relative file path for layout
Skip to main content  Skip to search  Skip to main menu
Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Brand Hong Kong - Asia world city
MY COLOUR

Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

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

Ref : EIC 111/3/10/2

27 July 2007

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 289/2007

US : Surrogate Country Selection in Anti-dumping Proceedings involving
Non-Market Economy Countries

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) on 25 July 2007 requesting further comments on the methodology by which it selects a surrogate country for the non-market economy (NME) under anti-dumping (AD) investigation or review. Interested parties are invited to submit comments to the DoC within 30 days, i.e. by 24 August 2007. A copy (pdf format) of the FR notice outlining the details is appended to this circular for reference.

DETAILS

  1. In AD proceedings involving NMEs, the DoC calculates normal value of the merchandise concerned by valuing NME producer's factors of production, to the extent possible, using prices from a surrogate country, i.e. a market economy that is at a comparable level of economic development and that is also a significant producer of comparable merchandise. In March 2007, the DoC sought public comments on its methodology for the selection of a surrogate country in NME AD proceedings. Details are set out in Commercial Information Circular No. 135/2007 of 22 March 2007.
  2. Having received and considered the comments, the DoC is now seeking a second round of public comments on this issue. Specifically, it is interested in the following:
    • the specific guidelines the DoC should follow in determining the economic comparability of countries in a given case, e.g. how it should construct the initial list of economically comparable countries, how this set of countries should be balanced, and how many countries it should contain;
  • whether certain comparable countries should be excluded, at least initially, from the DoC's analysis of which country is the best possible surrogate in a given proceeding on the basis of a general lack of country specific data; and
  • how the DoC should evaluate and weigh the production experiences and data availability of countries in cases where there may be more than one potential surrogate country with reliable data and significant production of comparable merchandise.

ENQUIRY

  1. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5682.


Yours faithfully,


(Scott MAK)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry