SteelOrbis has learned further details of the antidumping and the anti-subsidy investigations, which were initiated by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on June 1 against grain-oriented electrical steel from the US and Russia. Details of the investigations are as follows:
On April 29, 2009, the MOC received two petitions submitted by Wuhan Iron & Steel Corporation (WISCO) and Baosteel Group on behalf of China's domestic grain-oriented flat rolled electrical steel industry seeking an antidumping investigation into imported grain-oriented flat rolled electrical steel from the US and Russia, and an anti-subsidy investigation into imported grain-oriented flat rolled electrical steel originating in the US.
According to the results of the MOC's examination of the antidumping and anti-subsidy allegations in the petition, the preliminary evidence has indicated that the annual output of grain-oriented electrical steel from WISCO and Baosteel Group in 2006, 2007, 2008, and from January to February of 2009 covered 100 percent of the total output of the same product in the mainland. At the same time, the petition also contained relevant information and evidence required by Chinese antidumping and anti-subsidy regulations for the initiation of these investigations.
The anti-subsidy petition submitted by WISCO and Baosteel included 27 subsidy items provided by the US government to the related domestic industry and enterprises. The MOC has decided not to carry out any investigation into five of these items.
The period of the dumping and the subsidy investigation is from March 1, 2008 to February 28, 2009, while the period of industry injury investigation is from January 1, 2006 to March 31, 2009.
The merchandise subject to these investigations is classified in the People Republic's Of China Customs Import Tariff Codes under subheadings 72251100 and 72261100.
The MOC is scheduled to complete the investigations before June 1, 2010. However, it may be extended to December 1, 2010 under special circumstances.