Brazil To Impose Antidumping Measures On Citric Acid From China

01/02/2012 12:00 - 443 Views

BRASILIA (Dow Jones)--Brazilian authorities will apply antidumping measures to imports of citric acid from China for a period of up to six months, the development and trade ministry said Wednesday.

The Chinese companies judged to be exporting the product to Brazil at unfair prices will have to pay a surcharge during the period of application. The decision was made at a meeting of the foreign trade board.

Citric acid is a product used in drinks and foods, said Tatiana Prazeres, secretary of foreign trade at the ministry, at a press conference.

Officials decided to study imports of cellphones from China. There are concerns about the quality of phones entering Brazil from the Asian nation, and the trade officials requested more information to establish technical parameters to ensure imported phones meet Brazilian requirements, said Emilio Garofalo Filho, executive secretary of the board.

The board also decided to set up a technical group to establish a list of as many as 100 imported products to which higher import tariffs can temporarily be applied.

The countries of Mercosur recently decided to permit members to establish such a list in reaction to trade imbalances. Affected industries will be allowed to apply for temporary protection, and the technical group will study those requests and decide which ones to allow. By Jeffrey T. Lewis
Source: online.wsj.com