Jason Sandefur

The European Commission announced six-month provisional antidumping duties on stainless steel fasteners from China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The tariffs, which are effective May 22, 2005, cover all types of threaded stainless steel fasteners except nuts. Stainless nuts were excluded because they are not manufactured in volume throughout Europe.
China was hit hardest with a duty rate of 27.4%; Indonesia has a rate of 24.6%; Taiwan was given a rate of 23.6%; Thailand”s rate is 15.9%; and products from Vietnam will have a tariff rate of 7.7%. Two producers in China and 37 in Taiwan were given lower rates than the overall duty applied to their country of origin.
While the commission”s actions were anticipated, the announcement came a day before the duty deadline, drawing sharp criticism from importers who have no time to adjust sourcing policies. Critics claim the regulations appear to favor European steel companies, which own several stainless steel fastener producers.
Distributor associations argued unsuccessfully that only socket screws and hex bolts should have tariffs applied to them, since these products were the only ones manufactured in volume in the European Union. \ �2005 FastenerNews.com