Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/99 of 11 January 2023 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and definitively collecting the provisional duty imposed on imports of certain aluminium road wheels originating in Morocco

(164) Despite the fact that in 2018 and 2019 the Union consumption as well as the Union industry’s sales and production decreased, the Union industry increased its profitability from 7,5 % to 8,2 %. Consequently, no injury was found for those years. Rather injury started to materialise in 2020, at the same time as the imports from Hands, together with other imports from Morocco, started coming into the Union. It had to be noted in this respect, that, in accordance with Article 3 of the basic Regulation, the Commission analysed the effect of all dumped imports from Morocco, and not only those of Hands. In any event, with regard to Hands, its imports undercut the Union industry’s prices and its dumping and injury margins were significant during the investigation period. Consequently, it could not be argued that its imports did not contribute to the injury of the Union industry. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(165) Hands also claimed that the findings in the provisional Regulation did not support a finding of material injury caused by ARW imports from Morocco. The analysis was built on confusing data and unsubstantiated allegations that have no support in the record of the investigation and in fact in the commercial realities of the ARW market.

(166) The Commission was unable to identify in this claim what part of its injury analysis was confusing or unsubstantiated or mere allegation. The findings of the Commission were based on positive evidence gathered during the investigation, which was made available to all interested parties in the case file and described in the provisional Regulation. Consequently, the claim was rejected.

(167) ACEA claimed that there was no significant increase in the volume of Moroccan imports within the meaning of Article 3(3) of the basic Regulation and Moroccan imports occupied a niche that the Union producers voluntarily vacated causing no negative impact on the volumes sold by the Union industry.

(168) As explained in recital 83 of the provisional Regulation, the imports from Morocco reached 2,5 million items during the investigation period, while they were zero in 2018 and still hardly present in 2019. This resulted in a market share of 3,9 % during the investigation period. Regarding the market share of Moroccan imports, the Commission noted that ACEA contradicted its argument set out in recital 191, that the underselling margins should be calculated at the level of tenders where the competition takes place between the Moroccan producers and the Union producers, demonstrating that there was a direct competition between the Moroccan imports and the Union production. Therefore, the Commission considered that imports were significant, both in absolute terms and relative to the consumption in the Union, within the meaning of Article 3(3) of the basic Regulation. In light of the price levels established, the volumes had a negative impact on the Union industry’s prices within the meaning of Article 3(3) of the basic Regulation. Consequently, the Commission rejected the claim and confirmed its findings summarised in recitals 131 to 136 of the provisional Regulation.

(169) After final disclosure, ACEA reiterated that the Moroccan imports had no negative volume impact on the Union industry. Moreover, ACEA claimed that the Commission failed to explain how imports of ARWs from Morocco with a 3,9 % market share led to the decrease in the Union production and sales in the period considered by 17 % (production) and by 21 % (sales).

(170) The Commission noted that ACEA referred to the period considered in its analysis, while as indicated above in recital 162, the decrease of the Union production between 2018 and 2020 was mainly due to the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, regarding the subsequent period 2020 and the investigation period, when the Union consumption increased by + 8,0 %, the imports from Morocco increased significantly (that is by 244 %) while the Union industry sales increased by only 5,2 %. Furthermore, the increase of the market share of the imports from Morocco between 2020 and the investigation period was around 2,1 percentage points, whereas the Union industry market share decreased by 1,8 percentage points. In addition, when considering all origins of imports other than Morocco, the Commission noted that the increase of import volumes was at around 6,6 % between 2020 and the investigation period. That increase was due to the increase of imports volumes from Türkiye (by 19 %) whereas the imports volumes from all other countries decreased on balance during the same period. However, as described in recitals 171 to 174 below, the Commission established that the imports from Türkiye did not attenuate the causal link found between the imports from Morocco and the materials injury suffered by the Union industry. Consequently, the Commission reiterated its findings in recital 168 above that the volumes of imports from Morocco had a negative impact on the Union industry’s prices within the meaning of Article 3(3) of the basic Regulation. The claim was therefore rejected.

(171) Hands and ACEA claimed that the impact of third countries’ imports should be properly investigated: other third countries accounted for almost 90 % of the total imports and had a market share of around 25 %. In particular, Türkiye increased its market share in the period considered from 10,3 % to 13,0 %.

(172) The Commission analysed imports from third countries. Regarding Türkiye, the main importing country, the Commission pointed out that, as indicated in recital 138 of the provisional Regulation, average prices from Türkiye were significantly higher compared with import prices from Morocco (+ 14 %), and even slightly higher compared to the Union industry’s prices (+ 1,0 %). Moreover, the average price of the imports from Türkiye was above the costs of production of the Union industry in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Only in the investigation period it went slightly below by less than 1 %. Moreover in 2020 and in the investigation period, when the profitability of the Union industry went down significantly, prices of Turkish imports were above Union industry’s prices. Therefore, these imports did not attenuate the causal link found between the imports from Morocco and the materials injury suffered by the Union industry. The claim was therefore rejected.

(173) After final disclosure, regarding imports originating from Türkiye, Hands reiterated its claim that the Commission failed to consider and simply ignored the injurious effects of imports from Türkiye. The Commission allegedly failed to carry out more refined analysis based on the Hands’ own data which shows that its own price offers in tenders were not always the cheapest and was awarded only a small fraction of all tenders. ACEA made a similar claim regarding the same producer.

(174) The Commission rejected Hands’ claim for several reasons. First, the Commission observed, as explained in recital 90 of the provisional Regulation, that when comparing the actual sales by product type during the investigation period, it established significant undercutting margin of 26,9 %, which included the sales from Hands. Second, as explained in recitals 115 and 192, the Commission rejected ACEA’s claim that the price effects should be analysed at the level of the tenders. Third, Hands did not argue that its price offers in tenders were necessarily more expensive than those of Turkish exporting producers. Rather, its claim concerned ‘other ARW manufacturers’ in general. In addition, even if Hands’ price offers were not necessarily the cheapest, the Commission analysed the price effects on the basis of all imports from Morocco, whereby the share of the other exporting producer, Dika, was significant (representing around [60 % – 70 %] of the market). Finally, as observed in recital 172 above, the import prices from Türkiye were higher than the Union industry’s average price during the investigation period. Consequently, the claim was rejected.

(175) After final disclosure, ACEA reiterated its claim indicated in recital 159 that the price undercutting from Morocco, based on tenders, was not significant (i.e. 3,7 %), in particular compared to the price undercutting, calculated by ACEA, for Türkiye or for Thailand, which was respectively around 10 % and 1 %.

(176) First, the Commission assessed the summary spreadsheet submitted by ACEA concerning price offers. This spreadsheet consisted of 15 tenders, originating from three ACEA members (i.e. the non-cooperating user and the two cooperating users). The following information was provided: the user name, the quantity and the item price offered by each suppliers. The Commission noted though that the internal numbering of each tender was not provided, which prevented the Commission from cross-checking the data with the verified information already provided in the course of the investigation by the two cooperating users. Moreover, some price elements were not provided (such as the planned yearly discounts, also called ‘productivity discounts’) and thus it was impossible to assess if all of them had been included in the item price offered. More importantly, most of the price offers concerned the non-cooperating user. As indicated in recital 109, due to the overall lack of cooperation by that user, the limited information it provided could not be considered for the purpose of this investigation. Regarding, the additional information provided by ACEA with respect to User A and User B, it concerned price offers which the Commission could not verify due to its late submission. In particular, the Commission was unable to determine if the dataset provided was exhaustive or not. In any case, the dataset listed 14 Moroccan offers, out of 15 tenders, and 5 for Türkiye and Thailand each. The undercutting calculation made by ACEA was based on the quotation price (22). The Commission observed that ACEA’s own calculations showed that the price offers by the Moroccan producers were lower than the ones of the Union industry. Furthermore, when comparing the volumes reported (23) in this spreadsheet with the total imports volumes established for Türkiye and Thailand on the basis of the Eurostat data (see table 11 of the provisional Regulation), it appeared that the volume reported in particular for Türkiye was not representative (below 5 %). Thus no meaningful conclusion could be drawn from that information provided by ACEA. Moreover, the Commission already concluded in recital 139 of the provisional Regulation that Thailand and Türkiye did not attenuate the causal link found between the dumped imports from Morocco and the injury suffered by the Union industry. Therefore the claims were rejected.

(177) Hands claimed that Union ARW demand decreased in 2020, that is a decrease by 14 million items, representing 20 times the size of imports of ARW from Morocco. The impact of the pandemic was therefore so significant that the Commission should consider that it broke any causal link that may have existed between imports of ARW from Morocco and any injury suffered by the Union industry.

(178) As indicated in recitals 140 to 142 of the provisional Regulation, the Commission acknowledged the impact of COVID-19 on the Union industry. However, as the investigation period also covered the period of post-COVID recovery, the Commission could establish, as explained in recital 94 above, that when the market rebounded post COVID, the Union industry did not benefit due to the increased imports from the country concerned at dumped prices. Rather the contrary, as the situation of the Union industry further deteriorated in the investigation period. Therefore, the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could not be considered as the only cause of the injury suffered by the Union industry to the extent that it would have attenuated the causal link between such injury and the dumped imports from the country concerned. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(179) Hands reiterated its request for a satisfactory and detailed explanation is especially needed, given that the Commission explicitly recognised that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the Union industry.

(180) In the absence of a more precise and specific request, the Commission considered that the explanations already contained in this section were sufficient to allow the company to understand the Commission’s reasoning and exercise its rights of defence. It thus rejected the claim.

(181) In the absence of comments, recitals 143 to 145 of the provisional Regulation were confirmed.

(182) In the absence of comments, recitals 146 to 148 of the provisional Regulation were confirmed.

(184) ACEA claimed that the Commission should have investigated intra-Union competition. ACEA collected information from its members and found that out of a total of 45 tenders Union producers were successful in 31, suppliers from Morocco and from Thailand in 5 each and suppliers from Türkiye in 4, although in terms of items Türkiye won most of the tenders.

(185) At the outset, the Commission recalled that ACEA did not dispute the representativeness of the sample of Union producers, established in accordance with Article 17(1) of the basic Regulation. Thus, ACEA cannot validly maintain that the Commission was required to investigate whether the alleged impact of the dumped imports on prices did not result from price competition from Union producers not included in the sample (24). Moreover, as indicated in the Table 5 of the provisional Regulation, the Union producers demonstrated their ability to maintain a market share above 70 % but also a profitability of around 8 % in 2018-2019. This was achieved in a very competitive market, based on tenders organised by car manufacturers, in which all Union producers and producers located in other third countries could compete for the same tenders. This meant that the Union producers were competitive under normal and fair market conditions, without the industry as a whole being injured. Furthermore, the Commission noted that the claim made by ACEA was based on 45 tenders from three ACEA members (4 contracts reported by the two cooperating users and 41 from a non-cooperating user). The information was limited only to the tender winner, estimated quantities and the origin of the other non-Union tenderers (Morocco, Thailand or Türkiye). In addition, that information was not backed by any evidence proving its accurateness and reliability. The tender references were not even provided. The claim was therefore rejected.

(186) ACEA also claimed that, even assuming that it is correct that tender participants must align themselves to the lowest bidder, according to ACEA, there is overwhelming evidence that such alignment is undertaken first and foremost with regard to the cheapest Union producer and secondly by reference to third country imports, with any alignment with the quotations of Moroccan suppliers coming distant third with only 5 cases.

(187) The Commission noted that the analysis made by ACEA was based on a limited number of tenders (i.e. 15) and the information provided by ACEA consisted of a table listing 15 price offers covering all main sources of the product concerned (Union and all main third countries producers) submitted by three ACEA members. 4 contracts reported by the two cooperating users and 11 from a non-cooperating user. In addition, as for the previous claim, that information was not backed by any evidence proving its accurateness and reliability. The tender references were not even provided. For example, no information was provided regarding whether the price reported included all the ancillary costs and the discounts included in the offers. Furthermore, the underlying tender documents were not provided and, as a result, the Commission was unable to verify the information provided and the claim was therefore rejected. Even if the Commission was to take into account this information, it observed that the total volumes of the quoted offers represented around 5 % of the total Union consumption, and thus was not considered to be representative. In addition, in all but two instances the price offers made by the Moroccan producers were below the ones made by the Union producers. Consequently, the Commission considered that ACEA failed to provide evidence showing that the tender participants had to align themselves with the cheapest Union producers and that the Moroccan suppliers were not pushing prices down.

(188) After final disclosure, ACEA claimed that the Commission itself requested ACEA members to provide such data on tender quotations based on the start of production, which was provided by ACEA accordingly. ACEA also provided additional documents from User B. Finally, ACEA considered this dataset to be representative as it was based on 29 tenders, covered almost 100 % of Moroccan ARW purchases, and was backed by evidence.

(189) The Commission stressed that the information on tenders was only requested from the two users that fully cooperated with the investigation, provided questionnaire replies and had their data verified. The data subsequently submitted by ACEA regarding the non-cooperating user was considered incomplete, unreliable and not verifiable due to the lack of cooperation by that user. The Commission noted that ACEA based its analysis mainly on the non-cooperating user. Also, while ACEA claimed that its dataset was backed by evidence, the Commission considered that the dataset consisted mainly of summary spreadsheets and that the tender references mentioned by ACEA were in fact the internal numbers of each tender. However, the full documentation regarding the tenders, such as copies of the terms of references, the actual offers received, etc., was not provided. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(190) In the absence of any other comments on causation, the Commission confirmed its conclusions set out in recitals 152 to 154 of the provisional Regulation.

(191) ACEA claimed, after provisional and final disclosure, that the Commission should have conducted underselling margin calculations at the level of tenders as in the original investigation against imports of ARW from China (25).

(192) The Commission examined the argument and found that a similar claim during the expiry review investigation of the above mentioned measures (26) was made and rejected. In recital 115 above, the Commission explained that a selection of data from individual tenders cannot substitute the price and volume analysis made by the Commission based on the complete data, i.e. transaction sales listing and price comparisons on a per type basis. Such comparison reflects the largest possible amount of data of actual sales transactions that have taken place. Moreover, the underselling margin was expressed as a percentage of the export price during the investigation period. The analysis on the basis of the complete data from the sampled exporting producers and the Union producers showed an underselling of 44 % for Hands and of 51,6 % for other Moroccan producers. Therefore, this argument was rejected.

(193) Hands claimed that the Commission’s adjustments linked to future environmental costs are arbitrary and speculative, and affect price comparability, and introduce a distortion to price comparability between Union and Moroccan sales. Hands made reference to Morocco’s New Development Model, which was launched in April 2021 and includes investment in sustainable green energy in order to be competitive in low-carbon industries, and the country has vowed to source over 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Therefore, it is clear that the Commission did not take into account future costs which would be incurred by Hands during the application of the measures, including those connected to the de-carbonization efforts in Morocco.

(194) The Commission stressed that the inclusion of the future environmental costs in the target price for the Union industry was in compliance with Article 7(2d) of the basic Regulation. The inclusion of these costs was not based on pure speculation but on positive evidence of actual investments planned. Whether Morocco may have investments in sustainable green energy is immaterial for the application of the relevant provisions of the basic Regulation regarding the establishment of the Union target price in which future environmental costs must be taken into account. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(195) Hands claimed that the Commission did not provide any explanation on its calculation of future costs and thus deprived Hands and other interested parties from their right of defence.

(196) The Commission provided information regarding the future costs following a request from Dika. The reply was published in the open file which was available to all parties. Therefore, the rights of defence were not breached.

(197) In the absence of comments, recitals 165 and 166 of the provisional Regulation were confirmed.

(198) ACEA reiterated its claim, after provisional and final disclosure, described in recital 170 of the provisional Regulation that the Union ARW industry could not satisfy the demand. Allegedly, for more than 15 years, Union market suffered from under-capacity and shortages due to the insufficient investments made by the Union producers. According to ACEA, the Union ARW producers consistently fail to meet their commitment to increase production capacity and ensure security of supply in the Union. ACEA recalled that in the context of the Commission’s anti-dumping investigation on ARW from China, Union producers allegedly committed to increase their production capacity and the Commission allegedly extended the anti-dumping measure under a condition that capacities will be increased. According to ACEA, between 2006 and the investigation period, the Union capacity increased by 14 % while the consumption increased by 33 % during the same period.

(199) The Commission noted that this claim was already addressed in recital 171 of the provisional Regulation and no new elements or evidence were brought forward. The Commission observed that, if needed, the Union ARW industry could increase its capacity at relatively short notice, as the relevant investment referred to by the users did not concern the furnaces or the painting booths, but rather casting machines which can be installed easily. Therefore, if the Union ARW producers did not invest in additional production capacity, it was rather due to their difficult economic situation, and the lack of sufficient future contracts from the car manufacturers to justify such investment. Thus, the Union industry did not have sufficient incentive to invest in additional capacity in the absence of foreseeable increase in demand of its production.

(200) In addition, the Union consumption amounted to 64,31 million items in the investigation period. The total Union industry capacity was 61,29 million items, while the total Union production was 48,75 million items in the investigation period and exports of the Union industry were 2,71 million items, leaving the capacity of 9,83 million items unused. Consequently, the Union industry already had sufficient production capacity to cover almost the total Union demand of ARW. In addition, the Union market could be further supplied by exporting producers in third countries. The total worldwide capacity of ARWs even increased with the arrival of the Moroccan producers. Consequently, the claim was rejected.

(201) After final disclosure, ACEA claimed that the Commission’s allegation that the relevant investments do not concern furnaces or the painting booths, but rather casting machines which can be installed easily, was not backed by evidence. ACEA claimed that the cooperating users demonstrated that the lack of sufficient painting booths is precisely one of the major bottlenecks limiting the Union’s production capacity.

(202) The Commission observed that the evidence submitted by User A concerned the lack of production capacity from one Union producer for the years 2015-2016, thus before the period considered. Moreover, User A did not provide any document showing production capacity issues during the period considered. Regarding User B, the documents provided were also dated before the period considered (most of them dated in 2016). However, during the verification visit, User B declared that ‘during a normal year like 2018/2019, there was no shortage of aluminium wheels’. ACEA or any other users did not provide any evidence of production shortage due to the lack of sufficient painting booths during the period considered.

(203) In the course of the investigation, the Commission collected evidence that the Union industry invested in painting booths when the consumption shifted to more diamond cut wheels, which request two turns in painting lines. Regarding investments in painting booths and casting equipment, the Commission collected copies of purchase invoices showing that the Union industry was able to increase its capacity in the past when demand for its products was certain. The Commission considered that more detailed information could not be included in the non-confidential file as the information in question concerned specific individual transactions which constitute data that is not capable of being summarised within the meaning of Article 19(2) of the basic Regulation. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(204) ACEA claimed that at the time when Moroccan suppliers won tenders to supply wheels to the Union, the Union industry had no spare production capacity to offer and thus these imports covered strategic needs for the car manufacturers.

(205) The Commission noted that ACEA did not provide evidence of this claim, for example of tenders where there was no price offer from the Union producers, in particular for the tenders won by the Moroccan producers. The Commission also noted that no evidence was provided that the Union ARW industry failed to deliver ARW following requests from car manufacturers during the period considered (27). As already mentioned above, the production capacity of the Union industry, together with the one of the exporting producers in third countries is largely sufficient to meet the needs of the car industry. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(206) After final disclosure, ACEA claimed that none of the Union producers decided to invest in additional production capacity, while the car production in the Union increased constantly since 2013.

(207) The Commission however found that the production capacity of the Union industry increased by around 10,8 million items during that period (51,644 million items (28) in 2013 to 62,475 million items (29) in 2019). Thus the claim was not supported by any evidence and was therefore rejected.

(208) After final disclosure, ACEA reiterated its claim that the Union industry cannot meet the demand in the Union, even in a disrupted market and a historical drop in demand.

(209) The Commission observed that the capacity utilisation of the Union industry was at 80 % during the investigation period. Therefore, there was additional spare capacity to meet the demand. Also, there was no requirement that the Union industry was obliged to have the capacity to meet the total demand. Users could also import ARW from any of the producing third countries. The claim was therefore rejected.

(210) After final disclosure, ACEA claimed that it provided evidence demonstrating that the Union industry had no spare production capacity to offer and thus the Moroccan imports covered strategic needs for the car manufacturers. Moreover, ACEA provided evidence concerning the lack of Union industry production in 2016.

(211) The Commission considered that the claim was not substantiated by sufficient evidence. For example, ACEA did not provide proof of any tender won by Moroccan suppliers where the Union producers did not participate in the bidding process. Regarding the lack of production, ACEA did not submit evidence showing a systemic issue as the evidence provided dated before the period considered. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(212) ACEA claimed that the Commission did not address the fact that the costs of the car manufacturers increased due to the cumulative effects of anti-dumping measures applied on other raw materials, parts and components used for car production.

(213) The Commission noted that ACEA did not provide any supporting evidence regarding this claim. Even if the costs of their suppliers may have increased and passed on, fully or partially, to the car manufacturers, this appeared not to have led to a negative impact on their economic situation. As pointed out in recital 175 of the provisional Regulation, the car manufacturers published financial results for 2021 which exceeded the usual profits reported during the previous years. Finally, as already set out in recital 169 of the provisional Regulation, the percentage of the cost of ARWs in the production of a car is minor, approximately 0,5 %. Therefore, the impact of the measures on car manufacturers was very limited and the claim was rejected.

(214) After final disclosure, ACEA disagreed with the Commission’s assessment in the above recital. ACEA submitted that the anti-dumping duties will represent an additional cost of EUR 241-413 million. This is a significant amount for the car manufacturers for an industry that continues to suffer from a low level of car production in the Union while having to absorb additional environmental costs.

(215) The Commission observed that ACEA did not contest the Commission’s findings that the share of ARWs in the total cost of production of a car is minor, approximately 0,5 % and the relatively low anti-dumping duty would be only a fraction of this 0,5 %. No evidence was submitted demonstrating that the car manufacturers will not be able to absorb such costs. In addition, notwithstanding the correctness of the additional cost estimated by ACEA, the estimation of the additional costs was based on the Union target price and thus relates to the established injury margins. However, the duty was based on the dumping margins which was lower than the injury margins found and, as a result, the effects of the anti-dumping duty would be lower than the amounts estimated by ACEA. Consequently, the claim was rejected.

(216) ACEA claimed that some of its members estimated that Moroccan suppliers are increasingly committed to monitor the CO2 impact of the supply chains. Therefore, redirecting supply to other third countries would significantly impact the capacity of car manufacturers to meet their CO2 reduction goals.

(217) The Commission noted that ACEA did not provide any supporting evidence regarding this claim while information obtained during the verification visit of one cooperating user revealed that Moroccan imports face similar issue of their impact on car manufacturers’ CO2 reduction goals due to the distance between the Moroccan plants and the plant of the car manufacturers in the Union. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(218) After final disclosure, ACEA referred to its 10-point plan to help implement the European Green Deal (30) as well as to the fact that User B provided evidence after the verification visit that Moroccan imports are important regarding the CO2 impact due to the geographic proximity of the Moroccan plants and the car manufacturer plants.

(219) The Commission observed that the 10 point plan did not mention the impact of imports of wheels in general, and of Morocco in particular. Consequently, the plan did not constitute appropriate evidence with regard to the claim described in recital 216 above. In addition, User B indeed reported that it introduced the CO2 emission criterion for selecting suppliers and that the target is to decrease the distance between the plants and the suppliers and thus the carbon print. However, User B also stated that the competitiveness remains a very important factor for the selection of a supplier. In addition, the Commission did not find any evidence that this criterion was actually assessed by User B during the tendering process or that a producer was disregarded due to the CO2 emission criteria. Finally, even if this criterion would play a vital role in the future, the anti-dumping measures do not have as an objective to cease imports from Morocco, but rather to ensure that they enter the Union at fair prices. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(220) ACEA claimed that German Federal Cartel Office initiated in March 2022 an investigation against a Union producer, based on allegations of a conduct restricting competition. However, the Commission noted that no claim of possible effects on the findings of the investigation of such alleged behaviour was made. In any case, that investigation is still on-going and no findings have been reached yet. Therefore, the claim was rejected.

(221) After final disclosure, ACEA claimed that the anti-dumping measures should not be applied pending the outcome of the investigation conducted by the German Federal Cartel Office in such exceptional circumstances and in line with the principles of sound administration and good administrative practice as developed in the seamless pipes case (31).

(222) As already explained in recital 220 above, there has been no decision yet taken by the national administration. By contrast, in the seamless pipes case the duties were applied only after a definitive decision sanctioning the anti-competitive practice had been issued and when it had become apparent that that practice concerned the period considered in the investigation and that it covered the product concerned. None of these elements were present in the case at hand. Consequently, the claim was rejected.

(223) On the basis of the above and in the absence of any other comments, the conclusions set out in recital 177 of the provisional Regulation were confirmed.

(224) In view of the conclusions reached with regard to dumping, injury, causation, level of measures and Union interest, and in accordance with Article 9(4) of the basic Regulation, definitive anti-dumping measures should be imposed in order to prevent further injury being caused to the Union industry by the dumped imports of the product concerned.

(225) As indicated in recital 63, the dumping margins were slightly revised at the definitive stage.

(227) The individual company anti-dumping duty rates specified in this Regulation were established on the basis of the findings of this investigation. Therefore, they reflect the situation found during this investigation in respect to these companies. These duty rates are thus exclusively applicable to imports of the product under investigation originating in the country concerned and produced by the named legal entities. Imports of the product concerned manufactured by any other company not specifically mentioned in the operative part of this Regulation, including entities related to those specifically mentioned, cannot benefit from these rates and should be subject to the duty rate applicable to ‘all other companies’.

(228) A company may request the application of these individual anti-dumping duty rates if it changes subsequently the name of its entity. The request must be addressed to the Commission (32). The request must contain all the relevant information enabling to demonstrate that the change does not affect the right of the company to benefit from the duty rate which applies to it. If the change of name of the company does not affect its right to benefit from the duty rate which applies to it, a regulation about the change of name will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(229) To minimise the risks of circumvention due to the difference in duty rates, special measures are needed to ensure the proper application of the individual anti-dumping duties. The companies with individual anti-dumping duties must present a valid commercial invoice to the customs authorities of the Member States. The invoice must conform to the requirements set out in Article 1(3) of this Regulation. Imports not accompanied by that invoice should be subject to the anti-dumping duty applicable to ‘all other companies’.

(230) While presentation of this invoice is necessary for the customs authorities of the Member States to apply the individual rates of anti-dumping duty to imports, it is not the only element to be taken into account by the customs authorities. Indeed, even if presented with an invoice meeting all the requirements set out in Article 1(3) of this Regulation, the customs authorities of Member States should carry out their usual checks and may, like in all other cases, require additional documents (shipping documents, etc.) for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the particulars contained in the declaration and ensure that the subsequent application of the rate of duty is justified, in compliance with customs law.

(231) Should the exports by one of the companies benefiting from lower individual duty rates increase significantly in volume, in particular after the imposition of the measures concerned, such an increase in volume could be considered as constituting in itself a change in the pattern of trade due to the imposition of measures within the meaning of Article 13(1) of the basic Regulation. In such circumstances, an anti-circumvention investigation may be initiated, provided that the conditions for doing so are met. This investigation may, inter alia, examine the need for the removal of individual duty rate(s) and the consequent imposition of a country-wide duty.

(232) To ensure a proper enforcement of the anti-dumping duties, the anti-dumping duty for all other companies should apply not only to the non-cooperating exporting producers in this investigation, but also to the producers which did not have exports to the Union during the investigation period.

(233) Statistics of aluminium road wheels of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 whether or not with their accessories and whether or not fitted with tyres are frequently expressed in number of pieces. However, there is no such supplementary unit for aluminium road wheels of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 whether or not with their accessories and whether or not fitted with tyres specified in the Combined Nomenclature laid down in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (33). It is therefore necessary to provide that not only the weight in kg or tonnes but also the number of items for the imports of the product concerned must be entered in the declaration for release for free circulation. Items should be indicated for CN codes ex 8708 70 10 and ex 8708 70 50 (TARIC codes: 8708701015, 8708701050, 8708705015 and 8708705050).

(234) In view of the dumping margins found and given the level of the injury caused to the Union industry, the amounts secured by way of provisional anti-dumping duties imposed by the provisional Regulation, should be definitively collected up to the levels established under the present Regulation.

(235) As indicated in section 1.2, the Commission made imports of the product under investigation subject to registration.

(236) During the definitive stage of the investigation, the data collected in the context of the registration was assessed. The Commission analysed whether the criteria under Article 10(4) of the basic Regulation were met for the retroactive collection of definitive duties.

(237) The Commission observed that the volume of items imported during the pre-disclosure period (18 June 2022 – 16 July 2022) was around 291 000 items, that is a decrease by 11 % compared to the monthly average import volumes during the post-investigation period analysed in the registration Regulation, that is from 1 December 2021 to 30 April 2022. Therefore, the Commission did not find evidence of possible stock-piling during the pre-disclosure period. In addition, import prices increased by 11 % in line with the increase of LME 3 months prices. Consequently, there was no evidence that the imports undermined the remedial effects of the duties.

(238) On this basis, the legal conditions under Article 10(4) of the basic Regulation were not met and, therefore, the duties should not be levied retroactively on the registered imports.

(239) In view of Article 109 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (34), when an amount is to be reimbursed following a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the interest to be paid should be the rate applied by the European Central Bank to its principal refinancing operations, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union on the first calendar day of each month.

(240) The Committee established by Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 did not deliver an opinion,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 2

The amounts secured by way of the provisional anti-dumping duty under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1221 shall be definitively collected.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 11 January 2023.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 176, 30.6.2016, p. 21.

(2) Notice of initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of certain aluminium road wheels originating in Morocco (OJ C 464, 17.11.2021, p. 19).

(3) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1221 of 14 July 2022 imposing provisional antidumping duties on imports of certain aluminium road wheels originating in Morocco (OJ L 188, 15.7.2022, p. 114).

(4) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/934 of 16 June 2022 making imports of certain aluminium road wheels originating in Morocco subject to registration (OJ L 162, 17.6.2022, p. 27).

(5) Order of 28 September 2021, Airoldi Metalli SpA, T-611/20, EU:T:2021:641, paras 48 and 49.

(6) WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.

(7) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1395 of 11 August 2022 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of certain corrosion resistant steels originating in Russia and Türkiye (OJ L 211, 12.8.2022, p. 127).

(8) Case T-278/20, Zhejiang Hangtong Machinery Manufacture Co. Ltd and Ningbo Hi-Tech Zone Tongcheng Auto Parts Co. Ltd v Commission [2022] ECLI:EU:T:2022:417, para. 97.

(9) In line with Case T-278/20 quoted in recital 92 and referred to by Dika in their submission.

(10) See Cases C-376/15 P and C-377/15 P, Changshu City Standard Parts Factory and Ningbo Jinding Fastener Co. Ltd v Council of the European Union, ECLI:EU:C:2017:269, para. 53.

(11) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1131 of 2 July 2019 establishing a customs tool in order to implement Article 14a of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Article 24a of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 179, 3.7.2019, p. 12).

(12) The rules laid down in Regulation (EU) 2019/1131 quoted in footnote 11.

(13) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2012 of 17 November 2021 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and definitively collecting the provisional duty imposed on imports of stainless steel cold-rolled flat products originating in India and Indonesia (OJ L 410, 18.11.2021, p. 153), recital 136.

(14) The World Bank database has the following classifications for 2021 based on the gross national income (‘GNI’) per capita: lower-middle income economy between USD 1 086 and USD 4 255, upper-middle income between USD 4 256 and USD 13 205, high income economy above USD 13 205. According to this classification, Morocco is considered as a lower-middle income economy (with a GNI for 2021 at USD 3 350), Brazil as an upper-middle income economy (with GNI for 2021 at USD 7 720) and Korea as a high income economy (with GNI for 2021 at USD 34 980). See https://databank.worldbank.org/home.aspx

(15) WTO, Report of the Panel, WT/DS480/R, 25 January 2018, par. 7.51, and WT/DS405/R, 28 October 2011, par. 7.300.

(16) WTO, Report of the Panel, WT/DS482//R, 25 January 2016, par. 7.143.

(17) Ibid.

(18) Case T-278/20, Zhejiang Hangtong Machinery Manufacture Co. Ltd and Ningbo Hi-Tech Zone Tongcheng Auto Parts Co. Ltd v European Commission [2022] ECLI:EU:T:2022:417, para. 134.

(19) For example, a residual duty of 29 % established in recital 186 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1693 of 9 October 2019 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of steel road wheels originating in the People’s Republic of China (OJ L 259, 10.10.2019, p. 15), or 50 % in recital 290 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2239 of 15 December 2021 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of certain utility scale steel wind towers originating in the People’s Republic of China (OJ L 450, 16.12.2021, p. 59).

(20) Dika requested and received (per email on 22 July 2022) information regarding the reasonable SG&A and profit used in the provisional Regulation, the profit cap, compliance costs, IRI (investments, R & D and innovation) as well as Eurostat data on TARIC level.

(21) Commission Regulation (EU) No 404/2010 of 10 May 2010 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of certain aluminium road wheels originating in the People’s Republic of China (OJ L 117, 11.5.2010, p. 64), recitals 175 to 179.

(22) The quotation or offer price is the price offered by each participant in the tenders when submitting a bid.

(23) In the absence of other information, the Commission assumed that the volumes reported in the spreadsheet concerned the overall volume quoted during the expected lifetime of each project. Based on an average duration of 5 years, the volumes thus reported was allocated accordingly.

(24) See judgment of 14 September 2022, Nevinnomysskiy Azot et NAK ‘Azot’/Commission, T-865/19, EU:T:2022:559, paras 283 – 286.

(25) Regulation (EU) No 404/2010, recitals 175 to 179.

(26) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/109 of 23 January 2017 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of certain aluminium road wheels originating in the People’s Republic of China following an expiry review pursuant to Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 18, 24.1.2017, p. 1), recitals 125 and 126.

(27) After provisional disclosure, User A reported that in 2014 for one project an Union producer was not in position to supply 100 % but 85 % of the quantity requested. However, the User is still considering this Union producer as its main supplier and did not raise claims or provide evidence that such reduction of supply by the Union producer occurred during the period considered.

(28) Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/109, recital 136.

(29) Recital 97 of the provisional Regulation.

(30) https://www.acea.auto/files/ACEA_10-point_plan_European_Green_Deal.pdf

(31) Council Regulation (EC) No 1322/2004 of 16 July 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 2320/97 imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or non-alloy steel originating in, inter alia, Russia and Romania (OJ L 246, 20.7.2004, p. 10).

(32) European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, Directorate G, Wetstraat 170 Rue de la Loi, 1040 Brussels, Belgium.

(33) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1) as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1832 of 12 October 2021 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 385, 29.10.2021, p. 1).

(34) Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1).