Van Bael & Bellis successfully assists Taiwan in its WTO dispute with Canada
- 22/12/2016
- News
On 21 December, the Panel issued its report in the WTO dispute between Taiwan and Canada relating to the anti-dumping duties imposed by Canada on imports of carbon steel welded pipes (DS482). Taiwan, assisted by Van Bael & Bellis’ WTO team, prevailed on most of its claims.
The Panel Report contains several important findings with implications going beyond this particular dispute. Specifically, the Panel condemned Canada for failing to terminate the investigation with regard to exporters having a de minimis margin of dumping, i.e. a margin of less than 2% of the export price. The Panel also agreed with Taiwan that imports from such exporters cannot be included in the injury and causation analyses and, as a consequence, cannot be subject to definitive anti-dumping duties. Importantly, the Panel also clarified the authorities’ obligations when dealing with imports from exporters that were not cooperating during the investigation and with new types of products. The Panel rejected Canada’s use of the highest margin found in the course of the entire investigation to establish the margin of dumping for non-cooperating exporters. It also condemned Canada’s use of facts available to determine the anti-dumping duties applicable to new product types that were not previously exported from Taiwan to Canada.
Finally, the Panel found that several provisions of Canada’s underlying legislation are “as such” inconsistent with the Anti-Dumping Agreement and the GATT 1994, meaning that Canada will have to amend its legislation in order to comply with the Panel’s ruling.
Canada now has 60 days to decide whether it will appeal the findings of the Panel.
