South Korea launches anti-dumping probe on Chinese plywood

23/07/2015 12:00 - 662 Views

SEJONG, July 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade commission said Tuesday that it will launch an official investigation into alleged price dumping of Chinese plywood made with needle-leaf trees, with the recommendation to begin imposing punitive tariffs of up to 5.9 percent on Chinese imports.
The decision to launch a formal investigation follows a four-month preliminary probe into allegations that importers of Chinese plywood were underselling product made with needle-leaf trees, an apparent move to avoid anti-dumping tariffs already imposed on broad-leaf tree plywood from China, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
South Korea began imposing anti-dumping tariffs of 2.42 percent to 27.21 percent on broad-leaf plywood imports from China in October 2013.
Imports of Chinese plywood made with needle-leaf trees have since been growing steadily, accounting for 18 percent of total supplies of plywood in South Korea in 2014, the ministry said.
In 2014, the country's market for plywood came to about 710 billion won (US$613.7 million).
Over the course of the formal anti-dumping investigation, which could last up to five months, the Korea Trade Commission recommended that preliminary punitive tariffs of between 3.4 percent and 5.9 percent be imposed on Chinese needle-leaf tree plywood.

July 21, 2015
Source: Yonhap