In recent years, the European Commission has changed
its practice of assessing price undercutting in trade defence investigations
where the exporter sells via related sales subsidiaries. In such cases,
undercutting was calculated on the basis of a ‘constructed
export price’, obtained by deducting selling, general and
administrative costs and notional profits from the actual export price. This
practice was successfully challenged in Case T-301/16 Jindal v. Commission,
where the General Court found that the European Commission had failed to
compare prices at the same level of trade. The General Court also highlighted
the importance of calculating undercutting on the basis of the actual prices
charged to the first independent buyers.