[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 129 (Thursday, July 5, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39683-39686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16460]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-967]


Aluminum Extrusions From the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On December 27, 2011, the Department of Commerce (``the 
Department'') published in the Federal Register a notice of initiation 
of a changed circumstances review (``CCR'') of the antidumping duty 
order on aluminum extrusions from the People's Republic of China 
(``PRC'') in order to determine whether Guangdong Zhongya Aluminum 
Company Limited (``Guangdong Zhongya'') is the successor-in-interest to 
Zhaoqing New Zhongya Aluminum Co., Ltd. (``New Zhongya''). We have 
preliminarily determined that Guangdong Zhongya is the successor-in-
interest to New Zhongya for the purpose of determining antidumping duty 
liability. Interested parties are invited to comment on these 
preliminary results.

DATES:  Effective Date: July 5, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eve Wang, AD/CVD Operations, Office 8, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: 202-482-6231.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    New Zhongya, a producer of aluminum extrusions, participated in the 
antidumping duty investigation of aluminum extrusions from the PRC. The 
Department issued its final determination for this investigation on 
April 4, 2011.\1\ As a result of that final determination, New 
Zhongya's weighted-average dumping margin is 33.28 percent.\2\ The 
antidumping duty order was issued on May 26, 2011.\3\
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    \1\ See Aluminum Extrusions From the People's Republic of China: 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 76 FR 18524 
(April 4, 2011); see also Aluminum Extrusions From the People's 
Republic of China: Notice of Correction to the Final Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 76 FR 20627 (April 13, 2011).
    \2\ Id.
    \3\ See Aluminum Extrusions from the People's Republic of China: 
Antidumping Duty Order, 76 FR 30650 (May 26, 2011).
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    On November 7, 2011, New Zhongya requested a changed circumstances 
review claiming that it had undergone a name change to Guangdong 
Zhongya Aluminum Company Limited.\4\ New Zhongya requested that the 
antidumping duty rate, which was assigned to New Zhongya and was in 
effect before the date of the name change (i.e., August 16, 2011), 
continue under the new name. New Zhongya's request, stating that it 
underwent no changes other than the change in the name, was accompanied 
by supporting documents from Chinese government authorities,\5\ 
recognizing and approving the name change. Specifically, New Zhongya 
stated that no changes were made in personnel, management, ownership, 
facilities, customers, suppliers, etc.
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    \4\ See Letter from New Zhongya to the Department, ``Extruded 
Aluminum from China'' (request for Changed Circumstances Review), 
dated November 7, 2011.
    \5\ These Chinese government authorities include the Bureau of 
Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation of High and New Technology 
Industrial Development Zone of Zhaoqing and the Administration 
Bureau for Industry and Commerce of Zhaoqing City.
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    In response to this request, on December 27, 2011, the Department 
initiated a CCR, and on January 27, 2012, the Department issued a 
questionnaire to New Zhongya. New Zhongya filed its questionnaire 
response on February 24, 2012. Its submission included organizational 
charts, employment contracts, board meeting minutes, monthly income 
statements

[[Page 39684]]

and balance sheets, a product list, full lists of suppliers and home--
and U.S.- market customers, and sample supplier and customer invoices, 
as well as narrative responses confirming a name change from New 
Zhongya to Guangdong Zhongya.
    The petitioner in this proceeding, Aluminum Extrusions Fair Trade 
Committee, has not commented on New Zhongya's request.

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the order is aluminum extrusions which 
are shapes and forms, produced by an extrusion process, made from 
aluminum alloys having metallic elements corresponding to the alloy 
series designations published by The Aluminum Association commencing 
with the numbers 1, 3, and 6 (or proprietary equivalents or other 
certifying body equivalents). Specifically, the subject merchandise 
made from aluminum alloy with an Aluminum Association series 
designation commencing with the number 1 contains not less than 99 
percent aluminum by weight. The subject merchandise made from aluminum 
alloy with an Aluminum Association series designation commencing with 
the number 3 contains manganese as the major alloying element, with 
manganese accounting for not more than 3.0 percent of total materials 
by weight. The subject merchandise is made from an aluminum alloy with 
an Aluminum Association series designation commencing with the number 6 
contains magnesium and silicon as the major alloying elements, with 
magnesium accounting for at least 0.1 percent but not more than 2.0 
percent of total materials by weight, and silicon accounting for at 
least 0.1 percent but not more than 3.0 percent of total materials by 
weight. The subject aluminum extrusions are properly identified by a 
four-digit alloy series without either a decimal point or leading 
letter. Illustrative examples from among the approximately 160 
registered alloys that may characterize the subject merchandise are as 
follows: 1350, 3003, and 6060.
    Aluminum extrusions are produced and imported in a wide variety of 
shapes and forms, including, but not limited to, hollow profiles, other 
solid profiles, pipes, tubes, bars, and rods. Aluminum extrusions that 
are drawn subsequent to extrusion (``drawn aluminum'') are also 
included in the scope.
    Aluminum extrusions are produced and imported with a variety of 
finishes (both coatings and surface treatments), and types of 
fabrication. The types of coatings and treatments applied to subject 
aluminum extrusions include, but are not limited to, extrusions that 
are mill finished (i.e., without any coating or further finishing), 
brushed, buffed, polished, anodized (including bright-dip anodized), 
liquid painted, or powder coated. Aluminum extrusions may also be 
fabricated, i.e., prepared for assembly. Such operations would include, 
but are not limited to, extrusions that are cut-to-length, machined, 
drilled, punched, notched, bent, stretched, knurled, swedged, mitered, 
chamfered, threaded, and spun. The subject merchandise includes 
aluminum extrusions that are finished (coated, painted, etc.), 
fabricated, or any combination thereof.
    Subject aluminum extrusions may be described at the time of 
importation as parts for final finished products that are assembled 
after importation, including, but not limited to, window frames, door 
frames, solar panels, curtain walls, or furniture. Such parts that 
otherwise meet the definition of aluminum extrusions are included in 
the scope. The scope includes the aluminum extrusion components that 
are attached (e.g., by welding or fasteners) to form subassemblies, 
i.e., partially assembled merchandise unless imported as part of the 
``finished goods kit'' defined further below. The scope does not 
include the non-aluminum extrusion components of subassemblies or 
subject kits.
    Subject extrusions may be identified with reference to their end 
use, such as fence posts, electrical conduits, door thresholds, carpet 
trim, or heat sinks (that do not meet the finished heat sink 
exclusionary language below). Such goods are subject merchandise if 
they otherwise meet the scope definition, regardless of whether they 
are ready for use at the time of importation.
    The following aluminum extrusion products are excluded: Aluminum 
extrusions made from aluminum alloy with an Aluminum Association series 
designations commencing with the number 2 and containing in excess of 
1.5 percent copper by weight; Aluminum extrusions made from aluminum 
alloy with an Aluminum Association series designation commencing with 
the number 5 and containing in excess of 1.0 percent magnesium by 
weight; and aluminum extrusions made from aluminum alloy with an 
Aluminum Association series designation commencing with the number 7 
and containing in excess of 2.0 percent zinc by weight.
    The scope also excludes finished merchandise containing aluminum 
extrusions as parts that are fully and permanently assembled and 
completed at the time of entry, such as finished windows with glass, 
doors with glass or vinyl, picture frames with glass pane and backing 
material, and solar panels. The scope also excludes finished goods 
containing aluminum extrusions that are entered unassembled in a 
``finished goods kit.'' A finished goods kit is understood to mean a 
packaged combination of parts that contains, at the time of 
importation, all of the necessary parts to fully assemble a final 
finished good and requires no further finishing or fabrication, such as 
cutting or punching, and is assembled ``as is'' into a finished 
product. An imported product will not be considered a ``finished goods 
kit'' and therefore excluded from the scope of the investigation merely 
by including fasteners such as screws, bolts, etc. in the packaging 
with an aluminum extrusion product.
    The scope also excludes aluminum alloy sheet or plates produced by 
other than the extrusion process, such as aluminum products produced by 
a method of casting. Cast aluminum products are properly identified by 
four digits with a decimal point between the third and fourth digit. A 
letter may also precede the four digits. The following Aluminum 
Association designations are representative of aluminum alloys for 
casting: 208.0, 295.0, 308.0, 355.0, C355.0, 356.0, A356.0, A357.0, 
360.0, 366.0, 380.0, A380.0, 413.0, 443.0, 514.0, 518.1, and 712.0. The 
scope also excludes pure, unwrought aluminum in any form.
    The scope also excludes collapsible tubular containers composed of 
metallic elements corresponding to alloy code 1080A as designated by 
the Aluminum Association where the tubular container (excluding the 
nozzle) meets each of the following dimensional characteristics: (1) 
Length of 37 mm or 62 mm, (2) outer diameter of 11.0 mm or 12.7 mm, and 
(3) wall thickness not exceeding 0.13 mm.
    Also excluded from the scope of this order are finished heat sinks. 
Finished heat sinks are fabricated heat sinks made from aluminum 
extrusions the design and production of which are organized around 
meeting certain specified thermal performance requirements and which 
have been fully, albeit not necessarily individually, tested to comply 
with such requirements.
    Imports of the subject merchandise are provided for under the 
following categories of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (``HTS''): 7604.21.0000, 7604.29.1000,

[[Page 39685]]

7604.29.3010, 7604.29.3050, 7604.29.5030, 7604.29.5060, 7608.20.0030, 
7608.20.0090, 9506.11.4080, 9506.51.4000, 9506.51.6000, 9506.59.4040, 
9506.70.2090, 9506.99.0510, 9506.99.0520, 9506.99.0530, 9506.99.1500, 
9506.99.2000, 9506.99.2580, 9506.99.2800, 9506.99.6080, 9507.30.2000, 
9507.30.4000, 9507.30.6000, 9507.90.6000, 8419.90.1000, 8302.10.3000, 
8302.10.6030, 8302.10.6060, 8302.10.6090, 8302.30.3010, 8302.30.3060, 
8302.41.3000, 8302.41.6015, 8302.41.6045, 8302.41.6050, 8302.41.6080, 
8302.42.3010, 8302.42.3015, 8302.42.3065, 8302.49.6035, 8302.49.6045, 
8302.49.6055, 8302.49.6085, 8302.60.9000, 8306.30.0000, 9403.90.8061, 
9403.90.1040, 9403.90.1050, 9403.90.1085, 9403.90.2540, 9403.90.2580, 
9403.90.4005, 9403.90.4010, 9403.90.4060, 9403.90.5005, 9403.90.5010, 
9403.90.5080, 9403.90.6005, 9403.90.6010, 9403.90.6080, 9403.90.7005, 
9403.90.7010, 9403.90.7080, 9403.90.8010, 9403.90.8015, 9403.90.8020, 
9403.90.8041, 9403.90.8051, 9403.10.00, 9403.20.00, 8479.89.98, 
8479.90.94, 8513.90.20, 8302.50.0000, 9506.91.0010, 9506.91.0020, 
9506.91.0030, 7615.19.30, 7615.19.50, 7615.19.70, 7615.19.90, 
7615.19.10, 7615.20.00, 7616.99.10, and 7616.99.50. The subject 
merchandise entered as parts of other aluminum products may be 
classifiable under the following additional Chapter 76 subheadings: 
7610.10, 7610.90, 7615.19, 7615.20, and 7616.99 as well as under other 
HTS chapters. In addition, fin evaporator coils may be classifiable 
under HTS numbers: 8418.99.80.50 and 8418.99.80.60. While HTS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written description of the scope is dispositive.

Preliminary Results of the Review

    In this changed circumstances review, and in accordance with 
section 751(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the ``Act''), the 
Department has conducted a successor-in-interest analysis. In making a 
successor-in-interest determination, the Department examines several 
factors, including, but not limited to, changes in the following: (1) 
Management; (2) production facilities; (3) supplier relationships; and 
(4) customer base.\6\ While no single factor or combination of factors 
will necessarily provide a dispositive indication of a successor-in-
interest relationship, generally, the Department will consider the new 
company to be the successor to the previous company if the new 
company's resulting operation is not materially dissimilar to that of 
its predecessor.\7\ Thus, if the record evidence demonstrates that, 
with respect to the production and sale of the subject merchandise, the 
new company operates as the same business entity as the predecessor 
company, the Department may assign the new company the cash deposit 
rate of its predecessor.
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    \6\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Results of Changed Circumstances 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Polychloroprene Rubber From 
Japan, 67 FR 58 (January 2, 2002).
    \7\ See, e.g., Fresh and Chilled Atlantic Salmon From Norway; 
Final Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 64 FR 9979, 9980 (March 1, 1999).
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    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(i), the Department 
preliminarily determines that Guangdong Zhongya is the successor-in-
interest to New Zhongya. The record evidence indicates that Guangdong 
Zhongya has retained New Zhongya's management and organizational 
structure, operations and production facilities, and significantly 
similar supplier and customer relationships.
    All of New Zhongya's executive personnel remain in the same 
positions in Guangdong Zhongya's organization, and the organizational 
structure remains the same.\8\ Operationally, a comparison of New 
Zhongya's financial statements for the periods before the name change 
and those of Guangdong Zhongya for the periods after indicates that 
Guangdong Zhongya operates as the same business entity. For instance, 
balance sheets from before the name change and from after the name 
change show identical Year Beginning Balances for all line items.\9\ 
Furthermore, the paid-in-capital and capital reserve from the period 
prior to the name change in New Zhongya's balance sheet are the same as 
those during the same period in Guangdong Zhongya's balance sheet. 
Similarly, Guangdong Zhongya's closing retained earnings balance for 
August equals New Zhongya's July (prior-month) closing retained 
earnings balance plus the monthly profit from Guangdong Zhongya's 
income statement for August, as would be expected if they were the same 
company.
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    \8\ See Letter from New Zhongya to the Department, ``Extruded 
Aluminum from China'' (response to the Department's questionnaire), 
dated February 27, 2012.
    \9\ See id.
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    The evidence on the record also shows that New Zhongya retained a 
significant majority of its suppliers after it became Guangdong 
Zhongya.\10\ Moreover, Guangdong Zhongya's home-market customer base 
remains largely the same as New Zhongya's, and its U.S. customer base 
is identical to New Zhongya's U.S. customer base.\11\
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    \10\ See New Zhongya's response to the Questionnaire, ``Extruded 
Aluminum from China,'' dated February 27, 2012, at Exhibit 5.
    \11\ See id. at Exhibit 8.
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    Therefore, the Department preliminarily finds that the record 
evidence supports Guangdong Zhongya's claim that it is the successor-
in-interest to New Zhongya. Given the totality of the considered 
factors, the record evidence demonstrates that Guangdong Zhongya is the 
same entity, operating in a significantly similar manner to New 
Zhongya. Consequently, the Department preliminarily determines that 
Guangdong Zhongya should be given the same antidumping duty treatment 
as New Zhongya, i.e., the separate rate status previously afforded to 
New Zhongya and the accompanying 33.28 percent antidumping duty cash 
deposit rate.
    If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results of 
this changed circumstances review, the Department will instruct U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation and collect a cash 
deposit rate of 33.28 percent on all shipments of the subject 
merchandise exported by Guangdong Zhongya and entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the publication date of 
the final results of this changed circumstances review.\12\ This 
deposit rate shall remain in effect until further notice.
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    \12\ See Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From Belgium: Notice of 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 77 
FR 21963 (April 12, 2012) and accompanying Issues and Decision 
Memorandum; see also Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review: Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From 
Thailand, 75 FR 74684 (December 1, 2010) and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
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Public Comment

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 10 days of 
publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.310(c). 
Interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 14 days after 
the date of publication of this notice, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(1)(ii). Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the 
case briefs, may be filed no later than five days after the case 
briefs, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1). Hearing requests 
should contain the following information: (1) The party's name, 
address, and telephone number; (2) the number of

[[Page 39686]]

participants; and (3) a list of the issues to be discussed. Oral 
presentations will be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If a 
request for a hearing is made, parties will be notified of the time and 
date for the hearing to be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 
14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.\13\ The 
Department intends to issue its final results of review within 270 days 
after the date on which the changed circumstances review was initiated, 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(e), and will publish those final 
results in the Federal Register.
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    This notice is published in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 
777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216.

    Dated: June 27, 2012.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-16460 Filed 7-3-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P