I. Determination of Dumping Price

According to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Anti-dumping Agreement of the World Trade Organization, if the export price of a product is lower than the domestic price of "similar products" in the exporting country, that is, lower than its normal value, the product is regarded as dumping. Similar products here refer to products that are similar to export products in all aspects, or other products that are different from export products in all aspects, but have very similar characteristics to this product. It can be seen that the existence of dumping depends on the comparison of two prices: "normal value" and "export price". If dumping is established after investigation, the difference between them is the dumping margin.

Therefore, to determine whether it constitutes dumping, we must first determine the standard of dumping price. According to Article 2, paragraph 2 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement, there are three ways to determine the "normal value". Among them, the first method is the most important and commonly used method. Only when the first method cannot be used due to special circumstances, the other two methods are used.

(A) the domestic market price

According to the American anti-dumping law, the domestic market price refers to: (1) the export price of the investigated product or similar product to the United States; (2) The selling price or offer in the main market of the exporting country; (3) the price determined by the usual wholesale quantity; (four) the price of consumption in China in the normal course of trading.

In the European anti-dumping law, the domestic market price refers to the comparable price actually paid or payable by similar products in the exporting country or the country of origin.

In the anti-dumping law of the United States, in order to make the domestic price close to the real ex-factory price, if the domestic price does not include the following factors, it should be added: all containers and packaging costs for preparing goods suitable for shipment to the United States, as well as other costs, expenses and expenses.

Generally speaking, the actual selling price is used instead of the offer selling price as the basis for determining the value of foreign markets. Offer sales are generally considered only when there is no actual sales. Only after the initial offer is made can it be reasonably expected to be accepted, and such an offer can be used to determine the value of foreign markets.

(ii) Third country prices

The third country price is the price at which the product is sold to the third country market as "normal value". Because there may be many "third countries" besides exporting countries and importing countries in practice, there is a question of which country to choose as the "third country". The criteria for selecting a third country are as follows:1&; rt； Products exported to third countries shall be identical or similar products exported to importing member countries; 2 & amprt； Products sold in third countries are also used for domestic consumption; 3 & amprt； The number of products exported to third countries shall not be less than 5% of the number exported to importing member countries; 4 & amprt； There is no abnormal trade situation of sales below cost in a third country.

In the American anti-dumping law, the conditions for applying the third country price are: insufficient sales in the domestic market, unable to form a meaningful comparison basis, or lack of other factors required by the domestic market price. In this case, the value of the foreign market can be determined by the price of a third country, that is, the price at which the goods or similar goods (usually in wholesale quantities) are exported or sold to a third country. According to the general principle of American law, if the sales in the domestic market are less than 5% of the sales to third countries, it is considered insufficient.

European anti-dumping law is rather general. When similar products are not sold in the domestic market of the exporting country or the country of origin, or due to other reasons, proper comparison is not allowed in the domestic market, the comparable price of the same product exported to any third country can be adopted, which is generally the representative price.

In American anti-dumping law, sales to a single country are generally used as the basis of prices in third countries. When choosing a suitable reference country, generally choose the country whose products are most similar to those exported to the United States, as long as the quantity exported to this country is enough for comparison; If similarity is not a problem, the reference country chooses the country with the largest export sales, including sales to the United States. If the number of exports to two or more countries is roughly the same, choose the country with the most similar market structure and development to the US market. When the sales to a single country can't provide enough samples, American law stipulates that the cumulative quantity to a third country can be used.

If the domestic market price is the same, if the third country price does not include the following factors, it should be added: all containers and packaging costs for preparing goods suitable for transportation to the United States, as well as other costs, expenses and expenses.

Foreign manufacturers often sell goods at different prices in the domestic market or the third country market. In this case, the sales prices of all commodities that determine the value of foreign markets are usually weighted average. However, if at least 80% of the goods in the investigated market are sold at the same price, then this price can replace the weighted average price.

(3) structural value

Determine the "normal value" based on the structural price. The so-called composition price refers to the production cost of the country of origin of the product plus a reasonable amount of management fees, sales fees, general expenses and profits. The production cost here should be calculated according to the records kept by the exporters or producers under investigation, and should conform to the accounting principles generally accepted by exporting countries, and reasonably reflect the costs related to production and sales of related products. Anti-dumping investigation authorities should consider all available evidence of appropriate cost allocation, which exporters or producers should have used in history. The calculation of management fees, sales fees, general expenses and profits shall be based on the actual data of exporters or producers producing and selling related products in the normal course of trade.

The calculation method of constituent value is widely used in European and American countries, and the factors of constituent value are also determined in the international anti-dumping code: the production cost of origin; Reasonable amounts of management expenses, sales expenses and other expenses; Profits.

The factors that constitute value in European anti-dumping law are similar to those in the international anti-dumping code, but the difference is that the total production cost in European anti-dumping law consists of narrow production cost plus reasonable amount of sales, management and other general expenses, and narrow production cost is divided into fixed cost and variable cost. Both the European Anti-dumping Law and the International Anti-dumping Code stipulate that the profit shall not exceed the normal profit of similar products in the domestic market.

(4) "export price" and "normal value"

Generally speaking, export price refers to the price at which exporters sell products to importers. Specific to each transaction, the determination of export price depends on the price terms used by both parties, and different price terms represent different price conditions.

Under special circumstances, such as barter trade or compensation trade, there is no export price or the export price is untrue and unreliable. According to the third paragraph of Article 2 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement, if there is no export price, or the export price is unreliable due to some special relationship between the exporter and the importer or a third party (such as joint or compensation arrangement), the method to determine the export price is: (1) the price of the first resale of the export product to an independent buyer without special relationship; (2) The investigation organ may determine the export price on a reasonable basis (see the Customs Valuation Agreement for specific methods).

(5) Comparison between "normal value" and "export price"

The purpose of comparing the normal value with the export price is to finally determine whether there is dumping of imported products and the magnitude of dumping. Because normal value and export price are usually sales prices in two different national markets, normal value generally does not include taxes and fees necessary for export, while export price does include export taxes and fees. Therefore, before comparing the two, it is necessary to make appropriate adjustments to their prices. According to Article 2, Paragraph 4 of the Anti-dumping Agreement, the comparison between the two should reflect the principle of fairness and reasonableness, and should be based on the ex-factory price as far as possible, and some factors such as transportation fees and insurance premiums should be considered and adjusted, and the sales in the same period should be compared as much as possible.

When comparing the normal value with the export price, the following issues are involved: (1) currency exchange. When currency exchange is needed in comparison, it should be carried out according to the foreign exchange rate used on the sales date (usually referring to the date of purchase order, order confirmation or invoice). If the foreign exchange sales in the futures market are directly related to export sales, the foreign exchange rate of futures sales should be used. (2) There are three comparison methods:1&; rt； Comparing the weighted average normal value with the weighted average price of all comparable export transactions; 2 & amprt； The normal value is compared with the export price of each transaction; 3 & amprt； The weighted average normal value is compared with the price of individual export transactions. In general, the 1 method should be used for comparison. (3) If the product is not directly imported from the country of origin, but exported to the importing member through an intermediate country, the price of the product sold from the exporting country to the importing member can be compared with the comparable price of the exporting country and the price of the country of origin. For example, the exporting country does not produce the product, and there is no domestic sales price. At this time, the price comparison should be based on the domestic price of the country of origin.

Second, price adjustment.

When determining the value of foreign markets, both domestic prices and third-country prices may be affected by the number of transactions, sales conditions and different physical characteristics of commodities. In order to compare prices on a real basis, it is usually necessary to make appropriate adjustments to the factors that affect prices.

(a) Adjustment of variance quantity

In order to illustrate the necessity of adjusting the quantity difference, for example, an order for a textile in the US market is 200 pieces per batch, while in the Hong Kong market it is 100 pieces per batch, so the selling price in the US is different from that in Hong Kong, because a large number of American importers are given a certain quantity discount. It is obviously unfair to regard this difference as dumping difference, so it is necessary to make appropriate adjustments, that is, dumping Hong Kong exporters because of quantity discount.

If the domestic market price is used to determine the value of foreign markets, and if foreign manufacturers give such discounts to more than 20% of the goods sold in the domestic market within 6 months before filing a dumping complaint, the relevant quantity discounts can be adjusted. When the price of a third country is used as the foreign market value, the 6-month 20% rule also applies to sales to a third country. If these two conditions cannot be met, the adjustment of quantity discount can also be put forward according to the cost rules, that is, the cost savings are attributed to the fact that the quantity of one market is more than that of another market. European anti-dumping laws also adopt the standards of 6 months and 20%.

The U.S. Department of Commerce cannot determine that there is a quantity discount just based on the published price list. The price list can only be adopted when the exporter confirms that he gives discounts according to the price list.

(2) Adjustment of sales difference

According to the anti-dumping rules of the US Department of Commerce [19 353. 15 (b)], the deduction of the sales difference generally includes the following contents: loan terms, guarantee, guarantee, technical assistance, service, advertising expenses of the buyer and other sales expenses borne by the seller. The difference in commission can also be deducted, but if the commission is paid in one market instead of another, the deduction should be limited to the actual expenses incurred in another market or the commission amount in the first market.

In addition to the above deduction, the European anti-dumping law can also deduct the difference between packaging, transportation, insurance, handling, loading and unloading and auxiliary expenses. Similar to the United States, general management expenses and daily expenses including development expenses can also be adjusted.

In the American anti-dumping law, there is a restriction on the adjustment of sales, that is, sales are usually directly related to the sales under investigation.

(3) Adjustment of physical characteristics differences

If the imported goods are similar to but not the same as those sold in the domestic market or the third country market, adjustments can also be made. Generally, the amount of deduction is determined by the difference between raw materials and labor costs. There was a dumping case of welded steel pipes imported from France in the United States. Welded steel pipes imported from France contain more steel than most similar steel pipes sold in the domestic market, so it is necessary to add the cost difference of steel to the domestic market price to determine the value of foreign markets.

(d) Adjusting the differences between import taxes and indirect taxes

This is a special provision in European anti-dumping law. If a product is exported to Europe, it can be exempted from import taxes and indirect taxes, and it can also be adjusted because of the refund of such import taxes and indirect taxes.

Third, some special provisions.

Dumping means that the price of goods sold in the importing country is lower than the price of the same goods sold in another country's market. In short, the anti-dumping law is aimed at price discrimination between different national markets. Since the U.S. Congress passed the trade law of 1974, there is no price discrimination in the U.S. market and the domestic market, but if the domestic market price is lower than the production cost, anti-dumping duties should also be imposed on such goods. According to the anti-dumping rules of the U.S. Department of Commerce (19 353.7), in the following cases, the foreign market value of the commodity is determined according to its composition value rather than the domestic market price or the price of a third country:

(1) For a long time, it was sold in a considerable amount below the cost, not the price at which the full cost can be recovered within a reasonable period in the normal course of trading.

(2) The surplus sales not lower than the production cost cannot be used to determine the value of foreign markets.

Some sales are lower than the production cost, while the remaining sales can provide sufficient basis for determining the value of foreign markets. Only those sales equal to or higher than the production cost can be used to determine the value of foreign markets.

The concept of sales below production cost stipulated in the European anti-dumping law is similar to that stipulated in the United States, but when sales below production cost, the calculation method of normal value is as follows: (1) Based on the existing sales below production cost in the domestic market; (2) based on export sales to third countries; (3) Based on component value; (4) Adjust the prices of the above-mentioned subsidiary production costs to eliminate losses and provide reasonable profits.