KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 31): The government has decided to initiate an anti-dumping duty investigation on imports of cold-rolled products of alloy or non-alloy steel with a width less than 1,300mm (cold reduced), not clad, not plated, or not coated (in coil, sheet, strip, hoop or any other forms), originating or exported from Japan.

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) said the move was taken after it received a petition from a domestic producer, Mycron Steel CRC Sdn Bhd, on Jan 1, 2023, which alleged that imports of the subject merchandise originating or exported from Japan were sold at a price much lower than their domestic selling price in Japan (dumped price).

"The petitioner further claimed that dumped imports of the subject merchandise from Japan have increased in terms of absolute quantity and have caused material injuries to the petitioner," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Miti said, on the investigation requested by Mycron Steel CRC, the government had evaluated and considered the information and evidence of dumping, injury, and causal link set out in the petition, and decided to initiate the anti-dumping duty investigation, pursuant to section 20 of the Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Duties Act 1993 (the Act) and regulation 2 of the Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Duties Regulations 1994.

"In accordance with the Act and the Regulations, a preliminary determination will be made within 120 days from the date of initiation.

"If the preliminary determination is affirmative, the government will impose a provisional anti-dumping duty at the rate that is necessary to prevent further injury to the domestic industry," it said.

Miti will distribute a set of questionnaires and relevant documents to interested parties such as domestic producers, foreign exporters/producers of the subject merchandise in Japan, importers, as well as the government of Japan.

Other interested parties who wish to participate in the anti-dumping duty investigation may request for the questionnaires in writing to Miti no later than Feb 15, 2023.

"Interested parties may also provide their views in writing, questionnaire responses and additional supporting evidence to Miti by March 2, 2023," it added.