2/8/2010
NEWS BRIEFS
Is China Evading Tariffs on Fasteners and Threaded Rod?
A coalition of U.S. manufacturers claims to have “compelling evidence that certain companies subject to antidumping orders are costing the U.S. Treasury at least $84 million annually due to their deliberate evasion of the antidumping duties,” according to the Coalition for Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders.
The coalition, which plans to present its information to member of Congress as well as the U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said hundred of jobs are “threatened by these ongoing schemes.”
The group claims that in some cases Chinese manufacturers are transshipping items by “shipping these products to the U.S. via third countries and then falsely designating it as the country of origin to evade the duties.”
In other cases, “an inconsequential modification is made to the product in third countries to avoid the duties.” And some companies are falsifying labels, according to the coalition.
“These schemes are blatant and purposeful,” said David Libla, President of Mid Continent Nail and a coalition member. “Not only are they clear evidence of attempts to maintain an unfair advantage in the marketplace, they’re also costing taxpayers millions of dollars and reducing job opportunities in this country.”
The Coalition advocates several solutions: requiring collection of cash deposits on suspect subject merchandise at points of entry to the U.S.; stationing at least one Customs and Border Protection official at each of the major seaports and land border crossings to enforce the orders; and incorporating specific enforcement language into the Customs Reauthorization Act and expanding the authority of the Department of Commerce to include investigation of transshipment and other evasion activities.
The coalition consists of M&B Metal Products (Leeds, AL); Vulcan Threaded Products (Pelham, AL); Leggett & Platt Inc. (Carthage, MO); Mid Continent Nail (Poplar Bluff, MI); American Spring Wire Co. (Bedford Heights, OH); and Insteel Industries (Mt. Airy, NC).
Fasteners Being Transshipped?
An independent report out of Malaysia suggests that stainless steel fasteners from China could be part of the effort to evade tariffs.
The Malaysian Insider reports that Chinese firms are using Malaysia to evade European Union antidumping laws.
Stainless steel fasteners are among products that “are prone to trans-shipment from China to the EU via Malaysia include stainless steel fasteners,” writes Lee Wei Lian of the Insider.
The Insider’s report was based on information from Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the European Anti-Fraud Office, which claims that “millions of euros worth of China-made goods are being fraudulently passed off as Malaysian by using the Port Klang Free Zone trans-shipment hub, where imported Chinese goods are transferred to another container and re-exported using the invoice of a Malaysian company.”
“They will use fictitious companies or forged documents to show that the goods are coming from Malaysia. To make it look more bona fide, they get a certificate of origin,” said David Murphy, head of the European customs unit.
The real risk to the country is that the China-made products would flood into the EU via Malaysia resulting in commercial action being taken by the EU against Malaysian companies, Murphy asserted.
“It would affect legitimate Malaysian manufacturers.” ©2010 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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