China's aluminum companies are asked to give out trade secrets after a U.S. double counter investigation

The United States Anti-dumping Countervailing (hereinafter referred to as "double reverse") stick frequently raised, which requires enterprises to provide "too meticulous" business data as the respondent material, which is becoming some Chinese enterprises "heart scourge." "Our biggest concern is that if we fill out the [survey form], we have no secrets."　　"The top brass of an aluminum profile production company told the first financial daily yesterday." In the first half of this year, the company received a double counter survey from the United States.　　The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the U.S. Steel Workers ' Union and the U.S. Aluminum Fair Trade Commission application, decided to the Chinese-made aluminum profile of the double-counter investigation. "We are not prepared to sue, though we have received the documents very early and have not heeded them." The senior told the newspaper, the United States "double counter" investigation of the content is too thin, "may let the enterprise to disclose trade secrets, such as the enterprise's human costs, land costs, raw material prices and other details are required to fill out." "It would be a leak," said the senior executive. The first financial daily reporter consulted several lawyers who had played "double counter" cases yesterday found that as a result of determining whether the enterprise is dumping a standard is that the product price is lower than the cost of sales, so the enterprise to accept "double reverse" survey to fill in the detailed cost composition and output, customer situation, etc.　　In order for the other government to make a final conclusion on whether there is dumping or subsidy, which is the practice in many countries when initiating double counter investigations. A general introduction to the materials submitted by the U.S. Department of Commerce to the surveyed companies, the reporter noted, no matter what industry enterprises, generally to the United States Department of Commerce to submit more than three forms of documents, each document has eight or nine pages of space, including the company's overall situation and accounting statements, the investigation of product production and sales,　　And its sales prices and other relevant data in the U.S. market. For example, the survey form to be filled out by the aluminum profile companies includes the names, contacts, mail and telephone numbers of its five largest customers in the U.S. market, as well as whether the company has built a new factory since January 1, 2007, whether it has relocated or expanded or acquired plans,　　and detailed data on production plans from 2010 to 2011. "This is tantamount to providing them with all our business secrets, who can guarantee that they will not leak out?"　　The company said the above high-level rhetorical question. East China University of political science professor Zhu Ye said in an interview yesterday that the WTO for governments "double counter" when the requirements of enterprises to fill out what kind of details, and there is no detailed provisions, the Government can formulate specific investigation details.　　An enterprise may disregard the complaint, but in that case the other government would use the complainant's material and the data provided by the complainant would generally be detrimental to the enterprise under investigation.　　Should not be sued in view of the previous aluminum companies in Canada and Australia "double counter" investigation in response to the failure of the United States, the "double counter" investigation, the aluminum profile companies decided to choose not to sue, to avoid leaking trade secrets. The company is readyThe worst plan, if the final result is punished, they will increase the investment of aluminum profile processing, "at present only to the aluminum profile anti-dumping, we will be processed into parts of the product will bypass this link."　　"However, not all Chinese companies have such a dare not to sue the capital, after all, for many enterprises, the imposition of punitive tariffs, the increase in export costs, may be the original export market completely blocked." "Now there are a lot of Chinese enterprises because of the fear of leaking trade secrets, and choose not to fill out the survey form, and not to sue, which is China's big enterprises to fight double counter lawsuit not ' cold ' the biggest obstacle."　　Zhou Shijian, executive director of China's WTO Research Institute, told our correspondent yesterday. Zhou Shijian points out that in fact, if the investigation of foreign governments can be conducted under the guidance of the professionals, the results of many "double reverse" investigations can be changed, and the companies completing the survey form can sign a confidentiality agreement with the local government, if there is any violation of the rules in the course of investigation,　　can also appeal to the WTO and other requirements. It is noteworthy that the world's largest manufacturer of air conditioners and refrigeration, as well as China's largest copper tube exporter of copper, has just undergone a U.S.-sponsored anti-dumping investigation.　　With a joint team of corporate elites and American lawyers to sue, the company was given a 10.26% per cent initial anti-dumping rate, a rate far below the average of 60% of the anti-dumping rates that other companies received. "For foreign double counter investigation, enterprises should actively face, of course, when filling in the form, can be completed under the guidance of professionals, after all, they have a better understanding of the rules and procedures to deal with the case more experience, it is more clear which to fill, which should not fill," Zhou Shijian suggested.