Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following:
See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details.
AGENCY:
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of aluminum extrusions from Mexico. The period of investigation is January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022.
DATES:
Applicable October 3, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christopher Williams or Thomas Schauer, AD/CVD Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-5166 and (202) 482-0410, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 11, 2024, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register . Commerce invited parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination. On July 22, 2024, Commerce tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven days. The deadline for the final determination is now September 26, 2024.
See Aluminum Extrusions from Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 89 FR 17387 (March 11, 2024) ( Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM), as corrected in Aluminum Extrusions from Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination,89 FR 18894-03 (March 15, 2024) ( Preliminary Determination Correction I), and Aluminum Extrusions from Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination; Correction and Retraction,89 FR 26132 (April 15, 2024) ( Preliminary Determination Correction II).
See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR at 17389.
See Memorandum, “Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings,” dated July 22, 2024.
For a complete description of the events that followed the Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum. The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
See Memorandum, “Decision Memorandum for the Final Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Aluminum Extrusions from Mexico,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are aluminum extrusions from Mexico. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
During the course of this investigation, Commerce received scope comments from interested parties. Commerce issued Preliminary Scope Decision Memoranda to address these comments and set aside a period of time for parties to address scope issues in scope-specific case and rebuttal briefs. Between May 22, 2024, and June 24, 2024, Commerce received post-preliminary determination scope comments from interested parties regarding numerous products and scope-related issues. Between July 20, 2024, and August 19, 2024, Commerce received scope case and rebuttal briefs from numerous interested parties. We made changes to the scope of the investigation from the scope published in the Preliminary Determination, as noted in Appendix I.
See Memoranda, “Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,” dated March 4, 2024, and “Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum II,” dated May 1, 2024 (collectively Preliminary Scope Decision Memoranda).
See Memorandum, “Final Scope Decision Memorandum,” dated concurrently with this notice.
Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received
The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties are discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For a list of the topics discussed, and the issues raised by parties to which we responded in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, see Appendix II.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), between May 7 through May 17, 2024, Commerce conducted verifications of the subsidy information reported by the Government of Mexico, Aluminio de Baja California S.A. de C.V. (ABC) and Aluminio Texcoco S.A. de C.V. (ALUTEX). We used standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting records and original source documents provided by the respondents.
See Memoranda, “Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of the Government of Mexico,” dated May 29, 2024; “Verfication of the Questionnaire Responses of Aluminio Baja California S.A. de C.V.” dated May 23, 2024; and “Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of Aluminio Texcoco, S.A. de C.V.,” dated May 30, 2024.
Methodology
Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, Commerce determines that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an “authority” that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific. For a full description of the methodology underlying our final determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding financial contribution; see also section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
In making this final determination, Commerce relied, in part, on facts otherwise available, including adverse facts available (AFA), pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act. For a full discussion of our application of AFA, see the section “Use of Facts Available and Adverse Inferences” in the accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum.
Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our review and analysis of the information received during verification and comments received from parties, for this final determination, we made certain changes to the countervailable subsidy rate calculations for ABC and ALUTEX and for all other producers/exporters. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
All-Others Rate
Pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, Commerce will determine an all-others rate equal to the weighted average countervailable subsidy rates established for those exporters and/or producers individually investigated, excluding any zero and de minimis countervailable subsidy rates and any rates based entirely under section 776 of the Act.
In this investigation, Commerce calculated individual estimated countervailable subsidy rates for ABC and ALUTEX. The individually calculated rate for ABC is above de minimis. Because the individually calculated rate for ALUTEX is de minimis and the other rates we assigned are based entirely under section 776 of the Act, the estimated weighted-average rate calculated for ABC is the rate assigned to all other producers and exporters, pursuant to section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act.
Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period of January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022:
As discussed in the Prelimiary Determination, Commerce continues to find in this final determination the following company to be cross-owned with Aluminio de Baja California S.A. de C.V.: Transformadora ABC, S.A. de C.V. See Preliminary Determination, 89 FR at 17389, n.17. Further, as discussed in the See Preliminary Determination, Commerce continues to find in this final determination the following companies to be cross-owned with Aluminio Texcoco S.A. de C.V.: Extrusiones Metálicas S.A. de C.V., NEO Aluminio, S.A. de C.V., and Fundi-met, S.A. de C.V. Id. at 17389, n.18, as corrected in See Preliminary Determination Correction I and See Preliminary Determination Correction II.
| Company | Subsidy rate (percent ad valorem) |
|---|---|
| Aluminio de Baja California S.A. de C.V | 1.69 |
| Aluminio Texcoco S.A. de C.V | ** 0.10 |
| Merit Aluminum Corporation | * 77.84 |
| Merit Stamping | * 77.84 |
| Tubos y Perfiles de Aluminio | * 77.84 |
| All Others | 1.69 |
| * This rate is based on AFA. | |
| ** De minimis. |