Japan to keep retaliatory tariffs over U.S. antidumping law

11/08/2010 12:00 - 399 Views

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Finance Ministry decided Friday to keep levying punitive tariffs on U.S. ball bearings for another year, in retaliation against the U.S. action to keep implementing an antidumping trade law that has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization.

Tokyo will extend the current measures, which began in September 2005, to retaliate against the U.S. government practice of distributing its antidumping duties among U.S. manufacturers to cover their losses from cheap imports, a Finance Ministry official said.

But it plans to reduce the tariff rate to 4.1 percent from 9.6 percent, in accordance with a drop in the amount of antidumping duties provided to U.S. manufacturers.

The government will formally endorse soon the decision to keep the punitive tariffs beyond the expiry date of Aug. 31 at a Cabinet meeting. The decision is in line with a recommendation submitted by a ministry panel.

The U.S. practice is based on the Byrd amendment and is still in place even though Washington repealed it in February 2006, following a WTO ruling in January 2003, which found that the amendment violates global trade rules.

The European Union also imposes similar punitive tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation against the antidumping law.

(Mainichi Japan) August 7, 2010

Source: mdn.mainichi.jp