[Federal Register: September 27, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 188)]
[Page 49351-49353]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-508-810]
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination: Pure
Magnesium From Israel
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of final affirmative determination in a countervailing
duty investigation.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) has made a final
[[Page 49352]]
determination that countervailable subsidies are being provided to
producers and exporters of pure magnesium from Israel. For information
on the estimated countervailing duty rates, please see the ``Suspension
of Liquidation'' section of this notice.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 27, 2001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Annika O'Hara or Melanie Brown, Office
of AD/CVD Enforcement 1, Import Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, Room 3096, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3798 or 482-4987,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Applicable Statute and Regulations
Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act), are references to the provisions effective
January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to the Act
by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). In addition, unless
otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are
to 19 CFR part 351 (April 2000).
Petitioners
The petitioners in this investigation are the Magnesium Corporation
of America (Magcorp), the United Steel Workers of America (USWA), USWA
Local 8319, and Concerned Employees of Northwest Alloys, Inc.
(collectively, petitioners).
Case History
Since the publication of the preliminary determination in the
Federal Register (see Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination: Pure Magnesium from Israel, 66 FR 11144 (February 22,
2001) (Preliminary Determination)), the following events have occurred:
On March 13, 2001, we aligned the countervailing duty investigation
of pure magnesium from Israel with the companion antidumping duty
investigation at the request of the petitioners, in accordance with
section 705(a)(1) of the Act. See Notice of Postponement of Preliminary
Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium From
Israel, the Russian Federation, and the People's Republic of China and
Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination With Final
Antidumping Duty Determinations: Pure Magnesium From Israel, 66 FR
14546 (March 13, 2001).
We conducted verification of the questionnaire responses submitted
by the only responding company in this investigation, Dead Sea
Magnesium Ltd. (DSM) from May 6-8, 2001.
On May 14, 2001, based on a request from DSM (which is also the
respondent in the companion antidumping duty investigation), we
postponed the final antidumping determination until September 12, 2001.
Because of the alignment of the countervailing duty investigation with
the antidumping duty investigation, the final determination in the
countervailing duty investigation was also postponed until September
12, 2001. See Notice of Postponement of Final Antidumping Determination
and Extension of Provisional Measures and Postponement of Final
Countervailing Duty Determination: Pure Magnesium From Israel; and
Notice of Postponement of Final Antidumping Determination: Pure
Magnesium From the Russian Federation, 66 FR 24324 (May 14, 2001).
On June 21 and 22, 2001, we received case briefs from DSM, the
petitioners, and Rossborough Manufacturing Co. L.P. (Rossborough), an
interested party in this investigation. Rebuttal briefs were filed by
DSM and the petitioners on June 28 and 29, 2001. No hearing was held
because the parties withdrew their earlier requests for a hearing.
Although the deadline for this determination was originally
September 12, 2001, in light of the events of September 11, 2001 and
the subsequent closure of the Federal Government for reasons of
security, the timeframe for issuing this determination has been
extended by two days.
Scope of Investigation
The scope of this investigation includes imports of pure magnesium
products, regardless of chemistry, form, or size, including, without
limitation, ingots, raspings, granules, turnings, chips, powder, and
briquettes.
Pure magnesium includes: (1) Products that contain at least 99.95
percent primary magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as ``ultra-
pure'' magnesium); (2) products that contain less than 99.95 percent
but not less than 99.8 percent primary magnesium, by weight (generally
referred to as ``pure'' magnesium); (3) chemical combinations of pure
magnesium and other material(s) in which the pure magnesium content is
50 percent or greater, but less than 99.8 percent, by weight, that do
not conform to an ``ASTM Specification for Magnesium Alloy'' \1\
(generally referred to as ``off-specification pure'' magnesium); and
(4) physical mixtures of pure magnesium and other material(s) in which
the pure magnesium content is 50 percent or greater, but less than 99.8
percent, by weight. Excluded from this order are mixtures containing 90
percent or less pure magnesium by weight and one or more of certain
non-magnesium granular materials to make magnesium-based reagent
mixtures. The non-magnesium granular materials which the Department is
aware are used to make such excluded reagents are: lime, calcium metal,
calcium silicon, calcium carbide, calcium carbonate, carbon, slag
coagulants, fluorspar, nephaline syenite, feldspar, aluminum, alumina
(Al2O3), calcium aluminate, soda ash,
hydrocarbons, graphite, coke, silicon, rare earth metals/mischmetal,
cryolite, silica/fly ash, magnesium oxide, periclase, ferroalloys,
dolomitic lime, and colemanite. A party importing a magnesium-based
reagent which includes one or more materials not on this list is
required to seek a scope clarification from the Department before such
a mixture may be imported free of countervailing duties.
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\1\ The meaning of this term is the same as that used by the
American Society for Testing and Materials in its Annual Book of
ASTM Standards: Volume 01.02 Aluminum and Magnesium Alloys.
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The merchandise subject to this investigation is classifiable under
items 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, and 8104.30.00 of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings
are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.
For a full discussion of scope comments and determinations, see the
accompanying September 14, 2001 memorandum from Richard W. Moreland,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, to Faryar
Shirzad, Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, entitled
``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination in the
Countervailing Duty Investigation of Pure Magnesium from Israel
(``Decision Memorandum''), Comments 9 and 10.
Injury Test
Because Israel is a ``Subsidies Agreement Country'' within the
meaning of section 701(b) of the Act, the International Trade
Commission (ITC) is required to determine whether imports of the
subject merchandise from Israel materially injure, or threaten material
injury to, a U.S. industry. On December 13, 2000, the ITC published its
preliminary determination finding that there is a reasonable indication
that an industry in the United States is being materially injured by
reason of imports from Israel of the subject merchandise (see Pure
Magnesium from China, Israel,
[[Page 49353]]
and Russia; Determinations, 65 FR 77910).
Period of Investigation
The period for which we are measuring subsidies (the POI) is
calendar year 1999.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties to
this administrative review are addressed in the Decision Memorandum,
which is hereby adopted by this notice. Attached to this notice as
Appendix I is a list of the issues which parties have raised and to
which we have responded in the Decision Memorandum. Parties can find a
complete discussion of all issues raised in this review and the
corresponding recommendations in this public memorandum which is on
file in the Central Records Unit, room B-099 of the main Department
building. In addition, a complete version of the Decision Memorandum
can be accessed directly on the Internet at https://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/
under the heading ``Israel.'' The paper copy and electronic version of
the Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 705(c)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we have
calculated an individual rate for DSM. Because DSM is the only
respondent in this case, its rate serves as the all-others rate. We
determine that the total estimated net subsidy rate is 16.52 percent ad
valorem for DSM and for all other producers and exporters of the
subject merchandise.
In accordance with our Preliminary Determination, we instructed the
Customs Service to suspend liquidation of all entries of pure magnesium
from Israel, which were entered or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after February 14, 2001, the date of the publication
of our Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. In accordance
with section 703(d) of the Act, we instructed Customs to discontinue
the suspension of liquidation for merchandise entered on or after June
22, 2001, but to continue the suspension of liquidation of entries made
between February 14, 2001 and June 21, 2001.
We will issue a countervailing duty order and reinstate the
suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of the Act if the ITC
issues a final affirmative injury determination and will require a cash
deposit of estimated countervailing duties for such entries of
merchandise in the amounts indicated above. If the ITC determines that
material injury, or threat of material injury, does not exist, this
proceeding will be terminated and all estimated duties deposited or
securities posted as a result of the suspension of liquidation will be
refunded or canceled.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the
ITC of our determination. In addition, we are making available to the
ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information related to this
investigation. We will allow the ITC access to all privileged and
business proprietary information in our files, provided the ITC
confirms that it will not disclose such information, either publicly or
under an Administrative Protective Order (APO), without the written
consent of the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information
In the event that the ITC issues a final negative injury
determination, this notice will serve as the only reminder to parties
subject to an APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction of
proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR
351.305(a)(3). Failure to comply is a violation of the APO.
This determination is published pursuant to sections 705(d) and
777(i) of the Act.
Dated: September 14, 2001.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
Appendix
List of Comments and Issues in the Decision Memorandum
Comment 1: The Department failed to take into account the effects of
the privatization of ICL.
Comment 2: The Department should change the AUL used to allocate
non-recurring subsidies over time.
Comment 3: The infrastructure grant is not countervailable.
Comment 4: The Department should treat DSM's ECIL grant as multiple
grants.
Comment 5: The Department should use uncreditworthy discount rates
to allocate benefits.
Comment 6: Use of variable discount rates.
Comment 7: The Department should correct DSW's 1993 interest rate
Comment 8: The Department should change its calculation of the
benefits conveyed by the EIRD grants
Comment 9: Reconsideration of industry standing
Comment 10: Scope
[FR Doc. 01-24232 Filed 9-26-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P