Tempered Glass from China in Anti-dumping Investigation on Gujarat Borosil Complaint
[Anti-dumping Initiation
Notification F.No.14/3/2016-DGAD dated 23rd June 2016]
Subject: Initiation
of Anti-Dumping Investigation concerning imports of Textured Tempered Glass
whether Coated or Uncoated from China PR
M/s Gujarat Borosil Limited (hereinafter also referred to as the
Petitioner or Applicant) has filed an application before the Designated Authority
(hereinafter also referred to as the Authority) in accordance with the Customs
Tariff Act, 1975 as amended from time to time (hereinafter also referred to as
the Act) and the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of
Anti-Dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of injury) Rules,
1995 as amended from time to time (hereinafter also referred to as the Rules)
for imposition of Anti-dumping duty on imports of "Textured Toughened
(Tempered) Glass with a minimum of 90.5% transmission having thickness not
exceeding 4.2 mm (including tolerance of 0.2 mm) and where at least one
dimension exceeds 1500 mm, whether coated or uncoated" (hereinafter also
referred to as the subject goods or PUC) from China PR (hereinafter also referred
to as the subject country).
Product under
consideration
1. The product under consideration in the present application is
"Textured Toughened (Tempered) Glass with a minimum of 90.5% transmission
having thickness not exceeding 4.2 mm (including tolerance of 0.2 mm) and where
at least one dimension exceeds 1500 mm, whether coated or uncoated"
(hereinafter referred to as the “subject goods” or the “Product under
Consideration").
2. The subject good is used as a component in Solar Photovoltaic
Panels and Solar Thermal applications. The glass of thickness 3.2 mm and 4 mm
is generally used in Solar Photovoltaic Panels and Solar Thermal applications
as per the current trend. The minimum level of transmission required in the
subject good can be achieved by keeping the iron content low, typically less
than 200 ppm. The transmission level goes up by about 2%-3% when coated with an
anti-reflective coating liquid. The glass whether coated or uncoated is
tempered / toughened in a tempering furnace, as it is essential for solar
applications.
3. The product in the market parlance is also known by various names
such as Solar Glass, Low Iron Solar Glass, High Transmission Photovoltaic
Glass, Tempered Low Iron Patterned Solar Glass etc. The subject goods are
classified under chapter heading 70071900. However, it has been claimed by the
petitioner that the subject goods are also being imported under various other
tariff headings like 70031990, 70051010, 70051090, 70052190, 70052990,
70053090, 70071900 etc. It is clarified that the HS codes are only indicative
and the product description shall prevail in all circumstances.
4. The Product under Consideration is defined as follows:
“Textured Toughened
(Tempered) Glass with a minimum of 90.5% transmission having thickness not
exceeding 4.2 mm (including tolerance of 0.2 mm) and where at least one
dimension exceeds 1500 mm, whether coated or uncoated”.
Like Article
5. The petitioner has submitted that subject goods produced by the
petitioner company and the subject goods imported from the subject country are
like articles. There is no known difference between the subject goods exported
from subject country and that produced by the petitioner. Textured Toughened
(Tempered) Glass produced by the domestic industry and imported from subject
country are comparable in terms of essential product characteristics such as
physical & chemical characteristics, manufacturing process &
technology, functions & uses, product specifications, pricing, distribution
& marketing and tariff classification of the goods. Consumers can use and
are using the two interchangeably. The two are technically and commercially
substitutable, and hence, should be treated as ‘like article’ under the Rules.
Therefore, for the purpose of the present investigation, the subject goods
produced by the applicant in India are being treated as ‘Like Article’ to the
subject goods being imported from the subject country.
Domestic Industry
& Standing
6. The Application has been filed by M/s Gujarat Borosil
Limited., as domestic industry of the product under consideration. According to
the Petitioner, they are the sole producers of the subject goods in India. The
petitioner has certified that there are no imports of the product under
consideration by the petitioner or any of its related party from the subject
country. Since the petitioner account for entire (100%) production of the
product under consideration in India, the petitioner satisfies the standing and
constitutes Domestic Industry within the meaning of the Rules.
Country involved
7. The present investigation is in respect of alleged dumping of the
product under consideration from China PR.
Normal Value
8. The petitioner has claimed that China PR should be treated as a
non-market economy and has determined normal value in accordance with Para 7 of
Annexure I of the Rules. In view of the non-market economy presumption and
subject to rebuttal of the same by the responding exporters, normal value of
the subject goods in China PR has been estimated in terms of Para 7 of Annexure
I to the Rules. The applicant has determined the normal value based on cost of
production in India, duly adjusted with selling, general and administrative
expenses and reasonable profit. However, the interested parties may suggest
market economy third country for the purpose of determination of the normal
value in terms of Para 7 of Annexure I of the Rules.
Export Price
9. The applicant has determined the export price on the basis of
data published by M/s Infodrive India Pvt. Ltd. Price adjustments have been claimed on account of
commission, ocean freight, port expenses, inland freight, marine insurance, and
bank charges. During the course of investigation, the Authority will also analyze the transaction-wise import data from Directorate
General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S).
Dumping Margin
10. The normal value and the export price have
been compared at ex-factory level, which show significant dumping margin in
respect of the subject goods from the subject country. There is sufficient
prima facie evidence that the normal value of the subject goods in the subject
country is significantly higher than the ex-factory export price, indicating,
prima facie, that the subject goods are being dumped into the Indian market by
the exporters from the subject country.
Injury and Causal
Link
11. The applicant has claimed that domestic
industry has suffered material injury from dumped imports. The demand for the
product under consideration has increased over the injury period and subject
imports have increased in absolute terms. The imports are undercutting the
domestic prices. The imports have suppressed/depressed the domestic prices.
With regard to consequent impact of the imports on the domestic industry, it is
noted that performance of the domestic industry has deteriorated in respect of
parameters such as profits; return on capital employed and cash profits. The
domestic industry is suffering significant financial losses, cash losses and
negative return on investments. There is sufficient prima facie evidence of
injury to the domestic industry caused by dumped imports from subject country
to justify initiation of an anti-dumping investigation.
12. And whereas, the Authority prima facie finds
that sufficient evidence of dumping of the subject goods, originating in or
exported from the subject country; injury to the domestic industry and causal
link between the alleged dumping and injury exist to justify initiation of an
anti-dumping investigation, the Authority hereby initiates an investigation
into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry in
terms of Para 5 of the Rules, to determine the existence, degree and effect of
alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of antidumping duty, which if
levied, would be adequate to remove the ‘injury’ to the domestic industry.
Period of Investigation
(POI)
13. The period of investigation for the purpose of
present investigation is from 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2015
(12 months). However, the injury investigation period will cover the data of
previous three years, i.e. April 2012 to March 2013, April 2013 to March 2014,
April 2014 to March-2015 and POI.
Submission of
Information
14. The exporters in the subject country, their
government through their Embassy in India, the importers and users in India
known to be concerned and the domestic industry are being addressed separately
to submit relevant information in the form and manner prescribed and to make
their views known to the Authority at the following address:
The Designated
Authority
Directorate General
of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties
Department of
Commerce,
Jeevan Tara Building, 4th
Floor
5, Parliament Street
New Delhi -110001
15. Any other interested party may also make its
submissions relevant to the investigation in the prescribed form and manner
within the time limit set out below. Any party making any confidential
submission before the Authority is required to make a non-confidential version
of the same available to the other parties.
Time Limit
16. Any information relating to the present
investigation should be sent in writing so as to reach the Authority at the
address mentioned above not later than forty days (40 days) from the date of
publication of this Notification. If no information is received within the
prescribed time limit or the information received is incomplete, the Authority
may record its findings on the basis of the facts available on record in
accordance with the AD Rules.
17. All the interested parties are hereby advised
to intimate their interest (including the nature of interest) in the instant
matter and file their questionnaire responses and offer their comments to the
domestic industry’s application within forty days (40 days) from the date of
publication of this Notification. The information must be submitted in hard
copies as well as soft copies.
Submission of
information on confidential basis
18. The parties making any submission (including
Appendices/Annexure attached thereto), before the authority including
questionnaire response, are required to file the same in two separate sets, in
case "confidentiality" is claimed on any part thereof.
19. The “confidential” or “non-confidential”
submissions must be clearly marked as “confidential” or “non-confidential” at
the top of each page. Any submission made without such marking shall be treated
as non-confidential by the Authority and the Authority shall be at liberty to
allow the other interested parties to inspect such submissions. Soft copies of
both the versions will also be required to be submitted, along with the hard
copies, in two (2) sets of each.
20. The confidential version shall contain all
information, which is by nature confidential and/or other information, which
the supplier of such information claims, as confidential. The information which
is claimed to be confidential by nature or the information on which
confidentiality is claimed because of other reasons, the supplier of the
information is required to provide a good cause statement along with the
supplied information as to why such information cannot be disclosed.
21. The non-confidential version is required to be
a replica of the confidential version with the confidential information
preferably indexed or blanked out (in case indexation is not feasible) and
summarized depending upon the information on which confidentiality is claimed.
The non-confidential summary must be in sufficient detail to permit a
reasonable understanding of the substance of the information furnished on
confidential basis. However, in exceptional circumstances, party submitting the
confidential information may indicate that such information is not susceptible
to summary, and a statement of reasons why summarization is not possible, must
be provided to the satisfaction of the Authority.
22. The Authority may accept or reject the request
for confidentiality on examination of the nature of the information submitted.
If the Authority is satisfied that the request for confidentiality is not
warranted or if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the
information public or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary
form, it may disregard such information.
23. Any submission made without a meaningful
non-confidential version thereof or without a good cause statement on the
confidentiality claim shall not be taken on record by the Authority.
24. The Authority on being satisfied and accepting
the need for confidentiality of the information provided, shall not disclose it
to any party without specific authorization of the party providing such
information.
Inspection of Public
File
25. In terms of Rule 6(7) of the AD Rules, any
interested party may inspect the public file containing non-confidential
version of the information or evidence submitted by other interested parties.
Non-cooperation
26. In case where an interested party refuses
access to, or otherwise does not provide necessary information within a
reasonable period, or significantly impedes the investigation, the Authority
may record its findings on the basis of the facts available to it and make such
recommendations to the Central Government as deemed fit.