Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) Two Taiwanese chemical firms have been imposed anti-dumping tariffs by Brazilian authorities after a final ruling pointed out that they sold polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin at unfairly low prices in the Latin American country, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Friday.
The MOEA said that Lealea Enterprise Co. (力麗) and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. (南亞) have been slapped with an anti-dumping tariff of 52.1 percent, a level which had been stated in a preliminary ruling issued by Brazil's Council of Chamber of External Commerce (CAMEX).
The two Taiwanese firms faced the financial punishment since they failed to respond to the CAMEX's questions raised during an investigation. The agency decided in its final ruling in November that the preliminary decision on the tariffs remained unchanged.
The tariff has become effective from Nov. 28 and will last for five years, the MOEA said.
However, Far Eastern New Century Corp. (遠東新), another Taiwanese firm, was found to have not violated any anti-dumping law in Brazil when the firm sold PET resin to the Latin American country.
The MOEA said that Far Eastern appeared very active about responding to the questions raised by CAMEX during the investigation, which may have led the Brazilian agency to maintain its earlier ruling that the Taiwanese firm was not involved in unfair pricing practices.
The case was brought by M&G Polimeros Brasil SA in April 2015. It accused firms from Taiwan, China, India and Indonesia of violating anti-dumping laws when they sold PET resin. The Brazilian authorities had launched an investigation since June 2015 and laid the final decision on Nov. 23.
The favorable ruling for Far Eastern showed that it was critical for the accused to respond to the questions raised by the Brazilian authorities, the MOEA said. For Lealea and Nan Ya, however, their inaction gave them a disadvantage in the case, the MOEA added.
The MOEA said that its Bureau of Foreign Trade takes applications from Taiwanese firms which have been accused of dumping by a foreign country, for legal subsidies of up to NT$3 million (US$94,043) for each firm in order to help them take on anti-dumping probes.
Far Eastern took advantage of the legal subsidies for the particular case, the MOEA said, adding that other firms in similar situations should follow Far Eastern to do so.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Taiwan's PET resin sold to Brazil accounted for 1.88 percent to 2.95 percent of Taiwan's total PET resin exports during the period of 2012-2015.
PET resin is the raw material used for the production of soda, juice, and edible oil containers. The material is also used for an additional wide range of products, such as audio/video disks and movie films, according to the MOEA.
