On February 2, 2018, various domestic Chinese producers of phenol (the Applicants) submitted a petition for anti-dumping investigation (the Petition) to the Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) alleging that phenol products originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand (the Exporting Countries) and entering the Chinese market “cut down the prices of similar products in the domestic market, thus leading to lower market share, dramatic decline of the selling price and the pretax profit as a whole, [a] fall in ROI [return on investment] and substantial damages to [the] domestic industry.”1 MOFCOM found that the Petition was supported by sufficient evidence and, on March 26, 2018, formally opened an anti-dumping investigation.
The investigation period is from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017, and the investigation period for industrial damages is from January 1, 2014 to September 30, 2017.
Interested parties must register to participate in the investigation by April 15, 2018
Exporters or foreign producers of phenol from the Exporting Countries (“Interested Parties) must register to participate in the investigation no later than April 15, 2018.2 To register, Interested Parties must provide MOFCOM with basic identity information and certain trade data regarding the phenol products under investigation. If a company fails to register to participate in the investigation by the April 15 deadline, they will have forfeited their right to provide MOFCOM with their sales and cost data.
Following the registration period, MOFCOM will circulate questionnaires to participating companies, seeking information, including phenol sales data and cost of production information during the specified timeframe. U.S. exporters have a strong incentive to register and provide actual sales data to counterbalance the positions of Chinese Petitioners which, if unchecked, may result in MOFCOM calculating a higher dumping margin and anti-dumping duty for Exporting Countries. It is imperative, therefore, that Interested Parties register with MOFCOM by April 15, 2018 and provide timely responses to MOFCOM’s subsequent questionnaires.
How Reed Smith can help
Reed Smith’s International Trade Group has experience representing companies that are participants in MOFCOM-initiated anti-dumping investigations. As a global firm with offices in Shanghai and Beijing, Reed Smith is particularly suited to be able to facilitate communications with Chinese authorities and guide your company from registration through the various phases of the MOFCOM anti-dumping investigation.
- MOFCOM Announcement No. 33 of 2018 on Filing of Anti-dumping Investigation against Imports of Phenol Originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand (available at english.mofcom.gov.cn).
- MOFCOM requires Interested Parties to register within 20 days of its initiation of the anti-dumping investigation. MOFCOM initiated its anti-dumping investigation against imports of Phenol from the Exporting Countries on March 26, 2018.
Client Alert 2018-084
