EU announces intention to apply anti-dumping duties

On 16th November the European Commission published to interested parties its General Final Disclosure Document for the AD676 case on imports of certain iron or steel fasteners in the People’s Republic of China. Fastener + Fixing Magazine has been sent the document, from an unnamed source, which shows the European Commission intends to apply definitive anti-dumping duties of up to 89.8%.

Whilst this is a disclosure of the European Commission’s intentions, rather than the final regulation, it does show that the Commission intends to apply definitive duties as below:

–Specific exporting companies (three companies): Anti-dumping duties ranging from 23.9% to 51.5%
–Other cooperating exporting companies (listed within the Annex in the document): Anti-dumping duties at 41.8%
–All other companies: Anti-dumping duties at 89.8%

Assuming the duties will be confirmed in the final regulation, they will apply to the products cited in the Disclosure “originating from the People’s Republic of China” – regardless of the country from which consigned and imported to the EU. The products involved are currently classified under CN codes 7318 12 90, 7318 14 91, 7318 14 99, 7318 15 58, 7318 15 68, 7318 15 82, 7318 15 88, ex 731815 95 (TARIC codes 7318 15 95 19 and 7318 15 95 89), ex 7318 21 00 (TARIC codes 7318 21 00 31, 7318 21 00 39, 7318 21 00 95 and 7318 21 00 98) and ex 7318 22 00 (TARIC codes 7318 22 00 31, 7318 22 00 39, 7318 22 00 95 and 7318 22 00 98).

Another important part of the disclosure is in regards to the potential for any retrospective action. The document states: “The Commission considers that one of
the legal conditions under Article 10(4) of the basic Regulation is not met and therefore the duties should not be levied retroactively on the registered imports. Thus, the registration of imports should be discontinued.”

The date of the publication of the final EU regulation has not been confirmed. However, the AD676 case schedule on the European Commission website sets a target date of 17th February 2022. It is worth noting that these dates are only indicative and not binding.