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MOFCOM Announcement No. 37 of 2019 on the Final Ruling of Anti-dumping Investigation into Imports of Phenol Originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand

2019-10-15 10:03:06

Released by: Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China 
Released document number: Announcement No. 37 of 2019 
Release date: September 3, 2019

In accordance with the Anti-dumping Regulations of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Anti-dumping Regulations), on March 26, 2018, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Investigation Authority or MOFCOM) issued an announcement, deciding to carry out anti-dumping investigation into imports of phenol (hereinafter referred to as the Product under Investigation) originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand.

The Investigation Authority has investigated whether there have been any dumping and dumping margin of the Product under Investigation, whether the Product under Investigation has caused any damages to China's domestic industry, the extent of such damage and the causal relationship between the dumping and the damage. According to the investigation findings and Article 24 of the Anti-dumping Regulations, the Investigation Authority issued a preliminary ruling announcement on May 27, 2019 and preliminarily affirmed dumping of imports of phenol originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand, substantial damage to China's domestic phenol industry and the causal relationship between the dumping and the substantial damage.

After the preliminary ruling was made, the Investigation Authority continued to investigate the dumping, the dumping margin, the damage, the damage extent and the causal relationship between the dumping and the damage. Now all the investigations related to the case have been completed. The Investigation Authority has made a final ruling (see the Annex) according to Article 25 of the Anti-dumping Regulations. The relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:

I. Final ruling

The Investigation Authority has finally ruled that the dumping of imports of phenol originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand exists, it causes substantial damage to China's domestic phenol industry and the causal relationship between the dumping and the substantial damage exits.

II. Imposition of anti-dumping duties

In accordance with Article 38 of the Anti-dumping Regulations, MOFCOM suggested levying the anti-dumping duties to the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council. According to the suggestion of MOFCOM, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council then decided to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of phenol originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand starting from September 6, 2019.

The Product under Investigation is described in detail in the following:

Scope of investigation: imports of phenol originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand.

Chinese name of the Product under Investigation: 苯酚.
English name of the Product under Investigation: phenol.

Molecular structure:

Chemical structure formula:

Description of the product: Phenol is usually a colorless acicular crystal or a white lumpish crystal at normal temperature. It dissolves in alcohol, diethyl ether, chloroform, glycerin and carbon disulfide. At room temperature, it slightly dissolves in water, but hardly dissolves in petroleum ether. It is very corrosive and combustible.

Main applications: Phenol is an important organic chemical material. It is mainly used to prepare some industrial materials such as phenolic resin, bisphenol A, caprolactam, alkylphenol and salicylic acid. It can be used as solvent, reagent and disinfectant. It has been widely applied in many fields such as synthetic fiber, plastics, medicine, pesticides, spices, dyestuff and the petroleum refining industry.

The products are listed under the tariff number of 29071110 in the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China.

The anti-dumping duty rates and the corresponding companies are listed as follows:

US companies: 
INEOS Americas LLC 287.2%
   Blue Cube Operations LLC 244.3% 
   All the other US companies 287.2%

EU companies 30.4%

South Korean companies
 KUMHO P&B CHEMICALS, INC. 12.5% 
LG CHEM, LTD. 12.6% 
All the other South Korean companies 23.7%        

Japanese companies 
  Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. 19.3% 
  All the other Japanese companies 27.0%

Thai companies
  PTT Phenol Company Limited 10.6% 
  All the other Thai companies 28.6% 

III. Methods of levying anti-dumping duties

As of September 6, 2019, each importer is required to pay the corresponding anti-dumping duty to the Customs of the People's Republic of China when importing phenol originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand. The anti-dumping duty shall be levied ad valorem on the basis of dutiable value authorized by China Customs, and the formula is: amount of the anti-dumping duty = dutiable value authorized by the Customs * anti-dumping duty rate. The import value-added tax shall be levied ad valorem with the dutiable value authorized by China Customs plus the tariff and anti-dumping duty as the taxable value.

IV. Retroactive application of anti-dumping duties

The margins paid to the Customs of the People's Republic of China by the relevant importers according to the preliminary ruling announcement in the period from May 27, 2019 to September 5, 2019, shall be calculated and collected according to the scope of the products subject to anti-dumping duties and the anti-dumping duty rates determined in the final ruling, transformed into the anti-dumping duties and used to pay the import value-added tax according to the corresponding value-added tax rate. If the margin paid by an importer in the period is more than the corresponding anti-dumping duties, the customs will return the difference between the margin and the anti-dumping duties to the importer. If an importer has paid more import value-added tax than that required in the final ruling, the customs will return the difference between them to the importer. If an importer has paid less import value-added tax than that required in the final ruling, the customs will not levy the difference between them.

The anti-dumping duties will not retroactively imposed on imports of phenol originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand that were imported before the provisional anti-dumping measures were implemented.

V. Anti-dumping duty imposition period 
The anti-dumping duties shall be imposed on imports of phenol originating in the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand shall be implemented for five years starting from September 6, 2019.

VI. New exporter review

The new and eligible exporters from the United States, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand who did not export the Product under Investigation to the People’s Republic of China in the investigation period can submit written applications to the Investigation Authority for new exporter review according to Article 47 of the Anti-dumping Regulations.

VII. Interim review

During the anti-dumping duty imposition period, the stakeholders can submit written applications to the Investigation Authority for interim review according to Article 49 of the Anti-dumping Regulations.

VIII. Administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation

According to Article 53 of the Anti-dumping Regulations, any person or organization that refuses to accept the final ruling and the anti-dumping duty imposition decision in the case may apply for administrative reconsideration or initiate litigation to a people's court according to the law.

IX. The announcement shall be implemented as of September 6, 2019.

Translated by Liu Zhao

 

 

 

(All information published in this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only. )

 

 

 

 

 

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