Pakistan puts anti-dumping duties on flat steel from Taiwan, EU, S Korea, Vietnam

KARACHI: National Tariff Commission (NTC) has imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports of some flat steel products from Taiwan, the European Union, South Korea, and Vietnam.

The NTC imposed anti-dumping duties in the range of 6.18 percent to 17.25 percent on flat-steel products for a period of 5-years which includes iron or non-alloy steel, rolled coils/sheets being imported and dumped from Taipei, the EU, South Korea, and Vietnam.

The commission initiated an anti-dumping investigation in February last year under Section 23 of the Anti-Dumping Duties Act, 2015 regarding the dumping of flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, cold-rolled (cold-reduced), not clad, plated or coated, of prime and secondary quality, of a thickness ranging from 0.15mm to 3.00mm in rolls or slit to length sheets, excluding CR coils/ sheets used in auto skin/auto grade into Pakistan originating in and/or exported from the European Union, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam and material injury caused by such dumped imports to the domestic industry manufacturing CR coils/sheets.

The commission, in accordance with part VI of the act determined that the domestic industry suffered material injury on account of significant increase in volume of dumped imports, decline in: market share, capacity utilisation, profits, profitability, return on investment and negative effects on: production, sales, productivity, salaries and wages.

Further, there was a causal link between dumped imports of the investigated product and material injury to the domestic industry during the process of investigation. “In reaching the final affirmative determination, the commission is satisfied that the investigated product has been imported at dumped prices,” the NTC notice read.

The anti-dumping duties were imposed in accordance with Section 50(1) of the act on dumped imports of the investigated product importable from the exporting countries for a period of five years effective from August 23, 2021.

NTC imposed 6.18 percent anti-dumping duty on the product for import from Chinese Taipei, 6.50 percent from EU, 13.24 percent from South Korea and 17.5 percent from Vietnam.

NTC stated that definitive anti-dumping duties levied on import of the investigated product would be in addition to other taxes and duties leviable on its imports under any other law and it would be collected in the same manner as customs duty was collected under the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969).