Expansion of EU's anti-dumping territory to hit 9 Taiwan-made products

Taipei, May 7, 2004 (CENS)--The European Union will extend anti-dumping measures to 10 new member countries after May 1, which is expected to adversely affect exports of nine Taiwan-made products to that region.

The nine products, now under anti-dumping investigation by the EU or subject to anti-dumping taxes, include disposable non-refillable gas-fuelled pocket flint lighters, synthetic polyester fibers, hot rolled steel in coils, thermoforming rubbers, certain tube or pipe fitting of iron or steel, polyethylene terephthalate, electronic weighing scales, and glyphosate.

EU's resolution to extend the anti-dumping measures to 10 new member countries, which include Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, and Malta, has drawn severe criticism from such WTO (World Trade Organization) members as Taiwan, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Pakistan, Brazil, and Colombia.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs said many WTO member nations have complained that the EU's resolution has violated the anti-dumping accord under the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) framework.

Facing the bombardment from WTO member nations, the European Commission, the executive unit of the EU, called for these nations to file review applications if their rights are impaired. The EC also said the extension of the anti-dumping measures will not influence the WTO members because the new 10 EU member nations account for less than 10% of the economic scale of the entire EU.

Statistics compiled by the MOEA show Taiwan posted US$18.54 billion and US$13.1 billion in exports to and imports from, respectively, the original 15 EU member nations last year. Trade surplus in favor of Taiwan amounted to US$5.447 billion last year.

Taiwan exported US$934 million worth of products to the new 10 EU nations last year, and imports from these nations totaled US$236 million, leading to a trade surplus of US$698 million in favor of Taiwan.

MOEA said it would invite relevant industrial associations to work out measures against the impact of the extended application of anti-dumping measures taken by the EU.