RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/W/20
G/SCM/W/27
13July1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1993)
Original: English Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE NOTIFICATIONS PROVIDED BYTHE
GOVERNMENT OFMEXICO OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS
UNDER ARTICLES 18.5AND 32.6OFTHE AGREEMENTS
Thefollowingcommunication,dated5July1995,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofKorea.
_______________
With regard tothefirstreview ofanti-dumping andcountervailing legislation scheduled for
theweek of17July1995, andinresponse toWTO/AIR/78, Iamsending yousome written questions
addressed toMexico.G/ADP/W/20
G/SCM/W/27
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QUESTIONNAIRE ONTHE ANTI-DUMPING LAWS OFMEXICO
Here, Foreign Trade Actmeans theMexican Law
Notified inG/ADP/N/I/MEX/I
"TheWTOAgreement"meanstheWTOAgreementimplementationofArticleVIoftheGeneral
Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994.
Question 1:Market Viability
Regulations under theForeign Trade Act,Articles 42and43,stipulate:
"Asageneral rule,thecomparable prices ofidentical orlikegoods inthedomestic market
or,where appropriate, forexport toathirdcountry, shallbedeemed toberepresentative when they
account foratleast15percentofthetotalvolume ofsalesofthegoods subject toinvestigation."
"Asageneral rule,domestic sales forprofit orsimilar export sales toathirdcountry shall
bedeemed toberepresentative when theyaccount foratleast30percentoftherelevant market."
However, theWTO Agreement provides 50percentcriteria forrepresentativeness intheaspect
ofquantity sold. Therelevant provision oftheWTO Agreement isfootnote ofArticle 2.2.1, which
stipulates:
"Sales ofthelikeproducts destined forconsumption inthedomestic market oftheexporting
country shallnormally beconsidered asufficient quantity forthedetermination ofthenormal value
ifsuchsalesconstitute 5percentormoreofthesalesoftheproduct under consideration totheimporting
Member, provided thatalower ratioshould beacceptable where theevidence demonstrates thatdomestic
salesatsuchlower ratioarenonetheless ofsufficient magnitude toprovide foraproper comparison."
What istheopinion ofMexico onthis?
Question 2:Domestic Industry
Foreign Trade ActArticle 40stipulates:
"Domestic industry" shallbeunderstood asreferring toatleast25percentofthedomestic
production ofthegoods inquestion."
Therelevant Article 5.4oftheWTO Agreement stipulates:
"The application shall beconsidered tohavebeenmade "byoronbehalf ofthedomestic
industry" ifitissupported bythose domestic producers whose collective output constitutes more than
50percentofthetotalproduction ofthelikeproduct produced bythatportion ofthedomestic industry
expressingeithersupportfororoppositiontotheapplication.However,noinvestigationshallbeinitiated
when domestic producers expressly supporting theapplication account forlessthan25percentoftotal
production ofthelikeproduct produced bythedomestic industry."
Asshown above, Foreign Trade Actconsiders onlyonecriterion fordetermining "domestic
industry", atleast25percentofthedomestic production. However, theWTO Agreement provides
another criterion: theapplication should besupported byproducers whose collective output constitutes
more than50percent...G/ADP/W/20
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TheForeign Trade Actshould therefore accept thelatter criterion aswell.
Question 3:DeMinimis
TheWTO Agreement Article 5.8stipulates:
"The margin ofdumping shallbeconsidered tobedeminimis ifthismargin islessthan2per
cent...Thevolume ofdumped imports shallnormally beregarded asnegligible ifthevolume ...
account forlessthan3percentofimports ofthelikeproduct intheimporting Member, unless countries
which individually account forlessthan3percentoftheimports ofthelikeproduct intheimporting
Member collectively account formore than7percentofimports ofthelikeproduct intheimporting
Member."
However, theForeign Trade Actanditsaccompanying regulations donothaveprovisions
relevant totheabove WTO Agreement Article.
What istheopinion ofMexico about this?
Question 4:Unclear Provision
Foreign Trade Act,Article 46.11 stipulates:
"When themargin ofprice discrimination isestimated bytypeofproduct, forthepurposes
ofcalculating theprofit margin, ageneric category shallbedeemed tobeatypeofproduct forwhich
thenormal value isdetermined bydomestic prices. Inparticular theprofit margin shallbeestimated
according totheweighted average profit margin fordomestic sales usedtoestablish normal values
based onprices."
Wearenotabletoclearly interpret theabove provision.
Please inform usoftheintention andspecific contents oftheprovision.