China ramps up trade tiff over ‘dumping’ of US chemical
Initial ruling in Chinese investigation calls for importers to pay ‘anti-dumping’ deposits for shipments of styrene, used to make foam packaging
Trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies continued to simmer as Beijing took aim at imports of a key chemical from the United States, the latest move in a growing stand-off between the pair.
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Tuesday it had found dumping of styrene imports from the US, Taiwan and South Korea in an initial ruling of an ongoing trade investigation into the chemical.
Dumping, or selling goods at unfairly low prices abroad, can undercut domestic markets at the expense of local industries.
“Mainland China’s styrene industry has suffered substantial harm,” China’s commerce ministry said in a statement, adding that dumping was the cause of this harm.
The initial ruling called for importers to place anti-dumping deposits of 5 per cent to 10.7 per cent with China’s customs administration.