On September 1, 2023, the Anti-Dumping Commission of Australia (ADC) issued the Statement of Essential Facts in relation to Australia's anti-dumping investigation into Vietnamese copper tube products imported into the country.
On March 22, 2021, the Anti-Dumping Commission of Australia (ADC) initiated an anti-dumping investigation into Vietnamese copper tube products after reviewing the application by MM Kembla, the sole manufacturer of copper tubes in Australia.
According to the complainant, the exports of Vietnamese companies to the Australian market have caused injury to the domestic production of similar products in Australia.
On October 29, 2021, ADC issued the Statement of Essential Facts (SEF 580) concluding that Vietnamese exporters were not engaged in dumping as their margin of dumping was not significant. ADC recommended terminating the investigation concerning Vietnam.
On March 4, 2022, based on the arguments presented in the aforementioned Essential Facts, ADC terminated the entire investigation. However, on July 7, 2022, the Anti-Dumping Review Panel of Australia (ADRP) revoked ADC's decision to terminate the investigation with the following main reasons:
- ADC's findings did not ensure a proper comparison between exported goods to Australia and like goods sold in Australia, failing to meet international standards, physical differences in thickness and outer diameter to make appropriate adjustments for price and normal value comparison.
- The transactions between one Vietnamese company (the only respondent to the investigation) and the Australian-linked importer, Hailiang Australia, were not considered independent transactions.
In compliance with the Anti-Dumping Review Panel's decision on July 7, 2022, to revoke ADC's decision of March 4, 2022, regarding the termination of the investigation, report number 580A was issued on September 1, 2023.
The report states: "With the assistance of the Anti-Dumping Commission, the Commissioner has made the Statement of Essential Facts (SEF) under subsection 269ZZT(2) of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act), and the investigation continues after this report is published. Based on the findings in this report, the Delegate recommends terminating the investigation concerning all exporters from Vietnam."
The detailed reasons cited include:
- The sole cooperating Vietnamese company (also the largest copper tube exporter from Vietnam to Australia) did not engage in dumping of copper tube products exported from Vietnam to Australia.
- The other Vietnamese exporters had a dumping margin of less than 2%, which is not considered significant by ADC.
- As the dumping margins for Vietnamese exporting companies were all below 2%, ADC did not consider injury issues.
Interested parties can provide feedback on the Essential Facts within 20 days from the date of issuance. Therefore, the deadline for submitting feedback is September 21, 2023, to ADC.
For more information, please refer to the official announcement, which can be downloaded here.
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