03-10193. Pure Magnesium From Canada; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Review

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice of preliminary results of 2001-2002 administrative review.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure magnesium from Canada. The period of review is August 1, 2001, through July 31, 2002. This review covers imports of pure magnesium from one producer/exporter.

We have preliminarily found that sales of subject merchandise have not been made below normal value. If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results, we will instruct the Customs Service not to assess antidumping duties.

Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results. We will issue the final results not later than 120 days from the date of publication of this notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

April 24, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jarrod Goldfeder or Scott Holland, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington DC 20230; telephone [phone] or [phone], respectively.

Background

On August 31, 1992, the Department published in the Federal Register (57 FR 39390) an antidumping duty order on pure magnesium from Canada. On August 6, 2002, the Department published a notice in the Federal Register (67 FR 50856) of “Opportunity to Request an Administrative Review” of this order. On August 28, 2002, U.S. Magnesium, LLC (“the petitioner”) requested an administrative review of imports of the subject merchandise produced by Norsk Hydro Canada, Inc. (“NHCI”) and Magnola Metallurgy Inc. (“Magnola”). On August 30, 2002, NCHI made a request for review and also requested that the Department revoke the antidumping duty order with respect to NHCI. On September 25, 2002, the Department published a notice in the Federal Register (67 FR 60210) initiating the review for the period August 1, 2001, through July 31, 2002.

On September 6, 2002, Magnola reported that it had no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the August 1, 2001, through July 31, 2002, period of review (“POR”). See “Partial Rescission” section, below.

On September 17, 2002, the petitioner submitted comments objecting to NHCI's August 30, 2002, request for revocation. According to the petitioner, NHCI failed to meet the Department's requirements for revocation, as described in 19 CFR 351.222. On October 15, 2002, NHCI withdrew its August 30, 2002, request for revocation.

On October 9, 2002, the Department issued an antidumping questionnaire to NHCI. On November 22, 2002, we received NHCI's questionnaire response. We issued a supplemental questionnaire to NHCI on January 13, 2003, and received the response on February 10, 2003.

Scope of the Order

The product covered by this order is pure magnesium. Pure unwrought magnesium contains at least 99.8 percent magnesium by weight and is sold in various slab and ingot forms and sizes. Granular and secondary magnesium are excluded from the scope currently classifiable under subheading 8104.11.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (“HTS”). The HTS item number is provided for convenience and for customs purposes. The written description remains dispositive.

Partial Rescission

In accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), we are rescinding this review with respect to Magnola, which reported that it made no shipments of subject merchandise during this POR. We examined shipment data furnished by the Customs Service and are satisfied that the record does not indicate that there were U.S. shipments of subject merchandise from Magnola during the POR.

Export Price

For sales to the United States, we used export price (“EP”), as defined in section 772(a) of the Act, because the merchandise was sold directly to the first unaffiliated purchaser in the United States prior to importation. The use of constructed export prices was not warranted based on the facts of the record. EP was based on the packed price to unaffiliated purchasers in the United States. We adjusted the price for billing adjustments. We made deductions, consistent with section 772(c)(2)(A) of the Act, for the following movement expenses: inland freight from the plant to the distribution warehouse, pre-sale warehousing expense, inland freight from the distribution warehouse to the unaffiliated customer, and foreign brokerage and handling.

Normal Value

In order to determine whether there was a sufficient volume of sales of pure magnesium in the home market to serve as a viable basis for calculating NV, we compared NHCI's volume of home market sales of the foreign like product to the volume of U.S. sales of the subject merchandise, in accordance with section 773(a) of the Act. Because the aggregate volume of home market sales of the foreign like product was greater than five percent of the respective aggregate volume of U.S. sales for the subject merchandise, we determined that the home market provided a viable basis for calculating NV. Therefore, in accordance with section 773(a)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we based NV on the prices at which the foreign like product was first sold for consumption in the exporting country, in the usual commercial quantities and in the ordinary course of trade.

We calculated NV based on the price to unaffiliated customers. We adjusted the price for billing adjustments. We made adjustments for differences in packing in accordance with sections 773(a)(6)(A) and 773(a)(6)(B)(i) of the Act. We also made adjustments, consistent with section 773(a)(6)(B)(ii) of the Act, for the following movement expenses: inland freight from the plant to the distribution warehouse, warehousing expense, and inland freight from the plant/warehouse to the customer. In addition, we made adjustments for differences in circumstances of sale (“COS”) in accordance with section 773(a)(6)(C)(iii) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.410. We made COS adjustments by deducting direct selling expenses incurred on home market sales (credit expenses) and adding U.S. direct selling expenses (credit expenses).

Preliminary Results of the Review

As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that NHCI's margin for the period August 1, 2001, through July 31, 2002, is 0.01 percent, de minimis.

Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of publication of this notice. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 42 days after the publication of this notice, or the first workday thereafter. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised in the case and rebuttal briefs. Interested parties may submit case briefs within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs, which must be limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than 35 days after the date of publication of this notice. Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are requested to submit with each argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument with an electronic version included.

The Department will issue the final results of this administrative review, including the results of its analysis of issues raised in any such written briefs or hearing, within 120 days of publication of these preliminary results.

Assessment Rates and Cash Deposit Requirements

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.212(b), the Department calculates an assessment rate for each importer of the subject merchandise. Upon issuance of the final results of this administrative review, if any importer-specific assessment rates calculated in the final results are above de minimis (i.e., at or above 0.5 percent), the Department will issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs Service to assess antidumping duties on appropriate entries by applying the assessment rate to the entered value of the merchandise. For assessment purposes, we calculate importer-specific assessment rates for the subject merchandise by aggregating the dumping duties due for all U.S. sales to each importer and dividing the amount by the total entered value of the sales to that importer.

Pending the final disposition of a NAFTA panel appeal by NHCI, the Department will not order the liquidation of entries of pure magnesium from Canada exported by NHCI on or after August 1, 2000, at this time (see, letter from Jarrod Goldfeder to NHCI, dated January 28, 2003, granting NHCI's request). Liquidation will occur at the rates described in the final results of review following the final judgement in the NAFTA panel appeals process.

The following deposit requirements will be effective upon completion of the final results of this administrative review for all shipments of pure magnesium from Canada entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for the reviewed company will be the rate established in the final results of this administrative review (except no cash deposit will be required for the company if its weighted-average margin is de minimis, i.e., less than 0.5 percent); (2) for merchandise exported by manufacturers or exporters not covered in this review but covered in the original less-than-fair-value investigation or a previous review, the cash deposit will continue to be the most recent rate published in the final determination or final results for which the manufacturer or exporter received an individual rate; (3) if the exporter is a firm not covered in this or any previous reviews, the cash deposit rate will be 21 percent, the “all others” rate established in Pure Magnesium from Canada; Amendment of Final Determination of Sales At Less Than Fair Value and Order in Accordance With Decision on Remand (58 FR 62643, November 29, 1993).

Notification to Importers

This notice also serves as a preliminary 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 Secretary's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

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

Dated: April 16, 2003.

Joseph A. Spetrini,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.