Jun. 6--TOKYO -- Japan will levy anti-dumping duties on electrolytic manganese dioxide imported from Australia, China, South Africa and Spain on June 14 as a provisional measure to safeguard domestic makers from cheap products, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

The provisional tariffs of between 14.0 percent and 46.5 percent will be imposed up to four months as additional duties on those imports, mostly used in batteries, after the Cabinet endorses an ordinance on the duties next Tuesday, the ministry said.

At present, 3.3 percent tariffs are levied on imports from Australia and Spain, while products from China and South Africa are treated as duty-free.

The Council on Customs, Tariff, Foreign Exchange and Other Transactions, an advisory body to the ministry, concluded Friday that it will be appropriate to invoke anti-dumping tariffs on electrolytic manganese dioxide imports.

Similar duties have been levied by the European Union on South Africa since last September, and by the United States on Australia and China since March.

If no major objections are raised from electrolytic manganese dioxide makers and importers, the provisional measure will likely be formalized in about one month, prompting the Japanese government to levy anti-dumping tariffs for up to five years, ministry officials said.

Japan launched an investigation into the prices of electrolytic manganese dioxide on April 27 last year, following complaints filed by Tosoh Corp. and its wholly owned unit Tosoh Hyuga Corp.

The two companies complained that the imports had been dumped, or sold at unfairly low prices, damaging Japanese companies in contravention of World Trade Organization rules.

The investigation found that the prices of electrolytic manganese dioxide exported from the four countries were lower than domestic sales prices in those nations.

It also found that the share of domestic makers' products in Japanese electrolytic manganese dioxide fell from 60 percent in fiscal 2004 to 40 percent in fiscal 2006. In addition to the Tosoh group, Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. produces the item in Japan.

The total amount of electrolytic manganese dioxide imports into Japan jumped 64.3 percent in two years to fiscal 2006.

It will be the fourth case in which Japan imposes anti-dumping tariffs on cheap imports. The last ones were invoked in July 2002 on short polyester fiber made in South Korea and Taiwan, and the measure is still in effect.

Posted on: Friday, 6 June 2008, 12:00 CDT

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Source: www.redorbit.com