natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Conclusion on Union interest
Domstolens dom av den 7 april 2016 i mål C-186/14 P, ArcelorMittal Tubular Products Ostrava och övriga mot Hubei, ECLI:EU:C:2016:209, punkt 72, som bekräftar förstainstansrättens dom av den 29 januari 2014 i mål T-528/09, Hubei Xinyegang Steel mot rådet, ECLI:EU:T:2014:35.
The Commission concluded that the imposition of measures would contribute to the recovery of the Union industry in terms of profitability.
Inlaga från Kinas myndigheter, den 26 augusti 2016, skäl 336 ff.
The imposition of measures would allow the Union producers to make the necessary investments and R&D to better equip their HRF steel production equipment and boost their competitiveness.
EUT L 210, 4.8.2016, s. 27.
The Union industry underwent already significant restructuring in the (recent) past.
Kommissionens genomförandeförordning (EU) 2016/1778 av den 6 oktober 2016 om införande av en provisorisk antidumpningstull på import av vissa varmvalsade platta produkter av järn, olegerat stål eller annat legerat stål med ursprung i Folkrepubliken Kina (EUT L 272, 7.10 2016, s. 33).
If no measures were imposed, the threat of imminent injury at the end of the investigation period is likely to materialise.
Meddelande från kommissionen till Europaparlamentet, Europeiska rådet, rådet, Europeiska ekonomiska och sociala kommittén, Regionkommittén samt Europeiska investeringsbanken, Bryssel, 16.3.2016, COM(2016) 155 final, Stål: Bevara hållbar sysselsättning och tillväxt i EU.
Some Union hot-rolled flat steel producers might have to close down/reduce their hot-rolled flat steel products activities, dismiss employees and leave many Union users with limited sources of supply.
Kommissionens genomförandeförordning (EU) 2016/1329 av den 29 juli 2016 om uttag av den slutgiltiga antidumpningstullen på import av vissa kallvalsade platta produkter av stål med ursprung i Folkrepubliken Kina och Ryska federationen (EUT L 210, 4.8.2016, s. 27).
As regards the interest of unrelated importers and users, the Commission concluded that the imposition of measures at the proposed level would have only a limited impact.
World Steel in figures 2015, World Steel Association, s.
More specifically, the prices, their profitability and the employment in the user's industry would not be disproportionately affected.
14, http//www.worldsteel.org/publications/bookshop/product-details.~World-Steel-in-Figures-2015~PRODUCT~World-Steel-in-Figures-2015~.html
Hence, the imposition of definitive countervailing measures at the proposed level only has a limited impact on the prices of the supply chain and the performance of users.
COM(2016) 155, Bryssel, 16.3.2016, Meddelande från kommissionen till Europaparlamentet, Europeiska rådet, rådet, Europeiska ekonomiska och sociala kommittén, regionkommittén samt europeiska investeringsbanken, Stål: bevara hållbar sysselsättning och tillväxt i EU, s.
Weighing and balancing the strong interests of an important Union industry to be protected against unfair practices, on the one hand, and the limited likely effects of measures on unrelated importers and users, which continue to benefit from a wide array of supply in the Union, the Commission concluded that there were no compelling reasons that it was not in the Union interest to impose measures on subsidised imports of the product concerned originating in the country concerned.
2.
DEFINITIVE ANTI-SUBSIDY MEASURES
OECD, DSTI/SU/SC(2015)8/Final, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, Capacity developments in the world steel industry, tabell 1, s.
On the basis of the conclusions reached by the Commission on subsidy, threat of injury, causation and Union interest, definitive anti-subsidy measures should be imposed to prevent that the imminent threat of material injury which is caused to the Union industry by the subsidised imports would materialise.
10, http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=DSTI/SU/SC(2015)8/FINALdocLanguage=En.
Injury elimination level (Injury margin)
World Steel Association, World Steel in Figures 2016, tabell ”major steel-producting countries 2014 and 2015”, s.
To determine the level of the measures, the Commission first established the amount of duty necessary to eliminate the threat of injury suffered by the Union industry.
9, http://www.worldsteel.org/media-centre/press-releases/2016/World-Steel-in-Figures-2016-is-available-online.html.
The threat of injury would be eliminated if the Union industry was able to cover its costs of production and to obtain a profit before tax on sales of the like product (the so-called target profit) in the Union market that could be reasonably achieved under normal conditions of competition by an industry of this type in the sector, namely in the absence of dumped imports.
Källa för uppgifter om kapacitet: OECD (OECD, DSTI/SU/SC(2016)6/Final, den 5 september 2016, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, Updated steelmaking capacity figures and a proposed framework for enhancing capacity monitoring activity, bilaga, s.
As regards the determination of a target profit, the Commission first analysed the proposal of the complainant in the anti-dumping investigation against China on the same product concerned, which pointed to 12,9 %, taken from a previous Commission decision on the same product [101].
7 ff)
However, this finding dates back to the year 2000, and the data from over 15 years ago cannot be regarded as representative anymore given the technological and financial changes the Union industry faced since then and given the changes in size of the Union market since 2000 as a result of the growing number of Member States during the period 2000-2016.
Källa för uppgifter om tillverkning: World Steel Association, Steel Statistical Yearbook 2015 (World Steel Association, Steel Statistical Yearbook 2016, tabell 1 på sidorna 1 och 2 och tabell 13 på sidan 35, http://www.worldsteel.org/statistics/statistics-archive/yearbook-archive.html)
The Government of China proposed that only a profit margin of at most 5 % can be considered reasonable [102].
OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (2015): Excess capacity in the global steel industry: the current situation and ways forward, Technology and Industry Policy Papers, No.
In this regard, it referred to Commission past practice, whereby 4,8 % and 3 % target profit was found to be appropriate in respectively the Rebars case [103] and the Seamless Pipes and Tubes case [104].
18, OECD Publishing, s. 5–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5js65x46nxhj-en.
However, these products are downstream steel products, which are not similar to the product concerned.
Inlaga från Dentons för China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) och dess medlemmar, Comments in the anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of certain hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel originating the People's Republic of China, 21 mars 2016, s. 7, punkt 24.
The Commission then turned to the profitability data of the year 2008, which it had regarded as the most representative year for a downstream product, namely cold-rolled steel products.
Rapport från OECD:s stålkommitté, den 13 mars 2017, Capacity developments in the world steel industry, punkt 14.
The product concerned of the current investigation is similar in many aspects to certain cold-rolled flat steel products (cold-rolled products) for the following reasons:
Pressartikel från Reuters, China's zombie steel mills fire up furnaces, worsen global glut, http://in.reuters.com/article/china-steel-overcapacity-idINKCN0XI070.
For both products (iron ore and coking coal) certain alloys are major parts of their cost of production and they go through similar processes (furnace, hot strip mill).
Pressartikel från Reuters, BHP says over 50 million tonnes of steel capacity restarted in China, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-china-idUSKCN0YA09E.
As set out in recital (40) above, the product concerned is the primary material for the production of various value-added downstream steel products, starting with cold-rolled products.
Rapport från OECD:s stålkommitté, den 13 mars 2017, Capacity developments in the world steel industry.
On this basis, the Commission found a profit margin of 14,4 %.
Rapport från OECD:s stålkommitté, den 8–9 september 2016, Updated steelmaking capacity figures and a proposed framework for enhancing capacity monitoring activity.
However, various elements in that case relating to injurious dumping from China and Russia are not present in the current case, where the Commission found a threat of injury from Chinese subsidised exports, which involves a prospective analysis.
World Steel Association, Steel Statistical Yearbook 2015, tabell 1 på s.
In particular, in that case, imports at low prices from the countries under investigation had taken place throughout the four-year period prior to the investigation period.
2 och tabell 13 på s.
The Commission then tried to establish a target profit by simulating how the recovery of the Union industry from the recession caused by the economic and financial crisis in 2009 might have developed if it had not been interrupted by the high volumes of price-depressing Chinese imports.
35, http://www.worldsteel.org/statistics/statistics-archive/yearbook-archive.html.
For this exercise, it relied on more recent data and a prospective analysis presented to the OECD's Steel Committee in December 2013.
Urvalet bestod av 679,4 miljoner ton kinesisk export av den likadana produkten för år 2015 och 343,8 miljoner ton kinesisk export av den likadana produkten för de första 6 månaderna av 2016.
In a study entitled ‘Laying the foundations for a financially sound industry’ an expert opinion looked at the profitability of the global steel industry in recent years and fixed a long-term sustainability profit threshold.
Worldsteel Short Range Outlook 2014 – 2015, World Steel Association, https://www.worldsteel.org/media-centre/press-releases/2015/worldsteel-Short-Range-Outlook-2015-2016.html.
In particular, this study argued in favour of 17 % global average EBITDA margin (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) [106].
Se även skäl 444 avseende den obetydliga minskningen av lager hos de unionstillverkare som ingick i urvalet, uttryckt i procent av tillverkningen.
The report also points to an average of 7 % investment costs and an average debt cost of 3 %.
Richard Lu, The downside Chinese steel demand scenario: gory details, http://www.crugroup.com/about-,cru/cruinsight/The_downside_Chinese_steel_demand_scenario_gory_details, den 15 juli 2016.
The Commission deducted these two cost categories, and arrived at level of 7 % for earnings before taxes (EBT).
Se även skäl 443 avseende den obetydliga minskningen av lager hos de unionstillverkare som ingick i urvalet, uttryckt i procent av tillverkningen.
Absent any other reliable data, it equated these figures made for the steel industry as a whole to the product concerned, as HRF makes up a big proportion of the crude steel production.
Pressartikel från Platts, 2017 could be a huge year for the European steel industry, http://blogs.platts.com/2017/03/08/2017-european-steel-industry/, den 8 mars 2017.
In conclusion, the Commission established that a target profit of 7 % can be used to calculate the threat of injury margin for the Union HRF industry.
WorldSteel Association, The Chinese steel industry, A monthly update for world steel members, Issue 115, juni 2016.
The period to be used for the injury margin calculation in a threat of injury case
Worldsteel Association, utdrag från Worldsteels månatliga uppdatering beträffande den kinesiska stålindustrin, oktober 2016.
First, the Commission recalls that the determination of subsidy and injury is made on the basis of an investigation period and a period considered defined in line with the relevant provisions of the basic Regulation and announced in the Notice of Initiation.
Pressartikel från Marketrealist, Are rising Chinese steel inventories a risk for steel investors?
On the other hand, the basic Regulation does not provide any specific method for the calculation of the injury margin used for the application of the lesser-duty rule.
http://marketrealist.com/2017/03/are-rising-chinese-steel-inventories-a-risk-for-steel-investors/, den 1 mars 2017.
Second, the basic Regulation also does not provide specific criteria for the definition of the period during which the parameters for the calculation of the injury margin are assessed.
Pressartikel från Reuters, China's surging steel, iron ore inventories at odds with price gains: Russell, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-column-russell-ironore-china-idUSKBN1610FI, den 22 februari 2017.
In the present case, the Commission needed to consider that the period chosen reflects the specificity of the case and is appropriate in the context of a prospective analysis.
Såsom nämnts tidigare inledde kommissionen den 7 juli 2016 en undersökning beträffande dumpad import av den likadana produkten med ursprung i bland annat Ryssland.
In this respect, the Commission was of the opinion that it could not apply a standard material injury approach by taking the average injury margin over the whole IP (i.e. 2015): the threat of injury margin needs to reflect the threat, and when the threat materialises later on during the IP, the injury margin must reflect the concrete impact of the threat.
Inledandet av den undersökningen föregriper dock inte resultatet av den aktuella undersökningen.
In order to effectively remove the impact of the threat of injury the Commission therefore looked at those parts of the IP where the threat of injury started to materialise as follows: It referred inter alia to recital (549) stating that ‘while the Union industry was recovering during 2014 and the first two quarters of 2015, almost all injury indicators started to fall dramatically during the second half of 2015.
Inlaga från Kinas myndigheter, den 26 augusti 2016, skälen 362–366.
The investigation revealed that this negative trend, which started in the second half of 2015, was not invalidated during the first half of 2016.’
Utdrag ur kommissionens senaste nedifrån-och-upp-undersökning av priser och kostnader för energi, som utfördes av ett konsortium av konsulter, däribland Ecofys och Centre for European Policy Studies, i juli 2016.
It further provided in recital (554) that ‘In view of the coincidence in time between, on the one hand, the ever-increasing level of subsidised imports at continuously decreasing prices and, on the other hand, the Union industry's loss of market share and price depression resulting in further losses, in particular from the second half of 2015 onwards, the Commission concluded that the subsidised imports had a negative impact on the situation of the Union industry.’
Inlaga från Kinas myndigheter, den 26 augusti 2016, skälen 367–370.
Second, as to the substance of the matter, the Commission established that, as laid out in recital (462), the negative trend started in the second half of 2015 and led to a clearly foreseeable and imminent change in circumstances at the end of the investigation period, which would create a situation in which the subsidisation would cause injury, if no measures were taken.
Se kommissionens beslut nr 284/2000/EKSG av den 4 februari 2000 om införande av en slutgiltig utjämningstull på import av vissa valsade platta produkter av järn eller olegerat stål, med en bredd av minst 600 mm, varken pläterade, på annat sätt metallöverdragna eller försedda med annat överdrag, i ringar eller rullar, inte vidare bearbetade efter varmvalsningen, med ursprung i Republiken Indien och Taiwan, om godtagande av åtaganden som gjorts av vissa exporterande tillverkare och om avslutande av förfarandet rörande import med ursprung i Republiken Sydafrika (EGT L 31, 5.2.2000, s. 44) skäl 338.
This is in line with what was stated by the Commission in recital (457) that ‘the Union producers could partly recover during 2014 and the first half of 2015’.
Inlaga från Kinas myndigheter, den 26 augusti 2016, öppen version, skäl 311, s.
As a result, the second half of 2015 better reflects the actual impact of the threat of injury to the Union industry that should be removed.
114.
Third, the Court held that the analysis of the post-investigation period data is particularly appropriate in an investigation to determine whether there is a threat of injury which, by its very nature, requires a prospective analysis.
Kommissionens genomförandeförordning (EU) 2016/1246 av den 28 juli 2016 om införande av en slutgiltig antidumpningstull på import av armeringsjärn med hög utmattningshållfasthet med ursprung i Folkrepubliken Kina (EUT L 204, 29.7.2016, s.
For the Commission, the second half of 2015 seems to better respond to this requirement, as it is closer to future developments than the full IP.
70) skäl 127.
Fourth, a calculation on the basis of a full investigation period, irrespective whether there were signs of negative trends, would undermine the objective of a threat of injury case to act effectively and preventively before the threat of injury has caused injury.
Rådets förordning (EG) nr 954/2006 av den 27 juni 2006 om införande av en slutgiltig antidumpningstull på import av vissa sömlösa rör av järn eller stål med ursprung i Kroatien, Rumänien, Ryssland och Ukraina, om upphävande av rådets förordning (EG) nr 2320/97 och rådets förordning (EG) nr 348/2000 och om avslutande av interimsöversynen och översynen vid giltighetens utgång av antidumpningstullarna på import av vissa sömlösa rör av järn eller olegerat stål med ursprung i bland annat Ryssland och Rumänien och om avslutande av interimsöversynen av antidumpningstullarna på import av vissa sömlösa rör av järn eller olegerat stål med ursprung i bland annat Ryssland, Rumänien, Kroatien och Ukraina (EUT L 175, 29.6.2006, s.
After disclosure, the exporting producer Shougang Group disagreed with the Commission's approach of only taking data with respect to the second half of 2015 for the determination of the injury margin.
4) skäl 233.
It argued that an investigation period is set at the beginning of an investigation in order to avoid any subjective determinations by investigating authorities.
Se kommissionens genomförandeförordning (EU) 2016/1328 av den 29 juli 2016 om införande av en slutgiltig antidumpningstull och slutgiltigt uttag av den provisoriska tull som införts på import av vissa kallvalsade platta produkter av stål med ursprung i Folkrepubliken Kina och Ryska federationen (EUT L 210, 4.8.2016, s. 1) skäl 156.
Moreover, it alleged that, since the lesser duty rule applies to the imposition of countervailing duties, meaning that both the subsidy and injury margin should determine the duty, it should be logical that both the subsidy and injury margin should relate to the same period.
McKinsey & Company, Laying the foundations for a financially sound industry, möte i OECD:s stålkommitté den 5 december 2013, s. 7.
The Commission rejected these claims for the following reasons: First, as stated in recital (627) above, the threat of injury margin needs to reflect the threat, and when the threat materialises later on during the IP, the injury margin must reflect the concrete impact of the threat.
Europaparlamentets och rådets förordning (EU) 2016/1036 av den 8 juni 2016 om skydd mot subventionerad import från länder som inte är medlemmar i Europeiska unionen (EUT L 176, 30.6.2016, s. 21).
Second, under Articles 11 and 5 of the basic Regulation, which equally apply to investigations initiated on the basis of allegations of threat of injury, representative findings have to be based on a period ending before the initiation of proceedings (see recital (475)).
Tidigare ”Hebei Iron & Steel Co., Ltd Tangshan Branch”.
Finally, as set out in recital (626), the basic Regulation does not provide any specific method for the calculation of the injury margin used for the application of the lesser-duty rule.
Tidigare ”Hebei Iron & Steel Co., Ltd Chengde Branch”.
For all the reasons above, the Commission concluded that the period for calculating the injury margins in this particular case should be based on the second half of 2015 and not on the entire investigation period.
Tidigare ’Hebei Iron & Steel Co., Ltd Tangshan Branch’.
As a result, the Commission requested additional data to co-operating producers.
Tidigare ’Hebei Iron & Steel Co., Ltd Chengde Branch’.
It received additional quarterly IP data on the cost of production per product type from the sampled Union producers and verified these data afterwards.
BILAGA
The verifications concerned solely the additional data provided which were not requested before and ensured that the data on which the Commission eventually based its findings were reliable.
Namn
With respect to the calculation of its specific injury margin, the exporting producer Shougang Group submitted that the data for two product types were not taken into consideration.
De kinesiska myndigheterna godtog erbjudandet om samråd och ett sådant hölls således den 11 maj 2016.
After the analysis of this claim, the Commission accepted it.
De kinesiska myndigheternas synpunkter beaktades vid detta samråd.
Therefore, the injury margin for the Shougang Group decreased from 31,9 % to 31,5 %.
Den viktigaste prioriteringen för den kinesiska regeringen under perioden 2011–2015 är att genomföra en strukturanpassning, omvandling och uppgradering av stålindustrin.
Definitive measures
Dessutom understryks det i kapitel 5 i den tolfte femårsplanen för stålindustrin att det är viktigt att man lyckas åstadkomma ”en starkare koppling mellan politiken på områdena skatter, finanser, handel, mark, energisparande, miljöskydd, säkerhet osv. och politiken för stålindustrin”.
The anti-subsidy investigation was carried out in parallel with an investigation concerning the anti-dumping measures, limited to the threat of injury.
De kinesiska myndigheterna hävdade att kommissionen inte kunde använda sig av den tolfte femårsplanen och den tolfte femårsplanen för stålindustrin i sin undersökning, eftersom dessa båda planer löpte ut den 31 december 2015.
In view of the use of the lesser duty rule, and the fact that the definitive amounts of countervailable subsidies expressed on ad valorem basis are lower than the injury elimination level, the Commission should impose the definitive countervailing duty at the level of the established definitive amounts of countervailable subsidies and then impose the definitive anti-dumping duty up to the relevant injury elimination level.
Detta innebär att det inte finns någon rättslig grund för en fortsatt subventionering.
However, as the definitive anti-dumping regulation was already adopted on 6 April 2017, it was necessary to amend that regulation to take account of the findings present herein.
I mars 2016 släpptes den trettonde femårsplanen som omfattar perioden 2016–2020.
On the basis of this methodology and of the facts of the case, in particular the fact that the present investigation did not countervail any export subsidies, the measures are limited by the injury margin, the Commission considers that no ‘double-counting’ issue arises in this case.
Såsom förklaras närmare i nästa skäl bygger den trettonde femårsplanen på de mål som anges i den tolfte femårsplanen och vidareutvecklar dem.
Given the high rate of cooperation of Chinese exporting producers, the ‘all other companies’ duty was set at the level of the highest duty imposed on the sampled companies.
Den trettonde femårsplanen för stålindustrin (Steel Industry Adjustment and Upgrading plan for 2016–2020) offentliggjordes i november 2016.
The ‘all other companies’ duty will be applied to those companies which did not cooperate in this investigation.
Den grundar sig på den trettonde femårsplanen.
For the other cooperating non-sampled Chinese exporting producers listed in the Annex, the definitive duty rate is set at the weighted average of the rates established for the cooperating exporting producers in the sample.
Som svar på dessa påståenden erinrade kommissionen om att företaget endast hade lämnat en kortfattad och ej underbyggd vägran att ge sitt tillstånd i form av ett e-postmeddelande av den 24 november 2016 innehållande en enda mening.