Legal Insights

2. The Investigation May Ultimately Result in Anti-Dumping Duties

Under the current procedure, the case has been referred to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs to investigate whether the imports concerned have caused injury to Taiwan’s domestic industry. The Ministry of Economic Affairs should, in principle, complete its preliminary injury determination within 40 days from the day following receipt of the notification.

If a preliminary determination of injury is made, the MOF should, in principle, make a preliminary determination on the existence of dumping within 70 days from the day following receipt of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ determination and may decide whether to provisionally impose anti-dumping duties.

It is also important to note that the applicants have requested the retroactive imposition of anti-dumping duties. If the relevant statutory requirements are satisfied, anti-dumping duties may be imposed on the products concerned imported during the 90-day period preceding the provisional imposition of anti-dumping duties. The MOF will address the issue of retroactive imposition when making its final dumping determination.

Accordingly, Taiwan businesses that continue to import the relevant stainless steel products from Vietnam should begin taking potential anti-dumping duties into account when assessing procurement, pricing and contractual performance risks, rather than waiting until duties are formally imposed.

3. Manufacturers, Exporters and Importers Should Pay Attention to the Response Deadline

The MOF has specifically indicated that manufacturers or exporters that fully cooperate with the anti-dumping investigation may be eligible for an individually determined dumping margin and duty rate. In contrast, where a company does not participate in the investigation or fails to provide sufficient information, the authority may make its determination based on the facts otherwise available, which may not necessarily be favorable to the individual company.

Taiwan importers are likewise directly affected. If anti-dumping duties are ultimately imposed, an importer seeking to apply the individual duty rate determined for a particular manufacturer or exporter must provide evidence showing that the relevant products were manufactured by that company and directly exported to Taiwan by the relevant exporter, subject to Customs review.

The MOF has therefore expressly recommended that Taiwan importers wishing to participate in the investigation notify their Vietnamese manufacturers or exporters and arrange for them to submit their applications within the prescribed period.

In addition, interested parties wishing to express views regarding the scope of the products under investigation, the contents of the announcement or other matters concerning the investigation should pay particular attention to the 20-day deadline specified in the announcement and prepare the relevant written materials as soon as possible.

4. Relevant Businesses Should Conduct Legal and Commercial Assessments as Soon as Possible

Accordingly, Vietnamese manufacturers and exporters, as well as Taiwan importers, whose products may fall within the scope of this investigation should promptly review their product specifications, export and import records, transaction structures, pricing information and supply-chain relationships and determine whether they should participate in the investigation.

For Vietnamese manufacturers or exporters that regularly export the relevant products to Taiwan, whether and how they participate in the investigation may directly affect the anti-dumping duty rate applicable to their products in the Taiwan market.

Taiwan importers should likewise assess the potential increase in customs costs, price-adjustment mechanisms under existing supply agreements and whether alternative sources of supply may need to be considered.

The deadlines in anti-dumping investigations are generally short. Businesses involved in transactions concerning the products under investigation should therefore not wait for further notice from the authorities before taking action. They should promptly confirm their eligibility to participate, the applicable deadlines and the information required and, where necessary, seek assistance from Taiwan legal counsel or trade-remedy professionals to avoid prejudicing their rights by missing procedural deadlines.

5. Official Announcement and Response Materials

Vietnamese manufacturers and exporters and Taiwan importers involved in the products concerned are advised to review and download the relevant materials as soon as possible in order to determine whether their products fall within the scope of the investigation, understand the dumping and industry injury allegations made by the applicants, and determine whether they should submit a response application within the prescribed period.

Official Announcement

• MOF Announcement No. Tai-Cai-Guan-Zi 1151021521 (台財關字第1151021521號)

Public Version of the Anti-Dumping Application and Supporting Materials

• Public Version of the Application
• Supporting Materials – Part 1
• Supporting Materials – Part 2
• Supporting Materials – Part 3
• Supporting Materials – Part 4
• Supporting Materials – Part 5
• Supporting Materials – Part 6

Response Application Forms

Taiwan’s Customs Administration has also provided the following response application forms for relevant interested parties:

• Response Application Form – Chinese Version (Manufacturer/Exporter)
• Response Application Form – English Version (Manufacturer/Exporter)
• Response Application Form (Importer)

The forms are available in both ODT and PDF formats and may be accessed and downloaded from the Taiwan Customs Administration’s official case page.

According to the MOF announcement, known manufacturers and exporters, as well as other manufacturers, exporters and importers not specifically identified, that wish to participate in the investigation should, in principle, submit the prescribed response application form within 20 days from the date of the announcement. For manufacturers or exporters that do not participate in the investigation, the competent authority may determine the applicable dumping margin based on the application and other facts available.

Relevant businesses that determine their transactions may involve the products under investigation should therefore pay particular attention to the above deadline and should not wait until questionnaires are issued or a preliminary anti-dumping duty determination is made before considering whether to participate.

For further information, please refer to the Taiwan Ministry of Finance’s official announcement.