Levies will continue on material from Australia and China

PET manufacturers in Pakistan have escaped punishing anti-dumping duties on exports to the European Union, while Brussels wants to levy tariffs on similar products from China and Australia. The European Commission has asked the EU Council of Ministers to release provisional duties collected from Pakistani manufacturers, while retaining those taken from Chinese and Australian producers.

The exemption follows a Commission investigation, which found that Pakistani PET dumping was so slight that no duties could be justified. One key factor was the Commission’s conclusion that the two Pakistani PET companies Gatron (Industries) and Novatex were effectively one producer, sharing a brand, administration and marketing departments. This enabled them to prove their costs were lower than previously assumed, which is crucial in anti-dumping calculations.

Australia and China did not benefit from their inquiries and the Commission has recommended levies of E84/tonne on Chinese exports and E128/tonne for Australia, with lower tariffs for cooperative exporters.