THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union(1) and in particular Articles 13(3) and 14(5) thereof,
After having informed the Member States,
Whereas:
A. EX OFFICIO INVESTIGATION
B. PRODUCT
The following products are excluded:
of stainless steel, of silicon-electrical steel, and of high-speed steel,
not further worked than hot-rolled or cold-rolled (cold-reduced).
The product concerned is currently falling under CN codes ex 7210 41 00, ex 7210 49 00, ex 7210 61 00, ex 7210 69 00, ex 7212 30 00, ex 7212 50 61, ex 7212 50 69, ex 7225 92 00, ex 7225 99 00, ex 7226 99 30 and ex 7226 99 70 (TARIC codes: 7210 41 00 20, 7210 49 00 20, 7210 61 00 20, 7210 69 00 20, 7212 30 00 20, 7212 50 61 20, 7212 50 69 20, 7225 92 00 20, 7225 99 00 22, 7225 99 00 92, 7226 99 30 10, 7226 99 70 94) and originating in in the People’s Republic of China (‘the product concerned’). This is the product to which the measures that are currently in force apply.
The product under investigation for possible circumvention is certain corrosion resistant steels. These are flat-rolled products of iron or alloy steel or non-alloy steel; plated or coated by hot dip galvanisation with zinc and/or aluminium and/or magnesium, whether or not alloyed with silicon; chemically passivated; with or without any additional surface treatment such as oiling or sealing; containing by weight: not more than 0,5 % of carbon, not more than 1,1 % of aluminium, not more than 0,12 % of niobium, not more than 0,17 % of titanium and not more than 0,15 % of vanadium; presented in coils, cut-to-length sheets and narrow strips, currently falling under CN codes ex 7210 41 00, ex 7210 49 00, ex 7210 61 00, ex 7210 69 00, ex 7210 90 80, ex 7212 30 00, ex 7212 50 61, ex 7212 50 69, ex 7212 50 90, ex 7225 92 00, ex 7225 99 00, ex 7226 99 30, ex 7226 99 70 (TARIC codes: 7210 41 00 30, 7210 49 00 30, 7210 61 00 30, 7210 69 00 30, 7210 90 80 92, 7212 30 00 30, 7212 50 61 30, 7212 50 69 30, 7212 50 90 14, 7212 50 90 92, 7225 92 00 30, 7225 99 00 23, 7225 99 00 41, 7225 99 00 93, 7226 99 30 30, 7226 99 70 13, 7226 99 70 93), originating in the People’s Republic of China (‘the product under investigation’).
The following products are excluded:
of stainless steel, of silicon-electrical steel, and of high-speed steel,
not further worked than hot-rolled or cold-rolled (cold-reduced),
the product concerned as defined in recital 2 above.
C. EXISTING MEASURES
D. GROUNDS
E. PROCEDURE
F. REGISTRATION
G. TIME-LIMITS
interested parties may make themselves known to the Commission, present their views in writing and submit questionnaire replies or any other information to be taken into account during the investigation,
interested parties may make a written request to be heard by the Commission.
H. NON-COOPERATION
I. SCHEDULE OF THE INVESTIGATION
J. PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA
K. HEARING OFFICER
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
An investigation is initiated pursuant to Article 13(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, in order to determine if imports into the Union of flat-rolled products of iron or alloy steel or non-alloy steel; plated or coated by hot dip galvanisation with zinc and/or aluminium and/or magnesium, whether or not alloyed with silicon; chemically passivated; with or without any additional surface treatment such as oiling or sealing; containing by weight: not more than 0,5 % of carbon, not more than 1,1 % of aluminium, not more than 0,12 % of niobium, not more than 0,17 % of titanium and not more than 0,15 % of vanadium; presented in coils, cut-to-length sheets and narrow strips, currently falling under CN codes ex 7210 41 00, ex 7210 49 00, ex 7210 61 00, ex 7210 69 00, ex 7210 90 80, ex 7212 30 00, ex 7212 50 61, ex 7212 50 69, ex 7212 50 90, ex 7225 92 00, ex 7225 99 00, ex 7226 99 30, ex 7226 99 70 (TARIC codes: 7210 41 00 30, 7210 49 00 30, 7210 61 00 30, 7210 69 00 30, 7210 90 80 92, 7212 30 00 30, 7212 50 61 30, 7212 50 69 30, 7212 50 90 14, 7212 50 90 92, 7225 92 00 30, 7225 99 00 23, 7225 99 00 41, 7225 99 00 93, 7226 99 30 30, 7226 99 70 13, 7226 99 70 93)(‘certain corrosion resistant steels’), originating in the People’s Republic of China, are circumventing the measures imposed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/186.
The following products are excluded:
of stainless steel, of silicon-electrical steel, and of high-speed steel,
not further worked than hot-rolled or cold-rolled (cold-reduced),
the product concerned as defined in recital 2 above.
The Customs authorities shall, pursuant to Article 13(3) and Article 14(5) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, take the appropriate steps to register the imports into the Union identified in Article 1 of this Regulation.
Registration shall expire nine months following the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
The Commission, by regulation, may direct Customs authorities to cease registration in respect of imports into the Union of products made by exporters/producers having applied for an exemption from registration and having been found to fulfil the conditions for an exemption to be granted.
1.A copy of the questionnaires is available on DG Trade website http://trade.ec.europa.eu/tdi/case_details.cfm?id=2409
2.Interested parties, if their representations are to be taken into account during the investigation, must make themselves known by contacting the Commission, present their views in writing and submit questionnaire replies or any other information within 37 days from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, unless otherwise specified.
3.Interested parties may also apply to be heard by the Commission within the same 37-day time limit.
4.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 right of defence.
5.All written submissions, including the information requested in this Regulation, completed questionnaires and correspondence provided by interested parties for which confidential treatment is requested shall be labelled ‘Limited’(4).
6.Interested parties providing ‘Limited’ information are required to furnish non-confidential summaries of it pursuant to Article 19(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, which will be labelled ‘For inspection by interested parties’. These summaries should be sufficiently detailed to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. If an interested party providing confidential information does not furnish a non-confidential summary of it in the requested format and quality, such information may be disregarded.
7.Interested parties are invited to make all submissions and requests via TRON.tdi (https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/tron/TDI), including scanned powers of attorney and certification sheets, with the exception of large replies, which shall be submitted on a CD-R or DVD by hand or by registered mail.
In order to have access to TRON.tdi, interested parties need an EU Login account. Full instructions on how to register and use TRON.tdi are available on https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/tron/resources/documents/gettingStarted.pdf
By using TRON.tdi or 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:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate H
Office: CHAR 04/039
1049 Brussels
BELGIUM
TRON.tdi: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/tron/TDI
Emails: TRADE-R705-CORROSION-RESISTANT-STEELS@ec.europa.eu
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 25 November 2019.
For the Commission
The President
Jean-Claude Juncker
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/186 of 7 February 2018 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of certain corrosion resistant steels originating in the People’s Republic of China (OJ L 34, 8.2.2018, p. 16).
Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).
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).