Turkey Imposes Definitive Anti-Dumping Measures on Chinese-Origin Safety Glass

Hong Kong traders with an interest in the Turkish market may like to know that Turkey imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on tempered or laminated safety glass originating in Israel and mainland China. This is laid down in Decree No. 2015/49 on the Prevention of Unfair Competition from Imports, published in the Turkish Official Journal, No. 29536, dated 18 November 2015. It may be recalled that Decree No. 2015/16 on the Prevention of Unfair Competition from Imports (Turkish Official Journal, No. 29364, dated 23 May 2015) had already put in place provisional measures on imports of Chinese-origin safety glass at a duty rate ranging from 33.1% to 63.7% of CIF value.

The rates that are imposed within the framework of Decree No. 2015/49 for tempered or laminated safety glass are illustrated in the following table.

The dumping investigation had been initiated (see: Decree No. 2014/40 on the Prevention of Unfair Competition from Imports, published in the Turkish Official Journal, No. 29217, dated 26 December 2014) following a complaint filed by Dora Otomotiv Cam San. ve Tic. A.Ş. and Olimpia Oto Camları San. ve Tic. A.Ş. and supported by Uğurlu Oto Cam San. ve Tic. A.Ş.

Among the exporters located in mainland China, only two are said to have cooperated in the investigation: Xinyi Automobile Glass (Shenzen) Co. Ltd. (“Xinyi”) and Jiangsu Xiuqiang Glasswork Co. Ltd. (“Jiangsu”). The information provided by Xinyi in the questionnaire response was complete whereas Jiangsu, it is claimed, submitted insufficient information and therefore hindered the establishment of an accurate dumping margin. The Decree further notes that despite the additional time-limit granted to Jiangsu by means of a deficiency letter, Jiangsu did not provide the Turkish authorities with the requested information. Therefore, it was finally considered as a non-cooperating company.

Additionally, Article 1 of the Regulation on the Prevention of Unfair Competition from Imports provides Chinese exporters with the opportunity to claim that market economy conditions prevail for them. In this proceeding, Xinyi admitted not to have operated under market economy conditions, but on the other hand applied for an individual dumping margin calculation based on a comparison between the constructed normal value and its own export prices determined on the basis of its individual export sales to Turkey. Normal value calculations were consequently made on the basis of the data collected on the Turkish market whereas Xinyi’s own data were used for the determination of the export price.

Hong Kong traders may also like to know that the volume of imports from mainland China was 8,227,830 kg in 2012, 6,415,428 kg in 2013 and 8,119,656 kg in 2014. As for the unit price, Chinese exporters charged an average unit price of 1.57 USD/kg in 2012, 1.88 USD/kg in 2013 and 1.70 USD/kg in 2014. Although the market share of Chinese-origin safety glass decreased by 22% between 2012 and 2014, Chinese imports were found to have the largest share in total imports throughout the investigation period and their prices were below the average price of the total imports. Furthermore, the price undercutting calculations indicated that Xinyi’s prices undercut the domestic industry’s prices by 54%. These facts, when considered together with the performance of the domestic industry, led to the finding of injury to the Turkish safety glass industry.

The investigating authority, i.e. the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Turkey, observed significant deterioration in certain economic indicators of the domestic industry such as market share, direct labour force, cash flow, wages and profitability. Besides, the stock levels of the domestic industry continuously increased during the investigation period. Despite the increasing production, efficiency and growth rates as well as growing domestic and export sales, the Ministry, taking the whole picture into consideration, concluded that the domestic industry suffered material injury.

In order to comply with its obligation not to attribute injury caused by other factors to the allegedly dumped imports, the Ministry also evaluated known factors other than the dumped imports which at the same time might be injuring the Turkish domestic industry:

• The Ministry observed that imports from other third countries increased during the investigation period. However, prices of such imports were well above prices of the products imported from mainland China. Therefore, third-country imports were not considered significant enough to cause material injury to the domestic industry.

• Considering the increase in the export sales and efficiency of the domestic industry, the Ministry concluded that the material injury could neither be attributed to a weak export performance nor to a loss in efficiency on the part of the domestic industry.

• Finally, the Ministry observed that importers opted for the Chinese-origin products mostly for their low prices, which gave Turkish importers a competitive advantage over their rivals.

In conclusion, the Ministry decided to impose definitive anti-dumping measures on Chinese-origin safety glass, based on its findings illustrating that Chinese-origin safety glass was imported to Turkey at dumped prices, such dumped imports caused injury to the Turkish industry and a causal link existed between the dumped imports and material injury.

Interestingly, the Ministry provided a special provision for bullet-proof laminated safety glass, for which the duty rate was established at only 10% as a result of public interest considerations.