COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0M(92) 200 final 
Brussels, 20 May 1992 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) 
amending Regulation (EEC) No 2200/90 by imposing an additiona 
anti-dumping duty on imports of silicon metal originating in 
the People's Republic of China 
(presented by the Commission) 
- 2 -
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1. By Council Regulation (EEC) No 2200/90, an anti-dumping duty of 
ECU 198 per tonne was imposed on imports of silicon metal originating in 
the People's Republic of China. 
2. Subsequently, the Commission received a complaint lodged by the Liaison 
Committee of Ferroalloy Industries in the European Community. Since this 
complaint contained sufficient evidence that the duty had been borne by 
the exporter, the Commission announced the initiation of an 
investigation, provided for in Article 13(11) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2423/88, in a notice published in the Official Journal of the 
European Communities on 18 October 1991. 
3. In the absence of satisfactory cooperation from both exporters and 
Community importers, the Commission was obliged to reach its findings on 
the basis of the facts available. In this case, customs statistics were 
considered to be the fairest source of facts and the prices revealed by 
the relevant statistics were corroborated by the information obtained 
from those Community importers who cooperated and from the 
representative of user industries. 
4. It would appear that, by reducing their prices for export to the 
Community after imposition of an anti-dumping duty, exporters of silicon 
metal originating in the People's Republic of China have borne the 
anti-dumping duty. 
5. The amount of absorption of duty was calculated on the basis of the 
difference between the import price of silicon metal originating in the 
People's Republic of China during the period of the original 
investigation and the import price during the period following 
imposition of the anti-dumping duty. This came to a figure of 178%. 
6. Given that the imposition of this duty had been considered to be in the 
Community's interest, it follows that a measure aimed at restoring the 
effect of the duty concerned is in the Community's interest. 
- 3 -
7. In this case, since the decrease in the import price as a percentage of 
the amount of the ant i-dumping duty had been calculated at 178%, the 
anti-dumping duty has been borne completely. An additional anti-dumping 
duty of an amount equal to the existing duty (ECU 198 per tonne) must 
therefore be imposed. 
8. It is therefore proposed that the Council amend Regulation (EEC) No 
2200/90 and impose a duty of ECU 396 per tonne on imports of silicon 
metal originating in the People's Republic of China. 
- 4 -
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) 
amending Regulation (EEC) No 2200/90 by imposing an additional 
anti-dumping duty on imports of silicon metal originating in 
the People's Republic of China 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, 
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 of 11 July 1988 on 
protection against dumped or subsidized imports from countries not members 
of the European Economic Community1, and in particular Articles 12 and 
13(11) thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after 
consultation within the Advisory Committee as provided for under the 
abovementioned Regulation, 
Whereas: 
A. PROCEDURE 
1. By Council Regulation (EEC) No 2200/902, a definitive anti-dumping 
duty of ECU 198 per tonne was imposed on imports of silicon metal 
originating in the People's Republic of China. 
2. The Commission received a complaint lodged by the Liaison Committee 
of Ferroalloy Industries in the European Community on behalf of all 
Community producers of silicon metal alleging that all or part of 
the anti-dumping duty had been borne by the exporters concerned. 
1 OJ No L 209, 2.8.1988, p. 1. 
2 OJ No L 198, 28.7.1990, p. 57. 
- 5 -
3. Since the complaint contained sufficient evidence of absorption of 
anti-dumping duty by an exporter, the Commission announced the 
initiation of an investigation provided for in Article 13(11) of 
Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88, in a notice published in the Official 
Journal of the European Communities^. 
4. The Commission officially advised the exporters and importers known 
to be concerned and gave the parties concerned the opportunity to 
make their views known in writing. 
5. None of the exporters and only three of the importers concerned, 
accounting for a fraction of the total imports, made their views 
known in wr i t ing. 
6. Only one organization representing user industries made comments. 
7. None of the interested parties requested the Commission to review 
Regulation (EEC) No 2200/90. Moreover, on the basis of the 
information available, the Commission did not find that changed 
circumstances justified the need for such a review on the 
Commission's initiative. 
8. The investigation into absorption of the anti-dumping duty by the 
exporters was concerned with the comparison between the period 
1 January 1988 to 31 December 1988, which had been taken into 
account for calculation of the anti-dumping duty, and the period 
starting from imposition of a provisional anti-dumping duty until 
publication of the notice of initiation of an investigation, i.e. 
from 1 April 1990 to 30 September 1991. 
3 0J No C 273, 18.10.1991, p. 20 
- 6 -
B. PRODUCT 
9. The product under consideration is silicon metal falling within 
CN code 2804 69 00, as in the original procedure. 
C. ABSORPTION OF THE ANT I-DUMPING DUTY BY THE EXPORTER 
I. Existence of absorption of duty 
10. In the absence of satisfactory cooperation from either exporters or 
Community importers, the Commission based its findings on the facts 
available in accordance with Article 7(7)(b) of Regulation (EEC) No 
2423/88. 
II. A valid assessment of the import price of a raw material, such as 
the product concerned, can generally be made on the basis of 
customs statistics. In this case, moreover, the prices revealed by 
the statistics were corroborated by the information obtained from 
those Community importers who cooperated and from the 
representative of user industries. 
12. That information shows clearly that, following the imposition of a 
provisional anti-dumping duty on silicon metal originating in the 
People's Republic of China by Commission Regulation (EEC) 
No 720/904, the import price at Community borders (the cif price 
before payment of customs duties and anti-dumping duty) of silicon 
metal originating in the People's Republic of China fell 
considerably. 
4 OJ No L 80, 27.3.1990, p. 9. 
- 7 -
13. In these circumstances, it would appear that, by reducing their 
prices for export to the Community after imposition of an 
anti-dumping duty, the exporters of silicon metal originating in 
the People's Republic of China have borne the anti-dumping duty 
either completely or partially. 
11. Amount of absorption of duty 
14. The amount of absorption of duty is calculated on the basis of the 
difference between the import price of silicon metal originating in 
the People's Republic of China during the period 1 January 1988 to 
31 December 1988, the period of the initial investigation, and the 
import price during the period following imposition of a 
provisional anti-dumping duty, from 1 April 1990 to 30 September 
1991. 
15. Expressed as a percentage of the amount of duty, the amount of 
absorption as defined above came to an average monthly figure of 
178% for the period from 1 April 1990 to 30 September 1991. 
In view of the extent of absorption, the effect of a possible 
variation in the cif costs (cost, insurance, freight) need not be 
taken into account. 
D. OTHER FACTORS 
16. The Commission has examined two additional factors which might have 
had a bearing on the evolution of the export price of silicon metal 
originating in the People's Republic of China. 
- 8 -
17. Firstly, the organization representing user industries alleged that 
the quality of the product concerned justified a price lower than 
that of the same product originating in other countries. Since this 
does not constitute a new fact in relation to the situation at the 
time of the original investigation, the alleged difference in 
quality cannot justify the considerable decrease in the export 
price of silicon metal originating in the People's Republic of 
China following the imposition of an anti-dumping duty. In 
addition, it has been established that the difference between the 
export price to the Community of silicon metal originating in the 
People's Republic of China and of the same metal originating in 
other countries increased during the investigation period. 
18. Secondly, the organization representing user industries suggested 
that the decrease in the import price of silicon metal originating 
in the People's Republic of China could be linked to an overall 
trend in the market for imports of the product concerned into the 
Community. However, examination of the customs statistics clearly 
reveals a considerable fall in the price of silicon metal 
originating in the People's Republic of China while the import 
price of the metal from other countries remained stable over the 
same period. 
E. COMMUNITY INTEREST 
19. The purpose of the additional anti-dumping duty provided for in 
Article 13(11) of Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is to compensate for 
the amount of the anti-dumping duty borne by the exporter. 
20. The Commission has no reason to believe that the findings 
concerning Community interest expressed in recitals 18 to 21 of 
Regulation (EEC) No 2200/90 need to be amended. 
- 9 -
21. Moreover, given, firstly, that the absorption of an anti-dumping 
duty by the exporter cancels out the effect of the anti-dumping 
duty and therefore prevents the removal of the injury suffered by 
the Community industry, and, secondly, that the imposition of this 
duty had been considered to be in the Community's interest, a 
measure aimed at restoring the effect of the said duty is therefore 
in the Community's interest. 
F. ADDITIONAL ANT I-DUMPING DUTY 
22. Article I3(11)(a) of Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 limits the 
additional amount to strict compensation for the amount of 
anti-dumping duty borne by the exporter which cannot, logically, be 
greater than the amount of the anti-dumping duty concerned. 
23. In this case, since the decrease in the import price as a 
percentage of the amount of anti-dumping duty has been calculated 
at 178%, the ant i-dumping duty has been borne completely. An 
additional anti-dumping duty of an amount equal to the existing 
duty (ECU 198 per tonne) must therefore be imposed. 
24. Since the anti-dumping duty currently in force is fixed at ECU 198 
per tonne, an additional duty for the same amount must be imposed. 
For practical reasons, the imposition of this additional duty takes 
the form of an amendment to Regulation (EEC) No 2200/90. This does 
not constitute a modification of the anti-dumping duty within the 
meaning of Article 15(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 and, 
therefore, the expiry date of the anti-dumping duty, including the 
additional duty, remains unchanged. The total amount of the 
anti-dumping duty imposed on imports of silicon metal originating 
in the People's Republic of China must, therefore, be ECU 396 per 
tonne, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
- 10 -
Article 1 
Article 1(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2200/90 is hereby replaced by the 
following: 
"2. The duty shall be ECU 396 per tonne of the imported product." 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its 
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in 
a I I Member States. 
Done at Brussels, For the Council 
The President 
- 11 -
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(92) 200 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN il 02 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-92-214-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-44042-2 
Office for Officiai Publications of the Euxopean Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg