[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57394-57395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-22994]



[[Page 57394]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-122-815]


Pure Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium from Canada: Final Results of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews

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

ACTION: Notice of final results of countervailing duty administrative 
reviews.

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SUMMARY: On May 8, 2002, the Department of Commerce published in the 
Federal Register the preliminary results and partial rescission of the 
administrative reviews of the countervailing duty orders on pure 
magnesium and alloy magnesium from Canada for the period January 1, 
2000, through December 31, 2000. The Department has now completed these 
reviews in accordance with section 751(a) of the Act. The final results 
do not differ from the preliminary results.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 10, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sally Hastings, AD/CVD Enforcement, 
Group I, Office 1, Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; 
telephone (202) 482-3464.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute and Regulations

    Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are 
references to the provisions of section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (``URAA''), 
effective January 1, 1995 (``the Act''). In addition, unless otherwise 
indicated, all citations to the Department of Commerce's (``the 
Department's'') regulations are to 19 CFR part 351 (2001).

Background

    On August 31, 1992, the Department published in the Federal 
Register the countervailing duty orders on pure magnesium and alloy 
magnesium from Canada (57 FR 39392). The Department published the 
preliminary results and partial rescission of these administrative 
reviews on May 8, 2002 (see Pure Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium From 
Canada: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing 
Duty Administrative Reviews, 67 FR 30874 (May 8, 2002) (``Preliminary 
Results'')). No comments were received on the Preliminary Results.
    The Magnesium Corporation of America (``Magcorp''), the petitioner 
in these reviews, requested reviews of Norsk Hydro Canada, Inc. 
(``NHCI''), and Magnola Metallurgy Inc. (``Magnola''). As stated in the 
Preliminary Results, we rescinded these reviews as to Magnola. 
Accordingly, these reviews cover only NHCI.
    On June 24, 2002, we received notification from U.S. Magnesium, LLC 
(``U.S. Magnesium'') that it had purchased all of the assets of Magcorp 
and its ongoing magnesium business. In response to U.S. Magnesium's 
request, we are treating that company as a successor-in-interest to 
Magcorp for the purpose of these countervailing duty reviews.

Scope of the Orders

    The products covered by these orders are pure and alloy magnesium 
from Canada. Pure magnesium contains at least 99.8 percent magnesium by 
weight and is sold in various slab and ingot forms and sizes. Magnesium 
alloys contain less than 99.8 percent magnesium by weight with 
magnesium being the largest metallic element in the alloy by weight, 
and are sold in various ingot and billet forms and sizes.
    The pure and alloy magnesium are currently classifiable under items 
8104.11.0000 and 8104.19.0000, respectively, of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS''). Although the HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written descriptions of the merchandise subject to the orders are 
dispositive.
    Secondary and granular magnesium are not included in the scope of 
these orders. Our reasons for excluding granular magnesium are 
summarized in Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Pure and Alloy Magnesium From Canada, 57 FR 6094 (February 20, 
1992).

Period of Review

    The period of review for which we are measuring subsidies is from 
January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2000.

Analysis of Programs

    As stated above, there were no comments submitted to the Department 
with respect to the Preliminary Results. Therefore, we determine the 
following:

I. Program Determined To Confer Countervailable Subsidies

A. Article 7 Grant From the Qu[eacute]bec Industrial Development 
Corporation (``SDI'')

    SDI (Soci[eacute]t[eacute] de D[eacute]veloppement Industriel du 
Qu[eacute]bec) administers development programs on behalf of the 
Government of Quebec (``GOQ''). SDI provides assistance under Article 7 
of the SDI Act in the form of loans, loan guarantees, grants, 
assumptions of costs associated with loans, and equity investments. 
This assistance involves projects capable of having a major impact upon 
the economy of Qu[eacute]bec. Article 7 assistance greater than 2.5 
million dollars must be approved by the Council of Ministers and 
assistance over 5 million dollars becomes a separate budget item under 
Article 7. Assistance provided in such amounts must be of ``special 
economic importance and value to the province.'' (See Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determinations: Pure Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium 
from Canada, 57 FR 30946, 30948 (July 13, 1992) (``Magnesium 
Investigation'').)
    In 1988, NHCI was awarded a grant under Article 7 to cover a large 
percentage of the cost of certain environmental protection equipment. 
In the Magnesium Investigation, the Department determined that NHCI 
received a disproportionately large share of assistance under Article 
7. On this basis, we determined that the Article 7 grant was limited to 
a specific enterprise or industry, or group of enterprises or 
industries and, therefore, countervailable. In these reviews, neither 
the GOQ nor NHCI has provided new information which would warrant 
reconsideration of this determination.
    In the Magnesium Investigation, the Department found that the 
Article 7 assistance received by NHCI constituted a non-recurring grant 
because it represented a one-time provision of funds. In the 
Preliminary Results of First Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Reviews: Pure Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium From Canada, 61 FR 11186, 
11187 (March 19, 1996), we found this determination to be consistent 
with the principles enunciated in the Allocation section of the General 
Issues Appendix (``GIA'') appended to the Final Countervailing Duty 
Determination; Certain Steel Products from Austria, 58 FR 37225, 37226 
(July 9, 1993). In the current review, no new information has been 
placed on the record that would cause us to depart from this treatment. 
Therefore, in accordance with 19 C.F.R. 351.524(b)(2), we have 
continued to allocate the benefit of this grant over time. We used our 
standard grant methodology as described in 19 C.F.R. 351.524(d) to 
calculate the countervailable subsidy. We divided the benefit 
attributable to the POR by NHCI's total sales of Canadian-manufactured 
products in the POR. On this basis, we determine the

[[Page 57395]]

countervailable subsidy from the Article 7 SDI grant to be 1.59 percent 
ad valorem for NHCI.

II. Programs Determined To Be Not Used

    We examined the following programs and determine that NHCI did not 
apply for or receive benefits under these programs during the POR:
    [sbull] St. Lawrence River Environment Technology Development 
Program
    [sbull] Program for Export Market Development
    [sbull] The Export Development Corporation
    [sbull] Canada-Qu[eacute]bec Subsidiary Agreement on the Economic 
Development of the Regions of Qu[eacute]bec
    [sbull] Opportunities to Stimulate Technology Programs
    [sbull] Development Assistance Program
    [sbull] Industrial Feasibility Study Assistance Program
    [sbull] Export Promotion Assistance Program
    [sbull] Creation of Scientific Jobs in Industries
    [sbull] Business Investment Assistance Program
    [sbull] Business Financing Program
    [sbull] Research and Innovation Activities Program
    [sbull] Export Assistance Program
    [sbull] Energy Technologies Development Program
    [sbull] Transportation Research and Development Assistance Program

III. Program From Which NHCI No Longer Receives a Countervailable 
Benefit

    [sbull] Exemption from Payment of Water Bills
    In the administrative reviews covering calendar year 1997 the 
Department found that NHCI's benefits from this program had been 
exhausted and NHCI's participation in this program had ended. We also 
found that no residual benefits were being provided or received and no 
substitute program had been implemented. In our final results, we 
stated that therefore, we did not intend to continue to examine this 
program in the future (see Pure Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium From 
Canada: Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 64 
FR 48805, 48806 (September 8, 1999)). Consistent with this 
determination and in the absence of any new allegation, we did not 
examine this program in these reviews.

Final Results of Reviews

    In these final results, we have determined that no changes to our 
analysis in the Preliminary Results are warranted. Therefore, for the 
period January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2000, we determine the net 
subsidy rate for the reviewed company to be as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Net Subsidy Rate
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           Manufacturer/exporter                       Percent
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Norsk Hydro Canada, Inc...................  1.59 percent
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department will issue appropriate assessment instructions 
directly to the Customs Service (``Customs'') within 15 days of 
publication of these final results of review. We will direct Customs to 
assess the countervailing duties in the above amount on all entries of 
subject merchandise produced and exported by NHCI during the review 
period.
    The Department will also instruct Customs to collect cash deposits 
of estimated countervailing duties in the above percentage on the 
f.o.b. invoice price on all shipments of the subject merchandise from 
NHCI entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the date of publication of the final results of these reviews.
    Because the URAA replaced the general rule in favor of a country-
wide rate with a general rule in favor of individual rates for 
investigated and reviewed companies, the procedures for establishing 
countervailing duty rates, including those for non-reviewed companies, 
are now essentially the same as those in antidumping cases, except as 
provided for in section 777A(e)(2)(B) of the Act. The requested review 
will normally cover only those companies specifically named (see 19 CFR 
351.213(b)). Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.212(c), for all companies for which 
a review was not requested, duties must be assessed at the cash deposit 
rate, and cash deposits must continue to be collected at the rate 
previously ordered. As such, the countervailing duty cash deposit rate 
applicable to a company can no longer change, except pursuant to a 
request for a review of that company. See Federal-Mogul Corporation and 
The Torrington Company v. United States, 822 F. Supp. 782 (CIT 1993), 
and Floral Trade Council v. United States, 822 F. Supp. 766 (CIT 1993). 
Therefore, the cash deposit rates for all companies except NHCI will be 
unchanged by the results of these reviews.
    Accordingly, we will instruct Customs to continue to collect cash 
deposits for non-reviewed companies at the most recent company-specific 
or country-wide rate applicable to the company. Except for Timminco 
Limited, which was excluded from the orders in the original 
investigations, these rates were established in the first 
administrative proceeding conducted under the URAA. See Final Results 
of the Second Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews: Pure 
Magnesium and Alloy Magnesium From Canada, 62 FR 48607 (September 16, 
1997).
    In addition, for the period January 1, 2000, through December 31, 
2000, the assessment rates applicable to all non-reviewed companies 
covered by these orders are the cash deposit rates in effect at the 
time of entry, except for Timminco Limited (which was excluded from the 
orders in the original investigations).
    This notice 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 written 
notification of return/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.
    These administrative reviews and notice are in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: September 3, 2002.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-22994 Filed 9-9-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P