On January 25, 1999, a petition was filed with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) by Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association, alleging that an industry in Taiwan is materially injured and threatened with material injury by reason of dumping of Certain Hot-rolled Steel Plates from Brazil, Ukraine and Russia. Accordingly, effective April 20, 1999, the MOF initiated antidumping investigation and requested the International Trade Commission (ITC) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to proceed with the preliminary injury investigation.
In response to the MOF request, effective April 22, 1999, the ITC instituted the preliminary injury investigation.
The ITC organized an investigation team to investigate the case as soon as it instituted the investigation. In addition to the ITC staff, the investigation team consists of experts from various government departments such as the Directorate General of Customs of the MOF, the Materials Research Laboratories of ITRI, the Industrial Development Bureau of the MOEA, and the Board of Foreign Trade of the MOEA. The ITC Commissioner Chen, Chia-Lai is in charge of this investigation and on April 16, 1999, he convened and chaired the first staff meeting to discuss some of the material issues and the detail scheduling of this investigation.
It is decided during the staff meeting that an on-site investigation is scheduled on May 6, 1999, and a preliminary conference is scheduled on May 10, 1999. The ITC hopes that the preliminary injury investigation will be completed by the end of May, 1999, and the determination of the investigation results will be forwarded to the MOF before June 5 1999.