PURPOSE: to make targeted amendments to the Basic
Anti-Dumping Regulation and to the Basic Anti-Subsidy
Regulation.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament
and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European
Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative
procedure and on an equal footing with Council. BACKGROUND : the
Commission proposal covers targeted amendments to Regulation
(EU) 2016/1036 on protection against dumped imports from
countries that are not members of the European Union (the Basic
Anti-Dumping Regulation) and to Regulation
(EU) 2016/1037 on protection against subsidised imports from
countries that are not members of the European Union (the Basic
Anti-Subsidy Regulation).
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: taking into account the results of
the public consultation, the independent study and the Commission's
extensive practice in the use of the instruments, an impact
assessment was carried out in Spring 2016, when various options
were analysed. The preferred solutions form the basis for
this proposal.
CONTENT : the proposal provides as follows:
1) Amendments to the Basic Anti-Dumping
Regulation:
Determination of normal value in the presence of
market distortions: the
Regulation stipulates the basis on which normal value should be
determined in the case of imports from non-market economy
countries. In view of developments with respect to certain
countries that are Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
it is proposed to amend the method used to calculate the normal
value and the dumping margin for the countries
concerned.
For WTO members, the normal value is normally
determined on the basis of the domestic prices of the like product
or on the basis of a constructed normal value. There are
circumstances, however, in which the domestic prices and costs
would not provide a reasonable basis to determine the normal
value. This could be the case, for instance, when prices or
costs are not the result of free market forces because they are
affected by government intervention.
In such circumstances, the Commission considers that
it would be inappropriate to use domestic prices and costs to
determine the value at which the like product should be normally
sold. Accordingly, a new provision stipulates that the normal
value would instead be constructed on the basis of costs of
production and sale reflecting undistorted prices or
benchmarks.
For this purpose, the sources that may be used would
include undistorted international prices, costs, or benchmarks, or
corresponding costs of production and sale in an appropriate
representative country with a similar level of economic development
as the exporting country.
This methodology would allow the Commission to
establish and measure the actual magnitude of dumping being
practised in normal market conditions absent
distortions.
For the sake of transparency and efficiency, the
Commission services intend to issue public reports describing
the specific situation concerning the market circumstances in any
given country or sector. Such reports and the evidence on which
it is based would also be placed on the file of any investigation
relating to that country or sector so that all interested parties
would be in a position to express their views and
comments.
Transition from the current system to the new
one: the proposal introduces
specific disciplines ensuring that the entry into force of the new
system would not create legal uncertainty for ongoing cases or
unduly affect existing measures. Thus, the proposal makes clear
that the new system would only apply to cases initiated upon entry
into force of the amended provisions. Any given ongoing
anti-dumping investigation at the time of entry into force would
remain governed by the current disciplines.
2) Amendment to the Basic Anti-Subsidy
Regulation: experience shows that the
actual magnitude of subsidisation is not always evident at the time
of initiation. Yet, those subsidies clearly provide an unfair
benefit the exporters concerned, which allow them to sell at
injurious prices to the EU market.
For reasons of due process and transparency, the
proposal clarifies that, when such subsidies are found in the
course of any given investigation or review, the Commission
will offer additional consultations to the country of origin and/or
export concerned with regard to such subsidies identified in the
course of the investigation. In these situations, the Commission
will send to the country of origin and/or export a summary of the
main elements concerning these other subsidies to ensure meaningful
consultations.