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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 97 / Friday, May 21, 2021 / Rules and Regulations primary aluminum field, 361.103c3iiA defines the field for the country of smelt for the second largest volume of primary aluminum as the country where the second largest volume of new aluminum metal is produced from alumina or aluminum oxide by the electrolytic HallHeroult process. Section 361.103c3iiC
allows filers to state unknown in this field on a temporary basis.
In this document, Commerce is now extending the temporary period originally set to expire on December 23, 2021 to allow for license applicants to state unknown in the fields for countryies of smelt for the largest and second largest volume of primary aluminum until June 28, 2022.
Commerce will begin requiring the requested information for these fields for license applications on or after June 29, 2022, meaning that filers may no longer state unknown for these fields after that date. Section 361.103c3iC and c3iiC have been modified to reflect these changes.
Response to Comments Received on the Final Rule Commerce received four comments on the final rule in response to the Delay of Effective Date Notification. In general, all commenters were supportive of the AIM system, which they believe will help provide additional tools for ensuring a fair and competitive U.S.
marketplace for aluminum products.
The commenters also stated that a robust aluminum monitoring program to effectively and accurately track imports will benefit domestic aluminum companies by helping government officials and industry stakeholders identify trends in trade flows and address aluminum misclassification, transshipment, and evasion of duties.
Commerce is thankful for the comments in support and looks forward to an efficient and expeditious roll-out of the AIM system.
Each of the commenters raised specific comments seeking clarification or improvement on some aspects of the AIM system. Below is a summary of the comments, grouped by issue category, followed by Commerces response.

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1. Countryies of Smelt and Country of Most Recent Cast Reporting Requirements a. Clarification of Reporting Requirements All four commenters generally sought further clarifications regarding the reporting requirements for the license fields for the countryies of smelt for the largest and second largest volume of
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primary aluminum and country of most recent cast.
First, some commenters reiterated comments previously raised in response to the Proposed Rule regarding the reference country of pouring instead of country of most recent cast as was adopted in the Final Rule.
Second, one commenter requested confirmation that the AIM system and aluminum licensing requirements only apply to imported aluminum products.
Third, one commenter argued that Commerce must track the origin of primary and secondary aluminum used in semi-finished products. Another commenter also argued that Commerce should be tracking the source of primary aluminum used in downstream aluminum products.
Fourth, one commenter requested that Commerce clarify that countryies of smelt information can be tracked and reported using traditional inventory management methods recognized under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP.
Fifth, one commenter argued that Commerce should require the identification of the manufacturer of the aluminum, rather than permitting parties to state unknown for this field on the license form. This commenter states that aluminum products are always tagged to identify the manufacturer, so the U.S. importer will always know this information.
Therefore, this commenter argues that there is no need for leeway in identifying the aluminum manufacturer.
Sixth, one commenter requested that country of smelt information not be required to be reported in defined situations where there is no risk of circumvention; where the burdens and costs related to tracking smelt details on a coilor unit-specific basis are not justified; and where the collection of country of smelt information will not add any material insight to the trade in aluminum. This commenter provided two examples. First, for products that are hot-rolled in the United States, exported for further processing or manufacturing that did not include additional hot-rolling, and then reimported back into the United States, the commenter explained that under the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement USMCA, such goods retain their U.S. origin and need not follow the requirements of the U.S. Goods Returned procedures under Chapter 98
of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States HTSUS. The commenter argues that to impose coilspecific smelt-country tracking obligations on such goods that have been hot-rolled in the United States
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when U.S. manufacturing has already transformed a downstream aluminum product that is several steps removed from smelting operations would run counter to Commerces policy of promoting U.S. manufacturing. In addition, the commenter states that requiring such tracking would in turn require significant investment of resources that will affect prices or require U.S. manufacturers to opt not to provide smelt certifications to their foreign customers. Second, this commentor also suggested that country of smelt information not be required if inputs other than primary-smelted aluminum account for 80 percent or more of the metal content of the aluminum product.
Response: With respect to the first issue raised, as explained in the Final Rule and as noted above, pursuant to 361.103c1xiii, xiv, and xv Commerce will require the aluminum import license applicant to provide information in three separate fields: 1
The country where the largest volume of primary aluminum used in the manufacture of the imported aluminum product was smelted referred to as country of smelt for the largest volume of primary aluminum as shorthand, 2 the country where the second largest volume of primary aluminum used in the manufacture of the imported aluminum product was smelted referred to as country of smelt for the second largest volume of primary aluminum as shorthand, and 3 the country where the aluminum used in the imported aluminum product was most recently cast referred to as country of most recent cast for shorthand. As discussed in the Final Rule, Commerce has codified detailed definitions of these terms in 361.103c3. Commerce recognizes that use of the phrase country of pouring in the Proposed Rule did not accurately reflect terminology utilized in the aluminum industry and may have caused some confusion. Therefore, this term is not used in the Final Rule.
Instead, Commerce refers to the country of most recent cast. This is explained in the Final Rule, 85 FR at 8380910, and further defined in 361.103c3iii.
On the second issue raised, Commerce confirms that licenses are only required for imported covered aluminum products coming into the United States. Specifically, as explained in the Final Rule and 361.101b, licenses will be required for imports of basic aluminum products that are entered, or withdrawn for consumption from a bonded warehouse, into the commerce of the United States under
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