The US Department of Commerce is preparing to tax aluminum sheet exporters from Taiwan and 17 other countries after on Tuesday determining that they had benefited from subsidies and dumping.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent body, must approve the decision by April 15 to impose anti-dumping or countervailing duties, a department statement said.
The investigation, launched under former US president Donald Trump’s administration, had been requested by nearly a dozen US aluminum alloy manufacturers, including Arconic Inc and Aleris Rolled Products Inc, which said that they were affected by competing imports at lower prices.
US President Joe Biden’s administration determined that imports from Germany in particular (US$287 million in 2019) benefited from dumping ranging from 40 to 242 percent.
The same is true for aluminum alloy sheets from Bahrain (US$241 million), which the Biden administration said benefited from pricing below the cost of production or the local market of 83 percent.
Imports from India (US$123 million) have benefited from subsidies of 35 to 89 percent, the investigation found.
In October last year, the Trump administration indicated that it had begun to levy preliminary duties in the investigation.
The other targeted countries are Taiwan, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Turkey.
“If the ITC makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue AD or CVD orders,” the department said, referring to anti-dumping or countervailing duties orders.
The department said that 559 orders on various imports are in effect to “provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.”
“Foreign companies that price their products in the US market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to AD duties,” it said. “Foreign companies that receive unfair subsidies from their governments, such as grants, loans, equity infusions, tax breaks, or production inputs, are subject to CVD duties aimed at directly countering those subsidies.”
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
RSS