Anti-dumping duty on tin plates: second hearing of petition to be held on Monday

Second hearing of the petition against the imposition of anti dumping duty on secondary quality electrolytic tin plates will be held on Monday (August 31) at the National Tariff Commission of Pakistan (NTCP), Islamabad.
A Karachi based company Siddiqsons Tine Plate Ltd has filed a petition in the NTCP seeking imposition of anti dumping duty on imports of tin plate originating from France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the USA alleging that the importers are involved in dumping of the said tin plates.
Talking to Business Recorder, Chairman of the Tinplate Merchants Association, Haji Tasleem Qureshi, however, said the imposition of such duty on the importers would create a monopoly in the trade of a single company. He said, "The company is not a manufacturer but only a processing company of tin plates as they coat tin mill black plate (TMBP) prime quality which is totally different from secondary quality tin plate."
He said the imposition of 12 to 40 percent anti dumping duty on importers of secondary quality tin plates was totally unrealistic. The association chairman claimed no dumping had been carried out as the imports had gone down drastically and the level of imports of the said tin plates was as low as 15,000 to 20,000 metric tons per year as compared to 80,000 to 100,000 metric tons per year imported in 1999 and earlier. The imports were paying around Rs 37,000 per metric ton on account of sales tax, custom duty, income tax and other taxes
The association chairman pointed out that the countries from where tin plates were being imported were textile/other commodities buyers from Pakistan, and their governments could take similar action against Pakistan's exports. He feared that the sellers in the European Union might take up this matter with the European Trade Commission and the WTO.