Several WTO member countries have voiced support for Taiwan’s challenge against Canada’s imposition of anti-dumping tariffs on Taiwanese carbon steel welded pipes, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
The meeting was in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday and Thursday. Representatives from the US, EU, Norway, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, China and South Korea attended the gathering and gave their opinions regarding the trade dispute between Taiwan and Canada.
In December 2012, Canada imposed anti-dumping tariffs against seven Taiwanese carbon steel welded pipe exporters, accusing them of selling products at unfairly low prices in the Canadian market.
In June 2014, Taiwan made a formal request for consultations with Canada over the issue. In July and December 2014, Taiwan and Canada held two rounds of talks, but the meetings failed to yield satisfactory results.
In the consultations, Taiwan questioned Canada’s investigation process and its legal basis for imposing the anti-dumping duties, the ministry said.
In January last year, Taiwan asked the WTO to form a panel to review the case, and the organization agreed to set up a review panel in March that year.
The ministry said Canada violated the WTO rules in its anti-dumping investigations by using prices for the products in Taiwan’s market as a whole, instead of just the prices normally charged by individual Taiwanese exporters, to determine that the Taiwanese companies undercut the “de minimis,” or lowest prices allowed to be charged — no more than 2 percent lower than the prices it normally charges.
The ministry said that Canada ignored the de minimis rate from individual exporters, and used Taiwan as a whole to accuse Taiwanese firms of dumping carbon steel welded pipes in its market.
This flaw should lead to the termination of its investigation, the ministry said.
Taiwan also alleges that the Canadian authorities used inappropriate trading statistics to conclude that Taiwanese carbon steel welded pipe exporters engaged in dumping practices, the ministry said.
In the first meeting of the review panel, the US, the EU, Norway, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates said that Canada should have terminated the investigation into the Taiwanese exporters’ alleged malpractices.
Due to the unfair anti-dumping tariffs imposed by Canada, Taiwanese carbon steel welded pipes suffered almost US$20 million in losses per year, the ministry said.
The WTO panel is to hold a second meeting at the end of June before making a ruling, and a final decision is likely to be made in summer next year, the ministry said.
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