the People's Republic of China,'' dated concurrently with this
notice (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum'') for a full description
of the Scope of the Order.
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Preliminary Determination of No Shipments for TMI
TMI submitted a timely-filed certification indicating that it had
no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the
POR.\4\ Consistent with its practice, the Department asked U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (``CBP'') to conduct a query on potential
shipments made by TMI during the POR; CBP did not provide any evidence
that contradicts TMI's claim of no shipments.\5\ We note that we will
continue to examine TMI's no shipment certification during this review.
Based on TMI's certification and our analysis of CBP information, we
preliminarily determine that TMI did not have any reviewable
transactions during the POR.\6\
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\4\ See letter from TMI, entitled, ``Pure Magnesium from the
People's Republic of China; A-570-832; Certification of No Sales by
Tianjin Magnesium International, Co., Ltd.,'' dated July 13, 2012.
\5\ See CBP Message Number 2261308, dated September 17, 2012.
\6\ In addition, the Department finds that, consistent with its
recently announced refinement to its assessment practice in non-
market economy (``NME'') cases, it is typically appropriate not to
rescind the review in part in this circumstance, but rather to
complete the review with respect to TMI. See Non-Market Economy
Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 76 FR
65694, 65694-95 (October 24, 2011) and the ``Assessment Rates''
section, below.
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Preliminary Determination of Affiliation and Collapsing
Based on the evidence presented in TMM's questionnaire responses,
we preliminarily find that TMM and Company A are affiliated, pursuant
to section 771(33)(E) of the Act.\7\ In addition, based on the evidence
presented in the questionnaire responses, we preliminarily find that
TMM and Company A should be treated as a single entity for the purposes
of this review. This finding is based on the determination that there
is significant potential for manipulation of price between the parties
pursuant to the criteria laid out in 19 CFR 351.401(f),\8\ due to the
high level of common ownership, interlocking boards and managers, and
intertwined operations. For further discussion of the
[[Page 34647]]
Department's affiliation and collapsing decision, see the Affiliation
and Collapsing Memorandum.
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\7\ The fact that TMM and Company A are affiliated through
common ownership is uncontested on the record.
\8\ While 19 CFR 351.401(f) applies only to producers, the
Department has found it to be instructive in determining whether
non-producers should be collapsed and has used the criteria outlined
in the regulation in its analysis. See, e.g., Freshwater Crawfish
Tail Meat From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of
Administrative Antidumping Duty and New Shipper Reviews, and Final
Rescission of New Shipper Review, 65 FR 20948 (April 19, 2000), and
accompanying IDM at Section C; and Certain Preserved Mushrooms from
the People's Republic of China: Final Results of the Sixth
Antidumping Duty New Shipper Review and Final Results and Partial
Rescission of the Fourth Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 69
FR 54635 (September 9, 2004), and accompanying IDM at Comment 1; see
also Honey From Argentina: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review, 77 FR 1458 (January 10, 2012), where the
Department stated that: ``The U.S. Court of International Trade
(CIT) has found that collapsing exporters is consistent with a
``reasonable interpretation of the {antidumping duty{time}
statute.'' See Hontex Enterprises, Inc. v. United States, 248 F.
Supp. 2d. 1323, 1338 (CIT 2003) (Hontex). The CIT further noted that
``to the extent that Commerce has followed its market economy
collapsing regulations the {non-market economy (NME){time} exporter
collapsing methodology is necessarily permissible.'' See id. at
1342. Unchanged in Honey From Argentina: Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 77 FR 36253 (June 18, 2012).
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Furthermore, the Department requests that TMM disclose the name of
its affiliate, Company A, as public information for the remainder of
this proceeding. Otherwise we will be unable to assign the collapsed
entity a joint cash deposit rate under both company names, and may
determine the cash deposit rate for TMM by relying upon adverse facts
available.
Methodology
The Department has conducted this review in accordance with section
751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the ``Act'').
Export prices were calculated in accordance with section 772 of the
Act. Because the PRC is a NME within the meaning of section 771(18) of
the Act, normal value (``NV'') has been calculated in accordance with
section 773(c) of the Act. Specifically, the respondents' factors of
production have been valued using import data from the Philippines,
which is economically comparable to the PRC and is a significant
producer of comparable merchandise. To determine the appropriate
comparison method, the Department typically conducts a ``differential
pricing'' analysis and has preliminarily determined to use the average-
to average method in making comparisons of export price and normal
value. However, in this review, because there is only one sale, there
are not two observations with which to test for whether a pattern of
prices that differ significantly exists. Accordingly, the Department is
not conducting a differential pricing analysis and is calculating TMM's
dumping margin using its standard method by comparing the weighted-
average normal value to the weighted-average export price.\9\
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\9\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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For a full description of the methodology underlying our
conclusions, please see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, dated
concurrently with these results and hereby adopted by this notice. The
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file
electronically via Import Administration's Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA
ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov and in the Central Records Unit, room 7046 of the
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version
of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the
Internet at http://www.trade.gov/ia/. The signed and the electronic
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in
content.
Preliminary Results of Review
The Department has determined that the following preliminary
dumping margin exists:
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Weighted-
average
Exporter dumping
margin
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Tianjin Magnesium Metal Co., Ltd. (``TMM'') and Company A... 339.60
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Disclosure and Public Comment
The Department will disclose calculations performed for these
preliminary results to the parties within five days of the date of
publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Interested parties may submit written comments no later than 30 days
after the date of publication of these preliminary results of
review.\10\ Rebuttals to written comments may be filed no later than
five days after the written comments are filed.\11\
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\10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c).
\11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
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Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of
publication of this notice.\12\ Hearing requests should contain the
following information: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone
number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to
be discussed. Oral presentations will be limited to issues raised in
the briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, parties will be
notified of the time and date for the hearing to be held at the U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20230.\13\
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\12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
\13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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The Department intends to issue the final results of this
administrative review, which will include the results of its analysis
of issues raised in any such comments, within 120 days of publication
of these preliminary results, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the
Act.
Deadline for Submission of Publicly Available Surrogate Value
Information
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3)(ii), the deadline for
submission of publicly available information to value factors of
production under 19 CFR 351.408(c) is 20 days after the date of
publication of the preliminary results. In accordance with 19 CFR
351.301(c)(1), if an interested party submits factual information less
than ten days before, on, or after (if the Department has extended the
deadline) the applicable deadline for submission of such factual
information, an interested party may submit factual information to
rebut, clarify, or correct the factual information no later than ten
days after such factual information is served on the interested party.
However, the Department generally will not accept in the rebuttal
submission additional or alternative surrogate value information not
previously on the record, if the deadline for submission of surrogate
value information has passed.\14\ Furthermore, the Department generally
will not accept business proprietary information in either the
surrogate value submissions or the rebuttals thereto, as the regulation
regarding the submission of surrogate values allows only for the
submission of publicly available information.\15\
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\14\ See, e.g., Glycine from the People's Republic of China:
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Final
Rescission, in Part, 72 FR 58809 (October 17, 2007), and
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2.
\15\ See 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3).
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Assessment Rates
Upon issuing the final results of the review, the Department shall
determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate
entries. The Department intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP
15 days after the date of publication of the final results of review.
For any individually examined respondents whose weighted-average
dumping margin is above de minimis, we will calculate importer-specific
ad valorem duty assessment rates based on the ratio of the total amount
of dumping calculated for the importer's examined sales to the total
entered value of those same sales in accordance with 19 CFR
351.212(b)(1).\16\
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\16\ In these preliminary results, the Department applied the
assessment rate calculation method adopted in Antidumping
Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and
Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping Proceedings: Final
Modification, 77 FR 8101 (February 14, 2012).
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We will instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all
appropriate entries covered by this review when the importer-specific
assessment rate calculated in the final results of this review is above
de minimis. Where either the respondent's weighted-average dumping
margin is zero or de minimis, or an importer-specific assessment rate
is zero or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the
[[Page 34648]]
appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties. The
Department recently announced a refinement to its assessment practice
in NME cases. Pursuant to this refinement in practice, for entries that
were not reported in the U.S. sales databases submitted by companies
individually examined during this review, the Department will instruct
CBP to liquidate such entries at the PRC-wide rate. In addition, if the
Department determines that an exporter under review had no shipments of
the subject merchandise, any suspended entries that entered under that
exporter's case number (i.e., at that exporter's rate) will be
liquidated at the PRC-wide rate.\17\
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\17\ For a full discussion of this practice, see Non-Market
Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties,
76 FR 65694 (October 24, 2011).
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The final results of this review shall be the basis for the
assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by
the final results of this review and for future deposits of estimated
duties, where applicable.
Cash Deposit Requirements
The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon
publication of the final results of this administrative review for
shipments of the subject merchandise from the PRC entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as
provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) For TMM/Company A,
which have a separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be that
established in the final results of this review (except, if the rate is
zero or de minimis, zero cash deposit will be required); (2) for
previously investigated or reviewed PRC and non-PRC exporters not
listed above that received a separate rate in a prior segment of this
proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the exporter-
specific rate; (3) for all PRC exporters of subject merchandise that
have not been found to be entitled to a separate rate, the cash deposit
rate will be the PRC-wide rate of 111.73 percent\18\; and (4) for all
non-PRC exporters of subject merchandise which have not received their
own rate, the cash deposit rate will be the rate applicable to the PRC
exporter that supplied that non-PRC exporter. These deposit
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further
notice.
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\18\ See Pure Magnesium From the People's Republic of China:
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 73 FR 76336
(December 16, 2008).
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Notification to Importers
This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply
with this requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent
assessment of double antidumping duties.
This administrative review and notice are in accordance with
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213.
Dated: May 31, 2013.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
Appendix I
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
Summary
1. Background
2. Scope
Discussion of the Methodology
1. Affiliation and Collapsing
2. Bona Fides Inquiry
3. Nonmarket Economy Country
4. Separate Rates
a. Absence of De Jure Control
b. Absence of De Facto Control
5. Surrogate Country and Surrogate-Value Data
6. Surrogate Country
7. Economic Comparability
8. Significant Producers of Identical or Comparable Merchandise
9. Data Availability
10. Date of Sale
11. Fair Value Comparisons
12. Differential Pricing Analysis
13. Export Price
14. Normal Value
15. Factor Valuations
16. Currency Conversion
17. Conclusion
[FR Doc. 2013-13702 Filed 6-7-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P