UNITED STATES – USE OF ZEROING IN ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES INVOLVING PRODUCTS FROM KOREA
Document: Request for the Establishment of a Panel by Korea
Date: 9 April 2010
Document codes: WT/DS402/3
Complainant: South Korea
Respondent: U.S.
Third parties: China, EU, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam
Dispute stage: Panel
Agreements cited: Art. 2.4.2  Anti-dumping

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 and 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 from 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.

 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 methodology 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 investigations 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.

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).

[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 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 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)

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)