22.7.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L 189/19 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1600/1999 of 12 July 1999 imposing definitive anti-dumping duties and collecting definitively the provisional duties imposed on imports of stainless steel wires with a diameter of 1 mm or more originating in India and terminating the proceeding concerning imports of stainless steel wires with a diameter of 1 mm or more originating in the Republic of Korea THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (') and in particular Article 9 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2026/97 of 6 October 1997 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Community (%) and in particular Article 24 thereof, Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: (A) PROVISIONAL MEASURES (1)  The Commission, by Regulation (EC) No 617/1999 (%) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘provisional Regulation)) imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of stainless steel wires with a diameter of 1 mm or more (hereinafter referred to as ‘large SSW’ or ‘product concer- ned), originating in India, and falling within CN code ex 722300 19. 2)  In the same Regulation, it was provisionally concluded that no anti-dumping duty should be imposed on imports of the product concerned originating in Korea covered by the same investigation, due to the dumping margins established which were either de minimis or very close to de minimis. (B) SUBSEQUENT PROCEDURE (3)  Subsequent to the disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it was decided to impose provisional measures on imports of large SSW originating in India (hereinafter referred to as ‘disclo- sure’), several interested parties submitted comments in writing. The parties who so requested were also granted an opportunity to be heard orally. (4)  The Commission continued to seek and verify all infor- mation it deemed necessary for its definitive findings. (") OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation EC) No 905/98 (O] L 128, 30.4.1998, p. 18). () O L 288, 21.10.1997, p. 1. 0 L 79, 24.3.1999, p. 13. () All parties were informed of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties and the definitive collection of amounts secured by way of provisional duties. They were also granted a period within which they could make representations subsequent to this disclosure. The oral and written comments submitted by the parties were considered, and, where deemed appropriate, the provisional findings have been modified accordingly. (©) PRODUCT CONCERNED AND LIKE PRODUCT The product concerned is large SSW, containing by weight 2,5 % or more of nickel, other than containing by weight 28 % or more but no more than 31 % of nickel and 20 % or more but not more than 22 % of chromium. It was found at the provisional stage of the investigation that there were differences in physical characteristics and uses between SSW covered by the present investigation, i.e. with a diameter of 1 mm or more (large wire) and SSW with a diameter of less than 1 mm (fine wire). For these reasons, it also appeared that there was no or only very limited interchangeability between large and fine wires' applications. However, it was also stated in the provisional Regulation that the question whether a clear dividing line could be drawn between these two prod- ucts was going to be further investigated up to the definitive stage. On the basis of the further information collected from interested parties, it is concluded that large wire and fine wire are two different products as they present different physical characteristics and are used for different applications. Firstly, as to the physical characteristics, the tensile strength, granular structure and coating of SSW are different for large and fine wires. Secondly, as regards the various applications of the two products, it has been found that large wire is used for heavier duty engineering applications such as fasteners, wall rein- forcement products, welding wires, etc. By contrast, fine wire is as a rule used for precision applications such as screens and filters (woven wire cloth) with small open- ings for filtering very fine or small particles (for example dust filters and chemical filters), medical/surgical applica- tions, etc.