Customs told to stop tariffs

A TRADE court has ordered the US customs service to stop collecting punitive tariffs levied on sweater imports from Hongkong.

The order follows the revised ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) in November that sweater imports from Hongkong, Taiwan, and South Korea were not hurting American sweater manufacturers.

The ITC had originally ruled that underpriced sweaters ''dumped'' on the American market by the three Asian competitors had injured US producers.

But after the ITC reversed its original ruling following a challenge by Hongkong in a New York trade court, the court has now ordered that the customs service should no longer retain anti-dumping duties.

Importers of Hongkong sweaters have been paying a 5.86 per cent punitive tariff after the Commerce Department found Hongkong guilty of underpricing sweaters by 5.86 per cent to gain a competitive edge.

The trade court has yet to formally accept the new ITC ruling that Hongkong sweater-makers were not hurting their American competitors.