The Commerce secretary which depends on Ministry of Economy launched an investigation for dumping at the request of the companies Newsan SA and BGH SA as well as Radio Victoria Argentina SA for export operations of 45 L mechanical and digital microwave ovens originating in China.
The research was made known through the Resolution 91/2024 published in the Official Gazette, where the National Foreign Trade Commission concluded that “the application submitted by the companies NEWSAN SA, BGH SA and RADIO VICTORIA ARGENTINA SA meets the requirements of representativeness within the national production branch.”
The investigation revealed the existence of a dumping margin for the start of the present investigation of 17.84% for export operations originating in China.
The companies’ complaint
BGH, Newsan and Radio Victoria reported that China has freely available capacity to export microwave ovens and that would indicate the “probability of a substantial increase in capacity to the local market.”
Based on these arguments, the petitioners stated ‘as indisputable objective data’, that China ‘is one of the world’s largest producers and one of the world’s largest markets for Microwave Ovens’ since it has a majority participation in world exports, reaching 80% of them in such a way that “there are no doubts about the potential of this country to supply three quarters of the world based on these indicators.”
Beyond the complaint about the impact on the domestic market, the National Commission also highlighted that these imports increased in absolute terms and relative to the totals. Indeed, These were 6.07 thousand units, reaching 91% of the total in those months. The increase compared to the same period of the previous year was 176%. Even the comparison with the complete years of the period shows very strong increases: 162% when considering the first year of the period and 176% compared to 2022.”
However, it was determined that the national industry represents more than 90% of the market share.
The companies stated that there is an increase in imports of microwave ovens of the origin analyzed in neighboring countries in the region. In fact, they maintain that, among the main 11 countries that import microwave ovens originating from China, there are two Latin American countries; Brazil and Mexico, while Chile and Peru occupy positions 30 and 36 respectively.”
Dumping: what the National Foreign Trade Commission determined
At the end of the investigation, the National Commission stated that imports of microwave ovens do not constitute a situation of injury under the Antidumping Agreement. In the investigation, the cost structure of both Newsan and BGH was investigated and BGH’s profits in relation to this product grew while Newsan’s did not.
“The national industry managed to maintain an important presence in the market, as well as the fact that the unit margins of the requesting companies were mostly higher than those considered reference for the sector.”
The National Commission considered that “… there is insufficient evidence of material injury to the domestic microwave oven production industry due to imports originating in China. Consequently, the Board will issue a ruling on the possible existence of a threat of injury considering the guidelines of Article 3, paragraph 7, of the Antidumping Agreement.”
Source: Ambito
