[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9091-9092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04621]
[[Page 9091]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-832]
Pure Magnesium From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2017-2018
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines
that Tianjin Magnesium International, Co., Ltd. (TMI) and Tianjin
Magnesium Metal, Co., Ltd. (TMM) (collectively TMI/TMM) did not have
reviewable entries during the period of review (POR). We invite
interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.
DATES: Applicable March 13, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle Clahane or Brendan Quinn, AD/CVD
Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5449 or (202) 482-5848,
respectively.
Background
On May 1, 2018, Commerce published a notice of opportunity to
request an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure
magnesium from the People's Republic of China (China) for the POR.\1\
On July 12, 2018, in response to a timely request from the
petitioner,\2\ and in accordance with section 751(a) of the Tariff Act
of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(1)(i), we
initiated an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on
pure magnesium from China with respect to TMI and TMM.\3\
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\1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative
Review, 83 FR 19047 (May 1, 2018).
\2\ See letter from US Magnesium LLC (the petitioner), ``Pure
Magnesium from the People's Republic of China: Request for
Administrative Review,'' dated May 31, 2018.
\3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 83 FR 32270 (July 12, 2018) (Initiation
Notice). In the 2011-2012 administrative review of the order,
Commerce collapsed TMM and TMI, and treated the companies as a
single entity for purposes of the proceeding. Because there were no
changes to the facts which supported that decision since that
determination was made, we continue to find that these companies are
part of a single entity for this administrative review. See Pure
Magnesium from the People's Republic of China: Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2011-2012, 79 FR 94 (January
2, 2014) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment
5.
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Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by
the partial federal government closure from December 22, 2018, through
the resumption of operations on January 29, 2019.\4\ If the new
deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with Commerce's
practice, the deadline will become the next business day. Accordingly,
the revised deadline for the issuance of these preliminary results is
now March 12, 2019.
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\4\ See memorandum to the Record from Gary Taverman, Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines
Affected by the Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated
January 28, 2019. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding
have been extended by 40 days.
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Scope of the Order
Merchandise covered by the order is pure magnesium regardless of
chemistry, form or size, unless expressly excluded from the scope of
the order. Pure magnesium is a metal or alloy containing by weight
primarily the element magnesium and produced by decomposing raw
materials into magnesium metal. Pure primary magnesium is used
primarily as a chemical in the aluminum alloying, desulfurization, and
chemical reduction industries. In addition, pure magnesium is used as
an input in producing magnesium alloy. Pure magnesium encompasses
products (including, but not limited to, butt ends, stubs, crowns and
crystals) with the following primary magnesium contents:
(1) Products that contain at least 99.95% primary magnesium, by
weight (generally referred to as ``ultra pure'' magnesium);
(2) Products that contain less than 99.95% but not less than 99.8%
primary magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as ``pure''
magnesium); and
(3) Products that contain 50% or greater, but less than 99.8%
primary magnesium, by weight, and that do not conform to ASTM
specifications for alloy magnesium (generally referred to as ``off-
specification pure'' magnesium).
``Off-specification pure'' magnesium is pure primary magnesium
containing magnesium scrap, secondary magnesium, oxidized magnesium or
impurities (whether or not intentionally added) that cause the primary
magnesium content to fall below 99.8% by weight. It generally does not
contain, individually or in combination, 1.5% or more, by weight, of
the following alloying elements: Aluminum, manganese, zinc, silicon,
thorium, zirconium and rare earths.
Excluded from the scope of the order are alloy primary magnesium
(that meets specifications for alloy magnesium), primary magnesium
anodes, granular primary magnesium (including turnings, chips and
powder) having a maximum physical dimension (i.e., length or diameter)
of one inch or less, secondary magnesium (which has pure primary
magnesium content of less than 50% by weight), and remelted magnesium
whose pure primary magnesium content is less than 50% by weight.
Pure magnesium products covered by the order are currently
classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) subheadings 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, 8104.20.00, 8104.30.00,
8104.90.00, 3824.90.11, 3824.90.19 and 9817.00.90. Although the HTSUS
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the
written description of the scope is dispositive.
Preliminary Determination of No Shipments
We received timely submissions from TMM and TMI certifying that
they did not have sales, shipments, or exports of subject merchandise
to the United States during the POR.\5\ On August 13, 2018, we
requested the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data file of
entries of subject merchandise imported into the United States during
the POR, and exported by TMM and/or TMI. This query returned no entries
during the POR.\6\ Additionally, in order to examine TMM's and TMI's
claim, we sent an inquiry to CBP requesting that any CBP officer alert
Commerce if he/she had information contrary to these no-shipments
claims.\7\ On August 22, 2018, we received notification from CBP of no
information contrary to the no shipment claims.\8\
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\5\ See letter from TMM, ``Pure Magnesium from the People's
Republic of China; A-570-832; Certification of No Sales by Tianjin
Magnesium Metal Co., Ltd.,'' dated August 1, 2018, at 1. See letter
from TMI, ``Pure Magnesium from the People's Republic of China; A-
570-832; Certification of No Sales by Tianjin Magnesium
International, Co., Ltd.,'' dated August 4, 2018.
\6\ See Memorandum to the file ``2017-2018 Administrative Review
of Pure Magnesium from the People's Republic of China, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection Data'' dated August 23, 2018 (No shipment
Memo) at Attachment 1.
\7\ Id. at Attachment 2.
\8\ Id. at Attachment 3.
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Because we have not received information to the contrary from CBP,
consistent with our practice, we preliminarily determine that TMI/TMM
had no shipments and, therefore, no reviewable entries during the POR.
In addition, we find it is not appropriate to
[[Page 9092]]
rescind the review with respect to these companies but, rather, to
complete the review with respect to TMI/TMM and issue appropriate
instructions to CBP based on the final results of the review,
consistent with our practice in non-market economy (NME) cases.\9\
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\9\ See Glycine from the People's Republic of China: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review 2014-2015, 81 FR
72567 (October 20, 2016) and the ``Assessment Rates'' section,
below.
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Public Comment
Interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 30 days
after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal
Register.\10\ Rebuttals to case briefs, which must be limited to issues
raised in the case briefs, must be filed within five days after the
date for filing case briefs.\11\ Parties who submit arguments are
requested to submit with each argument (a) a statement of the issue,
(b) a brief summary of the argument, and (c) a table of
authorities.\12\ Parties submitting briefs should do so pursuant to
Commerce's electronic filing system: Enforcement and Compliance's
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service
System (ACCESS).\13\ ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Central
Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building.
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\10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
\11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1)(2).
\12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2), (d)(2).
\13\ See 19 CFR 351.303 (for general filing requirements).
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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce
within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice. Hearing
requests should contain the following information: (1) The party's
name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of participants;
and (3) a list of the issues parties intend to discuss. Issues raised
in the hearing will be limited to those raised in the respective case
and rebuttal briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, parties will
be notified of the time and date of the hearing which will be held at
the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20230.
Unless extended, we intend to issue the final results of this
administrative review, including our analysis of all issues raised in
any written brief, within 120 days of publication of this notice in the
Federal Register, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.
Assessment Rates
Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce will determine, and
CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered
by this review.\14\ We intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP
15 days after the publication date of the final results of this review.
Pursuant to Commerce's practice in NME cases, if Commerce continues to
determine in the final results that that TMI/TMM had no shipments of
subject merchandise, any suspended entries during the POR from TMI/TMM
will be liquidated at the China-wide rate.\15\
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\14\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
\15\ For a full discussion of this practice, see Non-Market
Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties,
76 FR 65694 (October 24, 2011).
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Cash Deposit Requirements
The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon
publication of the final results of this administrative review for all
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as
provided for by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) For TMI/TMM, which
claimed no shipments, the cash deposit rate will remain unchanged from
the rate assigned to TMI/TMM in the most recently completed review of
the company; (2) for previously investigated or reviewed Chinese and
non-Chinese exporters who are not under review in this segment of the
proceeding but who have separate rates, the cash deposit rate will
continue to be the exporter-specific rate published for the most recent
period; (3) for all Chinese exporters of subject merchandise that have
not been found to be entitled to a separate rate, the cash deposit rate
will be the China-wide rate of 111.73 percent; and (4) for all non-
Chinese exporters of subject merchandise which have not received their
own rate, the cash deposit rate will be the rate applicable to Chinese
exporter(s) that supplied that non-Chinese exporter. These deposit
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further
notice.
Notification to Importers
This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate
regarding the reimbursement off antidumping duties prior to liquidation
of the relevant entries during this period. Failure to comply with this
requirement may result in the Secretary's presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent
assessment of double antidumping duties.
This notice is issued in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and
777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).
Dated: March 6, 2019.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2019-04621 Filed 3-12-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P