WTO Panel Rules Against EU in China Fastener Dispute, May Affect Other AD Cases
In the World Trade Organization dispute brought by China, “European Communities: Definitive AD Measures on Certain Iron or Steel Fasteners from China” (DS397), the dispute settlement panel ruled against numerous European Union antidumping practices involving the fasteners from China.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Panel Rules Against EU’s Normal Value Determination, Volume of Dumped Imports, Etc.
The panel concluded that the EU acted inconsistently with:
- Normal value determination - Articles 6.4 and 6.2 of the AD Agreement with respect to aspects of the normal value determination;
- Volume of dumped imports - Articles 3.1 and 3.2 of the AD Agreement with respect to the consideration of the volume of dumped imports in the fasteners investigation;
- Causation analysis - Articles 3.1 and 3.5 of the AD Agreement with respect to the causation analysis in the fasteners investigation;
- Article 9(5) of Basic AD regulation - Articles 6.10, 9.2 and 18.4 of the AD Agreement, Article I:1 of the GATT 1994 and Article XVI:4 of the WTO Agreement with respect to Article 9(5) of the Basic AD Regulation;
- Individual treatment determinations - Articles 6.10 and 9.2 of the AD Agreement with respect to the individual treatment determinations in the fasteners investigation;
- Confidential treatment. The panel found the EU acted inconsistently with several WTO obligations regarding confidential treatment: (i) Article 6.5.1 of the AD Agreement with respect to non-confidential versions of questionnaire responses of two European producers; (ii) Article 6.5 of the AD Agreement with respect to confidential treatment of information in the questionnaire response of the Indian producer; (iii) Article 6.5 of the AD Agreement with respect to the confidential treatment of the Eurostat data on total EU production of fasteners; and (iv) Article 6.5 of the AD Agreement by disclosing confidential information.
May Affect Other Antidumping Disputes
Though the panel did not agree with China on many if its allegations, the number of EU antidumping principles ruled against by the panel has led some trade sources to conclude that many more dumping disputes could be affected by the panel’s ruling.
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/07/10 news, 10120715, for BP summary of China welcoming this WTO ruling.)