Food fight! ... no, I meant trade war!!
Oops, US finds it necessary to save its ironing board makers ...
Friday, June 18, 2004
Ironing-board makers ruffled by US duties
biz.scmp.com
TOH HAN SHIH
Hong Kong firms are steamed up over a United States anti-dumping ruling on ironing boards, saying it wrinkles the level playing field of global trade.
The US Department of Commerce said on Wednesday that mainland and Hong Kong firms were dumping floor-standing metal-top ironing boards at below fair value on the US market. The verdict specified dumping margins for specific products ranging from 6.6 to 113.8 per cent.
The dumping margin is the difference between the selling price and the average market price, or "fair value". If the US government subsequently deems that the imported goods materially injure, or threaten to materially injure, the domestic industry, it can impose duties of amounts up to the dumping margin, as allowed under World Trade Organisation guidelines. The US International Trade Commission will decide whether to impose anti-dumping duties by July 30.
US ironing board companies have been hard-pressed to compete with mainland rivals, which retail their products at less than US$2.
The anti-dumping petition was filed by Home Products International, which supplies retailers Wal-Mart and Target, to which mainland competitors also sell. The firm posted a loss of US$11.3 million last year on a 6 per cent fall in revenue to $233.6 million, blaming competitive pressure and decreased orders, Reuters said.
Home Products announced earlier this month it would delist its shares from the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Chinese firms complain that they could not possibly be "dumping" their products, as they are making money on them, and that the ruling makes a mockery of fair trade rules.
"Definitely we feel this verdict is not fair," said Liang Xiaoyun, a sales manager at Guangdong-based Shunde Yongjian Housewares. "Although our prices are low, we still make profits. Price is our competitive edge.".
The company's ironing boards were sold in the US "for a few US dollars" each, she said.
The US commerce department set the dumping margin for Yongjian's ironing boards at 113.8 per cent.
Another company investigated for dumping was Harvest International Housewares of Hong Kong, which manufactures ironing boards in Guangzhou. The US set dumping margins on the firm's products at 52.04 per cent.
Harvest's ironing boards sell in the US for US$1.82 apiece, according to Phoebe Lau, a secretary to the managing director. "Of course, we object to this decision. Our US customers tell us the anti-dumping duty will be very high," Ms Lau said.
To get around US anti-dumping penalties, Harvest was trying to substitute its metal-top ironing boards with plastic or wooden versions, she said.
Separately, the US is expected to announce anti-dumping duties on Chinese furniture today. |
