REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 34th Annual Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the EU's Anti-Dumping, Anti-Subsidy and Safeguard activities (2015)
Date: 2016-10-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security, European Commission
Subjects: anti-dumping duty, anti-dumping measure, anti-subsidy proceeding, countervailing charge, import (EU), import restriction, originating product, surveillance concerning imports, trade dispute

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 18.10.2016  
COM(2016) 661 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

34th Annual Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council 
on the EU's Anti-Dumping, Anti-Subsidy and Safeguard activities (2015) 

{SWD(2016) 330 final} 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

34th Annual Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council 
on the EU's Anti-Dumping, Anti-Subsidy and Safeguard activities (2015) 

 
 
INTRODUCTION 

This  is  a  report  of  the  European  Union's  anti-dumping,  anti-subsidy  and  safeguard 
activities during 2015. It is presented to the European Parliament and the Council in 
line with the provisions of Article 23 of 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  (‘basic  anti-dumping 
Regulation’), Article 34 of 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 (‘basic anti-subsidy Regulation’) and 
Article  23  of  Regulation  (EU)  2015/478  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 11 March 2015 on common rules for imports.  

The  anti-dumping  (AD),  anti-subsidy  (AS)  and  safeguard  (SFG)  investigations 
conducted by the Commission are governed by the above mentioned Regulations. A 
comprehensive  overview  of  the  existing  legislation,  terminology  and  procedures  is 
available in the accompanying Staff Working Document.  

This short report provides an overview of the highlights in the area of Trade Defence 
in the EU during 2015 and is accompanied, as in previous years, by a Commission 
Staff  Working  Document,  together  with  detailed  annexes.  This  report  follows  the 
same general structure of the Staff Working Document, including all its headings, for 
easy reference to more comprehensive information. 

The present report and the Staff Working Document are also available to the public 
at http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/respectrules/anti_dumping/legis/index_en.htm . 

1. 

OVERVIEW  OF  ANTI-DUMPING,  ANTI-SUBSIDY  AND  SAFEGUARD  INVESTIGATIONS 
AND MEASURES 

1.1. 

General 

The number of measures in force has shown a slight increase over the previous year 
while the number of ongoing investigations at the end of the year corresponded to the 
end of 2014. While the number of new cases initiated decreased slightly the number 
of  reviews  initiated  was  significantly  up  over  2014.    Almost  a  quarter  of  these 
reviews were anti-circumvention cases.  

At the end of 2015, the EU had 87 AD measures and 11 AS measures in force. 

In 2015, 0,25% of total imports into the EU were affected by AD or AS measures. 

A  detailed  overview  is  given  in  the  Staff  Working  Document  accompanying  this 
report. The references to the Annexes of the Staff Working Document can be found 
beside the titles.  

1.2. 

New investigations (see Annexes A through E and Annex N) 

In 2015, 14 new investigations were initiated. Provisional duties were imposed in ten 
proceedings. 11 cases were concluded with the imposition of definitive duties. Three 
investigations were concluded without measures.  

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1.3. 

Review investigations 

Review  investigations  continue  to  represent  a  substantial  part  of  the  work  of  the 
Commission  Trade  Defence  services.  Table  2  in  the  Staff  Working  Document 
provides statistical information for the years 2011-2015. 

1.3.1.  Expiry reviews (see Annex F) 

Articles  11(2)  of  the  AD  and  18  of  the  AS  Regulations  provide  for  the  expiry  of 
measures after five years, unless an expiry review demonstrates that they should be 
maintained in their original form. During 2015, four measures expired automatically 
following their five year duration. 

During 2015, 13 expiry review investigations were initiated. 13 expiry reviews were 
concluded  with  a  confirmation  of  the  duty  for  a  further  period  of  five  years.  Two 
expiry reviews were concluded by the termination of measures.  

1.3.2. 

Interim reviews (see Annex G) 

Articles  11(3)  of  the  AD  and  19  of  the  AS  Regulations  provide  for  the  review  of 
measures  during 
to 
dumping/subsidization or injury aspects. 

their  period  of  validity.  Reviews  can  be 

limited 

During 2015, a total of 11 interim reviews were initiated. Six interim reviews were 
concluded  with  confirmation  or  amendment  of  duty.  No  interim  review  was 
concluded with the termination of the measures.  

1.3.3.  “Other” interim reviews (see Annex H) 

There were two 'other' reviews, i.e. not falling under Articles 11(3) of the AD or 19 
of  the  AS  Regulations,  concluded  in  the  period.  There  were  no  such  reviews 
initiated. 

1.3.4.  New exporter reviews (see Annex I) 

Articles  11(4)  of  the  AD  and  20  of  the  AS  Regulations  respectively  provide  for  a 
“newcomer”  and  “accelerated”  review  in  order  to  establish  an  individual  dumping 
margin  or  an  individual  countervailing  duty  for  new  exporters  located  in  the 
exporting  country  in  question  which  did  not  export  the  product  during  the 
investigation  period.  Such  exporters  have  to  show  that  they  are  genuine  new 
exporters  and  that  they  have  actually  started  to  export  to  the  EU  after  the 
investigation  period.  As  such,  an  individual  duty,  which  is  usually  lower  than  the 
country-wide duty, can be calculated for them.  

In  2015,  one  new  exporter  review  was  initiated  while  one  such  review  was 
concluded.  

1.3.5.  Absorption investigations (see Annex J) 

Where  there  is  sufficient  information  showing  that,  after  the  original  investigation 
period  and  prior  to,  or  following  the  imposition  of  measures,  export  prices  have 
decreased or that there has been no or insufficient movement in the resale prices or 
subsequent selling prices of the imported product in the EU, an "absorption" review 
may  be  opened  to  examine  whether  the  measure  has  had  effects  on  the  above-
mentioned  prices.  Dumping  margins  may  as  such  be  recalculated  and  the  duty 
increased to take account of such lower export prices. The possibility of "absorption" 
reviews is included in Articles 12 of the AD and 19(3) of the AS Regulations. 

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In  2015,  no  anti-absorption  review  was  initiated  and  two  were  concluded  with  an 
increase of duty.  

1.3.6.  Circumvention investigations (see Annex K) 

The possibility of investigations being re-opened in circumstances where evidence is 
brought to show that measures are being circumvented is provided for in Articles 13 
of the AD and 23 of the AS Regulations. 

investigations  were 
In  2015,  seven  such 
circumvention investigations concluded with extension of the measures.  

initiated.  There  were  four  anti-

1.4. 

Safeguard investigations (see Annex L) 

During 2015 there was no safeguard activity in the EU.   

2. 

ENFORCEMENT OF AD/AS MEASURES 

2.1. 

Follow-up of measures 

The  follow-up  activities  concerning  measures  in  force  were  centred  on  four  main 
areas: (1) to pre-empt fraud; (2) to monitor trade flows and market developments; (3) 
to  improve  the  effectiveness  with  the  appropriate  instruments  and  (4)  to  react  to 
irregular  practices.  These  activities  enabled  the  Commission  to  pro-actively  in 
cooperation  with  Member  States  ensure  the  proper  enforcement  of  trade  defence 
measures in the European Union.  

2.2.  Monitoring of undertakings (see Annexes M and Q) 

Monitoring  of  undertakings  forms  part  of  the  enforcement  activities,  given  that 
undertakings  are  a  form  of  AD  or  AS  measures.  They  are  accepted  by  the 
Commission if it is satisfied that they can effectively eliminate the injurious effects 
of dumping or subsidisation. 

At  the  beginning  of  2015,  there  were  129  undertakings  in  force.  During  2015,  the 
following  changes  to  the  portfolio  of  undertakings  took  place:  The  undertakings  of 
six  companies  were  withdrawn  as  it  was  established  that  breaches  had  occurred  or 
that  the  monitoring  of  the  undertakings  became  impracticable.  The  undertaking  for 
one  company  expired.  No  new  undertaking  was  accepted.  This  brought  the  total 
number of undertakings in force at the end of 2015 to122.  

3. 

REFUNDS  

Articles 11(8) of the AD and 21(1) of the AS Regulations allow importers to request 
the  reimbursement  of  the  relevant  collected  duties  where  it  is  shown  that  the 
dumping/subsidy margin has been eliminated or reduced to a level below that of the 
duty in force. 

During  2015,  45  new  refund  requests  were  submitted.  At  the  end  of  2015,  nine 
refund investigations were on-going, covering 79 requests. In 2015, 14 Commission 
Decisions  were  adopted:  13  granting  a  partial  refund  and  one  rejecting  the  refund 
requests. Three requests were withdrawn. 

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4. 

TDI MODERNISATION  

Following  the  adoption  of  a  legislative  proposal  and  a  communication  by  the 
Commission  in  April  2013,  the  modernisation  proposal  entered  the  ordinary 
legislative procedure in Council and Parliament.  

The  aim  of  the  modernisation  exercise  was  to  adapt  the  trade  defence  instruments 
(TDIs)  to current business realities.  It focused  on  finding practical solutions  to  real 
problems which stakeholders encounter in the use of the instruments. Thus, the TDIs 
would  become  more  accessible  and  measures  better  targeted  responses  to  certain 
unfair trading practices exercised by our trading partners. Other important elements 
were increased transparency, particular attention to SMEs, while keeping the balance 
of interests an essential feature.    

The Parliament voted a legislative resolution  in April 2014 and thus closed its first 
reading on the TDI modernisation proposal. It has been ready to enter into trilogues 
since then. However, the Council has not been able to find a compromise, despite the 
efforts,  in  particular,  of  the  Italian  presidency  of  the  Council  in  the  second  half  of 
2014.  The  main  stumbling  block  was  the  partial  non-application  of  the  lesser  duty 
rule in cases of raw material distortions. Mainly over this issue, the Council remained 
divided  between  Member  States  favouring  producing  interests  and  Member  States 
favouring importing interests. 

In  2015,  in  the  context  of  the  steel  crisis,  interest  in  the  modernisation  file  in  the 
Council  was  revived.  The  Commission  presented  further  ideas  in  order  to  facilitate 
agreement among Member States and in view of the Council starting trilogues with 
the Parliament.  

 5. 

COUNTRY-WIDE MARKET ECONOMY STATUS (MES) 

The  current  practice  is  that  a  country  can  be  considered  a  market  economy  for  the 
purposes of anti-dumping investigations if it fulfils five criteria as set out in the Staff 
Working Document accompanying this report. Six countries have requested country-
wide MES: China, Vietnam, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Belarus. 

In 2015 no consultations took place between the EU and China to examine whether 
or not the country meets the remaining four MES criteria (the second criterion was 
considered  fulfilled  in  2004).    Since  2012  China  has  not  engaged  in  this  process.  
This  lack  of  engagement  in  this  process  is  interpreted  as  a  sign  that  China  expects 
that  as  from  December  2016,  the  EU  will  change  the  methodology  used  for 
calculating  dumping  margin  in  cases  concerning  that  country.  During  2015  the 
Commission  started  its  examination  of  the  implications  of  the  expiry  of  certain 
provisions of Section 15 of China's Protocol of Accession to the WTO.  The analysis 
of  the  legal,  economic  and  political  issues  surrounding  this  issue  continued 
throughout  2015.  This  provided  the  basis  for  a  discussion  by  the  College  in  an 
orientation  debate  early  in  January  2016  where  it  was  decided  to  launch  an  Impact 
Assessment and public consultation on the matter. The Commission continues work 
on the future policy in light of the expiry of certain provisions of China’s Protocol of 
Accession to the WTO.  

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In June 2015 the Commission services shared an assessment report with Vietnam on 
its progress in relation to MES, in which the third criterion was considered as being 
fulfilled.  The  report  also  concluded  that,  despite  some  progress  in  relation  to  the 
other  criteria,  it  was  not  sufficient  to  justify  the  granting  of  any  of  the  remaining 
three (the first criterion was considered fulfilled in 2013) 

In 2015, further analysis was conducted on Kazakhstan's MES request on the basis of 
information  provided  on  developments  in  the  economy  there.    This  analysis  will 
continue  into  2016  as  there  were  developments  in  the  Kazakhstan  economy  during 
2015 itself in the economy which will be analysed in the ongoing assessment.  

In March 2015, Mongolia submitted updated information regarding developments in 
its economy. The analysis of the information received continued in 2015. However, 
the analysis was not updated as information regarding the remaining criteria was not 
complete.  

In  October  2015,  Armenia  responded  to  questions  which  the  Commission  had  sent 
the  previous  December  seeking  additional 
information  and  clarification  on 
developments  in  the  economy  in  order  to  update  the  MES  assessment.    The 
assessment on the file continued in the last quarter of 2015 on the basis of the new 
information  received.  Armenia  had  already  met,  in  2010,  two  criteria,  namely 
criterion  one  as  well  as  criterion  five.  However  further  work  on  their  MES  request 
was  on  hold  between  2010  and  2014  when  the  country  prioritised  the  DCFTA 
negotiations  with  the  EU  rather  than  the  question  of  MES.  Only  in  February  2014, 
did Armenia ask to revive the process  

As regards Belarus there was no progress on this file in 2015.  

6. 

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES/ BILATERAL CONTACTS  

6.1. 

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) 

During  2015  the  SME  Helpdesk  continued  to  deal  with  requests  for  information 
relating to the trade defence instruments. This helpdesk had been set up in 2004 as a 
response to the difficulties which SMEs face, owing to their small size and resource 
constraints, when dealing with the complexities of trade defence investigations. The 
assistance offered to SMEs by the helpdesk covered specific case related queries as 
well as provisions on both procedural and substantial elements of anti-dumping and 
anti-subsidy proceedings.  

6.2. 

Bilateral contacts/information activities – industry and third countries 

Explaining  the  legislation  and  practice  of  the  EU's  trade  defence  activity  is  an 
important part of the work of the TDI services. 

The Commission organized one training seminar on trade defence for officials from 
several  third  countries  in  2015  (Participants  from  India,  Vietnam,  Jordan,  Tunisia 
and Japan). In addition, there were a number of other bilateral contacts dedicated to 
discussing  various  trade  defence  topics  with  a  number  of  third  countries  including 
China,  Japan,  Australia,  Brazil,  Mexico,  Turkey,  USA,  Russia  (Eurasian 
Commission). 

 During  2015,  the  trade  defence  services  both  hosted  and  participated  in  meetings 
with  various  key  stakeholder  organisations,  including  Business  Europe  as  well  as 
specific representative sector associations.  

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7. 

JUDICIAL REVIEW: DECISIONS GIVEN BY THE COURT OF JUSTICE (COJ) / GENERAL 
COURT (GC) (SEE ANNEX S) 

In  2015,  the  General  Court  ('GC')  and  the  Court  of  Justice  ('COJ')  rendered  27 
judgments in total relating to the areas of anti-dumping or anti-subsidy. Two of the 
judgments of the CoJ concerned appeals against the General Court decisions.  

There were 20 new cases lodged in 2015. Five of these were lodged before the GC 
and 15 before the CoJ. 

A list of the AD/AS cases before the GC and the COJ still pending at the end of 2015 
is given in Annex S of the Staff Working Document. 

8. 

ACTIVITIES IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) 

8.1. 

Dispute settlement in the field of AD, AS and SFGs  

The WTO provides for a rigorous procedure for the settlement of disputes between 
WTO Members concerning the application of the WTO agreements. 

Two  panels  were  composed  in  2015,  i.e.  the  panel  concerning  anti-dumping 
measures  on  imports  of  biodiesel  from  Indonesia  (DS480)  and  the  panel  regarding 
anti-subsidy  measures  imposed  on  polyethylene  terephthalate  from  Pakistan 
(DS486). Regarding the latter Pakistan insisted on the continuance of the proceeding 
despite  the  expiry  of  the  measures  subject  to  the  dispute.  The  first  substantive 
meeting  of  the  panel  took  place  in  the  dispute  concerning  anti-dumping  measures 
imposed  on  fatty  alcohols  from  Indonesia  (DS442).    In  DS397  (compliance 
procedures  following  the  WTO  dispute  relating  to  EU  definitive  anti-dumping 
measures on certain iron or steel fasteners from China), the Panel issued its report in 
August  2015  which  was  appealed,  both  by  the  EU  and  China.    One  dispute 
proceeding requested by  Russia on cost adjustment methodologies and certain anti-
dumping measures was suspended on Russia's request (DS474) while they instigated 
a  second  such  proceeding  on  the  same  issues  during  2015  (DS494).  The  dispute 
requested  by  Indonesia  on  anti-dumping  measures  on  biodiesel  (DS480)  was 
suspended  pending  the  outcome  of  the  dispute  with  Argentina  also  relating  to 
measures  on  biodiesel  (AD473)  on  which  the  Panel's  interim  report  was  issued  in 
December 2015.  

8.2. 

Other WTO activities  

With  regard  to  negotiations  in  the  WTO,  efforts  were  made  in  2015  to  advance  on 
WTO rules as part of the process of preparing the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference. 
This  process  covered  all  four  rules  areas,  including  anti-dumping  and  horizontal 
subsidies,  and  focused  on  the  question  of  improving  transparency.  The  European 
Union  tabled  a  submission  on  the  subject  on  10  July  2015  followed  by  a  technical 
paper  in  September.  On  horizontal  subsidies  the  EU  ideas  foresaw  improving  the 
WTO's counter-notification mechanism under which WTO Members would be able 
to provide missing information with regard to the notifications of other Members. On 
anti-dumping, the EU suggested introducing a review mechanism of WTO Members' 
anti-dumping  policies  and  practices,  based  on  a  report  prepared  by  the  WTO 
secretariat.  While  there  was  some  interest  among  WTO  Members  to  advance 
discussions  on  how  to  improve  transparency  regarding  anti-dumping  procedures, 
negotiations remained stalled. Ultimately, the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference held 
in  Nairobi  on  15-18  December  2015  did  not  take  any  decisions  regarding  rules 

8 

 
 
negotiations.  Nevertheless,  rules  issues  are  expected  to  be  taken  up  as  part  of  the 
post-Nairobi process. 

The  Technical  Group,  a  subgroup  of  the  Negotiating  Group,  was  convened  twice 
during  the  year.  The  group  discussed  a  number  of  issues  relating  to  the  practical 
aspects  of  conducting  anti-dumping  investigations  including  the  treatment  of 
confidential files, use of the lesser duty rule as well as the public interest test.  

In 2015, in line with its WTO obligations, the EU submitted a full notification to the 
WTO  of  the  subsidies  granted  both  at  EU  and  individual  Member  State  level.  
Review of this 2015 notification started in the second of the two special sessions of 
the Subsidies and Countervailing Committee which are held every year. In parallel to 
these activities, participation by the Commission services in the regular work of the 
Anti-dumping, Subsidies and Countervailing and Safeguards Committees continued. 
In  October  2015,  in  the  Implementation  Group  which  is  a  sub-group  of  the  Anti-
dumping  Committee,  many  Members  shared  information  on  administrative  and 
judicial  review  procedures  in  their  respective  jurisdictions.  In  this  context,  the  EU 
presented the judicial review framework which is applicable for trade defence in the 
EU.   

9. 

CONCLUSION 

The  year  2015  saw  a  slight  decrease  in  the  number  of  new  investigations  opened. 
This was a direct reflection of the number of complaints received from industry that 
included sufficient evidence to support allegations of injurious dumping or subsidies 
from EU industry. There was a significant increase in the number of provisional and 
definitive measures imposed, as well as in the number of review investigations.  As 
was the case with previous years, no safeguard action was taken by the EU. 

The Commission TDI services also continued their information activities targeted at 
third country officials, the Union industry and importers.  Despite renewed interest in 
the  Trade  Defence  Instruments  Modernisation  initiative,  owing  to  the  crisis  in  the 
steel  sector,  and  regardless  of  the  continued  efforts  by  the  Commission  to  support 
progress on this file, there was still no mandate for the Council to start trilogues at 
the  end  of  2015.  The  work  on  MES  assessments  for  various  countries  continued 
during  2015  as  well  as  the  preparatory  work  in  relation  to  the  methodology  for 
calculating dumping margins for China post December 2016 when certain provisions 
of section 15 of China's protocol of Accession to the WTO expire.   

9