MOF wrings out final Chinese towel tax

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced yesterday Chinese towels will face a 204.1 percent anti-dumping tax for five years.

Added the current 10.5 percent tariff, the import bill for Chinese-made towels will now be the cost plus 214.6 percent.

The measure is retroactive to June 1 of this year and will be in effect until May 31, 2011, said Chen Chang-keng (陳長庚), of the Customs Administration Department.

Given importers have had to pay a 237.7 percent provisional anti-dumping duty the ministry imposed on June 1, Chen said importers could apply for a reimbursement of difference between the provisional duty and the final one.

The government began investigating towel imports in March after local manufacturers complained that cheap Chinese-made products had disrupted the industry.

In other news, South Korea's official trade watchdog announced yesterday that Seoul was imposing anti-dumping tariffs on polyester yarn from Taiwan, Malaysia and China. The Korea Trade Commission said it "decided to ask the minister of finance and economy to impose anti-dumping tariffs of between 2.6 percent and 8.69 percent over the next five years on DTY [drawn textured yarn] produced in Taiwan, Malaysia and China."

Chinese will face the duties of between 6 percent to 8 percent, while Taiwanese and Malaysian products will face duties of between 2.6 percent and 3 percent.