Govt asked to review antidumping regulation

Govt asked to review antidumping regulation

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Steel Pipe Manufacturers
Association (Gapipa) called on the government on Friday to review
the procedure imposed on local companies in filing an antidumping
petition.

The association charged that the government had misinterpreted
the original World Trade Organization (WTO) regulation in
adopting the procedure.

Gapipa vice chairman Abas F. Soeriawidjaja said that the
misinterpretation of the regulation had created a loophole which
endangered the survival of local industries.

This loophole had resulted in the elimination of between 5
percent and 87 percent countervailing duties imposed against
steel pipe imports from Japan and Singapore early last month, he
said.

Abas, who is also the president and CEO of steel pipe
manufacturer PT South East Asia Pipe Industries (SEAPI), claimed
that the removal of the duties was based on the misinterpretation
instead of the actual dumping evidence.

"The cancellation was because of our own law, not on the
evidence of dumping practices which (the ministry of finance) can
not dispute," he told reporters.

The countervailing duty was recalled because the ministry
found that the petitioners were also importing steel pipes which
according to the existing legislation were ineligible to
complain, Abas said.

The original WTO regulation stipulates that only local
industries were eligible to lodge a complaint of dumping
practices.

It also stipulates that "when producers are related to the
exporters or importers or are themselves importers of the
allegedly dumped product, the term domestic industry may be
interpreted as referring to the rest of the producers".

"The stress is on the 'may be', meaning there can be
circumstances that cancel the definition. We play hero and just
rule out all companies that import, regardless of the amount,"
Gapipa secretary Untung Yusuf said.

He said that at the time of investigation by the Indonesian
Anti Dumping Committee (KADI) two of the three original
petitioners -- PT KHI Pipe Industries and PT Bakrie Pipe
Industries -- were found to be importing pipes to fulfill
domestic demand.

KADI imposed the temporary countervailing duty in July last
year because the volume of imports was considered insignificant
compared to the number of pipes dumped into the country.

However, KADI, with its new management, later changed its
stance and revoked the decision on the grounds that companies
which were involved in import activities could not be allowed to
lodge a complaint.

Pipes imported by the two petitioners during the time of
investigations were only 900 tons, while the total imports of
pipes at the time reached over 120,000 tons, Abas said.

The duties affected Japanese companies like Kawasaki,
Marubeni, Nippon Steel, NKK, and Sumitomo, which were imposed a
duty of 12 percent, 51 percent, 5 percent, 81 percent, and 54
percent respectively.

A countervailing duty of 78 percent was imposed on all welded
pipes from Singapore.

KADI's temporary countervailing duty was effective for four
months after which it could be extended for a period of five
years.

Abas feared that without the countervailing duties, dumping
practices would again be rampant and threaten the continuance of
local industries.

"Major projects like the upcoming PT Perusahaan Gas Negara
(PGN) project are especially vulnerable to the practices of
dumping," he said, adding that local industries could never
compete with dumping prices.

Indonesia's 15 welded steel pipe manufacturers could produce
up to one million tons of pipes a year, worth about $400 million,
Untung said.

However, since the economic crisis in 1998 production steadily
declined to about 220,000 last year from 300,000 in 1999, he
said, adding that local demand depended largely on the ongoing
projects within the year.

"We hope to capture the tender for the PGN project, if not
this year's production could well be less than last year's,"
Untung added. (tnt)