COMMERCE IMPOSES DUTIES ON CHINA CRTs

The duties are formally effective Dec. 1, but retroactive 90 days, to the point Commerce investigators say “critical circumstances” arose. The phrase refers to surges in imports that occur before the possible imposition of dumping duties as part of an effort to “beat the clock” and avoid the duties, Five Rivers officials said. Five Rivers, along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Industrial Div. of the Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA), filed the dumping complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) in May. With the preliminary finding, companies importing CTVs from China will post cash deposits or bonds pending a final decision on duties that’s scheduled to be issued in April.

“I hope at least this gets their attention and that this helps us get on a more level playing field,” Five Rivers Pres. Thomas Hopson told us. He said he was “pleased” that Commerce’s investigation supported “what we have observed with respect to our market for the last few years” on CTV imports from China. Hopson said he expected Commerce’s final decision would result in duties on CTVs from Malaysia as well. In their petition, Five Rivers and the unions charged that shipments of CTVs from China rose to 2.6 million units in 2002 from 209,887 in 2000, resulting in a loss of U.S. market share against “unfairly traded imports.” Warren Connelly, attorney for Funai, and Philip Gallas, attorney for Wal-Mart, weren’t for comment. Wal-Mart, which sells low-end CTV imported from China, had testified this year against the imposition of antidumping duties.

The TV set ruling came amid intensifying trade tensions between the U.S. and China as Washington decided last week to limit Chinese imports of certain clothing products while Beijing considered countermeasures against the U.S. safeguard steel tariffs. The Chinese TV exporters include the nation’s largest maker, Sichuan Changuhong Electric, TCL International Holdings and Konka Group. In the ruling, the department said Sichuan was exporting at a dumping margin of 45.87%, TCL at 31.35% and Konka at 27.94%.

China is the world’s largest TV set manufacturer, with global exports totaling 18.82 million units worth $2 billion in 2002. According to Chinese govt. statistics, Sichuan exported 3 million sets to the U.S. in 2002.

The impact of the Commerce decision may not be clear until a final decision is issued in April, industry officials said. But many China-based CTV suppliers are moving quickly to establish CTV assembly facilities in Mexico, industry officials said. And if the duties become final, some industry officials suggested that Chinese manufacturers might shift their attention to flat- panel displays for the U.S. and focus CRTs on the China market. “They may shift to making CTVs for China because it will be hard to do so for the U.S. market,” a source close to Funai said: “If the Chinese shift their attention here to flat-panel displays, look for that market to get even nastier than we expected. The Mexican factory connection may also crank up. The factories have been fading there, but this could easily bring them back.”