TMI BlogANNEXURE IVX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... roducts, such as fertilizers or chemicals, are involved, it would be appropriate to calculate the subsidy, that is to say, per tonne, or other appropriate unit of measurement. The per unit subsidy can be converted into an ad valorem rate by expressing the per unit subsidy as a percentage of export price. This may be used to establish whether the subsidy amount is de minimis, since this is expressed ad valorem (1 % for imports from developed countries; 2 % for developing countries). In certain circumstances, it may also be considered to be appropriate to express the countervailing duty on an ad valorem basis. B. CALCULATION OF CERTAIN TYPES OF SUBSIDY (a) Grants In the case of a grant (or equivalent) where none of the money is repaid, the value of the subsidy should be the amount of the grant corrected for any differences between the point in time of its receipt and the investigation period, i.e. the period in which the production or sales are allocated. Therefore, if the grant is expensed during the investigation period, (that is, its amount is entirely allocated to production or sales during this period), the interest that would have accrued during that period should ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... period obtainable by the recipient from a representative bank operating on the domestic market. (iii) In this regard, the commercial interest rate should preferably be established on the basis of the rate actually paid by the company concerned on comparable loans from banks. If this is not possible, the investigation should consider the interest paid on comparable loans to companies in a similar financial situation in the same sector of the economy, or, if information on such loans is not available, to any comparable loan made to companies in a similar financial situation in any sector of the economy. (iv) If there are no comparable commercial lending practices on the domestic market of the exporting country, the interest rate on a commercial loan may be estimated with reference to indicators of the economic situation prevailing at the time, (notably the inflation rate) and the situation of the company concerned. (v) If all or part of a loan is forgiven or defaulted on, the amount not re-paid should be treated as a grant depending on whether there was a guarantee. (2) Specific cases (i) It should be noted that tax deferrals, or the deferral of any other financial o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... viable, the benefit to the recipient should be the difference between the fees actually paid and the fees which should have been paid to make the programme viable, or the difference between the amount the firm pays on the guaranteed loan and the amount that it would pay for a comparable commercial loan in the absence of the government guarantee, whichever is the lower. (iii) In the case of ad hoc guarantees (i.e. not part of a programme), it should first be ascertained whether the fees paid correspond to those charged to other companies in a similar position which benefit from viable loan guarantee programmes. If so, there would normally be no subsidy; if not, the method explained in (ii) above would apply. (iv) If no fees are paid by the recipient, the amount of subsidy should be the difference between the amount the firm pays on the guaranteed loan and the amount that it would pay for a comparable commercial loan in the absence of the government guarantee. (v) The same calculation principles would apply to credit guarantees, i.e., where the recipient is guaranteed against credit defaults by its customers. (d) Provision of goods and services by the government Principl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ble prices than others would not mean that the provision in this case was necessarily made for less than adequate remuneration, provided that the pricing structure in question was generally applied throughout the whole economy, without any preferential prices being given to specific sectors or firms. The amount of subsidy should in principle be the difference between the preferential price and the normal price charged to an equivalent company, according to the normal structure. (iv) However, if the normal price is insufficient to cover the supplier's average total costs plus a reasonable profit margin (based on sector averages), the amount of subsidy should be the difference between the preferential price and the price which would be required to cover the above costs and profit. (v) If the government is the monopoly supplier of the goods or services with a specific use, e.g. television tubes, the question of preferential pricing does not arise, and the amount of subsidy should be the difference between the price paid by the firm involved and the price required to cover the supplier's costs and profit margin. (e) Purchase of goods by government (i) in a situation where ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an independent study demonstrating that the firm involved is a reasonable investment should be considered the best evidence; if this is not present, the onus should be on the government to demonstrate on what basis it can justify its expectation of a reasonable return on investment. (v) If there is no market price and the equity injection is made as part of an ongoing programme of such investments by the government, close attention should be paid not just to the analysis of the firm in question, but to the overall record of the programme over the last few years. If the records show that the programme has earned a reasonable rate of return for the government, there should be a presumption that the government is acting according to the usual investment practice of private investors with regard to the case in question. If the programme has not generated a reasonable return, the onus should be put on the government to demonstrate on what basis it can justify its expectation of a reasonable return on investment. (vi) The existence of a subsidy should be determined by the information available to the parties at the time the equity injection is made. Thus, if an investigation conside ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bsidy is granted on a per unit basis, for example, an export rebate granted per unit of product, the per unit calculation normally consists of taking the weighted-average value of the rebate over the investigation period; (ii) Other kinds of subsidy are not readily expressed on a per unit basis, but involve a global sum of money which has to be allocated to each unit of product as appropriate. Two exercises may have to be carried out, in this respect: - Attribution to the investigation period of a portion of those subsidies granted before the investigation period but whose effects extend over a number of years. - Allocation of the subsidy amount attributed to the investigation period per unit of the like product. In this case, the appropriate denominator for such allocation has to be selected. (a) Attribution of a subsidy amount to the investigation period (i) Many types of subsidy, e.g. tax incentives and preferential loans are recurring and the effect is felt immediately after granting. Thus, the amount granted to the beneficiary can be expensed in the investigation period. The expensed amount should normally be increased by the annual commercial interest rate, to r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the investigation period, may in certain circumstances be allocated over time if it is determined that they are likely to be linked to the purchase of fixed assets and still confer a benefit during the investigation period. (vi) In the case of subsidies expensed as in paragraphs (i) and (iii) no subsidies granted before the investigation period should be taken into account. For subsidies allocated over time, as in (ii), (iv), and (v), subsidies granted prior to the investigation period must be considered. (b) Appropriate denominator for allocation of subsidy amount Once the subsidy amount to be attributed to the investigation period has been established, the per unit amount may be arrived at by allocating it over the appropriate denominator, consisting of the volume of sales or exports of a product concerned. (i) As regards export subsidies the appropriate denominator for allocation should be the export volume during the investigation period, since such subsidies benefit only exports; (ii) For non-export subsidies the total sales (domestic plus export) should normally be used as the denominator, since such subsidies benefit both domestic and export sales. (iii) If the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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