RI may face dumping charge

RI may face dumping charge

WASHINGTON (AFP): A U.S. trade body is to issue a preliminary ruling Thursday in a dispute over prices of imported canned mushrooms that could lead to substantial penalties on Chinese, Indonesian, Indian and Chilean exporters.

The International Trade Commission is scheduled to determine if there is a "reasonable indication" that imports from the four countries are causing harm to the U.S. canned mushroom industry.

An affirmative ruling by the ITC would trigger a nine-month probe by the Commerce Department to determine if the exporters have been "dumping" their products -- selling them at unfairly low prices -- on the U.S. market.

The department would also decide the extent of the dumping -- the "dumping margin." Anti-dumping duties would be imposed on the exporters once the ITC announced a final decision on injury to the U.S. industry.

The case was initiated in early January by an ad hoc trade association of seven U.S. preserved mushroom producers, the Coalition for Fair Preserved Mushroom Trade.