Aussies keep tariff barrier on RI copy paper

Aussies keep tariff barrier on RI copy paper

CANBERRA (Dow Jones): The Australian government yesterday said
it will keep price restrictions on imports of A-4 copy paper from
Indonesian company PT Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia.

The decision is notable because it reverses a recommendation
of the government's Anti-Dumping Authority, which said
restrictions on the price at which the company can sell its
product into Australia should be removed.

Price restrictions have been in place on Tjiwi Kimia's imports
of this paper since February 1994, and are imposed when a country
is seen as a potential "dumping" threat to local manufacturers of
a similar product.

Goods are ruled to have been dumped in Australia if they are
exported from the country of origin at a price that is lower than
the price at which they are sold domestically.

Customs Minister Warren Truss in a statement said he rejected
the Anti-Dumping Authority's recommendation because of the
"current economic uncertainty in Indonesia which doesn't allow a
clear assessment on whether a threat of dumping remains."

"My decision provides certainty for the Australian A-4 copy
paper industry," he said.

The verdict follows a government decision earlier this year to
tighten anti-dumping laws.

It plans to speed up a process that assesses whether a local
producer is being hurt by dumped imports, and impose heavy duties
on those goods in a shorter time frame.

Truss said legislation to implement the new anti-dumping
system will be introduced to Parliament from May 12, and hopes
the new arrangements will take effect from July 1.

The government says the new measures aren't aimed specifically
at combating an expected deluge of cheap goods from Asia into
Australia as demand slows in that region, but business groups
describe the new system as critical given the recent economic
instability in Asia.