China to clamp down on unfairly priced imports

10 July 2006 00:00  [Source: ICB]

Foreign chemical exporters planning to crack ­China’s lucrative market are facing uncertainty as the ­Chinese authorities are planning a wave of anti-dumping investigations.

The sector has been earmarked, a senior ­official said, as almost 70% of China’s dumping cases are chemical-related.

‘All chemical products involved in anti-dumping investigations are relatively new in China and have a brisk market demand,’ said Song Heping, deputy director of the Industrial Damage Investigation Department of the Ministry of Commerce. ‘This has lured ­foreign companies to go all-out to expand their market share in the country,’ he added.

A total of 45 anti-­dumping investigations were launched in the first five months of 2006. Out of these, 31 involved the chemical industry.

Song said it would take time for domestic manufacturers to meet the country’s demand, especially in terms of high value-added petrochemical products.

‘When foreign competitors dump their products in China, the industry always takes swift, coordinated action,’ he said.

Song stressed that winning or losing a market would only be decided by a company’s comparative advantage. ‘The purpose of anti-dumping investigations is not to protect domestic industries but to provide a fair market environment,’ he said.

Extra duties are already being levied on some products, such as chloro-epoxy propane, to minimise anti-dumping, according to the latest circular from the Ministry of Commerce.

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