Notice of initiation of a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of tubes and pipes of ductile cast iron (also known as spheroidal graphite cast iron) originating in India

(2018/C 157/04)

The European Commission (‘the Commission’) has received a request for review pursuant to Article 11(3) 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 (1) (‘the basic Regulation’).

1.   Request for review

The request for review was lodged by the four Union producers Saint-Gobain PAM, Saint-Gobain PAM Deutschland GmbH, Saint-Gobain PAM España S.A. and Duktus (Production) GmbH (‘the applicants’).

The partial interim review is limited in scope to the examination of dumping as far as one Indian exporting producer, Electrosteel Castings Ltd (‘ECL’), is concerned.

2.   Product under review

The product under review is tubes and pipes of ductile cast iron (also known as spheroidal graphite cast iron), with the exclusion of tubes and pipes of ductile cast iron without internal and external coating (‘bare pipes’), currently falling within CN codes ex 7303 00 10 and ex 7303 00 90 (TARIC codes 7303001010, 7303009010), originating in India (‘the product under review’).

3.   Existing measures

The measures currently in force are a definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/388 of 17 March 2016 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of tubes and pipes of ductile cast iron (also known as spheroidal graphite cast iron) originating in India (2), as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2016/1369 (3).

The product under review is also subject to a definitive countervailing duty imposed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/387 of 17 March 2016 imposing a definitive countervailing duty on imports of tubes and pipes of ductile cast iron (also known as spheroidal graphite cast iron), originating in India (4).

In the investigation leading to the measures in force, a dumping margin of 4,1 % was found for ECL, though ECL is subject to a 0 % anti-dumping duty because of the cumulation with the countervailing duty in force and the lesser duty rule.

4.   Grounds for the review

The request pursuant to Article 11(3) is based on sufficient evidence provided by the applicants that, as far as the dumping of ECL is concerned, the circumstances on the basis of which the existing measures were imposed have changed and that these changes are of lasting nature.

The applicants allege that dumping margins of ECL significantly increased since the original investigation period. The applicants allege that ECL significantly decreased its export prices to the Union, and that such decrease occurred despite the measures in place, an increase in the costs of raw materials and an appreciation of the Indian Rupee against the Euro.

The applicants provided sufficient evidence showing that, as far as ECL is concerned, the continued imposition of the measure at its current level is no longer sufficient to counteract the dumping. In particular, a comparison of ECL's normal value and their export prices to the Union indicates that the dumping margin appears to be significantly higher than the dumping margin of 4,1 % established in the original investigation. The applicants also provided sufficient evidence of the lasting nature of the changed circumstances. In particular, the applicants extended their dumping margin analysis to the full years 2016 and 2017.

Therefore, the applicants allege that the existing measures are no longer sufficient to counteract the dumping.

5.   Procedure

Having determined, after informing the Member States that, as alleged in the application, sufficient evidence exists to justify the initiation of a partial interim review limited to the examination of dumping, the Commission hereby initiates a review in accordance with Article 11(3) of the basic Regulation.

The investigation will also assess the need for the continuation, removal or amendment of the existing measures in respect of ECL.

5.1.   Investigating the exporting producer

In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation, the Commission will send a questionnaire to ECL and its related (5) companies in the Union. Unless otherwise specified, this information and supporting evidence must reach the Commission within 37 days of the date of receipt of the questionnaire.

5.2.   Other written submissions

Subject to the provisions of this Notice, all interested parties are hereby invited to make their views known, submit information and provide supporting evidence. Unless otherwise specified, this information and supporting evidence must reach the Commission within 37 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation, the Commission may send questionnaires to interested parties that have come forward.

5.3.   Possibility to be heard by the Commission investigation services

All interested parties may request to be heard by the Commission investigation services. Any request to be heard must be made in writing and must specify the reasons for the request. For hearings on issues pertaining to the initial stage of the investigation the request must be submitted within 15 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. Thereafter, a request to be heard must be submitted within the specific deadlines set by the Commission in its communication with the parties.

5.4.   Instructions for making written submissions and sending completed questionnaires and correspondence

Information submitted to the Commission for the purpose of trade defence investigations shall be free from copyrights. Interested parties, before submitting to the Commission information and/or data which is subject to third party copyrights, must request specific permission to the copyright holder explicitly allowing a) the Commission to use the information and data for the purpose of this trade defence proceeding and b) to provide the information and/or data to interested parties to this investigation in a form that allows them to exercise their rights of defence.

All written submissions, including the information requested in this Notice, completed questionnaires and correspondence provided by interested parties for which confidential treatment is requested shall be labelled ‘Limited’ (6). Parties submitting information in the course of this investigation are invited to reason their request for confidential treatment.

Interested parties providing ‘Limited’ information are required to furnish non-confidential summaries of it pursuant to Article 19(2) of the basic Regulation, which will be labelled ‘For inspection by interested parties’. Those summaries must be sufficiently detailed to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. If a party providing confidential information fails to show good cause for a confidential treatment request or does not furnish a non-confidential summary of it in the requested format and quality, the Commission may disregard such information unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct.

Interested parties are invited to make all submissions and requests by email including scanned powers of attorney and certification sheets, with the exception of voluminous replies which shall be submitted on a CD-ROM or DVD by hand or by registered mail. By using email, interested parties express their agreement with the rules applicable to electronic submissions contained in the document ‘CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN TRADE DEFENCE CASES’ published on the website of the Directorate-General for Trade: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/june/tradoc_148003.pdf The interested parties must indicate their name, address, telephone and a valid email address and they should ensure that the provided email address is a functioning official business email which is checked on a daily basis. Once contact details are provided, the Commission will communicate with interested parties by email only, unless they explicitly request to receive all documents from the Commission by another means of communication or unless the nature of the document to be sent requires the use of a registered mail. For further rules and information concerning correspondence with the Commission including principles that apply to submissions by email, interested parties should consult the communication instructions with interested parties referred to above.

Commission address for correspondence:

6.   Non-cooperation

In cases where any interested party refuses access to or does not provide the necessary information within the time limits, or significantly impedes the investigation, findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of facts available, in accordance with Article 18 of the basic Regulation.

Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information, the information may be disregarded and use may be made of facts available.

If an interested party does not cooperate or cooperates only partially and findings are therefore based on facts available in accordance with Article 18 of the basic Regulation, the result may be less favourable to that party than if it had cooperated.

Failure to give a computerised response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation, provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. The interested party should immediately contact the Commission.

7.   Hearing Officer

Interested parties may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer in trade proceedings. The Hearing Officer acts as an interface between the interested parties and the Commission investigation services. The Hearing Officer reviews requests for access to the file, disputes regarding the confidentiality of documents, requests for extension of time limits and requests by third parties to be heard. The Hearing Officer may organise a hearing with an individual interested party and mediate to ensure that the interested parties' rights of defence are being fully exercised.

A request for a hearing with the Hearing Officer should be made in writing and should specify the reasons for the request. For hearings on issues pertaining to the initial stage of the investigation the request must be submitted within 15 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

For further information and contact details interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer's web pages on DG Trade's website: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/trade-policy-and-you/contacts/hearing-officer/

8.   Schedule of the investigation

The investigation will be concluded, pursuant to Article 11(5) of the basic Regulation within 15 months of the date of the publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

9.   Processing of personal data

Any personal data collected in this investigation will be treated in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (7).

(1)  OJ L 176, 30.6.2016, p. 21.

(2)  OJ L 73 18.3.2016, p. 53.

(3)  OJ L 217 12.8.2016, p. 4.

(4)  OJ L 73 18.3.2016, p. 1.

(5)  In accordance with Article 127 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code, two persons shall be deemed to be related if one of the following conditions is fulfilled: (a) they are officers or directors of one another's businesses; (b) they are legally recognized partners in business; (c) they are employer and employee; (d) a third party directly or indirectly owns or controls or holds 5 % or more of the outstanding voting stock or shares of both of them; (e) one of them directly or indirectly controls the other; (f) both of them are directly or indirectly controlled by a third person; (g) together they control a third person directly or indirectly; or (h) they are members of the same family. Persons shall be deemed to be members of the same family only if they stand in any of the following relationships to one another: (i) husband and wife, (ii) parent and child, (iii) brother and sister (whether by whole or half blood), (iv) grandparent and grandchild, (v) uncle or aunt and nephew or niece, (vi) parent-in-law and son-in-law or daughter-in-law, (vii) brother-in-law and sister-in-law. In accordance with Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, ‘person’ means a natural person, a legal person, and any association of persons which is not a legal person but which is recognized under Union or national law as having the capacity to perform legal acts (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1).

(6)  A ‘Limited’ document is a document which is considered confidential pursuant to Article 19 of the basic Regulation and Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (Anti-Dumping Agreement). It is also a document protected pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).

(7)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.