*EPF514 09/12/2003
Trade Panel Votes to Impose Antidumping Duties on Alcohol Imports
(China, South Korea affected by ruling) (290)

Washington -- The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to impose antidumping duties on imports of polyvinyl alcohol from China and South Korea.

In a 4-0 vote September 12, the commissioners made a final affirmative determination that the imports of the chemical used primarily in the production of an adhesive injured or threatened injury to U.S. industry. As a result of the ruling, the Commerce Department will direct the U.S. Customs Service to collect antidumping duties equal to the "dumping margins", which are calculated as the difference between what the chemical is being sold for in the United States and what the chemical is sold for in the exporting country or third country markets.

Imposition of antidumping duties requires final affirmative determinations both from the Department of Commerce on dumping and from the USITC on injury.

The Commerce Department reached an affirmative final determination in August, calculating the dumping margins as follows:

China: Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works, 6.91 percent; all others, 97.86 percent;

South Korea: DC Chemical Company, Ltd, 38,74 percent; all others, 32.08 percent.

Dumping is the sale of an export good at a price below the home-market or third-country price or below the cost of production.

Also September 12, the USITC advanced a preliminary antidumping investigation of electrolytic manganese dioxide imports from Australia, Greece, Ireland, Japan, and South Africa. However, the commissioners ended the similar case against imports from China finding that they were negligible.

Imports are deemed negligible when they amount to less than 3 percent of all relevant imported merchandise in the recent 12-month period preceding filing of the petition.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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