01-13967. Pure Magnesium From China, Israel, and Russia

AGENCY:

United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION:

Scheduling of the final phase of an antidumping investigation.

SUMMARY:

The Commission hereby gives notice of the scheduling of the final phase of antidumping investigations Nos. 701-TA-403 and 731-TA-895-896 (Final) under section 735(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1673d(b)) (the Act) to determine whether an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an industry in the United States is materially retarded, by reason of countervailable subsidies by the government of Israel and by less-than-fair-value imports from China and Israel of pure magnesium, provided for in subheading 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, and 8104.30.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.^[1] Section 207.21(b) of the Commission's rules provides that, where the Department of Commerce has issued a negative preliminary determination, the Commission will not publish a notice of scheduling for the final phase of its investigation unless and until it receives an affirmative final determination from Commerce.

Although the Department of Commerce has preliminarily determined that pure magnesium from Russia is not being sold, nor is likely to be sold, in the United States at less than fair value, for purposes of efficiency the Commission hereby waives rule 207.21(b) and gives notice of the scheduling of the final phase of the antidumping investigation No. 731-TA-897 (Final) under section 735(b) of the Act. The Commission is taking this action so that the final phases of the antidumping investigations may proceed concurrently in the event that Commerce makes a final affirmative antidumping determination with respect to Russia. If Commerce makes a final negative antidumping determination with respect to Russia, the Commission will terminate its antidumping investigation under section 735(c)(2) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1673d(c)(2)), and § 207.2(d) of the Commission's rules.

For further information concerning the conduct of this phase of these investigations, hearing procedures, and rules of general application, consult the Commission's rules of practice and procedure, part 201, subparts A through E (19 CFR part 201), and part 207, subparts A and C (19 CFR part 207).

EFFECTIVE DATE:

April 27, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christopher J. Cassise (202-708-5408), Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need special assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information concerning the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its internet server (http://www.usitc.gov). The public record for this investigation may be viewed on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS-ON-LINE) at http://dockets.usitc.gov/​eol/​public.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The final phase of this investigation is being scheduled as a result of an affirmative preliminary determination by the Department of Commerce that imports of pure magnesium from China and Israel are being sold in the United States at less than fair value within the meaning of section 733 of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1673b) and that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of pure magnesium by the government of Israel within the meaning of section 703 (19 U.S.C. 1671b). The investigation was requested in a petition filed on October 17, 2000, by Magnesium Corporation of America, Salt Lake City, UT, the United Steel Workers of America, Local 8319, Salt Lake City, UT, and the United Steel Workers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC (USWA International).

Participation in the investigation and public service list.—Persons, including industrial users of the subject merchandise and, if the merchandise is sold at the retail level, representative consumer organizations, wishing to participate in the final phase of this investigation as parties must file an entry of appearance with the Secretary to the Commission, as provided in § 201.11 of the Commission's rules, no later than 21 days prior to the hearing date specified in this notice. A party that filed a notice of appearance during the preliminary phase of the investigation need not file an additional notice of appearance during this final phase. The Secretary will maintain a public service list containing the names and addresses of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties to the investigation.

Limited disclosure of business proprietary information (BPI) under an administrative protective order (APO) and BPI service list.—Pursuant to § 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the Secretary will make BPI gathered in the final phase of this investigation available to authorized applicants under the APO issued in the investigation, provided that the application is made no later than 21 days prior to the hearing date specified in this notice. Authorized applicants must represent interested parties, as defined by 19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to the investigation. A party granted access to BPI in the preliminary phase of the investigation need not reapply for such access. A separate service list will be maintained by the Secretary for those parties authorized to receive BPI under the APO.

Staff report.—The prehearing staff report in the final phase of this investigation will be placed in the nonpublic record on August 30, 2001, and a public version will be issued thereafter, pursuant to § 207.22 of the Commission's rules.

Hearing.—The Commission will hold a hearing in connection with the final phase of this investigation beginning at 9:30 a.m. on September 13, 2001, at the U.S. International Trade Commission Building. Requests to appear at the hearing should be filed in writing with the Secretary to the Commission on or before September 5, 2001. A nonparty who has testimony that may aid the Commission's deliberations may request permission to present a short statement at the hearing. All parties and nonparties desiring to appear at the hearing and make oral presentations should attend a prehearing conference to be held at 9:30 a.m. on September 10, 2001, at the U.S. International Trade Commission Building. Oral testimony and written materials to be submitted at the public hearing are governed by §§ 201.6(b)(2), 201.13(f), and 207.24 of the Commission's rules. Parties must submit any request to present a portion of their hearing testimony in camera no later than 7 days prior to the date of the hearing.

Written submissions.—Each party who is an interested party shall submit a prehearing brief to the Commission. Prehearing briefs must conform with the provisions of § 207.23 of the Commission's rules; the deadline for filing is September 7, 2001. Parties may also file written testimony in connection with their presentation at the hearing, as provided in § 207.24 of the Commission's rules, and posthearing briefs, which must conform with the provisions of § 207.25 of the Commission's rules. The deadline for filing posthearing briefs is September 20, 2001; witness testimony must be filed no later than three days before the hearing. In addition, any person who has not entered an appearance as a party to the investigation may submit a written statement of information pertinent to the subject of the investigation on or before September 20, 2001. On October 11, 2001, the Commission will make available to parties all information on which they have not had an opportunity to comment. Parties may submit final comments on this information on or before October 15, 2001, but such final comments must not contain new factual information and must otherwise comply with § 207.30 of the Commission's rules. All written submissions must conform with the provisions of § 201.8 of the Commission's rules; any submissions that contain BPI must also conform with the requirements of §§ 201.6, 207.3, and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. The Commission's rules do not authorize filing of submissions with the Secretary by facsimile or electronic means.

In accordance with §§ 201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's rules, each document filed by a party to the investigation must be served on all other parties to the investigation (as identified by either the public or BPI service list), and a certificate of service must be timely filed. The Secretary will not accept a document for filing without a certificate of service.

Authority: This investigation is being conducted under authority of title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published pursuant to § 207.21 of the Commission's rules.

Issued: May 29, 2001.

By order of the Commission.

Donna R. Koehnke,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  For purposes of this investigation, the Department of Commerce has defined the subject merchandise as “pure magnesium products, regardless of chemistry, including, without limitation, raspings, granules, turnings, chips, powder, and briquettes, except as noted above. Pure magnesium includes: (1) Products that contain at least 99.95 percent primary magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as “ultra-pure” magnesium); (2) products that contain less than 99.95 percent but not less than 99.8 percent pure magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as “pure” magnesium); (3) chemical combinations of pure magnesium and other material(s) in which the pure magnesium content is 50 percent or greater, but less than 99.8 percent, by weight, and that do not conform to an “ASTM Specification for Magnesium Alloy” (generally referred to as “off-specification pure” magnesium); and (4) physical mixtures of pure magnesium and other material(s) in which the pure magnesium content is 50 percent or greater, but less than 99.8 percent, by weight, except that mixtures containing 90 percent or less pure magnesium, by weight, when mixed with lime, calcium metal, calcium silicon, calcium carbide, calcium carbonate, carbon slag coagulants, and/or fluorspar, are excluded. The merchandise subject to this investigation is classifiable under 8104.30.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (“HTS”). Although the HTS subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.”

There is an existing antidumping duty order on pure magnesium from China. See 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, 60 FR 25691 (May 12, 1995). The scope of this investigation excludes pure magnesium that is already covered by the existing order, and classifiable under 8104.11.00 and 8104.19.00 of the HTS.