The EU imposed tariffs on polyester fibers from Taiwan and Malaysia to protect EU producers including Ireland's Wellman International Ltd and Spain's La Seda de Barcelona SA from cheaper imports.
The duties punish Taiwanese and Malaysian exporters of polyester staple fibers for dumping in Europe's 1.2 billion euro (US$1.6 billion) market. The duties are as high as 29.5 percent for Taiwan and 23 percent for Malaysia.
EU polyester fiber manufacturers suffered "material injury" as a result of dumped imports from Taiwan and Malaysia, the European Commission said in the Official Journal on Thursday. The duties took effect yesterday, will last six months and may be prolonged for five years.
The 25-nation EU is seeking to balance the interests of European producers and buyers of polyester staple fibers, which are used in clothes, bed linen and furniture fillings. Two months ago, the bloc scrapped anti-dumping duties on the product from India, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia while leaving in place levies against China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Belarus.
The EU had imposed anti-dumping duties on polyester staple fibers from Taiwan until March last year, when the bloc ended the measures after finding that dumping by Taiwanese exporters, including Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) and Far Eastern Textile Ltd (遠東紡織), had become too limited to justify the trade protection.
Taiwanese and Malaysian exporters doubled their combined share of the EU market to about 15 percent last year compared with 2002, hurting the sales and market share of the EU industry, the commission said.
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