The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced yesterday that it would not levy temporary anti-dumping duties on imported coated paper from China, Japan, South Korea and Finland, as the government’s preliminary evaluation showed these imports did not cause real damage to the local paper manufacturing industry.
The MOF and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) will initiate a second round of investigations and make a final decision on the levying of anti-dumping duties in mid-November at the soonest.
The Taiwan Paper Industry Association (台灣區造紙公會) filed anti-dumping charges with the MOF in July last year, with the ministry initially finding that most of these foreign papermakers had been dumping their products on the local market.
However, the first round of investigations made by the MOEA’s International Trade Commission (ITC) showed that although this dumping had raised concerns over the development of the local paper manufacturing industry, they did not directly damage the sector.
“Since the dumping was not proven to have hurt the paper manufacturing sector in Taiwan, we will not levy temporary anti-dumping duties on these imports before making a final decision,” Hsieh Ling-yuan (謝玲媛), deputy director of the MOF’s department of customs administration, told a media briefing.
The MOF may still change its decision when finishing final investigations, Hsieh said. However, historically the ministry has never reversed a different decision in an anti-dumping charge before.
The Magazine Business Association of Taipei (台北市雜誌公會) said the ministry’s decision followed public opinion.
“We appreciate the government’s support for the publishing industry,” the association said in an e-mailed statement.
The association said several local papermakers could monopolize the coated paper market if the ministry levies anti-dumping duties on foreign paper manufacturing firms, which would raise costs and drag down the domestic publishing sector.
Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Co (永豐餘造紙), Taiwan’s largest papermaker, now controls more than 50 percent of the domestic coated paper market since merging with Chung Hwa Pulp Corp (中華紙漿) in March, data provided by the association showed.
Separately, the MOF said it had finished an investigation into ascertaining whether to maintain anti-dumping duties on footwear imported from China. The decision was due on March 15 this year, but if they decide to keep the duties, they could be applied retroactively.
The investigation found that dumping could reoccur if the ministry lifts anti-dumping duties, because of the large scale of China’s footwear exports.
China exported US$41.72 billion in footwear last year, with Taiwan importing just 0.186 percent of that total, ministry statistics showed.
A final decision on this case will be made in mid-October at the soonest, after the MOEA completes its investigation and reports to the MOF.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
REACTIONS: While most analysts were positive about TSMC’s investment, one said the US expansion could disrupt the company’s supply-demand balance Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) new US$100 billion investment in the US would exert a positive effect on the chipmaker’s revenue in the medium term on the back of booming artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from US chip designers, an International Data Corp (IDC) analyst said yesterday. “This is good for TSMC in terms of business expansion, as its major clients for advanced chips are US chip designers,” IDC senior semiconductor research manager Galen Zeng (曾冠瑋) said by telephone yesterday. “Besides, those US companies all consider supply chain resilience a business imperative,” Zeng said. That meant local supply would
RSS