[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 74 (Friday, April 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20597-20599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8691]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

A-122-814


Pure Magnesium from Canada; Preliminary Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review and Preliminary Partial Rescission of Review

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

ACTION: Notice of Preliminary Results of the 2002-2003 Administrative 
Review.

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SUMMARY: In response to requests from interested parties, the 
Department of

[[Page 20598]]

Commerce is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty 
order on pure magnesium from Canada with respect to Norsk Hydro Canada 
Inc. The period of review is August 1, 2002 through July 31, 2003.
    We preliminarily find that, during the period of review, sales of 
pure magnesium from Canada were not made below normal value. If these 
preliminary results are adopted in our final results, we will instruct 
the U.S. Customs and Border Protection not to assess antidumping 
duties. We invite interested parties 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 16, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Santoboni or Scott Holland, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-4194 or (202) 482-1279, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 31, 1992, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') 
published in the Federal Register (57 FR 39390) an antidumping duty 
order on pure magnesium from Canada. On August 1, 2003, the Department 
published a notice in the Federal Register of the opportunity for 
interested parties to request an administrative review of the 
antidumping duty order on pure magnesium from Canada. See Notice of 
Opportunity to Request Administrative Review of Antidumping or 
Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspend Investigation (68 FR 
45218). On August 26, 2003, 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''), both Canadian exporters/producers of the 
subject merchandise.
    On September 2, 2003, Magnola reported that it had no shipments of 
subject merchandise to the United States during the August 1, 2002, 
through July 31, 2003, period of review (``POR''). See ``Partial 
Rescission'' section, below.
    On September 3, 2003, NHCI requested that the Department reject the 
petitioner's request for administrative review because the submission 
failed to meet the minimal requirements as described in 19 CFR 
351.213(b)(1). On October 1, 2003, we determined that the petitioner's 
review request sufficiently met the Department's requirements pursuant 
to 19 CFR 351.213(b)(1). See the October 1, 2003, memorandum to Susan 
Kuhbach, ``Petitioner's Request for Initiation in the 2002/2003 
Antidumping Administrative Review,'' which is on file in the 
Department's Central Records Unit (``CRU'').
    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(1), we published a notice of 
initiation of this antidumping duty administrative review on September 
30, 2003, with respect to NHCI and Magnola. See Notice of Initiation of 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, Request for 
Revocation in Part and Deferral of Administrative Review, (68 FR 
56262).
    On October 9, 2003, the Department issued an antidumping duty 
questionnaire to NHCI. On November 21, 2003, we received NHCI's 
questionnaire response. We issued a supplemental questionnaire to NHCI 
on January 9, 2004, and received the response on February 6, 2004.
    On December 11, 2003, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.301(d)(2)(ii), 
the petitioner filed an allegation that NHCI had made sales below the 
cost of production (``COP'') during the POR. NHCI submitted objections 
to the allegation in December 2003, and January and February 2004. The 
petitioner filed responses to NHCI's objections in December 2003 and 
January 2004. We found that the petitioner did not provide a reasonable 
basis to believe or suspect that NHCI sold pure magnesium in the home 
market at prices below the COP during the POR. See the February 18, 
2004, memorandum to Susan Kuhbach, ``Allegation of Sales Below Cost of 
Production.'' Accordingly, we did not initiate a sales-below-COP 
investigation.

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by this review is pure magnesium. Pure 
unwrought magnesium contains at least 99.8 percent magnesium by weight 
and is sold in various slab and ingot formsnd sizes. Granular and 
secondary magnesium are excluded from the scope currently classifiable 
under subheading 8104.11.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (``HTSUS''). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the 
scope of this proceeding is dispositive.

Partial Rescission

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), we are preliminarily 
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 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') 
and are satisfied that the record does not indicate that there were 
U.S. shipments of subject merchandise from Magnola during the POR.

Fair Value Comparisons

    To determine whether sales of pure magnesium by NHCI to the United 
States were made at less than normal value (``NV''), we compared, as 
appropriate, export price (``EP''), to NV, as described in the ``Export 
Price'' and ``Normal Value'' sections below. In accordance with 19 CFR 
351.414(c)(2), we compared individual EPs to weighted-average NVs, 
which were calculated in accordance with section 777A(d)(2) of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act'').

Product Comparisons

    In accordance with section 771(16) of the Act, we considered all 
products produced and sold by NHCI in the home market during the POR 
that fit the description in the ``Scope of the Order'' section of this 
notice to be foreign like products for purposes of determining 
appropriate product comparisons to U.S. sales. We compared U.S. sales 
to sales of identical merchandise in the home market made in the 
ordinary course of trade. To determine the appropriate product 
comparisons, we considered the following physical characteristics of 
the products: ASTM specification code, purity, format, size and grade.

Export Price

    For sales to the United States, we used 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 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.

[[Page 20599]]

Normal Value

A. Home Market Viability

    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 in 
the home market. We adjusted the starting price for billing 
adjustments, where appropriate. We 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 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). We also deducted 
home market packing costs and added U.S. packing costs in accordance 
with sections 773(a)(6)(A) and (B) of the Act. We disregarded two home 
market sales that were made outside the ordinary course of trade, 
consistent with section 771(15) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.102, because 
either the sale was made for non-commercial purposes or the sale was a 
sample sale that was not made in substantial quantities. See February 
6, 2004, Supplemental Questionnaire Response submitted by NHCI.

Currency Conversion

    We made currency conversions into U.S. dollars in accordance with 
section 773A(a) of the Act based on the exchange rates in effect on the 
dates of the U.S. sales as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily find that NHCI's 
percentage weighted-average margin for the period August 1, 2002, 
through July 31, 2003, is 0.01 percent, de minimis.

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 CBP 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 review, 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.\1\ Liquidation will occur following the final judgement in the 
NAFTA panel appeals process.
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    \1\ See January 28, 2003, letter from the Department granting 
NHCI's October 23, 2002, request for the continuation of suspension 
of liquidation covering all unliquidated entries of subject 
merchandise exported by NHCI on or after August 1, 2000.
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    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 
rate 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 not a firm covered 
in this review, the previous review, or the original 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; and 
(4) if neither the exporter nor the manufacturer is a firm covered in 
this or any previous reviews, the cash deposit rate will be 21 percent, 
the ``all others'' rate established on November 29, 1993, 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)

Public Comment

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of 
publication of this notice. A hearing, if requested, will be held 37 
days after the publication of this notice, or the first business day 
thereafter. 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. The 
Department will issue the final results of this administrative review, 
which will include the results of its analysis of issues raised in any 
such comments, within 120 days of publication of the preliminary 
results.

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 9, 2004.
James J. Jochum,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-8691 Filed 4-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S