Brussels, 15/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Union has decided to maintain the definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of potassium permanganate from China. A surcharge of 1.26 euros per tonne will therefore continue to be levied until February 2006.
In the regulation published in the Official Journal NoL44, the Council specifies that the incriminated producers did not give up dumping practices (which seems to be constant in their behaviour, also observed on their other export markets including with the United States), despite measures taken by Europeans in 1988 then in 1994 to counter dumping. Furthermore, failing such measures - which have nonetheless allowed the Community industry to recover, the swell in Chinese production capacities over recent years although demand has stabilised, hints at far larger supplies - still at prices that undercut all competition - on the Union market. The situation of the Community industry, that is still precarious, is now reduced to a single producer, Spanish Industrial Quimica del Nalon, and could deteriorate to a point that its viability will be threatened, which would have adverse effects on employment, consumer choice, etc., the Council said. It went on to conclude that, after having weighed up the various interests at stake, the extension of anti-dumping measures will preserve the conditions of fair competition that prevail by eliminating the harmful effects of dumping practices.