The US Department of Commerce said on Thursday it has issued an affirmative final verdict that Taiwan violated anti-dumping rules in its sale of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in the US market.
In a statement, the department said the US International Trade Commission is scheduled to issue its final verdict by March 14.
The department added that if the commission’s ruling showed that PVA imports from Taiwan “materially injure, or threaten material injury to” the US PVA industry, the department will impose an anti-dumping tariff on Taiwan’s PVA imports on March 21.
The anti-dumping probe was initiated in 2004 after a petition was filed by Texas-based Celanese Chemicals, which accused Taiwan’s Chang Chun Petrochemical (長春石化) of dumping PVA products in the US.
Celanese Chemicals is now known as Sekisui Specialty Chemicals America.
In September last year, the US Department of Commerce issued a preliminary ruling saying that Taiwan might have violated anti-dumping rules when selling PVA in the US market.
Following that verdict, Chang Chun Petrochemical and all other Taiwanese PVA firms were slapped with a punitive dumping levy of 3.02 percent.
After the final ruling, Taiwanese PVA imports will be subject to a 3.08 percent dumping rate.
PVA, which is a dry, water-soluble synthetic polymer, is used in a wide range of applications, including textile and paper-sizing and adhesive manufacture.
US imports of PVA from Taiwan totaled about US$18.2 million in 2009, according to the department.
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