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Saturday November 7, 2009

US slaps anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese tubular goods


WASHINGTON: The US Commerce Department has imposed anti-dumping tariffs of up to 99% on imports of Chinese tubular goods in a move Beijing condemned yesterday as an “abuse of protectionism”.

The department said on Thursday it had “determined that Chinese producers/exporters have sold OCTG (oil country tubular goods) in the US at prices ranging from zero to 99.14% less than normal value.”

The duties would be imposed based on individual companies’ dumping rates, the Commerce Department said, adding that OCTG imports from China were valued at an estimated US$2.6bil in 2008.

Dumping occurs when a foreign company sells a product in the United States at less than normal value.

China’s Commerce Ministry said the country “firmly opposed the abuse of protectionism and will take measures to seriously protect the interests of the domestic industry.”

It called the US tariffs “discriminatory” steps that would “have a serious impact on the Chinese steel industry’s exports.”

But the United Steelworkers (USW) union hailed the move as “an overdue message for thousands of American laid-off workers that trade laws are being enforced.”

The US announcement came just 10 days before President Barack Obama is due to make his first official visit to China on Nov 15–18 and is the latest in a series of punitive tariffs the United States has imposed on Chinese goods.

USW president Leo Gerard said the OCTG anti-dumping measures were “promising” for US producers reeling from nearly half of the domestic industry’s 6,000-strong workforce currently laid off.

“China’s government and exporters are being told we are fed up with their cheating on our fair trade laws and penalties for these transgressions are long overdue,” he said.

Several US companies and the USW had petitioned the Commerce Department to examine Chinese underpricing of the tubes, which include a variety of steel and iron products.

In September, the United States announced it would slap duties on Chinese-made tyres to protect local US industry, sparking the first major trade spat of Obama’s presidency.

The Commerce Department said then it would impose duties of as much as 31% on Chinese carbon or alloy tubular steel products used in oil and gas wells, following claims they were backed by unfair subsidies.

That announcement drew a quick and angry response from Beijing.

“China is highly concerned over this matter. We strongly oppose such trade protectionist moves,” a Commerce Ministry spokeswoman told AFP at the time.

The Commerce Department said on Thursday it had assessed that several Chinese companies were selling the tubes at 36.53% less than their normal value, and fixed the same tariff rate.

“All other Chinese producers/exporters will receive a preliminary dumping rate of 99.14%,” the department said. — AFP

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