Five Taiwanese machine tool makers were listed as part of an anti-dumping probe launched on Tuesday by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, setting a precedent as Beijing’s trade row with the US escalates.
Tongtai Machine and Tool Co Ltd (東台精機), Leadwell CNC Machines Manufacturing Corp (麗偉), Litz Hitech Corp (麗馳), Yeong Chin Machinery Industries Co Ltd (永進) and LK Machinery Corp (力勁) became the first Taiwanese machinery makers to be listed in an anti-dumping probe by Chinese authorities, the ministry said on a statement on its Web site.
Investigations into Taiwanese and Japanese vertical machining center suppliers are expected to finish in one year, the ministry said, adding that the probe was prompted by complaints lodged by a number of Chinese machine tool makers in August.
Tongtai and Fair Friend Group (友嘉集團), which was not named in the probe, said that they only sell specialized vertical machining centers in China, which are more expensive than Chinese offerings, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported.
Fair Friend added that most of its vertical machining centers are manufactured in China and that it only sources a small portion of specialty models from Taiwan, the report said, adding that the companies vowed to fully cooperate with the investigation.
Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) chairman Alex Ko (柯拔希) said that vertical machining centers are not a big export item to China, the newspaper reported.
China in the past three years on average purchased 13,500 to 24,500 vertical machining centers from Japan, representing 80 percent of total imports during the period, Ko said.
Machinery tools exports to China range from NT$5 billion to NT$7 billion (US$162.07 million to US$226.9 million) annually and are subject to a 9.7 percent tariff.
As for Taiwan, China purchased 2,200 to 2,700 units, accounting for less than 10 percent of imports in the past three years, Ko said, adding that TAMI has begun engaging with its counterpart in China.
The probe is part of trade war countermeasures, as Beijing devalues its currency to maintain Chinese products’ competitiveness, industry insiders were quoted as saying.
Vertical machining centers are used to mill metal components for the aerospace, automotive and consumer electronics sectors.
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