US taxes Chinese glossy magazine paper, exporters cry foul

THE United States Department of Commerce has introduced preliminary duties on glossy magazine quality paper and certain salts used to make fertiliser, reports Reuters.

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), a leading exporter of coated paper from both China and Indonesia, was disappointed. "This has even less basis than the last one. The US industry is making more money and has benefited from environmental tax credits," said APP acting president Terry Hunley.

The United States imported US$228.7 million of the coated paper from China in 2008 and $44.3 million from Indonesia, the report added.

The countervailing duties levied on Chinese coated paper manufacturers range from 3.92 to 12.83 per cent to offset government subsidies. In the same case, a 17.48 per cent duty was also levied on Indonesian companies.

The Commerce Department also ruled that even higher government subsidies were being applied to certain potassium phosphate salts and ordered Chinese companies that produce or export them to pay a preliminary duty of 109.11 per cent, said the news agency.

This latest trade dispute comes amid accusations from Beijing that Washington is misusing its trade laws to impose duties on a wide range of Chinese goods from automobile tyres to steel products, the report noted.

It said the US claims such duties are justified to protect domestic companies against unfair Chinese trade practices, which it considers to be in the form of government subsidies and alleged below market prices.

The request for relief, in the coated paper case, was filed last year by US companies NewPage Corp, Appleton Coated LLC and SD Warren Co, along with related trade unions.

(Source: www.schednet.com)