According to a document shared by New Zealand’s Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), subsidy on Chinese steel imports into the country are to be reinvestigated.
Originally, MBIE had started the investigation into galvanized steel coil from China on December 19, 2016, following the receipt of an application for a subsidy investigation from NZ Steel on the grounds that imported goods are being dumped in the local market and that China is unfairly subsidizing its domestic firms. MBIE assessed the extent to which subsidized imports of the subject goods from China may have been causing material injury to NZ Steel, and concluded that the subject goods were subsidized only to de minimis levels and were not by reason thereof causing material injury to the industry.
In the document, it is stated that NZ Steel applied for a judicial review upon the Minister’s decision. The High Court held that there were material errors in the advice to the Minister and quashed the Minister’s decision.
The original period of investigation for subsidization was the year ended June 30, 2016, while the investigation of injury involved the evaluation of data for the period July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016.
According to the document, MBIE will publish an Essential Facts and Conclusions Report (EFC Report), possibly by the end of February 2019. On the basis of the EFC Report and the comments received on it, MBIE will prepare the Final Report as the basis for the Minister’s final determination. Subject to this timetable, a final determination could possibly be made in April 2019.