Pure Magnesium from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of 2011-2012 Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 34646-34648 [2013-13702]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 111 (Monday, June 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34646-34648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13702]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-832]


Pure Magnesium from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Results of 2011-2012 Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting 
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure 
magnesium from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The period of 
review (``POR'') is May 1, 2011, through April 30, 2012. The review 
covers two exporters of subject merchandise, Tianjin Magnesium Metal 
Co., Ltd. (``TMM'') and Tianjin Magnesium International Co., Ltd. 
(``TMI''). However, the Department preliminarily finds that TMI did not 
have reviewable transactions during the POR. Based on an analysis of 
the facts of this case and the evidence on the record, the Department 
preliminarily finds that TMM and Company A \1\ are appropriately 
collapsed and treated as a single entity for purposes of calculating a 
dumping margin in this proceeding.\2\ In addition, we preliminarily 
determine that TMM/Company A made sales of subject merchandise at less 
than normal value during the POR.
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    \1\ The identity of ``Company A'' is proprietary. See Memorandum 
from Andrew Medley, International Trade Compliance Analyst, through 
Melissa Skinner, Director, Antidumping and Countervailaing Duty 
Operations, Office 8, to Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for AD/CVD Operations, entitled, ``2011-2012 Administrative Review 
of the Antidumping Duty Order on Pure Magnesium from the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Affiliation and Collapsing 
Memorandum,'' dated concurrently with this memorandum (``Affiliation 
and Collapsing Memorandum'').
    \2\ See Affiliation and Collapsing Memorandum.

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DATES: Effective Date: June 10, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brendan Quinn or Andrew Medley, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 8, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5848 or (202) 482-4987, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of Order

    Merchandise covered by the order is pure magnesium regardless of 
chemistry, form or size, unless expressly excluded from the scope of 
the order. Pure magnesium is a metal or alloy containing by weight 
primarily the element magnesium and produced by decomposing raw 
materials into magnesium metal.\3\ Pure magnesium products covered by 
the order are currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (``HTSUS'') subheadings 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, 
8104.20.00, 8104.30.00, 8104.90.00, 3824.90.11, 3824.90.19 and 
9817.00.90. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience 
and customs purposes, our written description of the scope is 
dispositive.
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    \3\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for Import 
Administration, entitled, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Pure Magnesium 
from the People's Republic of China,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum'') for a full description 
of the Scope of the Order.
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Preliminary Determination of No Shipments for TMI

    TMI submitted a timely-filed certification indicating that it had 
no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the 
POR.\4\ Consistent with its practice, the Department asked U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (``CBP'') to conduct a query on potential 
shipments made by TMI during the POR; CBP did not provide any evidence 
that contradicts TMI's claim of no shipments.\5\ We note that we will 
continue to examine TMI's no shipment certification during this review. 
Based on TMI's certification and our analysis of CBP information, we 
preliminarily determine that TMI did not have any reviewable 
transactions during the POR.\6\
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    \4\ See letter from TMI, entitled, ``Pure Magnesium from the 
People's Republic of China; A-570-832; Certification of No Sales by 
Tianjin Magnesium International, Co., Ltd.,'' dated July 13, 2012.
    \5\ See CBP Message Number 2261308, dated September 17, 2012.
    \6\ In addition, the Department finds that, consistent with its 
recently announced refinement to its assessment practice in non-
market economy (``NME'') cases, it is typically appropriate not to 
rescind the review in part in this circumstance, but rather to 
complete the review with respect to TMI. See Non-Market Economy 
Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 76 FR 
65694, 65694-95 (October 24, 2011) and the ``Assessment Rates'' 
section, below.
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Preliminary Determination of Affiliation and Collapsing

    Based on the evidence presented in TMM's questionnaire responses, 
we preliminarily find that TMM and Company A are affiliated, pursuant 
to section 771(33)(E) of the Act.\7\ In addition, based on the evidence 
presented in the questionnaire responses, we preliminarily find that 
TMM and Company A should be treated as a single entity for the purposes 
of this review. This finding is based on the determination that there 
is significant potential for manipulation of price between the parties 
pursuant to the criteria laid out in 19 CFR 351.401(f),\8\ due to the 
high level of common ownership, interlocking boards and managers, and 
intertwined operations. For further discussion of the

[[Page 34647]]

Department's affiliation and collapsing decision, see the Affiliation 
and Collapsing Memorandum.
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    \7\ The fact that TMM and Company A are affiliated through 
common ownership is uncontested on the record.
    \8\ While 19 CFR 351.401(f) applies only to producers, the 
Department has found it to be instructive in determining whether 
non-producers should be collapsed and has used the criteria outlined 
in the regulation in its analysis. See, e.g., Freshwater Crawfish 
Tail Meat From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of 
Administrative Antidumping Duty and New Shipper Reviews, and Final 
Rescission of New Shipper Review, 65 FR 20948 (April 19, 2000), and 
accompanying IDM at Section C; and Certain Preserved Mushrooms from 
the People's Republic of China: Final Results of the Sixth 
Antidumping Duty New Shipper Review and Final Results and Partial 
Rescission of the Fourth Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 69 
FR 54635 (September 9, 2004), and accompanying IDM at Comment 1; see 
also Honey From Argentina: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 77 FR 1458 (January 10, 2012), where the 
Department stated that: ``The U.S. Court of International Trade 
(CIT) has found that collapsing exporters is consistent with a 
``reasonable interpretation of the {antidumping duty{time}  
statute.'' See Hontex Enterprises, Inc. v. United States, 248 F. 
Supp. 2d. 1323, 1338 (CIT 2003) (Hontex). The CIT further noted that 
``to the extent that Commerce has followed its market economy 
collapsing regulations the {non-market economy (NME){time}  exporter 
collapsing methodology is necessarily permissible.'' See id. at 
1342. Unchanged in Honey From Argentina: Final Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 77 FR 36253 (June 18, 2012).
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    Furthermore, the Department requests that TMM disclose the name of 
its affiliate, Company A, as public information for the remainder of 
this proceeding. Otherwise we will be unable to assign the collapsed 
entity a joint cash deposit rate under both company names, and may 
determine the cash deposit rate for TMM by relying upon adverse facts 
available.

Methodology

    The Department has conducted this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the ``Act''). 
Export prices were calculated in accordance with section 772 of the 
Act. Because the PRC is a NME within the meaning of section 771(18) of 
the Act, normal value (``NV'') has been calculated in accordance with 
section 773(c) of the Act. Specifically, the respondents' factors of 
production have been valued using import data from the Philippines, 
which is economically comparable to the PRC and is a significant 
producer of comparable merchandise. To determine the appropriate 
comparison method, the Department typically conducts a ``differential 
pricing'' analysis and has preliminarily determined to use the average-
to average method in making comparisons of export price and normal 
value. However, in this review, because there is only one sale, there 
are not two observations with which to test for whether a pattern of 
prices that differ significantly exists. Accordingly, the Department is 
not conducting a differential pricing analysis and is calculating TMM's 
dumping margin using its standard method by comparing the weighted-
average normal value to the weighted-average export price.\9\
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    \9\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, please see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, dated 
concurrently with these results and hereby adopted by this notice. The 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file 
electronically via Import Administration's Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA 
ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is available to registered users at https://iaaccess.trade.gov and in the Central Records Unit, room 7046 of the 
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version 
of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the 
Internet at https://www.trade.gov/ia/. The signed and the electronic 
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.

Preliminary Results of Review

    The Department has determined that the following preliminary 
dumping margin exists:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                          Exporter                              dumping
                                                                margin
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Tianjin Magnesium Metal Co., Ltd. (``TMM'') and Company A...      339.60
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department will disclose calculations performed for these 
preliminary results to the parties within five days of the date of 
publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). 
Interested parties may submit written comments no later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of these preliminary results of 
review.\10\ Rebuttals to written comments may be filed no later than 
five days after the written comments are filed.\11\
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
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    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of 
publication of this notice.\12\ Hearing requests should contain the 
following information: (1) The party's name, address, and telephone 
number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of the issues to 
be discussed. Oral presentations will be limited to issues raised in 
the briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, parties will be 
notified of the time and date for the hearing to be held at the U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20230.\13\
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    The Department intends to issue the final results of this 
administrative review, which will include the results of its analysis 
of issues raised in any such comments, within 120 days of publication 
of these preliminary results, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the 
Act.

Deadline for Submission of Publicly Available Surrogate Value 
Information

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3)(ii), the deadline for 
submission of publicly available information to value factors of 
production under 19 CFR 351.408(c) is 20 days after the date of 
publication of the preliminary results. In accordance with 19 CFR 
351.301(c)(1), if an interested party submits factual information less 
than ten days before, on, or after (if the Department has extended the 
deadline) the applicable deadline for submission of such factual 
information, an interested party may submit factual information to 
rebut, clarify, or correct the factual information no later than ten 
days after such factual information is served on the interested party. 
However, the Department generally will not accept in the rebuttal 
submission additional or alternative surrogate value information not 
previously on the record, if the deadline for submission of surrogate 
value information has passed.\14\ Furthermore, the Department generally 
will not accept business proprietary information in either the 
surrogate value submissions or the rebuttals thereto, as the regulation 
regarding the submission of surrogate values allows only for the 
submission of publicly available information.\15\
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    \14\ See, e.g., Glycine from the People's Republic of China: 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Final 
Rescission, in Part, 72 FR 58809 (October 17, 2007), and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2.
    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.301(c)(3).
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Assessment Rates

    Upon issuing the final results of the review, the Department shall 
determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate 
entries. The Department intends to issue assessment instructions to CBP 
15 days after the date of publication of the final results of review. 
For any individually examined respondents whose weighted-average 
dumping margin is above de minimis, we will calculate importer-specific 
ad valorem duty assessment rates based on the ratio of the total amount 
of dumping calculated for the importer's examined sales to the total 
entered value of those same sales in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(1).\16\
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    \16\ In these preliminary results, the Department applied the 
assessment rate calculation method adopted in Antidumping 
Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and 
Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping Proceedings: Final 
Modification, 77 FR 8101 (February 14, 2012).
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    We will instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review when the importer-specific 
assessment rate calculated in the final results of this review is above 
de minimis. Where either the respondent's weighted-average dumping 
margin is zero or de minimis, or an importer-specific assessment rate 
is zero or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate the

[[Page 34648]]

appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties. The 
Department recently announced a refinement to its assessment practice 
in NME cases. Pursuant to this refinement in practice, for entries that 
were not reported in the U.S. sales databases submitted by companies 
individually examined during this review, the Department will instruct 
CBP to liquidate such entries at the PRC-wide rate. In addition, if the 
Department determines that an exporter under review had no shipments of 
the subject merchandise, any suspended entries that entered under that 
exporter's case number (i.e., at that exporter's rate) will be 
liquidated at the PRC-wide rate.\17\
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    \17\ For a full discussion of this practice, see Non-Market 
Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 
76 FR 65694 (October 24, 2011).
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    The final results of this review shall be the basis for the 
assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by 
the final results of this review and for future deposits of estimated 
duties, where applicable.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this administrative review for 
shipments of the subject merchandise from the PRC entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as 
provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) For TMM/Company A, 
which have a separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be that 
established in the final results of this review (except, if the rate is 
zero or de minimis, zero cash deposit will be required); (2) for 
previously investigated or reviewed PRC and non-PRC exporters not 
listed above that received a separate rate in a prior segment of this 
proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the exporter-
specific rate; (3) for all PRC exporters of subject merchandise that 
have not been found to be entitled to a separate rate, the cash deposit 
rate will be the PRC-wide rate of 111.73 percent\18\; and (4) for all 
non-PRC exporters of subject merchandise which have not received their 
own rate, the cash deposit rate will be the rate applicable to the PRC 
exporter that supplied that non-PRC exporter. These deposit 
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further 
notice.
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    \18\ See Pure Magnesium From the People's Republic of China: 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 73 FR 76336 
(December 16, 2008).
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Notification to Importers

    This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    This administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213.

    Dated: May 31, 2013.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

Summary

1. Background
2. Scope

Discussion of the Methodology

1. Affiliation and Collapsing
2. Bona Fides Inquiry
3. Nonmarket Economy Country
4. Separate Rates
a. Absence of De Jure Control
b. Absence of De Facto Control
5. Surrogate Country and Surrogate-Value Data
6. Surrogate Country
7. Economic Comparability
8. Significant Producers of Identical or Comparable Merchandise
9. Data Availability
10. Date of Sale
11. Fair Value Comparisons
12. Differential Pricing Analysis
13. Export Price
14. Normal Value
15. Factor Valuations
16. Currency Conversion
17. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2013-13702 Filed 6-7-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P