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

15 November 2010

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 522/2010

European Union (EU)* : Initiation of an Expiry Review of the Anti-dumping Measures on Imports of Steel Ropes and Cables Originating in, inter alia, the Mainland of China

Further to the Commercial Information Circular No. 207/2010 of 12 May 2010, the European Commission (the Commission) has published a notice to initiate an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures imposed on imports of steel ropes and cables originating in, inter alia, the Mainland of China. The notice can be accessed through the following link : http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:309:0006:0011:EN:PDF

DETAILS

Grounds for the Review

2. The expiry review is initiated at the request of the Liaison Committee of EU Wire Rope Industries (EWRIS) on behalf of producers representing a major proportion, in this case more than 25 % of the Union production of steel ropes and cables. 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 Union industry.

Review Procedures

3. Salient points of the expiry review are set out below-

(a) Date of Publication of the Notice of Initiation	:	13 November 2010
(b) Product Coverage	:	Steel ropes and cables including locked coil ropes, excluding ropes and cables of stainless steel, with a maximum cross-sectional dimension exceeding 3 mm, currently falling within CN codes ex 7312 10 81, ex 7312 10 83, ex 7312 10 85, ex 7312 10 89 and ex 7312 10 98.
(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 13 November 2010. All interested parties wishing to submit any relevant information regarding the selection of the sample must do so within 21 days from 13 November 2010. 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 Union industry, sampled exporters/producers in the Mainland of China, any association of exporters/producers, sampled importers, any association of importers, 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, unless otherwise specified. All interested parties should request a questionnaire or other claim forms within 15 days from 13 November 2010. 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 37 days from 13 November 2010, unless otherwise specified. They may also apply to be heard by the Commission within 37 days from 13 November 2010. It is envisaged to choose Turkey 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 13 November 2010. 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 04/92 1049 Brussels Belgium Fax: +32 22956505 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 13 November 2010.

BACKGROUND

4. Definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of steel ropes and cables originating in, inter alia, the Mainland of China has been imposed since 18 August 1999. The rate of duty is 60.4% of the net, free-at-Union-frontier price before duty. As a result of an expiry review, the duty was maintained for another five years with effect from 17 November 2005.

5. Consequent to two separate circumvention investigations, the definitive anti-dumping duty imposed on imports of steel ropes and cables originating in the Mainland of China was extended to imports of the same products consigned from Morocco and Korea, whether declared as originating in Morocco or Korea or not (details can be found in Commercial Information Circular No. 280/2004 of 9 November 2004 and No. 204/2010 of 12 May 2010).

ENQUIRIES

6. For enquiries concerning the contents of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5350.

Yours faithfully,




(Miss Karen 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.



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