Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Raw Flexible Magnets From Taiwan, 39673-39675 [E8-15743]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 133 (Thursday, July 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39673-39675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15743]



[[Page 39673]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-583-842]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Raw Flexible Magnets From Taiwan

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

DATES: Effective Date: July 10, 2008.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce determines that imports of raw 
flexible magnets from Taiwan are being, or are likely to be, sold in 
the United States at less than fair value, as provided in section 735 
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The final weighted-
average dumping margins are listed below in the section entitled 
``Final Determination of Investigation.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristin Case or Richard Rimlinger, 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-
3174 and (202) 482-4477, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On April 25, 2008, the Department of Commerce (the Department) 
published the preliminary determination of sales at less than fair 
value (LTFV) in the antidumping investigation of raw flexible magnets 
from Taiwan. See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Raw Flexible Magnets from Taiwan, 73 FR 22332 (April 
25, 2008) (Preliminary Determination). Interested parties were invited 
to comment on our Preliminary Determination.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007.

Scope of Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain flexible 
magnets regardless of shape,\1\ color, or packaging.\2\ Subject 
flexible magnets are bonded magnets composed (not necessarily 
exclusively) of (i) any one or combination of various flexible binders 
(such as polymers or co-polymers, or rubber) and (ii) a magnetic 
element, which may consist of a ferrite permanent magnet material 
(commonly, strontium or barium ferrite, or a combination of the two), a 
metal alloy (such as NdFeB or Alnico), any combination of the foregoing 
with each other or any other material, or any other material capable of 
being permanently magnetized.
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    \1\ The term ``shape'' includes, but is not limited to profiles, 
which are flexible magnets with a non-rectangular cross-section.
    \2\ Packaging includes retail or specialty packaging such as 
digital printer cartridges.
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    Subject flexible magnets may be in either magnetized or 
unmagnetized (including demagnetized) condition, and may or may not be 
fully or partially laminated or fully or partially bonded with paper, 
plastic, or other material, of any composition and/or color. Subject 
flexible magnets may be uncoated or may be coated with an adhesive or 
any other coating or combination of coatings.
    Specifically excluded from the scope of this investigation are 
printed flexible magnets, defined as flexible magnets (including 
individual magnets) that are laminated or bonded with paper, plastic, 
or other material if such paper, plastic, or other material bears 
printed text and/or images, including but not limited to business 
cards, calendars, poetry, sports event schedules, business promotions, 
decorative motifs, and the like. This exclusion does not apply to such 
printed flexible magnets if the printing concerned consists of only the 
following: a trade mark or trade name; country of origin; border, 
stripes, or lines; any printing that is removed in the course of 
cutting and/or printing magnets for retail sale or other disposition 
from the flexible magnet; manufacturing or use instructions (e.g., 
``print this side up,'' ``this side up,'' ``laminate here''); printing 
on adhesive backing (that is, material to be removed in order to expose 
adhesive for use such as application of laminate) or on any other 
covering that is removed from the flexible magnet prior or subsequent 
to final printing and before use; non-permanent printing (that is, 
printing in a medium that facilitates easy removal, permitting the 
flexible magnet to be re-printed); printing on the back (magnetic) 
side; or any combination of the above.
    All products meeting the physical description of subject 
merchandise that are not specifically excluded are within the scope of 
this investigation. The products subject to the investigation are 
currently classifiable principally under subheadings 8505.19.10 and 
8505.19.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). The HTSUS subheadings are provided only for convenience and 
customs purposes; the written description of the scope of this 
proceeding is dispositive.

Scope Comments

    In the Preliminary Determination, the Department explained that, on 
November 7, 2007, SH Industries, a U.S. importer of subject 
merchandise, argued that magnetic photo pockets, which are flexible 
magnets with clear plastic material fused to the magnet to form a 
pocket into which photographs and other items may be inserted for 
display, should be excluded from the scope of the antidumping and 
countervailing duty investigations on raw flexible magnets from the 
People's Republic of China and Taiwan. On November 13, 2007, Magnum 
Magnetics Corporation (Petitioner) filed a response to the request by 
SH Industries, arguing that magnetic photo pockets are within the scope 
of the investigations. On April 11, 2008, Petitioner submitted 
additional arguments concerning this issue. Because we received this 
letter only four business days before the statutory deadline for the 
Preliminary Determination, we did not have an opportunity to consider 
it prior to issuance of the Preliminary Determination.
    In the Preliminary Determination, 73 FR at 22333, the Department 
invited interested parties to submit comments on Petitioner's April 11, 
2008, submission and to present evidence concerning the meaning of the 
terms ``sheeting, strips, and profiles'' as those terms are used within 
the industry. Additionally, because the scope language stated that 
``subject merchandise may be of any color and may or may not be 
laminated or bonded with paper, plastic or other material, which paper, 
plastic or other material may be of any composition and/or color,'' the 
Department encouraged interested parties to comment on whether the 
plastic photo pocket fused to the flexible magnet satisfies this 
description. In addition, the Department stated that interested parties 
could submit information that would be relevant in an analysis 
conducted pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(k)(2).
    In May and June 2008, Petitioner, Target, A-L-L, and SH Industries 
filed comments and rebuttal comments regarding the scope of the 
investigations and magnetic photo pockets. On June 9, 2008, officials 
from the Department met with representatives of Target to discuss the 
scope of the investigations. See Memorandum to the File, dated June 10, 
2008. On June 13, 2008, counsel for Petitioner met with officials from 
the Department to discuss the scope of the investigations. See 
Memorandum to the File, dated June 16, 2008.

[[Page 39674]]

    The Department has analyzed the comments submitted by SH 
Industries, Target, A-L-L, and Petitioner and has determined that 
magnetic photo pockets are within the scope of the investigations. The 
Department has also modified the language describing the scope of these 
investigations to clarify the product coverage. In its request, SH 
Industries acknowledges that its magnetic photo pockets consist of 
flexible magnet material with a layer of plastic laminate fused along 
the sides of the flexible magnet. At no point does SH Industries argue 
that the flexible magnetic material in its photo pockets does not meet 
the physical description of the flexible magnets covered by the scope 
of the investigations. Rather, SH Industries argues that the attachment 
of a layer of clear plastic to the flexible magnet results in a product 
that is outside the scope of the investigations because the purpose of 
the product is to protect photographs.
    Similarly, Target asserts that, rather than being a raw flexible 
magnet, magnetic photo pockets are properly characterized as finished 
retail products which use magnetic sheeting as an input. Target also 
argues that the clear plastic laminate is neither bonded nor laminated 
to the magnetic sheeting.
    A-L-L argues that the scope should be limited to products produced 
by the Petitioner as evidenced by inclusion on the Petitioner's Web 
site.
    As an initial matter, the Department does not generally define 
subject merchandise by end-use application. Moreover, because the 
language of the scope stated originally that ``{s{time} ubject 
merchandise may be of any color and may or may not be laminated or 
bonded with paper, plastic, or other material, which paper, plastic, or 
other material may be of any composition and/or color,'' Preliminary 
Determination, 73 FR at 22332, the plastic laminate fused to the sides 
of the flexible magnet does not remove the photo pockets from the scope 
of the investigations. Finally, the issue of whether an item appears on 
the Petitioner's Web site is not relevant to our analysis. For these 
reasons, we have determined that the magnetic photo pockets described 
by SH Industries are within the scope of the investigations. In 
addition, we have clarified that ``{s{time} ubject flexible magnets may 
be in either magnetized or unmagnetized (including demagnetized) 
condition, and may or may not be fully or partially laminated or fully 
or partially bonded with paper, plastic, or other material, of any 
composition and/or color.'' Finally, because we have received inquiries 
concerning the terminology in the scope language and product coverage, 
we have clarified product coverage by reordering the scope language and 
including certain explanatory definitions. Our revised scope language 
neither enlarges nor contracts product coverage. See Scope of 
Investigation section above.
    The Department received a scope-ruling request from Magnet LLC on 
May 21, 2008. Because this request was made after the Preliminary 
Determination, the Department has not addressed this request in this 
final determination. The Department will consider Magnet LLC's scope-
ruling request in the event the Department publishes an antidumping 
duty order in this proceeding.

Changes Since Preliminary Determination

    As discussed above, we have made certain changes to the language 
describing the scope of this investigation. Otherwise, because no party 
submitted case briefs and there are no other circumstances which 
warrant the revision of our Preliminary Determination, we have not made 
changes to our analysis or the dumping margins assigned in the 
Preliminary Determination.

Adverse Facts Available

    For the final determination, we continue to find that, by failing 
to provide information we requested, Kin Fong Magnets Co., Ltd. (Kin 
Fong), Magruba Flexible Magnets Co., Ltd. (Magruba), and JASDI Magnet 
Co., Ltd. (JASDI), all mandatory respondents, did not act to the best 
of their ability in responding to our requests for information. Thus, 
the Department continues to find that the use of adverse facts 
available is warranted for these companies under sections 776(a)(2) and 
(b) of the Act. See Preliminary Determination, 73 FR at 22334. As we 
explained in Preliminary Determination, the rate of 38.03 percent we 
selected as the adverse facts-available rate is the highest margin 
alleged in the petition. Id. 73 FR at 22335. See also Antidumping Duty 
Investigation Initiation Checklist: Raw Flexible Magnets from Taiwan 
(October 18, 2007) (Taiwan Initiation Checklist). We included the range 
of margins from our Taiwan Initiation Checklist in Notice of Initiation 
of Antidumping Duty Investigations: Raw Flexible Magnets from the 
People's Republic of China and Taiwan, 72 FR 59071, 59075 (October 18, 
2007). Further, as discussed in Preliminary Determination, we 
corroborated the adverse facts-available rate pursuant to section 
776(c) of the Act.

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act provides that, where the estimated 
weighted-averaged dumping margins established for all exporters and 
producers individually investigated are zero or de minimis or are 
determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, the Department may 
use any reasonable method to establish the estimated all-others rate 
for exporters and producers not individually investigated. Our recent 
practice under these circumstances has been to assign, as the all-
others rate, the simple average of the margins in the petition. See 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Glycine 
from the Republic of Korea, 72 FR 67275 (November 28, 2007); see also 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances: Glycine from 
Japan, 72 FR 67271 (November 28, 2007). Consistent with our practice we 
calculated a simple average of the rates in the Petition, as listed in 
the Initiation Notice, and assigned this rate to all other 
manufacturers/exporters. For details of these calculations, see the 
memorandum from Catherine Cartsos to File entitled ``Antidumping Duty 
Investigation on Raw Flexible Magnets from Taiwan--Analysis Memo for 
All-Others Rate,'' dated April 18, 2008.

Final Determination of Investigation

    We determine that the following weighted-average dumping margins 
exist for the period July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Margin
                  Manufacturer or exporter                    (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kin Fong...................................................        38.03
Magruba....................................................        38.03
JASDI......................................................        38.03
All Others.................................................        31.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.211(b)(1), we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of subject 
merchandise from Taiwan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after April 25, 2008, the date of the publication of 
Preliminary Determination. We will instruct CBP to require a cash 
deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the weighted-average margin, 
as indicated in the chart above, as follows: (1) The rate for the 
mandatory respondents will be the rates we have determined in this

[[Page 39675]]

final determination; (2) if the exporter is not a firm identified in 
this investigation but the producer is, the rate will be the rate 
established for the producer of the subject merchandise; (3) the rate 
for all other producers or exporters will be 31.20 percent. These 
suspension-of-liquidation instructions will remain in effect until 
further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our final determination. As our 
final determination is affirmative and in accordance with section 
735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will determine, within 45 days, whether 
the domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the 
likelihood of sales) for importation of the subject merchandise. If the 
ITC determines that material injury or threat of material injury does 
not exist, the proceeding will be terminated and all securities posted 
will be refunded or canceled. If the ITC determines that such injury 
does exist, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order 
directing CBP to assess antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation.

Notification Regarding APO

    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. Timely notification of return/
destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order 
is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the 
terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: July 2, 2008.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
 [FR Doc. E8-15743 Filed 7-9-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P