COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2020/1173

of 4 June 2020

amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union and Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Union as regards the duration of the period of pre-disclosure

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 290(1) thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union (1), and in particular Articles 7(1) and 23a thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Union (2), and in particular Articles 12(1) and 32b thereof,

Whereas:

(1) On 7 June 2018, Regulation (EU) 2018/825 of the European Parliament and the Council (3) was published, amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 (hereafter ‘the basic anti-dumping Regulation’) and Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 (hereafter ‘the basic anti-subsidy Regulation’).

(2) In order to improve the transparency and predictability of anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations, parties which will be affected by the imposition of provisional anti-dumping and countervailing measures, in particular importers, should be made aware of the impending imposition of such measures. In addition, in investigations where it is not appropriate to impose provisional measures, it is desirable that parties are aware sufficiently in advance of such non-imposition. Therefore, a pre-disclosure period of three weeks was introduced.

(3) According to Article 7(1) of the basic anti-dumping Regulation and Article 12(1) of the basic anti-subsidy Regulation, the Commission had to review by 9 June 2020, whether a substantial rise in imports occurred during the period of pre-disclosure and whether, if such rise did occur, that that rise caused additional injury to the Union industry, despite possible registration or adjustment to the injury margin.

(4) Based on this review, the Commission is required to amend the duration of the period of pre-disclosure to two weeks in the case of a substantial rise of imports which caused additional injury and to four weeks where that did not prove to be the case.

(5) As set out in Articles 7(1) and 23a(2) of the basic anti-dumping Regulation and Article 12(1) and 32b(2) of the basic anti-subsidy Regulation, this review is an obligation for the Commission that could only be exercised once.

(6) Since the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2018/825 on 8 June 2018, the Commission initiated 19 investigations (4) according to Article 5 of the basic anti-dumping Regulation and six investigations according to Article 10 of the basic anti-subsidy Regulation.

(7) For twelve of these investigations, they both passed the provisional stage and there are also import data available for the pre-disclosure period. They could therefore be analysed to review whether a substantial rise in imports occurred during the period of pre-disclosure (5).

(8) The number of cases at the Commission’s disposal to base its assessment on whether a substantial rise in imports has occurred during the period of pre-disclosure, is therefore, and as expected at the time when Regulation (EU) 2018/825 was agreed, limited. However, a clear trend can be seen in those cases.

(9) In six of these twelve investigations, the Commission decided to impose provisional measures. In the other six, parties were informed three weeks before the deadline to impose provisional measures of the Commission’s intention not to do so.

(10) On the basis of statistical data summarised in Table 1 below, the Commission found that the volume of imports from the countries concerned into the Union increased in only two investigations. In the other investigations, a substantial decrease occurred. Table 1 Import volumes per case Case name and number Decision to impose provisional measures Imports originating from Imports during IP (tonnes) Imports during pre-disclosure (tonnes) Rise in imports Mixtures of urea and ammonium nitrate (AD649) Yes Russia 35 297 8 497 – 76 % USA 42 700 0 – 100 % Trinidad 21 183 0 – 100 % total 99 180 8 498 – 91 % Biodiesel (AS650) Yes Indonesia 29 693 24 045 – 19 % Steel road wheels (AD652) Yes PRC 13 763 914 – 93 % Glass fibre fabrics (AD653) No Egypt 882 4 – 100 % PRC 2 161 1 724 – 20 % total 3 043 1 728 – 43 % Continuous filament glass fibre products (AD655) No Egypt 8 295 3 076 – 63 % Bahrein 1 350 327 –76 % total 9 644 3 403 – 65 % Glass fibre fabrics (AS656) No Egypt 882 37 – 96 % PRC 2 161 2 500 16 % total 3 043 2 537 – 17 % Continuous filament glass fibre products (AS657) Yes Egypt 8 295 11 574 38 % Source: Eurostat, verified data provided by the Union industry, and Surveillance II

(11) No substantial rise occurred in the majority of reviewed cases. Moreover, in one of the two cases where a rise did occur, the imports were ultimately not the result of pre-disclosure but the result of the fact that the Commission did not impose provisional duties. Indeed, also under the previous system without pre-disclosure, imports could, in any event, enter the Union without attracting a duty once it was clear to all interested parties that no provisional duties would be imposed due to the expiry of the applicable deadline.

(12) This leaves one case where a further increase incurred in the period of pre-disclosure before the imposition of provisional measures.

(13) Consequently, the Commission concluded that overall no additional injury to the Union industry had been caused by the imports during the pre-disclosure period. Accordingly, the duration of the period of pre-disclosure should be amended to four weeks.

(14) In the absence of any other specific transitional rules regulating the matter, it is appropriate to clarify that all investigations initiated subject to a notice of initiation pursuant to Article 5(9) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 or Article 10(11) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 prior to the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of this Regulation should be unaffected by the prolonged pre-disclosure period. That should ensure legal certainty, provide a reasonable opportunity for interested parties to adapt themselves to the expiry of the old rules and the entry into force of the new rules, and facilitate the efficient, orderly and equitable implementation of Regulations (EU) 2016/1036 and (EU) 2016/1037.

(15) Regulations (EU) 2016/1036 and (EU) 2016/1037 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 Article 19a of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 is replaced with: ‘Article 19a Information at provisional stage 1. Union producers, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the exporting country, may request information on the planned imposition of provisional duties. Requests for such information shall be made in writing within the time limit prescribed in the notice of initiation. Such information shall be provided to those parties four weeks before the imposition of provisional duties. Such information shall include: a summary of the proposed duties for information purposes only, and details of the calculation of the dumping margin and the margin adequate to remove the injury to the Union industry, due account being taken of the need to respect the confidentiality obligations contained in Article 19. Parties shall have a period of three working days from the supply of such information to provide comments on the accuracy of the calculations. 2. In cases where it is intended not to impose provisional duties but to continue the investigation, interested parties shall be informed of the non-imposition of duties four weeks before the expiry of the deadline mentioned in Article 7(1) for the imposition of provisional duties.’.

Article 2 Article 29a of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 is replaced with: ‘Article 29a Information at provisional stage 1. Union producers, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and the country of origin and/or export, may request information on the planned imposition of provisional duties. Requests for such information shall be made in writing within the time limit prescribed in the notice of initiation. Such information shall be provided to those parties four weeks before the imposition of provisional duties. Such information shall include: a summary of the proposed duties for information purposes only, and details of the calculation of the amount of the countervailable subsidy and the margin adequate to remove the injury to the Union industry, due account being taken of the need to respect the confidentiality obligations contained in Article 29. Parties shall have a period of three working days from the supply of such information to provide comments on the accuracy of the calculations. 2. In cases where it is intended not to impose provisional duties but to continue the investigation, interested parties shall be informed of the non-imposition of duties four weeks before the expiry of the deadline mentioned in Article 12(1) for the imposition of provisional duties.’.

Article 3 This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 4 This Regulation shall apply to all investigations for which the notice of initiation pursuant to Article 5(9) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 or Article 10(11) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union after the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 4 June 2020. For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 176, 30.6.2016, p. 21.

(2) OJ L 176, 30.6.2016, p. 55.

(3) Regulation (EU) 2018/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union and Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Union (OJ L 143, 7.6.2018, p. 1).

(4) The Commission follows the computation method used by the WTO. This means that if a case concerning the same product is directed against imports from more than one country, each country covered counts as one separate investigation.

(5) Three cases (Hollow sections originating in the Republic of North Macedonia, Russia, and Turkey) have been terminated, the other 10 cases have just or not yet reached the end of the provisional stage and therefore no reliable statistical data is available for the period of pre-disclosure (date of writing 30 April 2020).