TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Anti-dumping petitions against Taiwanese businesses have fallen 40 percent to eight in the first seven months of 2013 with cases coming from the likes of Brazil, India, Australia, the U.S. and Vietnam, according to a government agency.

The Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Friday made the above remark in an official announcement. Among the eight petitions, steel products exporters as usual took the top spot when compared with the petrochemical, rubber and electronics industries, the BOFT added.

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday said it had launched a probe into five Taiwanese oil country tubular goods (OCTG) manufacturers, alongside steel exporters in eight other countries. The five companies have been accused by U.S. steel producers of selling their pipes at unfairly low prices in the U.S. market.

In 2012, anti-dumping/anti-circumvention petitions filed against Taiwanese steel products-makers took up 15 out of 26 petitions — a five-year high.

The BOFT forecast that the total number of anti-dumping probes against Taiwanese companies will be less than that recorded last year while the total number of anti-dumping petitions will exceed 8.5, which is equivalent to the annual average between 2008 and 2011.

Taiwanese Solar Product Manufacturers Still the Winner

Mainland Chinese media yesterday cited sources saying that European Union is likely to lift its anti-dumping duty of 47.6 percent imposed on mainland Chinese solar panel exporters partly due to the pressure from EU solar-panel manufacturers hankering after cost-effective solutions.

While the twist of the ongoing Sino-EU trade war became a letdown for Taiwanese solar-panel exporters, who are believed to benefit from order-transfer dynamics, Taiwanese manufacturers are still able to reap a windfall from another battle between China on one side and the U.S. and South Korea on the other.

Mainland China's Ministry of Commerce of People's Republic of China (MOFCOM) decided to impose an anti-dumping tax on U.S. and Korean polysilicon manufacturers on July 24.

Research firm EnergyTrend believes that Taiwanese solar products manufacturers will be the beneficiaries of this trade war because the products from U.S. polysilicon manufacturers can't stay competitive in the future Chinese market. Taiwan, as the second largest market in the world, may become the next target market for U.S. manufacturers.

With most of the contracts between Taiwanese manufacturers and U.S. manufacturers being fulfilled, future spot markets may provide Taiwanese manufacturers better advantages in terms of bargains.

According to the published documents, U.S. polysilicon manufacturers have suffered a serious blow with the tax rate imposed being 53.3 percent to 57 percent. The tax rate imposed on Korean products is between 2.4 percent and 48.7 percent, among which the tax rate on South Korean polysilicon-maker OCI is only 2.4 percent, much lower than other competitors.

By Kathryn Chiu

Source: chinapost.com.tw