Pakistan imposes anti-dumping duties on polyester yarn

Pakistan imposes anti-dumping duties on polyester yarn

Pakistan has placed anti-dumping duties of up to 37 per cent on imports of polyester filament yarns. The duties will apply to over 30 companies heralding from four Asian countries: Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand.

• Pakistan's National Tariff Commission (NTC) has moved to prevent dumping of polyester fabrics in HS categories 5402 3300 (textured polyester yarn filaments) and 5402 4300 (single, untwisted polyester filament yarn).


• Provisional dumping duties, lasting for four months, range from 4 to 37 per cent on companies based in Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand.


• A final decision on anti-dumping duties will be made six months following the statement release.

The NTC decided on 12 November to uphold a complaint received by the Filament Yarn Manufacturers Association (FYMA) that polyester yarn was being "dumped" on the Pakistani market. The FYMA filed the complaint on 30 March and the NTC commenced investigations into 13 of the 38 identified companies exporting the yarn to Pakistan. In an official statement released on 12 November, it confirmed anti-dumping duties will be applicable to most of the companies investigated. The NTC looked into imports during the 12-months of 2004 to assess dumping, and a period of three-and-a-half years running until the end of 2004 to assess injury.

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International Law Office - Legal Newsletter

Textiles and Clothing after 2005" by Tokia Saïfi. The report crystallizes the concerns of a large number of European parliamentarians that are directly related to the growing share of Chinese-made textile products in the EU market. The report urges for competition between the European Union and the Chinese mainland using balanced weaponry, which, in the words of the report, "so far has certainly not been the case".

Importantly, the report emphasizes labour and environmental standards, and calls on the European Commission on the one hand to negotiate the enforcement of such standards among World Trade Organization (WTO) members, and on the other to prohibit third-country products that do not meet such standards. The report is also critical of the level of piracy and counterfeiting that it alleges is being practised, to the detriment of EU industry. However, the report does admit that "massive reductions in the prices of particular product groups can indeed benefit European consumers", but that this scenario leaves the indigenous clothing industry with the almost impossible task of competing. The harder-hitting elements of">International Law Office - Legal Newsletter: "European Parliament Calls for Fair Trading Standards in Textiles Market
Contributed by Van Bael & Bellis
October 14 2005

On September 6 2005 the European Parliament adopted - by a large majority - a report entitled 'Textiles and Clothing after 2005' by Tokia Saïfi. The report crystallizes the concerns of a large number of European parliamentarians that are directly related to the growing share of Chinese-made textile products in the EU market. The report urges for competition between the European Union and the Chinese mainland using balanced weaponry, which, in the words of the report, 'so far has certainly not been the case'.

Importantly, the report emphasizes labour and environmental standards, and calls on the European Commission on the one hand to negotiate the enforcement of such standards among World Trade Organization (WTO) members, and on the other to prohibit third-country products that do not meet such standards. The report is also critical of the level of piracy and counterfeiting that it alleges is being practised, to the detriment of EU industry. However, the report does admit that 'massive reductions in the prices of particular product groups can indeed benefit European consumers', but that this scenario leaves the indigenous clothing industry with the almost impossible task of competing. The harder-hitting elements of"

SA-- Legislation Introduced to Give Industrial Users Standing in AD/CVD cases

Filed in: "Textiles & WTO"


International Trade Law News: "Legislation Introduced to Give Industrial Users Standing in AD/CVD Cases

Representative Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), along with 18 co-sponsors, today introduced H.R. 4217, the 'American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act'. If enacted, the measure would permit U.S. industrial users of imported products to be 'interested parties', thus having legal standing in antidumping and countervailing duty cases conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and Department of Commerce (DOC). The bill would require the ITC and DOC to allow full participation by industrial users in AD/CVD cases when making an initial injury determination, when conducting changed circumstances reviews and when conducting five-year sunset reviews.

H.R. 4217 would also require the ITC to conduct an economic impact test to determine the net effect on American manufacturers of AD/CVD decisions. In order for an affirmative injury determination to be made the ITC would have to consider the economic impact on industrial users in addition to those of the petitioning parties.

This legislation is supported by a number of trade associations, including the Auto Trade Policy Council, the Motor and Equipment Manufacturing Association, the Precision Metalforming Association, the CITAC Steel Task Force and several major manufacturing firms."

USA-- Legislation Introduced to Give Industrial Users Standing in AD/CVD cases

International Trade Law News: "Legislation Introduced to Give Industrial Users Standing in AD/CVD Cases

Representative Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), along with 18 co-sponsors, today introduced H.R. 4217, the 'American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act'. If enacted, the measure would permit U.S. industrial users of imported products to be 'interested parties', thus having legal standing in antidumping and countervailing duty cases conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and Department of Commerce (DOC). The bill would require the ITC and DOC to allow full participation by industrial users in AD/CVD cases when making an initial injury determination, when conducting changed circumstances reviews and when conducting five-year sunset reviews.

H.R. 4217 would also require the ITC to conduct an economic impact test to determine the net effect on American manufacturers of AD/CVD decisions. In order for an affirmative injury determination to be made the ITC would have to consider the economic impact on industrial users in addition to those of the petitioning parties.

This legislation is supported by a number of trade associations, including the Auto Trade Policy Council, the Motor and Equipment Manufacturing Association, the Precision Metalforming Association, the CITAC Steel Task Force and several major manufacturing firms."

US, China expected to sign textile deal Tuesday

US, China expected to sign textile deal Tuesday
Mon Nov 7, 2005 7:30 PM ET

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China are expected to sign a three-year agreement on Tuesday reining in China's booming clothing and textile shipments to the United States, a congressional aide said on Monday.

U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai are both in London for meetings related to world trade talks. They are expected to hold a bilateral meeting on Tuesday morning and sign the pact, said Carolyn Hern, a spokeswoman for Rep. Robin Hayes, a North Carolina Republican who has been a leading congressional advocate for such a pact.

"They are expected to sign it about 2 or 3 a.m. (EST) our time," Hern said.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office would only confirm that Portman and Bo will hold a joint news conference on Tuesday morning in London.

A textile agreement would smooth over a rough spot in the U.S.-China trade relationship before President George W. Bush visits Beijing the middle of this month.

China's exports of clothing and textile products to the United States jumped more than 50 percent in the first eight months of the 2005 to nearly $17.7 billion following the end of a global quota system on January 1.

That prompted U.S. textile producers to seek protection under a "safeguard" provision of China's 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization. The measure allows WTO members to restrict the growth in imports from China to 7.5 percent annually when there is a market-disrupting surge.

SEEKING COMPREHENSIVE PACT

The Bush administration has imposed safeguard curbs on billions of dollar of Chinese clothing imports this year. But because the curbs have to be renewed annually, textile groups have pushed for a comprehensive agreement that would limit imports through 2008, when the safeguard provision expires.

Cass Johnson, president of the National Council of Textile Organizations, said on Sunday the new textile agreement was expected to restrict 34 categories of clothing and textile imports from China through 2008.

China is expected to "receive only a minimal increase -- 3.8 percent ... -- in market access in the 14 largest and most sensitive textile apparel categories as compared to the use of the safeguard," Johnson said.

The quotas for those 14 categories -- which include trousers, shirts, knits, underwear and bras -- are expected to grow 5.5 percent in 2006, 7.8 percent in 2007 and 10.3 percent in 2008, compared to 7.5 percent annually under the safeguard.

Growth rates in the other 20 categories are expected to average about 10 percent to 12 percent in 2006, 12 percent to 15 percent in 2007 and 16 percent in 2008, an industry official said.

Hayes and U.S. textile industry groups have scheduled an afternoon news conference on Tuesday to discuss the pact.

"He's very excited about the announcement," Hern said. "Robin was pushing for this agreement for the benefit of the industry. If they're happy, he is."

Hayes helped the Bush administration several months ago win approval of a free trade agreement with Central America opposed by vocal portions of the textile industry by agreeing in the very last minutes of a House vote to support the pact.

He explained afterward that he voted for the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement after receiving assurances that the Bush administration would take action to deal with mounting textile and clothing imports from China.

Bangkok Agreement: Six Asian Nations to Extend Tariff Cuts

six South and Southeastern Asian Nations to Extend Tariff Cuts

China, India, South Korea, Bangladesh, Srilanka and Laos have agreed to extend and deepen tariff cuts starting next July, as party of an expanded free trade agreement.

Trade ministers from these nations,agreed that to reduce tariffs by an average of 30 percent, from 22 percent previously, and more than double the product range, extending the agreement to 4,800 products, from 1,800.

The ministers, who met in Beijing, agreed to implement an accord reached in last April that expands the regional free trade pact, the so-called 'Bangkok Agreement'. The accord will be renamed the Asia Pacific Free Trade Area.

The Bangkok Agreement was signed in 1975 as an initiative of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. It is a preferential tariff arrangement that aims at promoting intra-regional trade through exchange of mutually agreed concessions by member countries.

With a total population of more than 2.6 billion, the six countries' GDP last year totaled 3 trillion US dollars, boosting future potentials for closer economic integratio"