Taiwan steel exporters imposed anti-dumping tariffs in Thailand

Taiwanese stainless steel pipe and tube exporters have been imposed anti-dumping tariffs by Thailand after the Southeast Asian country issued a final ruling saying Taiwan and three other countries have sold steel products at unfairly low prices in the Thai market, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
In a statement released on Friday, the MOEA said that the anti-dumping tariffs faced by Taiwan’s stainless steel pipe and tube exporters ranged between 2.38 percent and 29.04 percent, and the financial penalty will last for five years after it became effective from mid-September.
The MOEA said that among the affected Taiwanese exporters were YC INOX Co. and FROCH Enterprise Co., two of the leading stainless steel product makers in the country. YC has to pay a 2.38 percent anti-dumping tariff, while the tariff slapped on FROCH hit 12.29 percent, the ministry said.
The stainless steel pipes and tubes at issue are used to make a wide range of devices such as running water tubes and sea water delivery facilities, the MOEA said. The final ruling came out after an investigation was conducted by the Thai authorities for imports between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015, according to the MOEA.
The ministry said that Thailand also imposed anti-dumping tariffs on exporters from South Korea at a rate ranging between 11.96 percent and 51.53 percent when they sell products to the Thai market. The anti-dumping tariff faced by Chinese and Vietnamese firms reached 145.31 percent and 310.74 percent, respectively, the ministry added.
The MOEA said that although the anti-dumping tariffs shouldered by Taiwanese exporters in the Thai market were lower than those imposed on their counterparts in South Korea, China and Vietnam, such a financial penalty still poses a threat to Taiwan’s exports.
Therefore, the MOEA said that it still has regret over the decision made by the Thai government.
Despite the anti-dumping tariffs, the ministry said, as long as Taiwanese stainless steel pipe and tube exporters sell their products to Thailand for processing by Thai firms which will sell reprocessed items outside the Thai market, the imports will be exempt from the financial punishment.
In 2015, Taiwan sold US$13.94 million worth stainless steel pipes and tubes to Thailand, down 10.55 percent from a year earlier, representing 17.01 percent of the total steel imports in the Thai market, the MOEA said.
China was the largest stainless steel pipe and tube supplier to Thailand in 2015, selling US$81.95 million worth of goods, up 19.63 percent from the year before. China grasped a 33.20 percent share of the Thai import market last year, the MOEA said.
South Korea’s share in the Thai stainless steel pipe and tube imports stood at 14.57 percent after selling US$11.94 million worth of products in 2015, while Vietnam sold US$11.95 million worth of products, taking a 14.58 percent share, the MOEA added.
Source: CNA