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.