U.S. sets duties on mushroom

U.S. sets duties on mushroom

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The U.S. Commerce Department has recommended imposing anti-dumping duties on preserved mushroom imports from Chile, China, India and Indonesia, a spokesman said on Monday.

In a preliminary ruling, the department said it found evidence of dumping by the four nations, and set anti-dumping duty margins ranging from 2.75 percent to as high as 243.87 percent.

The Commerce Department will issue its final rulings for Chile on Oct. 13, and for China, India and Indonesia on Dec. 14. Once these rulings are in, then the International Trade Commission, an independent U.S. agency, must concur for the duties to take effect.

Commerce estimated the value of imports affected by its investigation to be nearly US$90 million in 1997.

The department recommended different duty levels for individual producers and a general level for each of the four countries. The levels were up to 198.63 percent for some Chinese producers, up to 243.87 percent for India, up to 142.43 percent for Chile and up to 29.58 percent for Indonesia.