The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday announced a five-year extension of its anti-dumping duties against Chinese towel imports, albeit at lower tariffs.
Taiwan began imposing anti-dumping duties against towel imports from China in June 2006 to protect the domestic towel market.
In December 2011, the government announced that it would extend the duties for another five years, with anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 86.6 percent to 204.1 percent.
After the policy expired on Dec. 19 last year, the government relaunched an investigation into dumping practices as local manufacturers said that cheap Chinese-made products continued to disrupt the industry, a statement on the ministry’s Web site said.
The complaint was filed by the Yunlin Towel Industrial Technology and Development Association (雲林毛巾產業科技發展協會), which said that cheaper Chinese imports had cost its members business.
The ministry said the government’s investigation found that dumping could reoccur if it were to lift the duties, while its evaluation showed that levying anti-dumping duties would not have a noticeable negative impact on Taiwan’s overall economy.
Therefore, the government has decided to levy the tariffs for another five years beginning on Thursday, the ministry said.
In addition, the government has decided not to use price-undertaking agreements to settle a case that involves six China-based companies, but to subject them to uniform anti-dumping tariffs set by the government, the ministry said.
Price undertakings are measures taken by exporters to raise their export prices, or cease exports at dumping prices, to avoid the possibility of an anti-dumping duty.
The six companies are Kunshan Shanming Textile Co (昆山森鳴紡織), Zhejiang Twin-Lantern Home Textile Co (浙江雙燈家紡), Nanjing Jiayou Textile Co Ltd (南京佳友紡織品), Shanghai Quanhe International Trading Co (上海千賀國際貿易), Shanghai Kaluda Home Textile Products Co Ltd (上海卡璐達家居紡織製品) and Uchino International Pte Ltd, the ministry said.
The new tariffs are 29.72 percent for Zhejiang Twin-Lantern and other Chinese companies, but zero percent for Kunshan Shanming, it said.
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