E9-19098. Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation: Final Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY:

On April 6, 2009, the Department of Commerce published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation. The review covers two manufacturers/exporters, PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation (AVISMA) and Solikamsk Magnesium Works (SMW). The period of review (POR) is April 1, 2007, through March 31, 2008.

Based on our analysis of the comments received we have made no changes in the margin for AVISMA. Therefore, the final results do not differ from the preliminary results. The final margin for AVISMA is listed below in the section entitled “Final Results of the Review.”

DATES:

Effective Date: August 10, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Hermes Pinilla or Minoo Hatten, 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: [phone] or [phone], respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On April 6, 2009, the Department of Commerce (the Department) published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation. See Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Intent To Rescind in Part, 74 FR 15435 (April 6, 2009) (Preliminary Results).

We invited interested parties to comment on the Preliminary Results. At the request of certain parties, we held a public hearing on June 10, 2009. The Department has conducted this administrative review in accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).

Scope of the Order

The merchandise covered by the order is magnesium metal (also referred to as magnesium), which includes primary and secondary pure and 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 the order includes blends of primary and secondary magnesium.

The subject merchandise includes the following pure and alloy magnesium metal products made from primary and/or secondary magnesium, including, without limitation, magnesium cast into ingots, slabs, rounds, billets, and other shapes, and magnesium ground, chipped, crushed, or machined into raspings, granules, turnings, chips, powder, briquettes, and other shapes: (1) Products that contain at least 99.95 percent 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 magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as “pure” magnesium); and (3) chemical combinations of magnesium and other material(s) in which the magnesium content is 50 percent or greater, but less that 99.8 percent, by weight, whether or not conforming to an “ASTM Specification for Magnesium Alloy”.

The scope of the order excludes (1) magnesium that is in liquid or molten form and (2) 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 (Al203), calcium aluminate, soda ash, hydrocarbons, graphite, coke, silicon, rare earth metals/mischmetal, cryolite, silica/fly ash, magnesium oxide, periclase, ferroalloys, dolomite lime, and colemanite.^[1]

The merchandise subject to the order is currently classifiable under items 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, 8104.30.00, and 8104.90.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS item numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise covered by the order is dispositive.

Rescission of Review in Part

On June 20, 2008, SMW submitted a letter indicating that it made no sales to the United States during the POR. We did not receive comments on SMW's submission. We confirmed SMW's claim of no shipments by reviewing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) documentation. See Memorandum from International Trade Compliance Analyst to the File dated March 24, 2009. Because we find that SMW had no shipments of subject merchandise during the POR, we are rescinding the administrative review with respect to SMW pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).

Analysis of the Comments Received

All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to this administrative review of the order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation are addressed in the “Issues and Decision Memorandum” from John M. Andersen, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, to Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary, dated August 4, 2009 (Decision Memo), which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues which parties have raised and to which we have responded is in the Decision Memo and attached to this notice as an Appendix. The Decision Memo, which is a public document, is on file in the Central Records Unit, main Department of Commerce building, Room 1117, and is accessible on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/​frn/​index.html. The paper copy and electronic version of the Decision Memo are identical in content.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

For the final results, we continue to find that, by ending its participation in the review and requesting removal of its business-proprietary information from the record, AVISMA did not act to the best of its ability to comply with our requests for information. Thus, we continue to find that the use of adverse facts available is warranted for AVISMA under sections 776 (a)(2) and (b) of the Act. See Preliminary Results, 74 FR at 15436-37. As we explained in the Preliminary Results, the rate of 43.58 percent we selected as the adverse facts available rate for AVISMA is the highest transaction-specific rate on the record of the proceeding that we are able to corroborate in accordance with section 776(c) of the Act. Id; see also Decision Memo.

Final Results of the Review

We determine that a margin of 43.58 percent exists for AVISMA for the period April 1, 2007, through March 31, 2008.

Assessment Rates

Because we are relying on total adverse facts available to establish the dumping margin for AVISMA, we will instruct CBP to apply a dumping margin of 43.58 percent to all entries of subject merchandise during the POR that were produced and/or exported by AVISMA. We intend to issue liquidation instructions to CBP 15 days after the publication of these final results of review.

Cash-Deposit Requirements

The following deposit requirements will be effective upon publication of this notice of final results of administrative review for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication, consistent with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) The cash-deposit rate for AVISMA will be 43.58 percent; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated companies other than AVISMA, the cash-deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation but the manufacturer is, the cash-deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of the merchandise; (4) the cash-deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will continue to be the all-others rate established in the LTFV investigation, which is 21.01 percent. See Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation, 70 FR 19930 (April 15, 2005). These deposit requirements shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice serves as a final 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 Department's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of doubled antidumping duties.

Notification Regarding APOs

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(a)(3). Timely notification of the return or 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.

We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act.

Dated: August 4, 2009.

Ronald K. Lorentzen,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix

• Selection of an Adverse Facts-Available Rate

Footnotes

1.  This second exclusion for magnesium-based reagent mixtures is based on the exclusion for reagent mixtures in the 2000-2001 investigations of magnesium from China, Israel, and Russia. See Notice of 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), Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium From Israel, 66 FR 49349 (September 27, 2001), and Notice of 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.