China's Goldeast Paper, one of the largest high-gloss paper makers in the world, on April 6 denounced U.S. penalty tariffs on Chinese paper exporters as "hegemonic".
"We believe the U.S. Department of Commerce will correct the mistake very soon and we will certainly use every channel and adopt every legitimate means to resist this to the very end," the company said.
On March 30 the U.S. announced an unprecedented decision reversing a 23-year-old U.S. policy of not applying duties to subsidized goods from so-called non-market economies such as China. The penalty tariffs on China were aimed to offset government subsidies, as Washington grapples with its massive trade deficit, which hit more than $200 billion last year.
The decision was based on a case brought by NewPage Corp., which contended Chinese high-gloss paper imports were fuelled by subsidies such as tax breaks, debt forgivenes, and low-cost loans that posed unfair competition to U.S.-made paper.
The preliminary countervailing duty is 20.35% against Goldeast Paper, 10.9% against Shangdong Chenming Paper Holdings and 18.16% against all other Chinese high-gloss paper exports.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
