The US Department of Commerce ruled that cash deposits would be required for Taiwanese-made steel wire hangers in accordance with their respective anti-dumping duties before they would be allowed to pass through US customs, state-run CNA reported yesterday.
Citing the department’s preliminary ruling on steel wire hangers from Taiwan, which was released on Friday last week, CNA said anti-dumping duties on the two Taiwanese companies — Golden Canyon Ltd and Taiwan Hanger Manufacturing Co — were 69.98 percent and 125.43 percent respectively.
The report said Taiwan Hanger Manufacturing has higher duties than Golden Canyon mainly because of the former’s failure to answer the US authorities’ inquiries.
The department launched anti-dumping investigations into Taiwan’s steel wire hangers in January, after M&B Metal Products Co, Innovative Fabrication LLC and US Hanger Co raised the case to the US government, citing that Taiwanese goods were being sold below fair market price.
The department will make a final decision on the case in October, CNA said.
If the US International Trade Commission (ITC) rules in November that hangers from Taiwan have caused material damage to the US producers, the US government can impose anti-dumping duties on Taiwanese products as soon as the end of November, the report said.
The hangers in question were plain, wooden or plastic types were not included, and were popular among laundromats in the US, the report said.
The total export value of Taiwan’s hangers to the US was US$11.83 million last year, dropping from US$23.03 million in the previous year, the report said.
The department also said on Friday that it planned to slap antidumping duties of up to 187.51 percent on hangers exported from Vietnam. The country exported US$32 million in hangers to the US last year, up from US$29 million the year before.
US companies originally requested 118.9 percent to 125.43 percent anti-dumping duties on Taiwanese products and 117.48 percent to 220.68 percent and micro-scale anti-subsidy duties on Vietnamese goods.
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