Magnesium Metal From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 12122-12127 [E8-4416]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 45 / Thursday, March 6, 2008 / Notices
entered value of its U.S. sales, we will
calculate customer-specific per-unit
duty assessment rates by aggregating the
total amount of antidumping duties
calculated for the examined sales and
dividing this amount by the total
quantity of those sales. To determine
whether the duty assessment rates are
de minimis, in accordance with the
requirement set forth in 19 CFR
351.106(c)(2), we will calculate
importer-specific or customer-specific
ad valorem ratios based on the
estimated entered value.
Regarding Promarisco, because it
reported the entered value of all of its
U.S. sales, we will calculate an
importer-specific ad valorem duty
assessment rate based on the ratio of the
total amount of antidumping duties
calculated for the examined sales to the
total entered value of the examined
sales for that importer. We will calculate
a single importer-specific assessment
rate for Promarisco, consistent with our
practice in AR1 Final Results. See also
Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and
Singapore: Final Results of the
Antidumping Administrative Reviews,
Rescission of Administrative Review in
part, and Determination Not to Revoke
Order in Part, 68 FR 35623 (June 16,
2003), and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum at Comment 9B;
and Notice of Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review and Notice of Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Changed
Circumstances Review: Certain
Softwood Lumber Products From
Canada, 69 FR 75921 (December 20,
2004), and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum at Comment 13.
For the responsive companies which
were not selected for individual review,
we will calculate an assessment rate
based on the weighted average of the
margin rates calculated for the
companies selected for individual
review excluding any which are de
minimis or determined entirely on AFA.
We will instruct CBP to assess
antidumping duties on all appropriate
entries covered by this review if any
importer-specific or customer-specific
assessment rate calculated in the final
results of this review is above de
minimis (i.e., at or above 0.50 percent).
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2), we
will instruct CBP to liquidate without
regard to antidumping duties any
entries for which the assessment rate is
de minimis (i.e., less than 0.50 percent).
See 19 CFR 351.106(c)(1). The final
results of this review shall be the basis
for the assessment of antidumping
duties on entries of merchandise
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covered by the final results of this
review.
The Department clarified its
‘‘automatic assessment’’ regulation on
May 6, 2003. See Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings:
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68
FR 23954 (May 6, 2003) (Assessment
Policy Notice). This clarification will
apply to entries of subject merchandise
during the POR produced by companies
included in these final results of review
for which the reviewed companies did
not know that the merchandise they
sold to the intermediary (e.g., a reseller,
trading company, or exporter) was
destined for the United States. In such
instances, we will instruct CBP to
liquidate unreviewed entries at the allothers rate if there is no rate for the
intermediary involved in the
transaction. See Assessment Policy
Notice for a full discussion of this
clarification.
Discontinuation of Cash Deposit
Requirements
On August 15, 2007, in accordance
with sections 129(b)(4) and 129(c)(1)(B)
of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act
(URAA), the U.S. Trade Representative,
after consulting with the Department
and Congress, directed the Department
to implement its determination to
revoke the antidumping duty order on
certain frozen warmwater shrimp from
Ecuador. See Final Results of the section
129 Determination of Certain Frozen
Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador, 72
FR 48257 (August 23, 2007).
Accordingly, the antidumping duty
order on certain frozen warmwater
shrimp from Ecuador was revoked
effective August 15, 2007. As a result,
we have instructed CBP to discontinue
collection of cash deposits of
antidumping duties on entries of the
subject merchandise.
Notification to Importers
This notice also serves as a
preliminary 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
Secretary’s presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties
occurred and the subsequent assessment
of double antidumping duties.
This administrative review and notice
are published in accordance with
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.221.
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Dated: February 28, 2008.
Stephen J. Claeys,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration.
[FR Doc. E8–4424 Filed 3–5–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A–570–896]
Magnesium Metal From the People’s
Republic of China: Preliminary Results
of Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review
Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to timely request
from Tianjin Magnesium International
Co., Ltd. (TMI) the Department of
Commerce (the Department) is
conducting the 2006–2007
administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on magnesium
metal from the People’s Republic of
China (PRC). The Department has
reviewed shipments of subject
merchandise made by TMI and has
determined that TMI made sales below
normal value (NV) during the period of
review (POR). If the preliminary results
are adopted in our final results of
review, we will instruct U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) to assess
antidumping duties on entries of subject
merchandise during the POR for which
the importer-specific assessment rates
are above de minimis. Interested parties
are invited to comment on these
preliminary results. We will issue the
final results no later than 120 days from
the date of publication of this notice.
DATES: Effective Date: March 6, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Karine Gziryan, AD/CVD Operations,
Office 4, Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202)
482–4081.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
AGENCY:
Background
On April 15, 2005, the Department
published an antidumping duty order
on magnesium metal from the PRC. See
Notice of Antidumping Duty Order:
Magnesium Metal From the People’s
Republic of China, 70 FR 19928 (April
15, 2005). On April 2, 2007, the
Department published a notice of
opportunity to request an administrative
review of the above-referenced order.
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See Antidumping or Countervailing
Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended
Investigation; Opportunity to Request
Administrative Review, 72 FR 15650
(April 2, 2007). Based on timely request
for an administrative review, the
Department initiated an administrative
review of the antidumping duty order
on magnesium metal from the PRC with
respect to TMI. See Initiation of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 72 FR 29968
(May 30, 2007).
On May 25, 2007, the Department
issued a separate rate certification and
the full antidumping duty questionnaire
to TMI. We received timely separate rate
certification and questionnaire
responses from TMI. On August 2, 2007,
we received the Petitioner’s comments
on TMI’s sections A, C, and D
questionnaire responses. We issued
supplemental questionnaires to TMI in
August and September 2007, and
January 2008. We received timely
responses from TMI to these
questionnaires on August 31, 2007,
October 22, 2007, November 29, 2007,
and February 8, 2008, respectively.
On August 22, 2007, the Department
determined that India, Sri Lanka, Egypt,
Indonesia, and Philippines are countries
comparable to the PRC in terms of
economic development. See
Memorandum from Ron Lorentzen,
Acting Director, Office of Policy to Mark
Manning, Program Manager, Operations,
NME unit, Office 4, ‘‘Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review of Magnesium
Metal From the PRC: Request for a List
of Surrogate Countries,’’ dated August
22, 2007 (Office of Policy Surrogate
Countries Memorandum). On September
6, 2007, the Petitioner requested that the
Department conduct verification of the
questionnaire responses submitted by
respondent TMI in this administrative
review.
On September 7, 2007, the
Department provided parties with an
opportunity to submit publicly available
information on surrogate countries and
values for consideration in the
preliminary results of review. On
September 21, 2007, and September 28,
2007, we received comments from TMI
and the Petitioner, respectively, in
which they requested that the
Department select India as the
appropriate surrogate country in this
review. In their comments, both TMI
and the Petitioner argued that India (a)
is at a comparable level of economic
development with the PRC based on the
gross national income (GNI); (b) is a
significant producer of comparable
merchandise, namely aluminum; and (c)
the data necessary to calculate a
dumping margin for a Chinese producer
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of magnesium metal are readily
available in India. On October 5, 2007,
we received surrogate value information
from the Petitioner and TMI. On
October 15, 2007, and November 5,
2007, we received comments from the
Petitioner rebutting certain surrogate
value information submitted by TMI. On
October 23, 2007, TMI submitted
comments rebutting the Petitioner’s
surrogate value information. On
February 12, 2008, the Petitioner
submitted a request to assign a
combination cash deposit rate to TMI
and its supplier of subject merchandise
in this administrative review.
On December 12, 2007, the
Department extended the deadline for
the preliminary results of administrative
review until February 29, 2008. See
Magnesium Metal from the People’s
Republic of China: Notice of Extension
of Time Limit for the Preliminary
Results of the 2006–2007 Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review, 72 FR
70567 (December 12, 2007).
Period of Review
The POR is April 1, 2006, through
March 31, 2007.
Scope of Order
The product covered by this
antidumping duty order is magnesium
metal, which includes primary and
secondary 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 this
antidumping duty order includes blends
of primary and secondary magnesium.
The subject merchandise includes the
following alloy magnesium metal
products made from primary and/or
secondary magnesium including,
without limitation, magnesium cast into
ingots, slabs, rounds, billets, and other
shapes, magnesium ground, chipped,
crushed, or machined into raspings,
granules, turnings, chips, powder,
briquettes, and other shapes: products
that contain 50 percent or greater, but
less than 99.8 percent, magnesium, by
weight, and that have been entered into
the United States as conforming to an
‘‘ASTM Specification for Magnesium
Alloy’’ 1 and thus are outside the scope
of the existing antidumping orders on
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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magnesium from the PRC (generally
referred to as ‘‘alloy’’ magnesium).
The scope of the antidumping duty
order excludes the following
merchandise: (1) All forms of pure
magnesium, including chemical
combinations of 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’’; 2 (2) magnesium that is in liquid
or molten form; and (3) 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 (Al2O3), calcium
aluminate, soda ash, hydrocarbons,
graphite, coke, silicon, rare earth
metals/mischmetal, cryolite, silica/fly
ash, magnesium oxide, periclase,
ferroalloys, dolomite lime, and
colemanite.3
The merchandise subject to this
antidumping duty order is currently
classifiable under items 8104.19.00 and
8104.30.00 of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
Although the HTSUS items are provided
for convenience and customs purposes,
the written description of the
merchandise under investigation is
dispositive.
Non-Market-Economy (NME) Treatment
The Department considers the PRC to
be an NME country. In accordance with
section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act), any
2 This material is already covered by existing
antidumping orders. See Antidumping Duty Orders:
Pure Magnesium from the People’s Republic of
China, the Russian Federation and Ukraine;
Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Antidumping Duty Investigation
of Pure Magnesium from the Russian Federation, 60
FR 25691 (May 12, 1995), and Antidumping Duty
Order: Pure Magnesium in Granular Form from the
People’s Republic of China, 66 FR 57936 (November
19, 2001).
3 This third exclusion for magnesium-based
reagent mixtures is based on the exclusion for
reagent mixtures in the 2000–2001 investigations of
magnesium from the PRC, Israel, and Russia. See
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Pure Magnesium in Granular Form From the
People’s Republic of China, 66 FR 49345
(September 27, 2001); Final Determination of Sales
at Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium From
Israel, 66 FR 49349 (September 27, 2001); Final
Determination of Sales at Not Less Than Fair Value:
Pure Magnesium From the Russian Federation, 66
FR 49347 (September 27, 2001). These mixtures are
not magnesium alloys because they are not
chemically combined in liquid form and cast into
the same ingot.
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determination that a country is an NME
country shall remain in effect until
revoked by the administering authority.
See Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts
Thereof, Finished and Unfinished,
(TRBs) From the People’s Republic of
China: Preliminary Results of 2001–
2002 Administrative Review and Partial
Rescission of Review, 68 FR 7500
(February 14, 2003), (unchanged in
TRBs from the People’s Republic of
China: Final Results of 2001–2002
Administrative Review and Partial
Rescission of Review, 68 FR 70488
(December 18, 2003)). None of the
parties to this proceeding has contested
such treatment. Therefore, for the
preliminary results of review, we have
treated the PRC as an NME country and
applied our current NME methodology
in accordance with section 773(c) of the
Act.
Selection of a Surrogate Country
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When the Department analyzes
imports from an NME country, section
773(c)(1) of the Act directs it to base NV,
in most circumstances, on the NME
producer’s factors of production (FOPs),
valued in a surrogate market economy
country or countries considered to be
appropriate by the Department. In
accordance with section 773(c)(4) of the
Act, in valuing the FOPs, the
Department shall utilize, to the extent
possible, the prices or costs of FOPs in
one or more market economy countries
that are: (1) At a level of economic
development comparable to that of the
NME country; and (2) significant
producers of merchandise comparable
to the subject merchandise.
The Department has determined that
India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Indonesia, and
the Philippines are countries that are at
a level of economic development
comparable to that of the PRC. See
Office of Policy Surrogate Countries
Memorandum. While none of these
countries are significant producers of
magnesium metal,4 India does have
significant production of aluminum that
is comparable to the production of
magnesium metal with respect to factory
overhead; selling, general, and
administrative (SG&A) expenses; and
profit. See Surrogate Country
Memorandum at 5–6. Because India is at
a comparable level of economic
development, is a significant producer
4 See Memorandum to Abdelali Elouaradia, Office
Director, AD/CVD Operations, Office 4, through
Mark Manning, Program Manager, AD/CVD
Operations, Office 4, from Karine Gziryan,
Financial Analyst, AD/CVD Operations, Office 4,
‘‘Administrative Review of Magnesium Metal from
the People’s Republic of China: Selection of a
Surrogate Country dated October 30, 2007,’’
(Surrogate Country Memorandum).
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of comparable merchandise, and
provides the best opportunity to use
publicly available data to value the
factors of production, the Department
preliminarily determined that India is
an appropriate surrogate country for the
purposes of this administrative review.
See Surrogate Country Memorandum at
7. The sources of the surrogate factor
values are discussed under the ‘‘Normal
Value’’ section below and in the
Memorandum from Karine Gziryan,
Senior Financial Analyst, through Mark
Manning, Program Manager, to the File,
‘‘Surrogate Values for the Preliminary
Results,’’ dated February 29, 2008
(Surrogate Values Memorandum).
Separate Rate
A designation of a country as an NME
remains in effect until it is revoked by
the Department. See section 771(18)(C)
of the Act. Accordingly, the Department
has a rebuttable presumption that all
companies within an NME country are
subject to government control and thus
should be assessed a single antidumping
duty rate. It is the Department’s
standard policy to assign all exporters of
the merchandise subject to review in
NME countries a single rate unless an
exporter can affirmatively demonstrate
an absence of government control, both
in law (de jure) and in fact (de facto),
with respect to exports. See Notice of
Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Bicycles From the
People’s Republic of China, 61 FR
19026, 19027 (April 30, 1996). To
establish whether a firm is sufficiently
independent from government control
of its export activities to be entitled to
a separate rate, the Department analyzes
each entity exporting the subject
merchandise under a test arising from
the Notice of Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Sparklers
from the People’s Republic of China, 56
FR 20588, at Comment 1 (May 6, 1991)
(Sparklers), as further developed in
Notice of Final Determination of Sales
at Less Than Fair Value: Silicon Carbide
from the People’s Republic of China, 59
FR 22585 (May 2, 1994) (Silicon
Carbide).
The Department’s separate-rate test
determines whether the exporters are
independent from government control
and does not consider, in general,
macroeconomic/border-type controls,
e.g., export licenses, quotas, and
minimum export prices, particularly if
these controls are imposed to prevent
dumping. See Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Certain Preserved
Mushrooms from the People’s Republic
of China, 63 FR 72255, 72256
(December 31, 1998). The test focuses,
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rather, on controls over the investment,
pricing, and output decision-making
process at the individual firm level. See
Notice of Final Determination of Sales
at Less than Fair Value: Certain Cut-toLength Carbon Steel Plate From
Ukraine, 62 FR 61754, 61757–61758
(November 19, 1997), and Tapered
Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof,
Finished and Unfinished, From the
People’s Republic of China; Final
Results of Antidumping Administrative
Review, 62 FR 61276, 61279 (November
17, 1997).
Absence of De Jure Control
The Department considers the
following de jure criteria in determining
whether an individual company may be
granted a separate rate: (1) An absence
of restrictive stipulations associated
with an individual exporter’s business
and export licenses; (2) any legislative
enactments decentralizing control of
companies; and (3) other formal
measures by the government
decentralizing control of companies. See
Sparklers, 56 FR at 20589.
The evidence provided by TMI
supports a preliminary finding of de
jure absence of governmental control
based on the following: (1) An absence
of restrictive stipulations associated
with TMI’s business and export
licenses; (2) the existence of applicable
legislative enactments decentralizing
control of the companies; and (3) the
formal measures by the government
decentralizing control of companies. In
its responses, TMI stated that it is an
independent legal entity and provided a
copy of its business license that allows
it to engage in the exportation of
magnesium metal. TMI also reported
that no export quotas apply to
magnesium metal. The following laws,
which were placed on the record of this
review, also indicate a lack of de jure
government control. The Company Law
of the People’s Republic of China, made
effective on July 1, 1994, states that a
company is an enterprise legal person,
that shareholders shall assume liability
towards the company to the extent of its
shareholdings, and that the company
shall be liable for its debts to the extent
of all its assets. TMI also provided
copies of the Foreign Trade Law of the
PRC, which identifies the rights and
responsibilities of organizations engaged
in foreign trade, grants autonomy to
foreign-trade operators in management
decisions, and establishes the foreign
trade operator’s accountability for
profits and losses. Based on our analysis
of the foregoing, the Department has
preliminarily determined that there is
an absence of de jure governmental
control over the export activities of TMI.
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Absence of De Facto Control
Typically the Department considers
four factors in evaluating whether a
respondent is subject to de facto
governmental control of its export
functions: (1) Whether the export prices
are set by, or are subject to the approval
of, a governmental agency; (2) whether
the respondent has authority to
negotiate and sign contracts and other
agreements; (3) whether the respondent
has autonomy from the government in
making decisions regarding the
selection of management; and (4)
whether the respondent retains the
proceeds of its export sales and makes
independent decisions regarding
disposition of profits or financing of
losses. See Silicon Carbide, 59 FR at
22586–87; see also Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Furfuryl Alcohol From the
People’s Republic of China, 60 FR
22544, 22545 (May 8, 1995). The
Department considers an analysis of de
facto control to be critical in
determining whether a respondent is, in
fact, subject to a degree of governmental
control that would preclude the
Department from assigning the
respondent a separate rate.
TMI has asserted that it: (1)
Establishes its own export prices; (2)
negotiates contracts without guidance
from any governmental entities or
organizations; (3) makes its own
personnel decisions; (4) retains the
proceeds of its export sales and uses
profits according to its business needs;
and (5) has the authority to sell its assets
and to obtain loans. The Department has
analyzed the information placed on the
record by TMI. Based upon its analysis,
the Department has preliminarily
determined that the information on the
record supports TMI’s assertion, and
that there is an absence of de facto
governmental control over the export
activities of TMI. Because the
Department has found that TMI operates
free of de jure and de facto
governmental control, it has
preliminarily determined that TMI has
met the criteria for receiving a separate
rate.
Normal Value Comparisons
To determine whether TMI’s sales of
the subject merchandise to the United
States were made at a price below NV,
we compared its U.S. price to NV, as
described in the ‘‘U.S. Price’’ and
‘‘Normal Value’’ sections of this notice.
United States Price
A. Export Price
In accordance with section 772(a) of
the Act, we based TMI’s U.S. price on
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export price (EP) because the first sales
to unaffiliated purchasers were made
prior to importation, and constructed
export price was not otherwise
warranted by the facts on the record. We
calculated EP for TMI based on the
prices to unaffiliated purchasers in the
United States. In accordance with
section 772(c) of the Act, we calculated
EP by deducting, where applicable, the
following expenses from the starting
price (gross unit price) charged to the
first unaffiliated customer in the United
States: foreign inland freight from the
plant to the port of exportation, foreign
brokerage and handling, international
freight, marine insurance, U.S.
brokerage and handling, U.S. customs
duties, and inland freight incurred in
the United States. See Memorandum
from Karine Gziryan, Senior Financial
Analyst, to the File, ‘‘Analysis for the
Preliminary Results of the 2006–2007
Administrative Review of Magnesium
Metal from the People’s Republic of
China: Tianjin Magnesium International
Ltd.,’’ dated February 29, 2008
(Preliminary Analysis Memorandum).
B. Surrogate Values for Expenses
Incurred in the PRC for U.S. Sales
TMI reported that, for its U.S. sales,
foreign inland freight, foreign brokerage
and handling, and marine insurance
were provided by NME vendors or paid
for using an NME currency. We based
the deduction of these charges on
surrogate values. To value foreign
inland freight and foreign brokerage and
handling, we applied the same surrogate
values used to value these expenses in
NV. See Normal Value section below
and Surrogate Values Memorandum. We
valued marine insurance with a price
quote from the website of RJG
Consultants, a market-economy provider
of marine insurance. See Surrogate
Values Memorandum.
For international freight, U.S.
brokerage and handling, and U.S.
customs duties, TMI reported using
market economy vendors and stated that
these expenses were paid for in a market
economy currency. Where movement
services were provided by a market
economy vendor and paid for in a
market economy currency, we deducted
the actual cost per metric ton of the
expense. See Surrogate Values
Memorandum.
Normal Value
A. Methodology
Section 773(c)(1)(B) of the Act
provides that the Department shall
determine NV using an FOP
methodology if the merchandise is
exported from an NME country and the
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available information does not permit
the calculation of NV using homemarket prices, third-country prices, or
constructed value under section 773(a)
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.408. The
Department uses an FOP methodology
because the presence of government
controls on various aspects of NMEs
renders price comparisons and the
calculation of production costs invalid
under its normal methodologies. See
Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts
Thereof, Finished or Unfinished, From
the People’s Republic of China:
Preliminary Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review and Notice
of Intent to Rescind in Part, 70 FR 39744
(July 11, 2005) (unchanged in Tapered
Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof,
Finished and Unfinished, from the
People’s Republic of China: Final
Results of 2003–2004 Administrative
Review and Partial Rescission of
Review, 71 FR 2517 (January 17, 2006 ).
We calculated NV by adding together
the value of the FOPs, general expenses,
profit, and packing costs.5 Specifically,
we valued material, labor, energy, and
packing by multiplying the amount of
the factor consumed in producing
subject merchandise by the average unit
surrogate value of the factor. In
addition, we added freight costs to the
surrogate costs that we calculated for
material inputs. We calculated freight
costs by multiplying surrogate freight
rates by the shorter of the reported
distance from the domestic supplier to
the factory that produced the subject
merchandise or the distance from the
nearest seaport to the factory that
produced the subject merchandise, as
appropriate. This adjustment is in
accordance with the Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit’s decision in
Sigma Corp. v. United States, 117 F.3d
1401, 1407–1408 (Fed. Cir. 1997). We
increased the calculated costs of the
FOPs for surrogate general expenses and
profit. See Surrogate Values
Memorandum.
In accordance with 19 CFR
351.408(c)(1), when a producer sources
an input from a market-economy
country and pays for it in a marketeconomy currency, the Department will
normally value the factor using the
actual price paid for the input. See 19
CFR 351.408(c)(1); see also Lasko Metal
Products v. United States, 43 F.3d 1442,
1445–1446 (Fed. Cir. 1994) (affirming
the Department’s use of market-based
prices to value certain FOPs). Where a
portion of the input is purchased from
a market-economy supplier and the
5 We based the values of the FOPs on surrogate
values (see Selected Surrogate Values section
below).
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mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
remainder from an NME supplier, the
Department will normally use the price
paid for the inputs sourced from marketeconomy suppliers to value all of the
input, provided the volume of the
market-economy inputs as a share of
total purchases from all sources is
‘‘meaningful.’’ See Antidumping Duties;
Countervailing Duties; Final rule, 62 FR
27296, 27366 (May 19, 1997);
Shakeproof v. United States, 268 F.3d
1376, 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2001). See also 19
CFR 351.408(c)(1).
B. Selected Surrogate Values
In selecting surrogate values, we
followed, to the extent practicable, the
Department’s practice of choosing
public values which are non-export
averages, representative of a range of
prices in effect during the POR, or over
a period as close as possible in time to
the POR, product-specific, and taxexclusive. See, e.g., Notice of
Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, Negative
Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances and Postponement of
Final Determination: Certain Frozen
and Canned Warmwater Shrimp From
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 69 FR
42672, 42682 (July 16, 2004), unchanged
in Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Certain Frozen and
Canned Warmwater Shrimp From the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 69 FR
71005 (December 8, 2004). Where we
could only obtain surrogate values that
were not contemporaneous with the
POR, we inflated (or deflated) the
surrogate values using, where
appropriate, the Indian Wholesale Price
Index (WPI) as published in the
International Financial Statistics of the
International Monetary Fund. See
Surrogate Values Memorandum.
In calculating surrogate values from
import statistics, in accordance with the
Department’s practice, we disregarded
statistics for imports from NME
countries and countries deemed to
maintain broadly available, nonindustry-specific subsidies which may
benefit all exporters to all export
markets (i.e., Indonesia, South Korea,
and Thailand). See, e.g., Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value: Certain Automotive
Replacement Glass Windshields From
The People’s Republic of China, 67 FR
6482 (February 12, 2002) and
accompanying Issues and Decision
Memorandum at Comment 1. See also
Notice of Preliminary Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Postponement of Final Determination,
and Affirmative Preliminary
Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Certain Color Television
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:57 Mar 05, 2008
Jkt 214001
Receivers From the People’s Republic of
China, 68 FR 66800, 66808 (November
28, 2003), unchanged in Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value and Negative Final
Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Certain Color Television
Receivers From the People’s Republic of
China, 69 FR 20594 (April 16, 2004).
Additionally, we excluded from our
calculations imports that were labeled
as originating from an unspecified
country because we could not determine
whether they were from an NME
country.
We used the following surrogate
values in our preliminary results of
review (see Surrogate Values
Memorandum for details). Except as
noted below, we valued raw materials
and packing materials using April 2006
through March 2007 weighted-average
Indian import values derived from the
World Trade Atlas, online at https://
www.gtis.com/wta.htm (WTA). The
Indian import statistics that we obtained
from the WTA were published by the
Directorate General of Commercial
Intelligence and Statistics of the
Ministry of Commerce of India and are
contemporaneous with the POR.
We valued truck freight expenses
using a per kilometer per kilogram
average rate obtained from the Web site
of an Indian transportation company,
Infreight Technologies India Limited.
See https://www.infreight.com. We used
two sources to calculate the surrogate
value for domestic brokerage and
handling expenses. We valued TMI’s
use of foreign brokerage and handling
using a simple average of the public
version of the brokerage and handling
expenses reported by Agro Dutch
Industries Ltd., in an administrative
review of preserved mushrooms from
India, and by Kejriwal Paper Ltd., in an
administrative review of certain lined
paper products from India. See Agro
Dutch Industries Ltd.’s section A–D
submission, dated May 24, 2005, at
Exhibit B–1 (see Certain Preserved
Mushrooms From India: Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 71 FR 10646 (March 2, 2006)).
See the section C submission from
Kejriwal Paper Ltd., dated January 9,
2006, at Exhibit C–2, used in Notice of
Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of
Final Determination, and Affirmative
Preliminary Determination of Critical
Circumstances in Part: Certain Lined
Paper Products From India, 71 FR 19706
(April 17, 2006) (unchanged in Notice of
Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value, and Negative
Determination of Critical
Circumstances: Certain Lined Paper
PO 00000
Frm 00057
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Products from India, 71 FR 45012
(August 8, 2006)). Because these data
were not contemporaneous to the POI,
we adjusted them for inflation using the
Indian WPI. See Surrogate Values
Memorandum.
To value electricity, we used the 2000
electricity price data from International
Energy Agency, Energy Prices and
Taxes—Quarterly Statistics (First
Quarter 2003), adjusted for inflation.
See Surrogate Values Memorandum.
Consistent with 19 CFR 351.408(c)(3),
we valued direct, indirect, and packing
labor, using the most recently calculated
regression-based wage rate, which relies
on 2004 data. This wage rate can
currently be found on the Department’s
Web site on Import Administration’s
home page, Import Library, Expected
Wages of Selected NME Countries,
revised in January 2007, available at
https://ia.ita.doc.gov/wages/.
The source of these wage-rate data on
the Import Administration’s web site is
the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, ILO,
Chapter 5B: Wages in Manufacturing.
Because this regression-based wage rate
does not separate the labor rates into
different skill levels or types of labor,
we have applied the same wage rate to
all skill levels and types of labor
reported by TMI.
Lastly, we valued SG&A expenses,
factory overhead costs, and profit using
the 2006–2007 financial statements of
two Indian producers of comparable
merchandise, namely aluminum:
Hindalco Industries Ltd., and National
Aluminum Company Ltd. From this
information, we were able to determine
factory overhead as a percentage of the
total raw materials, labor and energy
(‘‘ML&E’’) costs; SG&A as a percentage
of ML&E plus overhead (i.e., cost of
manufacture); and profit as a percentage
of the cost of manufacture plus SG&A.
See Surrogate Values Memorandum.
In accordance with 19 CFR
351.301(c)(3)(ii), interested parties may
submit publicly available information
with which to value FOPs in the final
results of review within 20 days after
the date of publication of the
preliminary results of review.
Currency Conversion
We made currency conversions into
U.S. dollars, in accordance with section
773A(a) of the Act, based on the
exchange rates in effect on the dates of
the U.S. sales as certified by the Federal
Reserve Bank. These exchange rates can
be accessed at the Web site of Import
Administration at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/
exchange/.
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 45 / Thursday, March 6, 2008 / Notices
Preliminary Results of Review
We preliminarily determine that the
following margins exist for TMI during
the period April 1, 2006, through March
31, 2007:
MAGNESIUM METAL FROM THE PRC
Weighted-Average
Margin
(Percent)
Tianjin Magnesium
International Co., Ltd.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
Company
17.46
Disclosure
The Department will disclose the
calculations used in our analysis to
parties to this administrative review
within five days of the date of
publication of this notice. Case briefs
from interested parties may be
submitted not later than 30 days of the
date of publication of this notice,
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c). Rebuttal
briefs, limited to issues raised in the
case briefs, will be due five days later,
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(d). Parties
who submit case or rebuttal briefs in
this proceeding are requested to submit
with each argument (1) a statement of
the issue and (2) a brief summary of the
argument. The Department also requests
that interested parties provide a
summary of the arguments not to exceed
five pages and a table of statutes,
regulations, and cases cited. The
Department requests that parties
submitting written comments also
provide the Department with an
additional copy of those comments on
diskette.
Any interested party may request a
hearing within 30 days of publication of
this notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
Interested parties who wish to request a
hearing or to participate if one is
requested, must submit a written
request to the Assistant Secretary for
Import Administration within 30 days
of the date of publication of this notice.
Requests should contain: (1) The party’s
name, address, and telephone number;
(2) the number of participants; and (3)
a list of issues to be discussed. See 19
CFR 351.310(c). Issues raised in the
hearing will be limited to those raised
in the briefs.
The Department will issue the final
results of this review, including the
results of its analysis of issues raised in
any such written briefs or at the hearing,
if held, not later than 120 days after the
date of publication of this notice.
Assessment Rates
Upon issuance of the final results, the
Department will determine, and CBP
shall assess, antidumping duties on all
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:57 Mar 05, 2008
Jkt 214001
appropriate entries. The Department
intends to issue assessment instructions
to CBP 15 days after the date of
publication of the final results of
review. If the preliminary results are
adopted in our final results of review,
the Department shall determine, and
CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on
all appropriate entries. Pursuant to 19
CFR 351.212(b)(1), we will calculate
importer-specific ad valorem
assessment rates based on the ratio of
the total amount of the dumping
margins calculated for the examined
sales to the total entered value of those
sales. We will instruct CBP to assess
antidumping duties on all appropriate
entries covered by this review if any
importer-specific assessment rate
calculated in the final results of this
review is above de minimis.
Cash Deposit Requirements
The following cash deposit
requirements will be effective upon
publication of the final results of this
review for all shipments of the subject
merchandise entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption on or
after the publication date, as provided
for by section 751(a)(2)(c) of the Act: (1)
For the exporters listed above, the cash
deposit rate will be that established in
the final results of this review (except,
if the rate is zero or de minimis, no cash
deposit will be required); (2) for
previously investigated or reviewed PRC
and non-PRC exporters not listed above
that have separate rates, the cash
deposit rate will continue to be the
exporter-specific rate published for the
most recently completed review; (3) for
all PRC exporters of subject
merchandise which have not been
found to be entitled to a separate rate,
the cash deposit rate will be the PRCwide rate of 141.49 percent; 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
exporters that supplied that non-PRC
exporter. These deposit requirements,
when imposed, shall remain in effect
until further notice.
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
PO 00000
Frm 00058
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
12127
occurred and the subsequent assessment
of double antidumping duties.
This administrative review and this
notice are in accordance with sections
751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act, 19 CFR
351.213, and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).
Dated: February 29, 2008.
Stephen J. Claeys,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration.
[FR Doc. E8–4416 Filed 3–5–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
A–552–802
Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp
from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Preliminary Results, Preliminary Partial
Rescission and Final Partial
Rescission of the Second
Administrative Review
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 certain
frozen warmwater shrimp from the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
(‘‘Vietnam’’), covering the period of
review (‘‘POR’’) of February 1, 2006,
through January 31, 2007. As discussed
below, we preliminarily determine that
sales have not been made below normal
value (‘‘NV’’) with respect to certain
exporters who participated fully and are
entitled to a separate rate in this
administrative review. If these
preliminary results are adopted in our
final results of review, we will instruct
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(‘‘CBP’’) to assess antidumping duties
on entries of subject merchandise
during the POR for which the importer–
specific assessment rates are above de
minimis.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 6, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Irene Gorelik, AD/CVD Operations,
Office 9, Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW,
Washington DC 20230; telephone: (202)
482–6905.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
AGENCY:
General Background
On February 1, 2005, the Department
published in the Federal Register the
antidumping duty order on frozen
warmwater shrimp from Vietnam. See
E:\FR\FM\06MRN1.SGM
06MRN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 45 (Thursday, March 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12122-12127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4416]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-896]
Magnesium Metal From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to timely request from Tianjin Magnesium
International Co., Ltd. (TMI) the Department of Commerce (the
Department) is conducting the 2006-2007 administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on magnesium metal from the People's Republic of
China (PRC). The Department has reviewed shipments of subject
merchandise made by TMI and has determined that TMI made sales below
normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR). If the preliminary
results are adopted in our final results of review, we will instruct
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess antidumping duties
on entries of subject merchandise during the POR for which the
importer-specific assessment rates are above de minimis. Interested
parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results. We will
issue the final results no later than 120 days from the date of
publication of this notice.
DATES: Effective Date: March 6, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karine Gziryan, AD/CVD Operations,
Office 4, Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4081.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 15, 2005, the Department published an antidumping duty
order on magnesium metal from the PRC. See Notice of Antidumping Duty
Order: Magnesium Metal From the People's Republic of China, 70 FR 19928
(April 15, 2005). On April 2, 2007, the Department published a notice
of opportunity to request an administrative review of the above-
referenced order.
[[Page 12123]]
See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended
Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative Review, 72 FR
15650 (April 2, 2007). Based on timely request for an administrative
review, the Department initiated an administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on magnesium metal from the PRC with respect to
TMI. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 72 FR 29968 (May 30, 2007).
On May 25, 2007, the Department issued a separate rate
certification and the full antidumping duty questionnaire to TMI. We
received timely separate rate certification and questionnaire responses
from TMI. On August 2, 2007, we received the Petitioner's comments on
TMI's sections A, C, and D questionnaire responses. We issued
supplemental questionnaires to TMI in August and September 2007, and
January 2008. We received timely responses from TMI to these
questionnaires on August 31, 2007, October 22, 2007, November 29, 2007,
and February 8, 2008, respectively.
On August 22, 2007, the Department determined that India, Sri
Lanka, Egypt, Indonesia, and Philippines are countries comparable to
the PRC in terms of economic development. See Memorandum from Ron
Lorentzen, Acting Director, Office of Policy to Mark Manning, Program
Manager, Operations, NME unit, Office 4, ``Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review of Magnesium Metal From the PRC: Request for a
List of Surrogate Countries,'' dated August 22, 2007 (Office of Policy
Surrogate Countries Memorandum). On September 6, 2007, the Petitioner
requested that the Department conduct verification of the questionnaire
responses submitted by respondent TMI in this administrative review.
On September 7, 2007, the Department provided parties with an
opportunity to submit publicly available information on surrogate
countries and values for consideration in the preliminary results of
review. On September 21, 2007, and September 28, 2007, we received
comments from TMI and the Petitioner, respectively, in which they
requested that the Department select India as the appropriate surrogate
country in this review. In their comments, both TMI and the Petitioner
argued that India (a) is at a comparable level of economic development
with the PRC based on the gross national income (GNI); (b) is a
significant producer of comparable merchandise, namely aluminum; and
(c) the data necessary to calculate a dumping margin for a Chinese
producer of magnesium metal are readily available in India. On October
5, 2007, we received surrogate value information from the Petitioner
and TMI. On October 15, 2007, and November 5, 2007, we received
comments from the Petitioner rebutting certain surrogate value
information submitted by TMI. On October 23, 2007, TMI submitted
comments rebutting the Petitioner's surrogate value information. On
February 12, 2008, the Petitioner submitted a request to assign a
combination cash deposit rate to TMI and its supplier of subject
merchandise in this administrative review.
On December 12, 2007, the Department extended the deadline for the
preliminary results of administrative review until February 29, 2008.
See Magnesium Metal from the People's Republic of China: Notice of
Extension of Time Limit for the Preliminary Results of the 2006-2007
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 72 FR 70567 (December 12,
2007).
Period of Review
The POR is April 1, 2006, through March 31, 2007.
Scope of Order
The product covered by this antidumping duty order is magnesium
metal, which includes primary and secondary 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 this antidumping duty order includes blends of primary and
secondary magnesium.
The subject merchandise includes the following alloy magnesium
metal products made from primary and/or secondary magnesium including,
without limitation, magnesium cast into ingots, slabs, rounds, billets,
and other shapes, magnesium ground, chipped, crushed, or machined into
raspings, granules, turnings, chips, powder, briquettes, and other
shapes: products that contain 50 percent or greater, but less than 99.8
percent, magnesium, by weight, and that have been entered into the
United States as conforming to an ``ASTM Specification for Magnesium
Alloy'' \1\ and thus are outside the scope of the existing antidumping
orders on magnesium from the PRC (generally referred to as ``alloy''
magnesium).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The scope of the antidumping duty order excludes the following
merchandise: (1) All forms of pure magnesium, including chemical
combinations of 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''; \2\ (2) magnesium that is in liquid or molten form; and (3)
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 (Al2O3), calcium aluminate, soda ash,
hydrocarbons, graphite, coke, silicon, rare earth metals/mischmetal,
cryolite, silica/fly ash, magnesium oxide, periclase, ferroalloys,
dolomite lime, and colemanite.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ This material is already covered by existing antidumping
orders. See Antidumping Duty Orders: Pure Magnesium from the
People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation and Ukraine;
Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Pure Magnesium from the Russian
Federation, 60 FR 25691 (May 12, 1995), and Antidumping Duty Order:
Pure Magnesium in Granular Form from the People's Republic of China,
66 FR 57936 (November 19, 2001).
\3\ This third exclusion for magnesium-based reagent mixtures is
based on the exclusion for reagent mixtures in the 2000-2001
investigations of magnesium from the PRC, Israel, and Russia. See
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium
in Granular Form From the People's Republic of China, 66 FR 49345
(September 27, 2001); Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Pure Magnesium From Israel, 66 FR 49349 (September 27, 2001);
Final Determination of Sales at Not Less Than Fair Value: Pure
Magnesium From the Russian Federation, 66 FR 49347 (September 27,
2001). These mixtures are not magnesium alloys because they are not
chemically combined in liquid form and cast into the same ingot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The merchandise subject to this antidumping duty order is currently
classifiable under items 8104.19.00 and 8104.30.00 of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS items
are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.
Non-Market-Economy (NME) Treatment
The Department considers the PRC to be an NME country. In
accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (the Act), any
[[Page 12124]]
determination that a country is an NME country shall remain in effect
until revoked by the administering authority. See Tapered Roller
Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, (TRBs) From the
People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of 2001-2002
Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Review, 68 FR 7500
(February 14, 2003), (unchanged in TRBs from the People's Republic of
China: Final Results of 2001-2002 Administrative Review and Partial
Rescission of Review, 68 FR 70488 (December 18, 2003)). None of the
parties to this proceeding has contested such treatment. Therefore, for
the preliminary results of review, we have treated the PRC as an NME
country and applied our current NME methodology in accordance with
section 773(c) of the Act.
Selection of a Surrogate Country
When the Department analyzes imports from an NME country, section
773(c)(1) of the Act directs it to base NV, in most circumstances, on
the NME producer's factors of production (FOPs), valued in a surrogate
market economy country or countries considered to be appropriate by the
Department. In accordance with section 773(c)(4) of the Act, in valuing
the FOPs, the Department shall utilize, to the extent possible, the
prices or costs of FOPs in one or more market economy countries that
are: (1) At a level of economic development comparable to that of the
NME country; and (2) significant producers of merchandise comparable to
the subject merchandise.
The Department has determined that India, Sri Lanka, Egypt,
Indonesia, and the Philippines are countries that are at a level of
economic development comparable to that of the PRC. See Office of
Policy Surrogate Countries Memorandum. While none of these countries
are significant producers of magnesium metal,\4\ India does have
significant production of aluminum that is comparable to the production
of magnesium metal with respect to factory overhead; selling, general,
and administrative (SG&A) expenses; and profit. See Surrogate Country
Memorandum at 5-6. Because India is at a comparable level of economic
development, is a significant producer of comparable merchandise, and
provides the best opportunity to use publicly available data to value
the factors of production, the Department preliminarily determined that
India is an appropriate surrogate country for the purposes of this
administrative review. See Surrogate Country Memorandum at 7. The
sources of the surrogate factor values are discussed under the ``Normal
Value'' section below and in the Memorandum from Karine Gziryan, Senior
Financial Analyst, through Mark Manning, Program Manager, to the File,
``Surrogate Values for the Preliminary Results,'' dated February 29,
2008 (Surrogate Values Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See Memorandum to Abdelali Elouaradia, Office Director, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 4, through Mark Manning, Program Manager, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 4, from Karine Gziryan, Financial Analyst,
AD/CVD Operations, Office 4, ``Administrative Review of Magnesium
Metal from the People's Republic of China: Selection of a Surrogate
Country dated October 30, 2007,'' (Surrogate Country Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Separate Rate
A designation of a country as an NME remains in effect until it is
revoked by the Department. See section 771(18)(C) of the Act.
Accordingly, the Department has a rebuttable presumption that all
companies within an NME country are subject to government control and
thus should be assessed a single antidumping duty rate. It is the
Department's standard policy to assign all exporters of the merchandise
subject to review in NME countries a single rate unless an exporter can
affirmatively demonstrate an absence of government control, both in law
(de jure) and in fact (de facto), with respect to exports. See Notice
of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Bicycles From
the People's Republic of China, 61 FR 19026, 19027 (April 30, 1996). To
establish whether a firm is sufficiently independent from government
control of its export activities to be entitled to a separate rate, the
Department analyzes each entity exporting the subject merchandise under
a test arising from the Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less
Than Fair Value: Sparklers from the People's Republic of China, 56 FR
20588, at Comment 1 (May 6, 1991) (Sparklers), as further developed in
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Silicon
Carbide from the People's Republic of China, 59 FR 22585 (May 2, 1994)
(Silicon Carbide).
The Department's separate-rate test determines whether the
exporters are independent from government control and does not
consider, in general, macroeconomic/border-type controls, e.g., export
licenses, quotas, and minimum export prices, particularly if these
controls are imposed to prevent dumping. See Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Preserved
Mushrooms from the People's Republic of China, 63 FR 72255, 72256
(December 31, 1998). The test focuses, rather, on controls over the
investment, pricing, and output decision-making process at the
individual firm level. See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at
Less than Fair Value: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate From
Ukraine, 62 FR 61754, 61757-61758 (November 19, 1997), and Tapered
Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, From the
People's Republic of China; Final Results of Antidumping Administrative
Review, 62 FR 61276, 61279 (November 17, 1997).
Absence of De Jure Control
The Department considers the following de jure criteria in
determining whether an individual company may be granted a separate
rate: (1) An absence of restrictive stipulations associated with an
individual exporter's business and export licenses; (2) any legislative
enactments decentralizing control of companies; and (3) other formal
measures by the government decentralizing control of companies. See
Sparklers, 56 FR at 20589.
The evidence provided by TMI supports a preliminary finding of de
jure absence of governmental control based on the following: (1) An
absence of restrictive stipulations associated with TMI's business and
export licenses; (2) the existence of applicable legislative enactments
decentralizing control of the companies; and (3) the formal measures by
the government decentralizing control of companies. In its responses,
TMI stated that it is an independent legal entity and provided a copy
of its business license that allows it to engage in the exportation of
magnesium metal. TMI also reported that no export quotas apply to
magnesium metal. The following laws, which were placed on the record of
this review, also indicate a lack of de jure government control. The
Company Law of the People's Republic of China, made effective on July
1, 1994, states that a company is an enterprise legal person, that
shareholders shall assume liability towards the company to the extent
of its shareholdings, and that the company shall be liable for its
debts to the extent of all its assets. TMI also provided copies of the
Foreign Trade Law of the PRC, which identifies the rights and
responsibilities of organizations engaged in foreign trade, grants
autonomy to foreign-trade operators in management decisions, and
establishes the foreign trade operator's accountability for profits and
losses. Based on our analysis of the foregoing, the Department has
preliminarily determined that there is an absence of de jure
governmental control over the export activities of TMI.
[[Page 12125]]
Absence of De Facto Control
Typically the Department considers four factors in evaluating
whether a respondent is subject to de facto governmental control of its
export functions: (1) Whether the export prices are set by, or are
subject to the approval of, a governmental agency; (2) whether the
respondent has authority to negotiate and sign contracts and other
agreements; (3) whether the respondent has autonomy from the government
in making decisions regarding the selection of management; and (4)
whether the respondent retains the proceeds of its export sales and
makes independent decisions regarding disposition of profits or
financing of losses. See Silicon Carbide, 59 FR at 22586-87; see also
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Furfuryl Alcohol From the People's Republic of China, 60 FR 22544,
22545 (May 8, 1995). The Department considers an analysis of de facto
control to be critical in determining whether a respondent is, in fact,
subject to a degree of governmental control that would preclude the
Department from assigning the respondent a separate rate.
TMI has asserted that it: (1) Establishes its own export prices;
(2) negotiates contracts without guidance from any governmental
entities or organizations; (3) makes its own personnel decisions; (4)
retains the proceeds of its export sales and uses profits according to
its business needs; and (5) has the authority to sell its assets and to
obtain loans. The Department has analyzed the information placed on the
record by TMI. Based upon its analysis, the Department has
preliminarily determined that the information on the record supports
TMI's assertion, and that there is an absence of de facto governmental
control over the export activities of TMI. Because the Department has
found that TMI operates free of de jure and de facto governmental
control, it has preliminarily determined that TMI has met the criteria
for receiving a separate rate.
Normal Value Comparisons
To determine whether TMI's sales of the subject merchandise to the
United States were made at a price below NV, we compared its U.S. price
to NV, as described in the ``U.S. Price'' and ``Normal Value'' sections
of this notice.
United States Price
A. Export Price
In accordance with section 772(a) of the Act, we based TMI's U.S.
price on export price (EP) because the first sales to unaffiliated
purchasers were made prior to importation, and constructed export price
was not otherwise warranted by the facts on the record. We calculated
EP for TMI based on the prices to unaffiliated purchasers in the United
States. In accordance with section 772(c) of the Act, we calculated EP
by deducting, where applicable, the following expenses from the
starting price (gross unit price) charged to the first unaffiliated
customer in the United States: foreign inland freight from the plant to
the port of exportation, foreign brokerage and handling, international
freight, marine insurance, U.S. brokerage and handling, U.S. customs
duties, and inland freight incurred in the United States. See
Memorandum from Karine Gziryan, Senior Financial Analyst, to the File,
``Analysis for the Preliminary Results of the 2006-2007 Administrative
Review of Magnesium Metal from the People's Republic of China: Tianjin
Magnesium International Ltd.,'' dated February 29, 2008 (Preliminary
Analysis Memorandum).
B. Surrogate Values for Expenses Incurred in the PRC for U.S. Sales
TMI reported that, for its U.S. sales, foreign inland freight,
foreign brokerage and handling, and marine insurance were provided by
NME vendors or paid for using an NME currency. We based the deduction
of these charges on surrogate values. To value foreign inland freight
and foreign brokerage and handling, we applied the same surrogate
values used to value these expenses in NV. See Normal Value section
below and Surrogate Values Memorandum. We valued marine insurance with
a price quote from the website of RJG Consultants, a market-economy
provider of marine insurance. See Surrogate Values Memorandum.
For international freight, U.S. brokerage and handling, and U.S.
customs duties, TMI reported using market economy vendors and stated
that these expenses were paid for in a market economy currency. Where
movement services were provided by a market economy vendor and paid for
in a market economy currency, we deducted the actual cost per metric
ton of the expense. See Surrogate Values Memorandum.
Normal Value
A. Methodology
Section 773(c)(1)(B) of the Act provides that the Department shall
determine NV using an FOP methodology if the merchandise is exported
from an NME country and the available information does not permit the
calculation of NV using home-market prices, third-country prices, or
constructed value under section 773(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.408.
The Department uses an FOP methodology because the presence of
government controls on various aspects of NMEs renders price
comparisons and the calculation of production costs invalid under its
normal methodologies. See Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof,
Finished or Unfinished, From the People's Republic of China:
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and
Notice of Intent to Rescind in Part, 70 FR 39744 (July 11, 2005)
(unchanged in Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and
Unfinished, from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of 2003-
2004 Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Review, 71 FR 2517
(January 17, 2006 ).
We calculated NV by adding together the value of the FOPs, general
expenses, profit, and packing costs.\5\ Specifically, we valued
material, labor, energy, and packing by multiplying the amount of the
factor consumed in producing subject merchandise by the average unit
surrogate value of the factor. In addition, we added freight costs to
the surrogate costs that we calculated for material inputs. We
calculated freight costs by multiplying surrogate freight rates by the
shorter of the reported distance from the domestic supplier to the
factory that produced the subject merchandise or the distance from the
nearest seaport to the factory that produced the subject merchandise,
as appropriate. This adjustment is in accordance with the Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit's decision in Sigma Corp. v. United
States, 117 F.3d 1401, 1407-1408 (Fed. Cir. 1997). We increased the
calculated costs of the FOPs for surrogate general expenses and profit.
See Surrogate Values Memorandum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ We based the values of the FOPs on surrogate values (see
Selected Surrogate Values section below).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.408(c)(1), when a producer sources an
input from a market-economy country and pays for it in a market-economy
currency, the Department will normally value the factor using the
actual price paid for the input. See 19 CFR 351.408(c)(1); see also
Lasko Metal Products v. United States, 43 F.3d 1442, 1445-1446 (Fed.
Cir. 1994) (affirming the Department's use of market-based prices to
value certain FOPs). Where a portion of the input is purchased from a
market-economy supplier and the
[[Page 12126]]
remainder from an NME supplier, the Department will normally use the
price paid for the inputs sourced from market-economy suppliers to
value all of the input, provided the volume of the market-economy
inputs as a share of total purchases from all sources is
``meaningful.'' See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties; Final
rule, 62 FR 27296, 27366 (May 19, 1997); Shakeproof v. United States,
268 F.3d 1376, 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2001). See also 19 CFR 351.408(c)(1).
B. Selected Surrogate Values
In selecting surrogate values, we followed, to the extent
practicable, the Department's practice of choosing public values which
are non-export averages, representative of a range of prices in effect
during the POR, or over a period as close as possible in time to the
POR, product-specific, and tax-exclusive. See, e.g., Notice of
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Negative
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances and Postponement of
Final Determination: Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater Shrimp From
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 69 FR 42672, 42682 (July 16, 2004),
unchanged in Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater Shrimp From the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam, 69 FR 71005 (December 8, 2004). Where we could only obtain
surrogate values that were not contemporaneous with the POR, we
inflated (or deflated) the surrogate values using, where appropriate,
the Indian Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as published in the
International Financial Statistics of the International Monetary Fund.
See Surrogate Values Memorandum.
In calculating surrogate values from import statistics, in
accordance with the Department's practice, we disregarded statistics
for imports from NME countries and countries deemed to maintain broadly
available, non-industry-specific subsidies which may benefit all
exporters to all export markets (i.e., Indonesia, South Korea, and
Thailand). See, e.g., Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Certain Automotive Replacement Glass Windshields From The
People's Republic of China, 67 FR 6482 (February 12, 2002) and
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1. See also
Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,
Postponement of Final Determination, and Affirmative Preliminary
Determination of Critical Circumstances: Certain Color Television
Receivers From the People's Republic of China, 68 FR 66800, 66808
(November 28, 2003), unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Negative Final Determination of
Critical Circumstances: Certain Color Television Receivers From the
People's Republic of China, 69 FR 20594 (April 16, 2004). Additionally,
we excluded from our calculations imports that were labeled as
originating from an unspecified country because we could not determine
whether they were from an NME country.
We used the following surrogate values in our preliminary results
of review (see Surrogate Values Memorandum for details). Except as
noted below, we valued raw materials and packing materials using April
2006 through March 2007 weighted-average Indian import values derived
from the World Trade Atlas, online at https://www.gtis.com/wta.htm
(WTA). The Indian import statistics that we obtained from the WTA were
published by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and
Statistics of the Ministry of Commerce of India and are contemporaneous
with the POR.
We valued truck freight expenses using a per kilometer per kilogram
average rate obtained from the Web site of an Indian transportation
company, Infreight Technologies India Limited. See https://
www.infreight.com. We used two sources to calculate the surrogate value
for domestic brokerage and handling expenses. We valued TMI's use of
foreign brokerage and handling using a simple average of the public
version of the brokerage and handling expenses reported by Agro Dutch
Industries Ltd., in an administrative review of preserved mushrooms
from India, and by Kejriwal Paper Ltd., in an administrative review of
certain lined paper products from India. See Agro Dutch Industries
Ltd.'s section A-D submission, dated May 24, 2005, at Exhibit B-1 (see
Certain Preserved Mushrooms From India: Final Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review, 71 FR 10646 (March 2, 2006)). See the
section C submission from Kejriwal Paper Ltd., dated January 9, 2006,
at Exhibit C-2, used in Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final Determination, and
Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances in
Part: Certain Lined Paper Products From India, 71 FR 19706 (April 17,
2006) (unchanged in Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than
Fair Value, and Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances:
Certain Lined Paper Products from India, 71 FR 45012 (August 8, 2006)).
Because these data were not contemporaneous to the POI, we adjusted
them for inflation using the Indian WPI. See Surrogate Values
Memorandum.
To value electricity, we used the 2000 electricity price data from
International Energy Agency, Energy Prices and Taxes--Quarterly
Statistics (First Quarter 2003), adjusted for inflation. See Surrogate
Values Memorandum.
Consistent with 19 CFR 351.408(c)(3), we valued direct, indirect,
and packing labor, using the most recently calculated regression-based
wage rate, which relies on 2004 data. This wage rate can currently be
found on the Department's Web site on Import Administration's home
page, Import Library, Expected Wages of Selected NME Countries, revised
in January 2007, available at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/wages/.
The source of these wage-rate data on the Import Administration's web
site is the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, ILO, Chapter 5B: Wages in
Manufacturing. Because this regression-based wage rate does not
separate the labor rates into different skill levels or types of labor,
we have applied the same wage rate to all skill levels and types of
labor reported by TMI.
Lastly, we valued SG&A expenses, factory overhead costs, and profit
using the 2006-2007 financial statements of two Indian producers of
comparable merchandise, namely aluminum: Hindalco Industries Ltd., and
National Aluminum Company Ltd. From this information, we were able to
determine factory overhead as a percentage of the total raw materials,
labor and energy (``ML&E'') costs; SG&A as a percentage of ML&E plus
overhead (i.e., cost of manufacture); and profit as a percentage of the
cost of manufacture plus SG&A. See Surrogate Values Memorandum.
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3)(ii), interested parties may
submit publicly available information with which to value FOPs in the
final results of review within 20 days after the date of publication of
the preliminary results of review.
Currency Conversion
We made currency conversions into U.S. dollars, in accordance with
section 773A(a) of the Act, based on the exchange rates in effect on
the dates of the U.S. sales as certified by the Federal Reserve Bank.
These exchange rates can be accessed at the Web site of Import
Administration at https://ia.ita.doc.gov/exchange/.
[[Page 12127]]
Preliminary Results of Review
We preliminarily determine that the following margins exist for TMI
during the period April 1, 2006, through March 31, 2007:
Magnesium Metal From the PRC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted-Average
Company Margin (Percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tianjin Magnesium International Co., Ltd........... 17.46
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure
The Department will disclose the calculations used in our analysis
to parties to this administrative review within five days of the date
of publication of this notice. Case briefs from interested parties may
be submitted not later than 30 days of the date of publication of this
notice, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c). Rebuttal briefs, limited to
issues raised in the case briefs, will be due five days later, pursuant
to 19 CFR 351.309(d). Parties who submit case or rebuttal briefs in
this proceeding are requested to submit with each argument (1) a
statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument. The
Department also requests that interested parties provide a summary of
the arguments not to exceed five pages and a table of statutes,
regulations, and cases cited. The Department requests that parties
submitting written comments also provide the Department with an
additional copy of those comments on diskette.
Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of
publication of this notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Interested parties
who wish to request a hearing or to participate if one is requested,
must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration within 30 days of the date of publication of this
notice. Requests should contain: (1) The party's name, address, and
telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of
issues to be discussed. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Issues raised in the
hearing will be limited to those raised in the briefs.
The Department will issue the final results of this review,
including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any such
written briefs or at the hearing, if held, not later than 120 days
after the date of publication of this notice.
Assessment Rates
Upon issuance of the final results, the Department will 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. If the
preliminary results are adopted in our final results of review, the
Department shall determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on
all appropriate entries. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), we will
calculate importer-specific ad valorem assessment rates based on the
ratio of the total amount of the dumping margins calculated for the
examined sales to the total entered value of those sales. We will
instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries
covered by this review if any importer-specific assessment rate
calculated in the final results of this review is above de minimis.
Cash Deposit Requirements
The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon
publication of the final results of this review for all shipments of
the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after the publication date, as provided for by
section 751(a)(2)(c) of the Act: (1) For the exporters listed above,
the cash deposit rate will be that established in the final results of
this review (except, if the rate is zero or de minimis, no cash deposit
will be required); (2) for previously investigated or reviewed PRC and
non-PRC exporters not listed above that have separate rates, the cash
deposit rate will continue to be the exporter-specific rate published
for the most recently completed review; (3) for all PRC exporters of
subject merchandise which have not been found to be entitled to a
separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be the PRC-wide rate of
141.49 percent; 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 exporters that supplied
that non-PRC exporter. These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall
remain in effect until further notice.
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 this notice are in accordance with
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act, 19 CFR 351.213, and 19 CFR
351.221(b)(4).
Dated: February 29, 2008.
Stephen J. Claeys,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-4416 Filed 3-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P