European Commission Reopens Antidumping Review to Implement ECJ Ruling

The European Union is reopening an antidumping review into tartaric acid from China to comply with the European Court of Justice's Dec. 3 ruling, the European Commission said. The ruling concerned the commission's determination to find the normal value of tartaric acid in the review based on costs of production in Argentina, whereas in the initial investigation, the commission found normal value based on Argentinian domestic sales prices. The result was an increase in the antidumping duty for two exporting producers, Changmao Biochemical Engineering Co. and Ninghai Organic Chemical Factory, who saw their rates jump from 10.1% to 13.1% and 4.7% to 8.3%, respectively.

The General Court struck down this measure, finding it an illicit change in methodology. However, the court upheld the higher antidumping duty on Ninghai Organic but slashed it for Changmao based on other grounds. The ECJ upheld this determination on Dec. 3, prompting action from the commission implementing the judgment.