On November 28, 2023, Chile initiated an anti-dumping investigation against ordinary steel grinding balls with a diameter of less than 4 inches and steel bars used in the production of such ordinary steel grinding balls imported from China, and issued questionnaires to Chinese producers and exporters. The legal team led by Partner Jian GUAN represented two Chinese steel producers in this case.

Following the engagement, we proactively communicated with the enterprises regarding the questionnaire, conducted on-site visits to understand their operations, promptly retained local legal counsel in Chile, and held multiple online meetings with the Chilean attorneys to coordinate questionnaire preparation and defense strategies. On March 27, 2024, the Ministry of Finance of Chile announced its preliminary ruling, imposing anti-dumping duties of 10.3% and 14.2% respectively on the two products and the two companies. In response to this outcome, we acted swiftly and submitted written comments on April 4, 2024, raising objections to the inappropriate elements in the ruling and striving to secure a favorable result for our clients. Meanwhile, on April 1, 2024, we received a notice requesting supporting materials for the verification of specified export sales data. Following thorough preparation, we duly submitted the required documents on April 22, 2024, in an effort to obtain favorable duty rates for the enterprises.

However, on April 20, 2024, Chile unexpectedly announced adjustments to the provisional anti-dumping duties on the products under investigation to 33.5% and 24.9%. Faced with this unexpected development, we immediately communicated with our clients and other relevant stakeholders to formulate response strategies. We also maintained frequent contact with the Chilean attorneys to explore potential judicial remedies against the possible unreasonableness of the duty rates imposed by Chile. On May 7, 2024, after extensive arguments, the importers of the subject products filed a lawsuit with a Chilean court against the imposition of the provisional anti-dumping duties, while the case continued to be monitored closely.

Ultimately, through the joint efforts of all parties, the Chilean National Commission for the Investigation of Price Distortions in Imported Goods issued public notices on September 3 and 9, 2024 respectively, deciding to terminate the anti-dumping investigation into the products under investigation and recommending against the imposition of anti-dumping duties.

This case successfully avoided a punitive tariff rate of 33.5%, safeguarded the clients' estimated annual export volume of over USD 50 million, and preserved their market access to South America.

Note: This case belongs to the attorney team's portfolio and is not a case of Grandwin.