ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(81)528
Vol.1981/0158

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance withCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
Community andtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity (OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocuments inthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung (EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeit zugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
'λ·"··*'/•i'*
.■Ί'»;COM(81)528 final
Brussels,16September 1981
•Λ,,.·:·
Proposalfora
COUNCILREGULATION (EEC)
imposing adefinitive anti-dumping dutyonp-xylene
(paraxylene )originating inPuertoRico,theUnited
,StatesofAmericaandtheUSVirginIslands
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission )

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM '
χ. Λ
InJune 1981 the Commission imposed aprovisional anti-dumping duty of
14.7% ogimports ofp-xylene (paraxylene )originating inPuerto Rico,the
United States ofAmerica and the USVirgin Islands . ,
The facts asfinally established .show that ,the Arco Chemical Company had a
weighted average dumping margin of14.7% inthe last three quarters ofProducts
1980 .Phillips Petroleum had adumping margin of7.6'/.,Sun Petroleum /6.14% ,.
Amoco Chemicals Corporation 3.6% and Shell Chemical Company 2.37% .None
ofthese companies disputed the Commission 'sfindings .Since the imposition
ofthe provisional duty ,the Tenneco Oil Company ,Sun International Inc -
and Sunoco Overseas Incoffered toco-operate inaninvestigation ofthei
exports tothe Community arid subsequently offered undertakings tothe
Commission which eliminated the dumping found .For those exporters and
tlealers who did not co-operate with the Commission ,itwas assumed that their
dumping margins would not be -lower than the highest margin found for those
exporters whodidco-operate i.e. 14.7% for Arco Chemical Company ,and .;
that this margin should therefore beused forthe nonco-operating exporters' .
With regard toinjury Caused tothe Community industry itwas shown that '
total imports ofp-xylene increased from 129 000 tonnes in1978 to157 000
tonnes in1980 and that approximately 80% ofthe imports inthe investigation
period were dumped .The market share ofthese imports was approximately '
16% in1980 .The EEC industry 'sresale prices hadfallen in1980 leading
toheavy losses byall the producers concerned .-Production had decreased
from 626 000 tonnes in1978 to423 000 tonnes in1980 .
.Itistherefore proposed -toimpose adefinitive anti-dumping duty of 1'.7%
onp-xylene originating in-Puerto Rico ,the United States ofAmerica and
the USVirgin Islands .Itis,however ,proposed toexclude from thei
application ofthis duty the firms who offered undertakings ^othe Commission
Itisfurther proposed that the amounts secured byway ofprovisional duty
should bedefinitively collected .

3
Proposalfora
COUNCILREGULATION (EEC)' ■
imposing adefinitive anti-dumping dutyonp-xylene(paraxylene )originating
inPuertoRico,theUnitedStatesofAmericaandtheUSVirginIslands
THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomicCommunity,
HavingregardtoCouncilRegulation (EEC)N°3017/79of20December1979
onprotection againstdumpedorsubsidized importsfromcountries ,notmembers
1oftheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,andmparticularArticle12thereof,
.I • , *
HavingregardtotheproposalsubmittedbytheCommissionafterconsultation
withtheAdvisoryCommitteesetupunder Regulation (EEC)
N03017/79,
WhereastheCommission,byRegulation (EEC)N°1591/81,imposeda
provisional anti-dumping dutyof14.7%onimportsofp-xyleneoriginating
inPuertoRico,theUnitedStatesofAmericaandtheUSVirginIslands,
withtheexceptionofp-xyleneexportedby
.-AmocoChemicalsCorporation,theArcoChemicalCompany,Phillips :
Paraxylene IncandInternational PetroleumSalesInc,Panama,membersof
thePhillipsPetroleum Group,whichvoluntarilygaveundertakings to
increasethe'irpricestolevelswhicheliminated thedumpingmarginsfound;
-ShellChemicalCompany,forwhichtherateofdutywas2.37%; 1
.-SunPetroleumProductsCompanyforwhichtherateofdutywas6.14%;
0JN°L339,31.12.1979 ».p.1
20JN°L158,16.06.1981,p.7

-2- -
Whereas ,inthe course ofthe subsequent examination oftaematter ,completed
after the imposition ofthis -provisional duty ,theinterested parties had
theopportunity tomake known their views inwriting and tobe.heard by
the Commission ,toinspect non-confidential ,information relevant tothe
defence oftheir interests and tobeinformed ofthe essential fc.-ts and
considerations onthe basis ofwhich itwas intended tomake .afinal
determination ;whereas some oftheexporters and importers concerned availed
themselves ofthese possibilities bymaking known their views ,inwriting'
andorally ;whereas thePhillips Petroleum Group ,Arco Chemical Company , .
Shell Chemical Company ,.Sun Petroleum Products Company and Amoco Chemicals
Corporation did not dispute the findings ofthe Commission ;
Whereas the Tenneco Oil Company ,Houston ,Texas ,contacted the Commission
tosaythat they hadwritten inFebruary 1981' inresponse tothenotice
announcing the opening ofthe anti-dumping proceeding onpxylene and had
offered full co-operation inthe subsequent investigation ;whereas this
letter failed toreach the Commission ;,whereas -
Sunoco Overseas Inc and Sun Internationa IInc also wrote tothe Commission
offering toco-operate inan .examination ofthefacts concern .ngtheir -,
exports;' whereas on-the -S?nvestigations atthepremises ofTenneco Oil-
Company ,Sunoco Overseas Inc and Sun International Inc showed that ,infact,
there had been nodirect exports ofp-xylene bythese comp&uies in1980
and that ,consequently ,itwas not possible todetermine onthe basis of
past experience that they would -not dump ifthey began eyvrtino ;whereas
inthese circumstances -Tenneco Oil Company ,Sunoco Oversea ;-Inc and Sun
International Incoffered price undertakings which reflected the norme .
values established during the investigation period toalio.' ''t.'.em'to be -
excluded from the duty ; _ '
Whereas the Commission has otherwise received noadditional information
iprespect ofdumping such astolead it.to -cvise the we'./,eda»er^e
dumping margins it .hadprovisionally established ;w.iereas these ma;<gin :;
have therefore been considered asdefinitively established ;

-3-
Whereas ,with regard tothe injury caused bythe dumped "imports tothe
Community industry ,the evidence available tothe Commission showed that
total imports ofp-xylene from the sources concerned into the Community
increased from approximately 129 000 tonnes in1978 toapproximately
157 000 tonnes in1980 ;whereas itwas shown that approximately 80% of .
these imports were made atdumped prices ;
/
Whereas the market share ofthese dumped imports inthe Community was
approximately 16% in1980 ;
Whereas ,since most ofthe importers concerned were not willing toprovide
information tothe Commission ,the Commission was unable toverify the
resale prices ofp-xylene imported atdumped prices ;
Whereas ,however ,the resale prices ofthe EEC industry had steadily fallen
in1980 and there was evidence that customers had cancelled their contracts
with the Community industry tobuy dumped material from the areas concerned ,
thus further depressing the EEC producers' prices ;whereas all the Community
industry has suffered heavy losses in1980 ;
Whereas production ofp-xylene inthe Community fell from 626 000 tonnes in
1978 to423 000 tonnes in1980 and capacity utilization fell from 54.4% in
1978 to36.7% in1980 ;whereas BPCalifornia ,London ,had been obliged to
cease production ofp-xylene atits plant inScotland ;
4
Whereas the Commission has considered the injury caused byother factors
which ,individually orincombination ,may also beaffecting the Community'
industry ;whereas itwas determined that the level ofdemand and consumption
inthe Community remained rel§tiv.e.ly stable ;whereas imports from .countriesother than those named in .the complaint lodged bythe European Council of
Chemical Manufacturers' Federations CCEFIC )have been fairly constant at
considerably lower volumes than those from Puerto Rico ,the United States
ofAmerica and the USVirgin Islands ;whereas the Commission has received
noinformation since the adoption ofRegulation (EEC)N°1591 /81 -which might
lead ittorevise the conclusions reached inthe said Regulation inthis
respect ;whereas the Commission hastherefore definitively concluded that
the dumped imports have caused material injury tothe Community industry
concerned ; - •

-4-
Whereas ,inthese circumstances ,protection ofthe Community 'sinterests
calls for the imposition ofadefinitive anti-dumping duty onp-xylene
originating inPuerto Rico,the United States ofAmerica and the USVirgin
Islands ,which ,having regard to'theextent oftheinjury caused ,should
beequal to.the weighted average dumping margin' established for the last
three quarters of1980,and for thedefinitive collection intheir
entirety ofthe amounts secured byway ofprbvisional anti-dumping duty ;
• •  ' -
Whereas Tenneco Oil Company ,Sunoco Overseas Inc and Sun International' I
have voluntarily undertaken torespect the normal values established during
II -
the investigation ;,whereas the Commission considers these undertakings
tobeacceptable ;whereas itisconsequent ly'appropriate toexclude the
,imports ofthe products exported bythese companies from the application .
oftheduty ; - ^
Whereas ,for the reasons indicated above ,exports ofp-xylene tothe .
Community byth$ Phillips Petroleum Group ,Arco Chemical Company and Amoco .
Chemicals Corporation should also beexcluded from the application' of,
this definitive anti-dumping duty ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : ■.
'Article 1 .
, > , (paraxylene )
•1. Adefinitive anti-dumping duty ishereby imposed onp-xylene /falIing ;
within Common Customs Tariff subheading ex29.01 DIand corresponding to
NIMEXE code 29.01-67 originating inPuerto Rico,the United States of
-America and the USVirgin Islands .
N tt '
2.This duty shall not ;apply top-xylene exported by:
*
-Amoco Chemicals Corporation '
-Arco Chemical Company ,,
*–-v^:Ul.ips Paraxylenè Ine andInternational Petroleum Sale ?Ine ,.Panama ,
members Phillips Petroleum Group

-5-
-TennecoOilCompany
-SunocoOverseasIncendSunInternational Inc.
3.Therateofthedutyshallbe14.7%onthebasisofthecustomsvalue
determined inaccordance withCouncilRegulation (EEC)N°1224/80of
128May1980onthevaluationofgoodsforcustomspurposes,exceptfor.
exportsmadebythefollowing companiesforwhichtherateof.dutyshallbe
-ShellChemicalCompany,Houston,Texas: 2.37%
-SunPetroleumProducts Co,Philadelphia,Pennsylvama :
4.Theprovisions inforceconcerning customsdutiesshallapplyforthe
application ofthisduty.
Article2
Theamountssecuredbywayofprovisional anti-dumping dutypursuantto
Regulation (EEC)N°1591/81shallbedefinitively collected.
Article3
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceonthedayofitspublication in
theOfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities .
ThisRegulation'shalIbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicable
inallMemberStates.
DoneatBrussels, FortheCouncil,2.37%
6.14%
0JN°L134,31.5.1980,p.1