CEU, October 6, 1997, No 1951-97

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384-96 of 22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (1), hereinafter referred to as 'the Basic Regulation`, and in particular Article 11 (6) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee,

Whereas:

A. PREVIOUS PROCEDURE

(1) Following a complaint lodged by the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), the Commission, by Regulation (EEC) No 2690-84 (2), imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of artificial corundum originating inter alia in the People's Republic of China. Subsequently the Commission, by Decision 84-650-EEC (3), accepted an undertaking given by the China National Import and Export Corporation and repealed the provisional duties previously imposed.

(2) Following a request by CEFIC, a review of the aforementioned measures was carried out which led to Decision 91-512-EEC (4) by which the Commission accepted undertakings given six Chinese companies authorized by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to export artificial corundum to the Community.

(3) It was subsequently found that other exports were being made from China by other exporters and trade organizations previously unknown to the Commission which led to the imposition, by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2552-93 (5), of a definitive residual anti-dumping duty of 30,8 % on imports of artificial corundum originating in the People's Republic of China, with the exception of imports sold for export to the Community by the six Chinese companies from which price undertakings had been accepted.

(4) Subsequently, the Commission established that the abovementioned undertakings had been violated. The anti-dumping duty was consequently extended to the six Chinese companies concerned by Council Regulation (EC) No 2556-94 (6), with the result that an anti-dumping duty of 30,8 % was applied as from 22 October 1994 to all imports of artificial corundum originating in the People's Republic of China.

B. REVIEW INVESTIGATION

(5) On 27 July 1995, a request for a review was lodged by CEFIC on behalf of Community producers representing a major proportion of the Community production of artificial corundum. This request was made pursuant to Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 3283-94 (7), which was subsequently replaced by the Basic Regulation, on the grounds that the existing definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of artificial corundum originating in the People's Republic of China had not resulted in sufficient movement in resale prices in the Community, the duty having been compensated by a further decrease in the Chinese export prices. Consequently the Community industry was allegedly suffering further injury from the Chinese dumped imports.

(6) As a period of more than four years had elapsed since the adoption of measures following the last review in 1991 and in the light of evidence that indicated changed circumstances regarding both dumping and injury, the Commission considered it appropriate to initiate an interim review covering dumping and injury pursuant to Article 11 (3) of the Basic Regulation.

(7) On 12 January 1996, by a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (8), the Commission announced the review of Regulation (EEC) No 2552-93, pursuant to Article 11 (3) of the Basic Regulation.

(8) The Chinese producers claimed that the request for review contained evidence relating exclusively to the evolution of resale prices in the Community market, while no meaningful information was provided about the complainants' current market situation, as would normally be the case in a complaint giving rise to full investigation of dumping and injury.

In this respect, it should be noted that the complaint contained sufficient evidence of both a sharp increase in the volume and market share of the Chinese imports of artificial corundum combined with a decrease in the Chinese export prices and of a corresponding decline of the Community producers' market share.

(9) The Commission officially advised the producers, exporters and importers known to be concerned, and gave the parties directly concerned the opportunity to make their views known in writing and to request a hearing.

(10) The Commission sent questionnaires to parties known to be concerned and received replies to its questionnaires from the complainant producers and two other producers in the Community, eight Chinese exporters and three importers in the Community. Concerning the market economy country, to be used as analogue country for the purpose of establishing normal value for the People's Republic of China, the Commission received replies from three producers in Brazil and one producer in the United States of America (USA).

(11) The Commission sought and verified all information it deemed necessary for the purposes of a determination and carried out investigations at the premises of the following companies:

(a) Community producers:

- Péchiney Electrométallurgie, France,

- Universal Abrasives, United Kingdom,

- H.C. Starck, Germany;

(b) Importers in the Community:

(i) related importer

- Sinabrasive Import