The Ministry of Finance decided yesterday to levy stiff anti-dumping duties on Chinese towel imports beginning next month, citing damage to the local towel industry. Chinese towels will be slapped with a provisional 237.7 percent duty on the top of an existing tariff of 10.5 percent -- for a record-high total tariff.
"Evidence shows that the imports caused substantial damage to the nation's towel industry before and during the anti-dumping investigation process," Chien Liang-chi (
Two Chinese towelmakers, including one China-based Taiwanese firm, will only face extra tariffs at 107.3 percent and 109.3 percent for their products, after they responded to the ministry's survey and provided import data on quantity and prices, the ministry said.
The ruling will take effect on Thursday and could last for as long as four months, until the antidumping investigation is completed. The authority began its investigation on March 1 and polled top nine Chinese towelmakers who produce 35 percent of Chinese towels imported into Taiwan.
This is the first antidumping action against Chinese imports since Taiwan acceded to the WTO in 2002.
Besides China, Taiwan is also imposing antidumping duties on three other countries' products: cement from South Korea and the Philippines and art paper imports from Japan, according to the finance ministry.
Taiwanese towelmakers filed a request for relief measures in the face of an influx of cheaper Chinese imports last August and took to the streets in March.
Statistics compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs show that the nation's towel production dropped to 770,000kg last year from 1.1 million kilograms in 2001.
The authorities are required to complete the antidumping investigations and
make a final decision within 110 days after the finance ministry's
preliminary ruling, which in this case could fall in late September.
The finance ministry said it did not rule out the possibility of conducting
spot inspections in China to facilitate their investigation, Chien said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique