natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Desuden bekræftede Benxi Group, at nogle lån ikke var blevet tilbagebetalt i overensstemmelse med den oprindelige tidsplan for tilbagebetaling, hvilket viste, at virksomheden havde haft vanskeligheder med at tilbagebetale lån.
Furthermore, the existence of the revolving loans further confirmed the Commission's assessment to disregard the Chinese AAA- rating of the Hesteel Group.
Med hensyn til at de pågældende virksomheder udgjorde en del af en stor gruppe af virksomheder, og at deres lån blev garanteret af modervirksomhederne, erkendte Kommissionen, at lånene til produktionsvirksomheden i Benxi Group faktisk blev garanteret af en anden virksomhed i koncernen.
In addition, in order to take into account the increased risk highlighted by the existence of revolving loans at the level of the individual companies involved in the HRF production, and given that the conditions and the maturity of these loans were essentially comparable to the high interest loan mentioned in recital (162) above, the Commission found it appropriate to use the same benchmark as set out in that recital as the relevant benchmark for all loans with a maturity of 2 years or less provided at the level of the production companies which were making use of revolving loans.
Det blev dog klart under kontrolbesøget, at disse garantier blev ydet af en række andre virksomheder i koncernen, som befandt sig i en lignende vanskelig finansiel situation.
As revolving loans are usually concluded for short durations, it is highly unlikely that a revolving loan would be found for a maturity of more than two years, and the concrete evidence of the loans verified in the sampled companies supports this conclusion.
Alle de virksomheder, der blev kontrolleret i Benxi Group, var tabsgivende i undersøgelsesperioden, og virksomheden selv anførte i sin besvarelse af spørgeskemaet, at gruppen »led tab«, hvilket berørte flere tilknyttede virksomheder, uden at der var udsigt til at vende tilbage til overskud i den nærmeste fremtid.
The claims and arguments put forward by the GOC and some sampled companies with regard to the general methodology for the relative spread and the use of a proxy benchmark apply equally to the Hesteel Group.
Med hensyn til virksomhedens kreditvurdering mente Kommissionen, at virksomhedens egen bekræftelse af den vanskelige finansielle situation klart viste, at den ikke burde have fået en AA+-rating.
The Commission rebutted these points already in in recitals (175) to (195).
Kommissionen var af den opfattelse, at denne form for argumentation i tilstrækkelig grad afspejlede Kommissionens påstand om, at kreditvurderinger i Kina ikke var pålidelige, eftersom de hovedsageligt var baseret på virksomhedens størrelse og status, og ikke på deres faktiske situation.
The Commission observed that this alleged capital injection was subject to a question in April 2017 from the United States and the EU to the PRC within the framework of the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures of the WTO.
Hvad angår det tredje punkt, var Kommissionen uenig i virksomhedens påstand om, at subsidiet, der var knyttet til lån, som behandles på samme måde som tilskud, ikke var nævnt i klagen.
The Commission did not find any evidence during this investigation that this alleged capital injection had conferred any benefit to Hesteel Group during the IP.
Dette vedrørte en særskilt beregningsmetode inden for præferencelån, som faktisk var nævnt i klagen.
The Shougang Group presented itself in a generally difficult financial situation according to its own financial accounts.
Konklusion vedrørende præferencelån
Based on the evidence received for the years 2014 and onwards, the Group was loss-making both in 2014 and 2015.
Undersøgelsen viste, at alle grupperne af eksporterende producenter i stikprøven havde fordel af præferencelånene i UP.
It was highly leveraged and it increased its short-term liabilities by more than 10 % during the IP.
Da der er tale om et finansielt bidrag, en fordel for de eksporterende producenter og specificitet, bør denne fordel betragtes som et udligningsberettiget subsidie.
Furthermore, 25 revolving loans were found on-spot during the verification at the level of the parent company.
Den subsidiesats, der blev fastsat i UP for grupperne af virksomheder i stikprøven i forbindelse med denne ordning, er på:
Moreover, in the loan tables, a significant number of additional short term loans was replaced with new loans for the same amount at expiry.
Præferencelån
At the level of the companies involved in the production of HRF, the financial statements as well as evidence found relating to specific loans, in asset evaluation and feasibility reports, showed that these companies were operating as a going concern despite consecutive years of losses or marginal profits, high debt to assets ratios, low interest coverage, worsening financial indicators and an uncertain outlook for the future.
Virksomhed/gruppe
These companies did not generate enough operating profit to cover the payment of their interest expenses for several consecutive years during the period 2012-2015.
Det samlede subsidiebeløb
Furthermore, the Commission found instances of debt restructuring due to payment difficulties during the verification.
Fra statsejede banker
In addition, all of the short-term loans granted during the IP to one of the production companies were revolving loans.
Fra andre finansielle institutioner
Despite these circumstances, the Shougang Group was awarded an AAA credit rating by a Chinese credit rating agency, Dagong International.
De facto-garanti
For the same reasons as set out in recitals (159) to (161) above, as well as the evidence found during the verification, the Commission disregarded the Chinese rating of the Shougang Group.
Klageren påstod, at der findes en særskilt subsidieordning, der indebærer en potentiel direkte overførsel af midler fra den kinesiske regering gennem en de facto-garanti, der sikrer driftskontinuiteten for virksomheder i erhvervsgrenen for varmvalsede flade produkter, som på grund af deres finansielle situation har vanskeligt ved at tilbagebetale lån.
In view of the above general situation, the Commission found it necessary to find an appropriate benchmark at the level of the group.
Kommissionen bemærkede, at standarden for bevisfremlæggelse for at kunne påvise uskrevne foranstaltninger i henhold til WTO-reglerne er særligt høj med hensyn til det bevis, der kræves for at påvise eksistensen heraf.
In order to take into account the increased risk highlighted by the existence of revolving loans, and given that the conditions and the maturity of these loans were essentially comparable to the high interest loan mentioned in recital (162) above, the Commission used the same benchmark as set out in that recital for all loans with a maturity of 2 years or less provided.
Undersøgelsesmyndigheden skal især ved hjælp af argumenter og underbyggende beviser klart fastslå, at de påståede uskrevne regler eller normer kan tilskrives en udenlandsk regering, deres nøjagtige indhold, og at der er tale om en generel og fremadrettet anvendelse.
For the remaining loans at group level with a maturity of 2 years and above, based on the available information, the Commission reverted to the general benchmark awarding the highest grade of ‘Non-investment grade’ bonds to the group level, as explained in recitals (166) to (168).
Denne høje tærskel er kun opfyldt, hvis der er fremlagt tilstrækkelige beviser med hensyn til hvert enkelt af disse elementer [36].
Furthermore, the Commission concluded that at the level of the companies involved in the production of HRF, the situation was such that that these companies would not have had access to further loans during the IP absent State support.
Kan de facto-garantien tilskrives den kinesiske regering?
Therefore, the received benefit for these companies went beyond an ordinary mark-up of an interest rate.
Kommissionen undersøgte først, om den påståede de facto-garanti kunne tilskrives den kinesiske regering.
Rather, the benefit during the IP derived from the award of loans which would not have been granted absent State support based on these companies' overall financial situation.
I den forbindelse bekræftede den, at der findes en regeringspolitik i Kina med hensyn til at udvikle store nationale førende stålvirksomheder (hovedsageligt statsejede) i stålindustrien frem for mindre (hovedsageligt private).
In this respect, the Commission noted that the Shougang Group is a large State Owned Enterprise (‘SOE’) which was earmarked as a ‘champion’ in the 11th Five Year Plan and the 12th Five Year Steel Plan.
Denne politik var allerede etableret i 2009, da Revitaliseringsplanen blev offentliggjort af statsrådet.
Therefore, in line with section E(b)(V) of the 1998 guidelines [31], the Commission decided to treat the outstanding amounts of these loans during the IP as a grant provided in pursuit of governmental policies.
Dette dokument anførte, at som et grundlæggende princip bør de centrale virksomheder og nøglekategorier inden for jern- og stålindustrien støttes for at bevare et stabilt marked og fremme en stabil udvikling i sektoren.
Based on the information available, the Commission only countervailed the loans granted during the IP.
For at imødegå krisen i 2008 understregedes det i Revitaliseringsplanen endvidere, at industristrukturen burde tilpasses og optimeres på grundlag af »kontrollen af den samlede mængde kombineret med afskaffelsen af forældet kapacitet, virksomhedsomstrukturering og udflytning af stål fra byområder«.
The claims and arguments put forward by the GOC and some sampled companies with regards to the general methodology for the relative spread and the use of a proxy benchmark apply equally to the Shougang Group.
Ifølge denne plan er det den kinesiske regerings mål at etablere flere kæmpestore virksomheder med en stærk og uafhængig fornyelseskapacitet og international konkurrenceevne og sørge for, at de fem største nationale jern- og stålvirksomheders kapacitet tegner sig for over 45 % af den nationale produktion.
The Commission rebutted these points already in recitals (175) to (195).
Derfor forventes det, at flere kæmpestore jern- og stålvirksomheder vil blive bygget med en kapacitet på over 50000000 ton og med en stærk international konkurrenceevne, som f.eks. Baosteel, Ansteel og Wuhan Iron and Steel.
Following disclosure, the GOC also objected to the treatment of loans as grants and put forward the following arguments:
Derudover forventes det, at der vil blive dannet en række store jern- og stålvirksomheder med en kapacitet på 10000000-30000000 ton.
The Commission did not disclose the essential facts related to its finding of ‘State support’ absent which these companies could not have received the concerned loans.
I planen nævnes desuden afslutningen af udflytningen af Shougang Group og opførelsen af dens Caofeidian Iron and Steel Base som et mål.
The countervailing of certain loan amounts as grants was inconsistent with Articles 1.1(b), 14 and 14(b) of the SCM Agreement.
Revitaliseringsplanen fokuserede på og fremmede finansiel støtte til disse centrale virksomheder og omfatter også støtte i form af aktieudstedelse, erhvervsobligationer, værdipapirer med middelløbetid, kortsigtet finansiering, banklån og absorption af private egenkapitalinvesteringer til de projekter, der er i overensstemmelse med miljøbeskyttelse og love og bestemmelser om jord og bestemmelser om investeringsforvaltning samt virksomheder med aktiviteter inden for overtagelser, fusioner eller omstrukturering.
The GOC based its claim on the Panel Report in the case EC — DRAMS, in which this approach was found to be unreasonable and inconsistent with Articles 1.1(b) and 14 of the SCM Agreement.
Den 12. femårsplan for stål videreførte den samme strategi som fastsat i Revitaliseringsplanen.
[32]
Den 12. femårsplan henviste også til centrale stålvirksomheder, og optimeringen af sektorens struktur anses for at være et hovedformål.
The Commission's calculation methodology represented an exception not permitted by Article 14(b) of the SCM Agreement, as it converted the legal nature of the contribution from loans to grants.
Ifølge denne tilskyndes der til store projekter, mens små projekter bør begrænses, og det kombineres med afskaffelsen af en forældet produktionskapacitet.
The Panel in EC — DRAMS underlined that a loan is fundamentally different from a grant, as it entails a debt still owed [33].
Et af de vigtigste mål for den 12. femårsplan var også at nå et vist niveau af industrielle klynger ved en betydelig reduktion af antallet af stålvirksomheder.
All loans were accounted for as loans and not grants in the companies' accounting records, none of the loans reported in the loan tables mentioned any debt forgiveness, and interest payments were paid on those loans.
Målet var at øge andelen af stålproduktionen i de 10 største stålvirksomheder til 60 % af den samlede nationale produktion.
Finally, section E(b)(V) of the EU's 1998 guidelines to calculate the amount of a subsidy assumes the existence of debt forgiveness or default.
Denne målsætning skulle nås gennem fremme af fusioner, omstruktureringer og afskaffelse af forældede kapaciteter.
The alleged economic situation of the concerned companies did not justify the treatment of certain loan amounts as grants.
Planen indeholdt desuden en liste over, hvilke varer og produktionsprocesser, der anses for forældede.
Indeed, the concerned companies formed part of a large group of companies, and their loans were guaranteed by the parent companies.
Alle virksomhederne i stikprøven i denne undersøgelse blev nævnt som store centrale virksomheder i den 12. femårsplan for stål.
In addition, EU producers were also making losses since 2012, but still received loans and were able to refinance their debts.
Endelig anførtes det i den 13. femårsplan for stål i kapitel I.2, at »nogle kinesiske stålvirksomheder er gode, og andre er ikke gode«.
More specifically, concerning the Shougang Group, the Jingtang production company actually made profits in 2014 and 2015, even though it only started commercial operations in 2010.
En af den centrale målsætninger består også i at øge den industrielle koncentrationsgrad (hos de første 10 virksomheder) til 60 % i 2020 (eftersom målet ikke blev nået i den 12. femårsplan for stål).
Finally, the Commission itself considered the financial situation of the Shougang and Benxi Groups as corresponding to a ‘BB’ rating, which should be sufficient to obtain loans on the market.
Dette er i overensstemmelse med den overordnede målsætning om at reducere overkapaciteterne og ledsages også af en vilje til at fremme fusioner og omstrukturering.
The exporting producers mainly echoed the comments of the GOC.
Kapitel IV i den 13. femårsplan for stål understreger også den nødvendige tilbagetrækning af »zombievirksomheder« fra markedet.
However, some additional specific comments were received from the Shougang Group:
Disse virksomheder defineres som virksomheder med tab i flere på hinanden følgende år, med utilstrækkelige aktiver til at kunne nedbringe gælden, med tab og manglende fremtidsperspektiver, og afhængige af en uafbrudt række af banklån og andre metoder.
The Shougang Group noted that certain loan amounts were reclassified as grants for three companies of the Group without adequate explanation or reasoning.
Ifølge planen bør virksomheder med utilstrækkelige aktiver til at nedbringe deres gæld, eller som misligholder deres gæld, gå konkurs og foretage en omstrukturering.
The Shougang Group as a whole was profitable during 2014 and 2015, and had high levels of undistributed profits.
Eftersom alle de ovennævnte dokumenter (Revitaliseringsplanen fra 2009, den 12. og den 13. femårsplan og de respektive planer for stål) stammer fra statsrådet, kan politikkerne deri derfor tilskrives den kinesiske regering.
The Shougang group also disagreed with the fact that the production companies did not generate sufficient profit to cover their interest expenses, and pointed out that the operating profit reported in the financial statements actually was the profit after payment of the financial expenses.
Kommissionen undersøgte derefter det præcise indhold af den påståede de facto-garanti.
The State support mentioned in recital (211) above was part of the overall reasoning on preferential lending and thus referred to the same evidence as the one already described at large in sections 3.4.1 to 3.4.3.
Den fandt ikke, at der var tale om en generel foranstaltning, som omfattede uskrevne foranstaltninger til redning af stålvirksomheder i Kina.
In addition, the Commission provided some additional reasoning on the existence of State support to some companies in the steel industry having financial difficulties in section 3.5 below.
I overensstemmelse hermed ville en uskreven de facto-garanti kun gælde for de førende nationale virksomheder, som henhører under den første kategori, selv hvis man antog, at der fandtes en sådan.
Concerning the second and third points, the Commission clarified that it had not considered the loans provided to the sampled companies to equate to grants as such.
Generel og fremadrettet anvendelse af en de facto-garanti
Contrary to what was stated by the GOC, the Commission had not changed the legal nature of the financial contribution from loans to grants.
Derefter forsøgte Kommissionen at fastslå, om en sådan uskreven garanti udgjorde en generel og fremadrettet anvendelse.
Rather, the Commission had acknowledged that the loans provided to the companies had payment obligations attached to it.
Virkningen af denne statslige politik blev for nylig beskrevet i en forskningsrapport fra the National Academy of Development and Strategy of the Renmin University of China [37] om zombievirksomheder.
Only when calculating the benefit of such transaction, the Commission did not make a comparison of interest rates, but took the outstanding capital amount of the loan as a starting point.
Ifølge rapporten kunne 51 % af de opførte kinesiske stålvirksomheder i 2013 defineres som zombievirksomheder.
In this respect, the Commission further specified that it did not take the entire amount of the loan into account for the benefit calculations.
Set ud fra et ejerskabssynspunkt var andelen af zombievirksomheder størst i statsejede og kollektivt ejede virksomheder.
Only the outstanding part of the loans was taken as a starting point, and several downward adjustments were subsequently made on this amount.
Set ud fra et alders- og størrelsesmæssigt synspunkt findes der flest zombievirksomheder blandt store og mellemstore virksomheder.
First, the benefit was determined based on the outstanding capital amount of the loan minus the interest paid during the IP.
Hvis en virksomhed modtager flere subsidier eller er en statsejet virksomhed, er der derfor større mulighed for, at den bliver til en zombievirksomhed.
If the purpose of the loan was labelled as liquidity/working capital, the full amount was taken.
Hertil kommer, at hvis en erhvervsgren, som f.eks. stålindustrien, er opført af regeringen i forbindelse med det centrale anvendelsesområde, vil lokale myndigheder søge at støtte denne erhvervsgren, hvilket fører til overkapacitet og dannelsen af yderligere zombievirksomheder.
If the loan was clearly linked to a long-term investment, the capital amount was depreciated over the duration of the loan, and only the amount allocated to the IP was taken into consideration.
Derefter forsøgte regeringen at nedbringe antallet af virksomheder ved at tilskynde til store virksomheders fusioner og overtagelser.
Finally, the amount of the benefit was further adjusted to reflect only the number of days in the IP the loan was running.
Det bekræftes i rapporten, at lokale regeringer indførte bestemmelser, der kun tillader redningen af et bestemt antal store virksomheder gennem støtte til erhvervsgrenen.
All these adjustments show that the Commission did not take into account the full amount of the loan for the benefit calculation.
Endelig understreges det i rapporten, at forskelsbehandling med hensyn til lån ydet af finansielle institutioner også påvirker oprettelsen af zombievirksomheder.
Therefore, the Commission found that the reasoning as applied in the Panel Report in EC — DRAMS was not applicable to this investigation.
Efter 2008 faldt fortjenesten hos de statsejede virksomheder, mens deres gæld voksede hvert år.
That case, dealt with a question of calculation methodology [34], and the Panel mainly took issue with the fact that the EC had taken the full amount of Hynix's loans as a benefit, without taking into consideration the obligations attached to it [35].
Til gengæld faldt gælden hos de private virksomheder, selv om deres fortjeneste forblev stabil.
As this was not the case in the current investigation, this claim was therefore rejected.
Det tyder på, at det var lettere for statsejede virksomheder end for private virksomheder at få lån.
With respect to the GOC's claim that the financial situation of the Shougang and Benxi Groups corresponded to a ‘BB’ rating, which should be sufficient to obtain loans on the market, the Commission recalled that it made a differentiated assessment of the companies at the group level and the companies at the level of the production companies.
Med andre ord er formålet med denne politik derfor at yde økonomisk støtte til »gode« virksomheder, dvs. til vigtige virksomheder eller til nationalt førende, gennem enhver form for foranstaltninger, mens de dårlige forsvinder, når de ikke tildeles lån overhovedet.
The Commission's conclusion was that the financial situation corresponding to a BB rating was only applicable at the level of the group, but not at the level of the companies involved in production activities.
Endvidere opfordres de førende virksomheder til med støtte af myndighederne at fjerne deres mindre konkurrenter gennem fusioner og overtagelser.
It thus rejected this claim.
Den økonomiske fordel ved denne politik kan gå så vidt som en de-facto-garanti for nogle statsejede store virksomheder, der befinder sig i økonomiske vanskeligheder.
With respect to the GOC's observation that the EU producers were also making losses, but were still able to refinance their debts, the Commission noted that, contrary to the situation in the PRC, the refinancing of debts of the EU industry took place at the level of the overall group, not at the level of the production companies.
Kommissionen var dog ikke i stand til at identificere mere præcise kriterier for den generelle og fremadrettede anvendelse af en sådan uskreven foranstaltning som en særskilt ordning.
The financial situation of the EU industry at the level of the group was not the same as at the level of the individual production companies.
Den konkluderede snarere efter at have behandlet præferencelån til bestemte store statsejede virksomheder i finansielle vanskeligheder som tilskud i stedet for lån, at der ikke var behov for en yderligere undersøgelse af dette spørgsmål.
In particular, the consolidated financial statements of the Arcelor Mittal, Thyssen Krupp and Tata Groups all showed profits during the IP.
Statslig levering af varer mod utilstrækkeligt vederlag
In addition, as described in recital (192) above, the terms and conditions of the refinancing operations in the EU and in the PRC were very different.
Som nævnt i afsnit 3.2 ovenfor meddelte Kommissionen den kinesiske regering, at den i betragtning af manglen på spørgeskemabesvarelser fra producenter af jernmalm, koks og kokskul kunne være nødt til basere sine konklusioner på de bedste foreliggende faktiske oplysninger i henhold til grundforordningens artikel 28, stk. 1, for så vidt angik oplysningerne om leverandørerne af jernmalm, koks og kokskul.
Therefore, this observation was ill-founded.
Kommissionen undersøgte, om virksomhederne i stikprøven modtog råvarer til fremstilling af varmvalsede flade produkter af stål til subsidierede priser fra regeringen.
As for the Shougang Group more specifically, the fact that the Group as whole has been profitable did not put in question the Commission's calculation methodology on reported loans.
Jernmalm
As explained in (156), companies in the group have been assessed separately and conclusions and treatment adapted according to their individual situation.