Anti-dumping de minimis threshold turns on import quantity, not value, and below 3% requires termination.

Under the anti-dumping rules, the expression "volume of the dumped imports" in Rule 14(d) means quantity, not monetary value. Read with the scheme of the rules, including the distinction between volume and price effects, the 3% de minimis test applies to the total quantity of imports of the like product. On that interpretation, if dumped imports from the exporting country are below 3% of total like-product imports, the investigation must be terminated and anti-dumping duty cannot be maintained.

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Issues: Whether, under Rule 14(d) of the anti-dumping rules, the expression "volume of the dumped imports" refers to quantity of imports or their value, and whether the investigation had to be terminated when the quantity of dumped imports from the exporting country was less than 3% of total imports of the like product.

Analysis: Anti-dumping duty is levied under Section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and the rules framed thereunder to counter unfair trade practices and injury to the domestic industry. The scheme of the rules distinguishes between "volume" of imports and price-related concepts. Rule 14(d) uses the expression "volume of the dumped imports" in the context of the 3% de minimis threshold, and the same expression is read consistently with Rule 11(2), Rule 2(d), and Annexure II, which treat volume as quantity and separately refer to price effects. The 3% threshold is also tied to imports of the "like product", so the comparison must be with the total quantity of like imports. Treating "volume" as value would defeat the purpose of the rule and produce an irrational result.

Conclusion: The expression "volume" in Rule 14(d) means quantity, not value. Since the quantity of dumped imports was found to be less than 3% of total imports of the like product, the investigation ought to have been terminated and the anti-dumping duty could not be sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory anti-dumping provision prescribes termination of investigation if the volume of dumped imports from a country is below a specified percentage, "volume" denotes quantity of imports of the like product, not their monetary value, and a finding below that threshold mandates termination of the investigation.

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