62021CJ0747_SUM
Joined Cases C‑747/21 P and C‑748/21 P
PAO SeverstalandNovolipetsk Steel PJSC (NLMK)
v
European Commission
Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 8 June 2023
(Appeal – Dumping – Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1328 – Imports of certain cold-rolled flat steel products originating in the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation – Definitive anti-dumping duty – Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 – Article 18(1) – Necessary information – Absence – Article 9(4) – ‘Lesser duty rule’ – Target price – Profit margin of the Union industry – Establishment – Selection of the most recent representative year – Article 2(9) – Construction of the export price – Injury to the Union industry – Application by analogy – Calculation of the underselling margin – Statement of reasons)
Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Course of the investigation – Use of the information available where the undertaking refuses cooperation – Conditions – Refusal of access to the necessary information – Concept of necessary information – Assessment carried out in the light of all the specific circumstances of each individual investigation
(Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1994 Anti-Dumping Agreement), Art. 6.8; Council Regulation No 1225/2009, Art. 18(1) to (3))
(see paragraphs 35-39)
Appeal – Grounds – Inadequate statement of reasons – Scope of the obligation to state reasons – Obligation for the General Court to clearly and unequivocally disclose its reasoning
(Art. 256(1), second subpara., TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 36 and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 117(m))
(see paragraphs 40, 41, 83)
Appeal – Grounds – Incorrect assessment of the facts and evidence – Inadmissibility – Review by the Court of Justice of the assessment of the facts and evidence – Possible only where the facts or evidence have been distorted – Ground of appeal alleging distortion of the clear sense of the evidence – Need to indicate precisely the evidence alleged to have been distorted and show the errors of appraisal which led to that distortion – Requirement that the distortion be obvious from the documents in the file
(Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice; Art. 168(1)(d))
(see paragraphs 44-59, 96)
Appeal – Grounds – Plea raised for the first time in the context of the appeal – Inadmissibility
(Art. 256(1) and (2) TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.)
(see paragraph 70)
Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Injury – Profit margin used when calculating the target price – Margin reasonably to be counted on in the absence of dumping – Discretion of the Commission – Taking into account the profit margin of the Union industry during a year outside the period considered – Whether permissible
(European Parliament and Council Regulation 2016/1036, Art. 9(4); Council Regulation No 1225/2009, Art. 9(4))
(see paragraphs 74-81)
Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Injury – Establishing a causal link – Obligations of the institutions – Calculation of the price undercutting of the imports at issue – Recourse to a constructed export price – Whether permissible
(Council Regulation No 1225/2009, Art. 2(9))
(see paragraphs 90-92)
Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Injury – Establishing a causal link – Obligations of the institutions – Calculation of the price undercutting of the imports at issue – Obligation to make a fair comparison between the price of the product concerned and the price of the like product of the Union industry – Comparison to be made between prices obtained at the same level of trade
(Council Regulation No 1225/2009, Arts 1(1) and 3(2))
(see paragraph 93)
Appeal – Pleas – Inadequate or contradictory grounds – Admissibility – Scope of the obligation to state reasons
(Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.)
(see paragraph 97)
See the text of the decision.