Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY:

On May 13, 2010, the Department of Commerce published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation. The review covers two manufacturers/exporters, PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation (AVISMA) and Solikamsk Magnesium Works (SMW). The period of review (POR) is April 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009.

Based on our analysis of the comments received we have made no changes in the margin for AVISMA. Therefore, the final results do not differ from the preliminary results. The final margin for AVISMA is listed below in the section entitled “Final Results of the Review.”

DATES:

Effective Date: September 17, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Hermes Pinilla or Minoo Hatten, AD/CVD Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3477 or (202) 482-1690, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On May 13, 2010, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation. See Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 26922 (May 13, 2010) (Preliminary Results).

We invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary Results. At the request of certain parties, we held a public hearing, with a closed session, on July 28, 2010. The Department has conducted this administrative review in accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).

Scope of the Order

The merchandise covered by the order is magnesium metal (also referred to as magnesium), which includes primary and secondary pure and alloy magnesium metal, regardless of chemistry, raw material source, form, shape, or size. Magnesium is a metal or alloy containing by weight primarily the element magnesium. Primary magnesium is produced by decomposing raw materials into magnesium metal. Secondary magnesium is produced by recycling magnesium-based scrap into magnesium metal. The magnesium covered by the order includes blends of primary and secondary magnesium.

The subject merchandise includes the following pure and alloy magnesium metal products made from primary and/or secondary magnesium, including, without limitation, magnesium cast into ingots, slabs, rounds, billets, and other shapes, and magnesium ground, chipped, crushed, or machined into raspings, granules, turnings, chips, powder, briquettes, and other shapes: (1) Products that contain at least 99.95 percent 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 magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as “pure” magnesium); and (3) chemical combinations of magnesium and other material(s) in which the magnesium content is 50 percent or greater, but less that 99.8 percent, by weight, whether or not conforming to an “ASTM Specification for Magnesium Alloy.”

The scope of the order excludes: (1) magnesium that is in liquid or molten form and (2) mixtures containing 90 percent or less magnesium in granular or powder form by weight and one or more of certain non-magnesium granular materials to make magnesium-based reagent mixtures, including lime, calcium metal, calcium silicon, calcium carbide, calcium carbonate, carbon, slag coagulants, fluorspar, nephaline syenite, feldspar, alumina (Al203), calcium aluminate, soda ash, hydrocarbons, graphite, coke, silicon, rare earth metals/mischmetal, cryolite, silica/fly ash, magnesium oxide, periclase, ferroalloys, dolomite lime, and colemanite.

The merchandise subject to the order is currently classifiable under items 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, 8104.30.00, and 8104.90.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS item numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise covered by the order is dispositive.

SMW

As we stated in the Preliminary Results regarding no-shipment rescissions, our practice since implementation of the 1997 regulations concerning no-shipment respondents has been to rescind the administrative review if the respondent certifies that it had no shipments and we have confirmed through our examination of data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that there were no shipments of subject merchandise during the POR. See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 27393 (May 19, 1997), and Oil Country Tubular Goods from Japan: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Review, 70 FR 53161, 53162 (September 7, 2005), unchanged in Oil Country Tubular Goods from Japan: Final Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 71 FR 95 (January 3, 2006). As a result, in such circumstances, we normally instructed CBP to liquidate any entries from the no-shipment company at the deposit rate in effect on the date of entry.

In our May 6, 2003, “automatic assessment” clarification, we explained that, where respondents in an administrative review demonstrate that they had no knowledge of sales through resellers to the United States, we would instruct CBP to liquidate such entries at the all-others rate applicable to the proceeding. See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003) (Assessment of Antidumping Duties).

Based on SMW's assertion of no shipments and confirmation of that claim by examination of CBP data, we continue to determine that SMW had no sales to the United States during the POR. See Preliminary Results, 75 FR at 26923.

As we stated in the Preliminary Results, because “as entered” liquidation instructions do not alleviate the concerns which the May 2003 clarification was intended to address, we find it appropriate in this case to instruct CBP to liquidate any existing entries of merchandise produced by SMW and exported by other parties at the all-others rate. In addition, we continue to find that it is more consistent with the May 2003 clarification not to rescind the review in part in these circumstances but, rather, to complete the review with respect to SMW and issue appropriate instructions to CBP based on the final results of the review. See the “Assessment Rates” section of this notice below.

We did not receive any comments from interested parties on our change in practice with regard to no-shipment rescissions.

Verification

As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified the information submitted by AVISMA with regard to its sales in the United States and in the home market.

We used standard verification procedures including examination of relevant accounting and production records and original source documents provided by AVISMA. See U.S. Sales Verification Report entitled “Verification of the Sales Response of PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation in the Antidumping Review of Magnesium Metal from the Russian Federation” dated May 7, 2010, and Comparison-Market Verification Report entitled “Verification of the Sales Response of the PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation in the Antidumping Duty Review of Magnesium Metal from the Russian Federation” dated June 21, 2010.

Analysis of the Comments Received

All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to this administrative review of the order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation are addressed in the “Issues and Decision Memorandum” from Susan H. Kuhbach, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, to Paul Piquado, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, dated September 10, 2010 (Decision Memo), which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues which parties have raised and to which we have responded is in the Decision Memo and attached to this notice as an Appendix. The Decision Memo, which is a public document, is on file in the Central Records Unit, main Department of Commerce building, Room 1117, and is accessible on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/index.html. The paper copy and electronic version of the Decision Memo are identical in content.

Final Results of the Review

As a result of our review, we determine that the following weighted-average dumping margins on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation exist for the period April 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009:

Assessment Rates

We will instruct CBP to apply a dumping margin of zero percent to all entries of subject merchandise during the POR that were produced and exported by AVISMA and imported by AVISMA's U.S. affiliate.

The Department clarified its “automatic assessment” regulation on May 6, 2003. See Assessment of Antidumping Duties. This clarification will apply to entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by AVISMA or SMW for which AVISMA or SMW did not know their merchandise was destined for the United States. In such instances, we will instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries of merchandise produced by AVISMA or SMW at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction. For a full discussion of this clarification, see Assessment of Antidumping Duties.

We intend to issue liquidation instructions to CBP 15 days after the publication of these final results of review.

Cash-Deposit Requirements

The following deposit requirements will be effective upon publication of this notice of final results of administrative review for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication, consistent with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) The cash-deposit rate for AVISMA will be zero percent; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated companies other than AVISMA, the cash-deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation but the manufacturer is, the cash-deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of the merchandise; (4) the cash-deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will continue to be the all-others rate established in the LTFV investigation, which is 21.01 percent. See Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation, 70 FR 19930 (April 15, 2005). These deposit requirements shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice serves as a final reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) 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 Department's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of doubled antidumping duties.

Notification Regarding APOs

This notice also serves as a 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 notification of 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.

We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act.

Appendix

1. Bill-and-Hold U.S. Sales

2. Constructed Export-Price Offset

3. Affiliation

4. Chlorine Gas Co-Product