[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 92 (Friday, May 12, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25691-25692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-11808]
[[Page 25691]]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-821-805, A-823-806, A-570-832]
Notice of Antidumping Duty Orders: Pure Magnesium From the
People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation and Ukraine; Notice
of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Pure Magnesium From the Russian
Federation
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
EFFECTIVE DATE: May 12, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Louis Apple, Office of Antidumping
Investigations, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202)
482-1769.
Scope of Orders
The product covered by these orders is pure primary magnesium
regardless of chemistry, form or size, unless expressly excluded from
the scope of these orders. Primary magnesium is a metal or alloy
containing by weight primarily the element magnesium and produced by
decomposing raw materials into magnesium metal. Pure primary magnesium
is used primarily as a chemical in the aluminum alloying,
desulfurization, and chemical reduction industries. In addition, pure
primary magnesium is used as an input in producing magnesium alloy.
Pure primary magnesium encompasses:
(1) Products that contain at least 99.95% primary magnesium, by
weight (generally referred to as ``ultra-pure'' magnesium);
(2) Products containing less than 99.95% but not less than 99.8%
primary magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as ``pure''
magnesium); and
(3) Products (generally referred to as ``off-specification
pure'' magnesium) that contain 50% or greater, but less than 99.8%
primary magnesium, by weight, and that do not conform to ASTM
specifications for alloy magnesium.
``Off-specification pure'' magnesium is pure primary magnesium
containing magnesium scrap, secondary magnesium, oxidized magnesium or
impurities (whether or not intentionally added) that cause the primary
magnesium content to fall below 99.8% by weight. It generally does not
contain, individually or in combination, 1.5% or more, by weight, of
the following alloying elements: aluminum, manganese, zinc, silicon,
thorium, zirconium and rare earths.
Excluded from the scope of these orders are alloy primary
magnesium, primary magnesium anodes, granular primary magnesium
(including turnings and powder), and secondary magnesium.
Granular magnesium, turnings, and powder are classifiable under
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading
8104.30.00. Magnesium granules and turnings (also referred to as chips)
are produced by grinding and/or crushing primary magnesium and thus
have the same chemistry as primary magnesium. Although not susceptible
to precise measurement because of their irregular shapes, turnings or
chips are typically produced in coarse shapes and have a maximum length
of less than 1 inch. Although sometimes produced in larger sizes,
granules are more regularly shaped than turnings or chips, and have a
typical size of 2 mm in diameter or smaller.
Powders are also produced from grinding and/or crushing primary
magnesium and have the same chemistry as primary magnesium, but are
even smaller than granules or turnings. Powders are defined by the
Section Notes to Section XV, the section of the HTSUS in which
subheading 8104.30.00 appears, as products of which 90 percent or more
by weight will pass through a sieve having a mesh aperture of 1 mm.
(See HTSUS, Section XV, Base Metals and Articles of Base Metals, Note
6(b).) Accordingly, the exclusion of magnesium turnings, granules and
powder from the scope includes products having a maximum physical
dimension (i.e., length or diameter) of 1 inch or less.
The products subject to these orders are classifiable under
subheadings 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00 and 8104.20.00 of the HTSUS.
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs
purposes, our written description of the scope is dispositive.
Case History
On March 22, 1995, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'')
made its final determinations that pure magnesium1 from the PRC,
the Russian Federation, and Ukraine was being sold at less than fair
value (see Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Pure
Magnesium from Ukraine; Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Pure Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium from the People's Republic of
China; Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Pure
Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium from the Russian Federation (60 FR 16432,
March 30, 1995)).
\1\The companion investigations involving alloy magnesium from
the PRC and the Russian Federation ended as a result of the
International Trade Commission's final negative injury
determinations in those proceedings.
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For the determination concerning the Russian Federation,
ministerial errors were subsequently alleged by respondent exporter
Amalgamet (March 30, 1995) and petitioners2 (April 7, 1995). On
April 25, 1995, the Department found that none of the allegations
constituted a ministerial error with the exception of petitioners'
allegation that the ``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation''
section of the notice had incorrectly listed Amalgamet as one of the
companies excluded from an antidumping duty order. The ``Continuation
of Suspension of Liquidation'' instructions also were incorrect in that
they did not specify that the exclusion applicable to AIOC, Gerald
Metals, Greenwich Metals, Hochschild Partners, Hunter Douglas,
Interlink, MG Metals, Razno Alloys and SMW is limited to instances
where these companies source the subject merchandise from the same
producer(s) that they sourced from during the POI.
\2\Magnesium Corporation of America; Dow Chemical; International
Union of Operating Engineers, Local 564; and United Steelworkers of
America, Local 8319.
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Amendment of Final Determination
The Department is amending its final determination of pure
magnesium from the Russian Federation. The ``Continuation of Suspension
of Liquidation'' instructions should read as follows:
Because their sales of pure magnesium were found not to have
been sold below fair value, the following exporters are excepted
from these instructions where they sell subject merchandise produced
by the same producer or producers that produced merchandise from
which the exporters' sales were sourced during the original period
of investigation: AIOC, Gerald Metals, Greenwich Metals, Hochschild
Partners, Hunter Douglas, Interlink, MG Metals, Razno Alloys, or
SMW.
Antidumping Duty Orders
In accordance with section 735(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (``the Act''), the Department made its final determinations
that pure magnesium from the People's Republic of China, Russian
Federation and Ukraine is being sold at less than fair value. On May 8,
1995, the International Trade Commission (``ITC'') notified the
Department of its final determination, pursuant to section
735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, that an industry in the United
[[Page 25692]] States is materially injured by reason of imports of
pure magnesium from the PRC, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. (The
ITC also determined that imports of alloy magnesium from the PRC and
the Russian Federation did not materially injure, or threaten material
injury to, an industry in the United States.)
Therefore, all unliquidated entries of pure magnesium from the
People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation and Ukraine that are
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after
November 7, 1994, the date of publication of the Department's
preliminary determination, are liable for the assessment of antidumping
duties.
In accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, the Department
will direct Customs officers to assess, upon further advice by the
administering authority, antidumping duties equal to the amount by
which the foreign market value exceeds the United States price for all
relevant entries of pure magnesium from the People's Republic of China,
the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. Customs officers must require, at
the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties on
this merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-
average antidumping duty margins as noted below. The ``PRC-wide,''
``Russia-wide'' and ``Ukraine-wide'' rates apply to all exporters of
PRC, Russian and Ukrainian pure magnesium not specifically listed
below.
The ad valorem weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weighted-
average
Manufacturer/producer/exporter margin
percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The People's Republic of China: PRC-wide Rate.............. 108.26
The Russian Federation:
AIOC/Avisma.............................................. 0.00
AIOC/SMW................................................. 0.00
AIOC/Other............................................... 100.25
Gerald Metals/Avisma..................................... 0.00
Gerald Metals/SMW........................................ 0.00
Gerald Metals/Other...................................... 100.25
Greenwich Metals/Avisma.................................. 0.00
Greenwich Metals/SMW..................................... 0.00
Greenwich Metals/Other................................... 100.25
Hochschild Partners/Avisma............................... 0.00
Hochschild Partners/SMW.................................. 0.00
Hochschild Partners/Other................................ 100.25
Hunter Douglas/SMW....................................... 0.00
Hunter Douglas/Other..................................... 100.25
Interlink/Avisma......................................... 0.00
Interlink/Other.......................................... 100.25
MG Metals/Avisma......................................... 0.00
MG Metals/SMW............................................ 0.00
MG Metals/Other.......................................... 100.25
Razno Alloys/SMW......................................... 0.00
Razno Alloys/Other....................................... 100.25
SMW/SMW.................................................. 0.00
SMW/Other................................................ 100.25
Russia-wide Rate......................................... 100.25
Ukraine:
Gerald Metals............................................ 103.27
MG Metals................................................ 79.87
Hochschild Partners...................................... 92.21
Ukraine-wide Rate........................................ 104.27
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This notice constitutes the antidumping duty orders with respect to
pure magnesium from the PRC, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
Interested parties may contact the Central Records Unit, Room B-099 of
the Main Commerce Building, for copies of an updated list of
antidumping duty orders currently in effect.
These orders are published in accordance with section 736(a) of the
Act and 19 CFR 353.21.
Dated: May 8, 1995.
Susan G. Esserman,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 95-11808 Filed 5-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
