Taiwan on Tuesday completed the preliminary probe into dumping charges against cement and cement clinker imports from the Philippines and South Korea, deciding the imports have hurt Taiwan's cement industry.
The preliminary investigation was conducted by the International Trade Commission (ITC). Now the Ministry of Finance will spend 135 days to conduct the final probe to decide if the allegations of dumping are true.
If it is proved, the ITC will investigate for itself to determine if Philippine and South Korean cement and cement clinker imports have hurt Taiwan's cement industry.
After that, the finance ministry will decide if it will slap anti-dumping tax on the accused companies.
The complaint was filed in July by five Taiwan cement companies against 19 Philippine cement companies -- led by Alsons Cement Corp -- and two South Korean cement companies -- Ssangyong Cement Industrial Co and Tong Yang Cement Corp.
According to the complaint, the Philippines and South Korea sold 30,693 tons of cement and cement clinker to Taiwan in 1999 at US$32-35 per ton, while Taiwanese cement was sold at US$44-47 per ton.
Imports from the two countries jumped by two-thirds last year to one million tons, and hit 503,788 tons in the first half this year.
"Taiwan produces enough cement for its needs, two million tons each year. The dumping of Philippine and South Korean cement has disrupted the balance between demand and supply," an Asia Cement Corp (
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for