Chinese wire product exporters evading AD duties in US

11. February. 2010

Manufacturers in China are evading millions of dollars of US anti dumping duties on steel wire products by exporting them via third countries, according to an American industry group.

The US Coalition for Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders said it has developed compelling evidence how certain foreign manufacturers in China are evading duties.

It said “In some cases, they shipped the products via third countries and then falsely designating it as the country of origin to evade the duties, a practice termed transhipment.”

It added “In other cases, an inconsequential modification is made to the product in third countries to avoid the duties or false labels displaying a different country of origin are placed on shipments of products actually made in China.”

The coalition named the “third countries” as Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Canada and Mexico. The Hong Kong and Taiwan economies were also accused of being used by the Chinese based manufacturers to send the products to the United States in an apparent bid to evade duties.

The coalition, comprising six companies manufacturing steel wire products, said it had informed the U.S. government and lawmakers on the problem, adding that duty evasions had cost the authorities at least USD 84 million annually and also threatened jobs.

Mr David Libla president of Mid Continent Nail and a coalition member said “These schemes are blatant and purposeful. Not only are they clear evidence of attempts to maintain an unfair advantage in the marketplace, they're also costing taxpayers millions of dollars and reducing job opportunities in this country,.”
[Steel Guru]