WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/DS402/3 
9 April 2010 
 
 (10-1874) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
UNITED STATES – USE OF ZEROING IN ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES  
INVOLVING PRODUCTS FROM KOREA 
 
Request for the Establishment of a Panel by Korea
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 8 April 2010, from the delegation of Korea to the 
Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated pursuant to Article 6.2 of the DSU.  
_______________ 
 
  Upon instructions from my authorities, and on be half of the Government of the Republic of 
Korea ("Korea"), I hereby request, pursuant to Articles 4 and 6 of the Understanding on Rules and 
Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes  (the "DSU"), Article XXIII of the General 
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994  (the "GATT 1994"), and Article 17.4 of the Agreement on 
Implementation of Article VI of the Ge neral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994  (the 
"Anti-Dumping Agreement"), that a panel be est ablished with respect to certain anti-dumping 
measures imposed by the United States on imports of  Stainless Steel Plate in Coils, Stainless Steel 
Sheet and Strip in Coils, and Diamond Sawblades an d Parts Thereof from the Republic of Korea.   
 
 On 24 November 2009, Korea requested consu ltations with the United States pursuant to 
Article 4 of the DSU, Article XXII:1 of the GATT 1994, and Article 17 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement with regard to the practice, commonly re ferred to as "zeroing," by which the United States 
Department of Commerce ("USDOC") treats trans actions with negative dumping margins as having 
margins equal to zero for purposes of determini ng the weighted-average dumping margins in the 
anti-dumping investigations that resulted in the abov e-referenced measures. Co nsultations were held 
in Washington, DC, on 22 December 2009 and in Geneva on 2 February 2010. While these 
consultations allowed a better unde rstanding of the Parties' positions , they failed to resolve the 
dispute.   
  The Government of Korea hereby requests that a panel be established concerning the 
USDOC's use of the practice of zeroing negativ e dumping margins in calculating overall weighted 
average margins of dumping in final determin ations and amended fina l determinations in 
investigations in the following three specific cases involving Korean products:   
 
(1) Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from the Republic of Korea (A-580-831); 
 
(2) Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils fr om the Republic of Korea (A-580-834); and 
 (3) Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the Republic of Korea (A-580-855). 
 
The effect of the USDOC's zeroing practice in the cases listed above has been either to artificially 
create margins of dumping where none would otherwi se have been found, or to inflate margins of 
dumping. WT/DS402/3 
Page 2  
 
   The zeroing methodology that the USDOC used in the anti-dumping investigations in these 
cases is virtually identical to the methodology that wa s held to be inconsistent with the Anti-Dumping 
Agreement in European Communities 
– Anti-Dumping Duties on Imports of Cotton-Type Bed Linen 
from India  (WT/DS141/R and WT/DS141/AB/R), and also in United States – Final Dumping 
Determination on Softwood Lumber from Canada  (WT/DS264/R and WT/DS264/AB/R). The United 
States has announced a change in the dumping margin calculation methodology employed in new 
antidumping investigations, as a result of which th e United States will no longer utilize the practice of 
zeroing in any investigations that were pending as of 22 February 2007.1  However, the United States 
did not apply this change in methodolo gy in the three specific cases listed above. 
 
 I have attached a list of the determinati ons and anti-dumping duty orders that the United 
States has issued to date in the antidumping investiga tions in the three cases that are the subject of this 
request.   
 
 The Government of Korea considers that the meas ures at issue in this dispute are inconsistent 
with the obligations of the United States under th e Anti-Dumping Agreement.  Specifically, Korea 
considers that each of these measures is inconsiste nt with the first sentence of Article 2.4.2 of the 
Anti-Dumping Agreement because the United States' use of "zeroing" was not consistent with the 
methodologies for establishing margins of dumping described in that provision, and artificially 
inflated the margins of dumping by precluding a determination for the product as a whole.   
  Korea hereby requests that a panel be established pursuant to Article XXIII of the 
GATT 1994, Articles 4 and 6 of the DSU and Articl e 17.4 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement with the 
standard terms of reference set forth in Article 7 of the DSU. Korea asks that this request for the 
establishment of a panel be placed on the agenda of the meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body 
scheduled for 20 April 2010.   
  
 
_______________ 
 
  
                                                     
 
1 See Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin During an 
Antidumping Investigation; Final Modification , 71 Fed. Reg. 77722 (27 December 2006); and Antidumping 
Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margins in Antidumping Investigations; Change in Effective Date of Final Modification , 72 Fed. Reg. 3783 (26 January 2007).  WT/DS402/3 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
[Annex] 
  A. Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from th e Republic of Korea (Case No. A-580-831)
 
 
1. Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value  
 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Plate 
in Coils ("SSPC") from the Republic of Korea , 64 Fed. Reg. 15444 (31 March 1999), 
as amended by  Notice of Amendment of Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From the Republic of Korea; and Stainless 
Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils From the Republic of Korea, 66 Fed. Reg. 45279 (28 
August 2001) 
 
2. Final Injury Determination  
 
Certain Stainless Steel Plate From Belgium, Canada, Italy, Korea, South Africa, and 
Taiwan, 64 Fed. Reg. 25515 (12 May 1999) 
 
3. Antidumping Order  
 
Antidumping Duty Orders; Certain Stainl ess Steel Plate in Coils From Belgium, 
Canada, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Sout h Africa, and Taiwan, 64 Fed. Reg. 27756 
(21 May 1999), as amended by Notice of  Amended Antidumping Duty Orders; 
Certain Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Republic of 
Korea, South Africa, and Taiwan, 68 Fed. Reg. 11520 (11 March 2003), as amended 
by Notice of Amended Antidumping Duty Orders; Certain Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, and Taiwan, 68 Fed. Reg. 16117 (2 April 2003), and as amended by Notice of Correction 
to the Amended Antidumping Duty Orders; Certain Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, and Taiwan, 68 
Fed. Reg. 20114 (24 April 2003) 
 
B. Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils from the Republic of Korea (Case No. A-580-834)
 
 
1. Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value  
 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Stainless Steel Sheet 
and Strip in Coils From the Republic of Ko rea, 64 Fed. Reg. 30664 (8 June 1999), as 
amended by Notice of Amendment of Final De terminations of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value: Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From  the Republic of Korea; and Stainless Steel 
Sheet and Strip in Coils From the Republic of Korea, 66 Fed. Reg. 45279 
(28 August 2001)  
 
2. Final Injury Determination  
 
Certain Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip Fr om France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The 
Republic of Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and The United Kingdom, 64 Fed. Reg. 40896 
(28 July 1999) 
 WT/DS402/3 
Page 4  
 
  3. Antidumping Order
 
 
Notice of Antidumping Duty Order; Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip in Coils From 
United Kingdom, Taiwan and South Korea, 64 Fed. Reg. 40555 (27 July 1999) 
 
C. Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the Republic of Korea (Case No. A-580-855)  
 
1. Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value  
 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Determination of Critical Circumstances: Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the Republic of Korea, 71 Fed. Reg. 29310 (22 May 2006) as amended by 
Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Diamond Sawblades 
and Parts Thereof From the Republic of Korea, 75 Fed. Reg. 14126 (24 March 2010) 
 
2. Final Injury Determination
 
 
Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from China and Korea, Inv. Nov. 731-TA-
1092 and 1093 (Final) (Remand), USITC Pub. 4007 (May 2008), approved in Diamond Manufacturers Coalition v. United St ates, CIT Court No. 06-00247, 2009 
Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 6; Slip Op. 2009-5 (13 January 2009)  
 
3. Antidumping Order 
 
 
Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof From th e People's Republic of China and the 
Republic of Korea: Antidumpi ng Duty Orders, 74 Fed. Reg. 57145 (4 November 
2009) 
 
 
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