83 FR 4187 - Pure Magnesium From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2016-2017

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 20 (January 30, 2018)

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure magnesium from the People's Republic of China (China), covering the period May 1, 2016, through April 30, 2017. Commerce preliminarily determines that Tianjin Magnesium International, Co., Ltd. (TMI) and Tianjin Magnesium Metal, Co., Ltd. (TMM) (collectively, TMI/TMM) had no shipments of subject merchandise during the period of review (POR). We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4187-4188]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01740]



[[Page 4187]]

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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; 2016-2017

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure magnesium 
from the People's Republic of China (China), covering the period May 1, 
2016, through April 30, 2017. Commerce preliminarily determines that 
Tianjin Magnesium International, Co., Ltd. (TMI) and Tianjin Magnesium 
Metal, Co., Ltd. (TMM) (collectively, TMI/TMM) had no shipments of 
subject merchandise during the period of review (POR). We invite 
interested parties to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable January 30, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Terpstra, Office III, 
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-3965.

Background

    On May 1, 2017, Commerce published a notice of opportunity to 
request an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure 
magnesium from China for the POR.\1\ On July 6, 2017, 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\ Commerce has exercised its discretion to toll deadlines for 
the duration of the closure of the Federal Government from January 20 
through 22, 2018. If the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in 
accordance with Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the next 
business day. The revised deadline for the preliminary results of this 
review is now February 5, 2018.\4\
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    \1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review, 82 FR 20315 (May 1, 2017).
    \2\ See letter from U.S. Magnesium LLC (the petitioner), ``Pure 
Magnesium from the People's Republic of China: Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated May 31, 2017.
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 82 FR 31292 (July 6, 2017). In the 2011-2012 
administrative review of the order, Commerce determined TMM and TMI 
to be collapsed and treated as a single company for purposes of the 
proceeding and, 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.
    \4\ See Memorandum for The Record from Christian Marsh, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of 
the Federal Government'' (Tolling Memorandum), dated January 23, 
2018. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been 
extended by 3 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 TMI and TMM certifying that 
they did not have sales, shipments, or exports of subject merchandise 
to the United States during the POR.\5\ On July 10, 2017, 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 TMI and/or TMM.\6\ This query returned no entries during 
the POR.\7\ Additionally, in order to examine TMI's and TMM'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.\8\ We 
received no notification from CBP of any such entries of subject 
merchandise concerning these companies.\9\
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    \5\ 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, 2017, at first 
attachment to the letter. 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 4, 2017, at 
first attachment to the letter.
    \6\ See Memorandum, ``U.S. Customs and Border Protection Data,'' 
dated October 16, 2017 (No Shipments Memo), at Attachment 1.
    \7\ Id. at Attachment 2.
    \8\ Id. at Attachment 3. See also CBP message 6273308, dated 
October 16, 2017.
    \9\ See No Shipments Memo, at Attachment 4.
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    Because we have not received information to the contrary from CBP, 
consistent with our practice, we

[[Page 4188]]

preliminarily determine that TMI/TMM had no shipments during the POR. 
In addition, we find it is not appropriate to rescind this review with 
respect to TMI/TMM 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.\10\
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    \10\ 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.\11\ 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.\12\ Parties who submit arguments in this 
proceeding 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.\13\ 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).\14\ 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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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1)(2).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2), (d)(2).
    \14\ 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 issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will 
be limited to those raised in the respective case 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, not later than 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.\15\ 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.\16\
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    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
    \16\ 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 the 
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: January 24, 2018.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2018-01740 Filed 1-29-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P