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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Brand Hong Kong - Asia world city

Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 230/2/3/2/13

4 March 2009

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 114/2009

European Union (EU)* : Initiation of an Expiry Review and a Partial Interim Review of the Anti-dumping Measures on Imports of Silicon Originating in the Mainland of China

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 499/2008 of 8 October 2008, the European Commission (the Commission) has published a notice to initiate an expiry review and a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures imposed on imports of silicon originating in the Mainland of China. The notice can be accessed through the following link :
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:051:0017:0021:EN:PDF.

DETAILS

Ground for the Review

  1. The expiry review is initiated at the request of Euroalliages (Liaison Committee of the Ferro-Alloy Industry) on behalf of producers representing 100 % of the Community production of silicon. The request is based on the grounds that the expiry of the measures would be likely to result in continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury to the Community industry.

  2. The interim review is initiated at the request of EUSMET (European Users of Silicon Metal), and is limited in scope to the examination of dumping. EUSMET provides prima facie evidence that the circumstances on the basis of which measures were imposed have changed, inter alia, due to a substantial increase in consumption and that these changes are of a lasting nature. Therefore, the continued imposition of measures at the existing levels is no longer necessary to offset dumping.

Review Procedures

  1. Salient points of the expiry review and the partial interim review are set out below-
(a) Date of Publication of the Notice of Initiation : 4 March 2009
(b) Product Coverage : Silicon classified under CN code 2804 6900 (this CN code is given for information only).
(c) Procedures :

In view of the apparent large number of parties involved in the proceeding, the Commission may apply sampling. To enable the Commission to decide whether sampling is necessary and, if so, to select a sample, all exporters/producers, or representatives acting on their behalf should make themselves known to the Commission and provide information requested in paragraph 5.1 (a) (i) of the notice in question, including contact details, turnover, activities of their company/related companies, production, and indication of agreement for being included in the sample which implies replying to a questionnaire and accepting an on-the-spot investigation. Such information should reach the Commission within 15 days from 4 March 2009. All interested parties wishing to submit any relevant information regarding the selection of the sample must do so within 21 days from 4 March 2009. The Commission intends to make the final selection of the samples after having consulted the parties concerned that have expressed their willingness to be included in the sample.

In order to obtain necessary information for the investigation, the Commission will send questionnaires to, among others, the sampled Community industry, any association of producers in the Community, sampled exporters/producers in the Mainland of China, any association of exporters/producers, sampled importers, any association of importers named in the request or which co-operated in the investigation leading to the measures subject to the present review, any known user or user association, and the authorities of the Mainland of China.

If sampling is applied, sampled parties must reply to the questionnaires within 37 days from the date of the notification of their inclusion in the sample.

All interested parties should request a questionnaire or other claim forms within 10 days from 4 March 2009.

All interested parties, if their representations are to be taken into account, must make themselves known by contacting the Commission, present their views and submit questionnaire replies or any other information within 40 days from 4 March 2009, unless otherwise specified. They may also apply to be heard by the Commission within 40 days from 4 March 2009.

It is envisaged to choose Brazil as a market economy country for the purpose of establishing normal value in respect of the Mainland of China. Interested parties are invited to comment on the appropriateness of this choice within 10 days from 4 March 2009.

All correspondence must be made in writing (not in electronic format, unless otherwise specified) indicating the name, address, e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers of the interested party and should be sent to the following address :

European Commission
Directorate General for Trade
Directorate H
Office: N-105 04/092
B-1049 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 295 65 05

If interested parties consider that they are encountering difficulties in the exercise of their rights of defence, they may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer, who offers, where necessary, mediation on procedural matters affecting the protection of their interests in this proceeding, in particular, with regard to issues concerning access to the file, confidentiality, extension of time limits and the treatment of written and/or oral submission of views. For further information and contact details, interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer's web pages on the website of DG Trade (http://ec.europa.eu/trade).

(d) Investigation Schedule : Investigation will be concluded within 15 months from 4 March 2009.

BACKGROUND

  1. Definitive anti-dumping duty on silicon originating in the Mainland of China has been imposed since 17 December 1997. Subsequent to an expiry review, the Commission published a regulation on 4 March 2004 to maintain the duty for another five years. The current duty in force is 49% of the net, free-at-Community-frontier price before duty.

  2. Consequent to a circumvention investigation, definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of silicon originating in the Mainland of China was extended to imports of the same products consigned from the Republic of Korea, whether declared as originating in the Republic of Korea or not, with effect from 20 January 2007.

ENQUIRIES

  1. For enquiries concerning the contents of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5684.

Yours faithfully,

(Chandler CHAN)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.



Note

  • (1) While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above information, the Department cannot guarantee this to be so and will not be held liable for any reliance placed on the same.
  • (2) The biweekly newsletter "Business Alert - EU" of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council provides up-to-date information on the latest developments in EU trade policy and trade regulations. The newsletter is available for free e-subscription and can be accessed through
    http://www.tdctrade.com/alert/eualert.htm.