The EU has brought into force the registration procedure for imports involved in ongoing anti-dumping investigations for cases that have not yet reached the provisional duties stage.

The European Commission initially announced last month it was planning on registering all imports of products under anti-dumping or anti-subsidy investigations, including cases awaiting provisional determinations.

Specifically, imports of hot-rolled flat steel from Egypt, India, Japan, and Vietnam, as well as tinplate, seamless pipe and tube, and steel track shoes from China are now subject to import registration, among 12 ongoing anti-dumping investigations, Kallanish notes.

The registration of imports is designed to prevent sharp increases in imports of products under investigation ahead of the imposition of measures and provide accurate data on import sources and quantities. Retroactive collection is not automatic.

"This registration establishes a legal basis for the possible retroactive application of anti-dumping duties in these cases, should the required conditions be met," explains Yuriy Rudyuk, a partner at law firm Van Bael & Bellis.

The registration procedure becomes effective from 26 October, the day after the notice was published in the EU Official Journal. It will expire nine months thereafter.

In the case of the HRC probe, concerning imports from Egypt and Japan during the period from January to December 2023, the allegations in Eurofer’s complaint requesting the investigation estimate dumping margins from 30% to 40% and from 10% to 20%, respectively. They estimate an average injury elimination level of 26% and 29.3%, respectively. The amount of possible future liability would normally be set at the lower of those two levels.

For imports from India and Vietnam, the allegations estimate dumping margins around 10% and from 5% to 15%, respectively, and an average injury elimination level of 27.3% and 34.7%, respectively. The amount of possible future liability would normally be set at the lower of those two levels. The probe could find evidence of raw material distortions. In this case, the liability would be set at the level of the dumping margin, if it is concluded that a duty lower than the margin of dumping would not be sufficient to remove the injury suffered by EU industry, the Commission says.