The Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) has partly terminated a 12 month investigation into A4 copy paper being dumped or illegally subsidised by foreign countries and businesses into Australia, with companies in China and Indonesia having been determined as not breaking any laws.
Australian Paper, the last manufacturers of paper in the country, initiated the investigation with a submission to the ADC claiming material damages. In relation to the part termination, the company says they are waiting for the final outcome to be delivered before giving a statement.
Preliminary Affirmative Determinations (PADs) were made by the ADC in relation to all four of the countries being examined: China, Indonesia, Brazil, and Thailand, however companies within the first two are now free of charges of illegal subsidisation.
Due to a 1995 piece of legislation determining China and Indonesia as ‘developing countries’, the legal threshold for countervailable subsidies of two per cent was not surpassed by companies there.
UPM China, and Indonesia’s PT Indah Kiat Pul & Paper, PT Pindo Deli Pulp And Paper Mills, Tijwi Kimia and Riau Andalan Kertas have been determined to have given negligible subsidies on A4 copy paper, ending the subsidy investigation into them.
Dale Seymour, commissioner, ADC, says “The subsidies never, at any time during the investigation period, exceeded the negligible level of countervailable subsidies under subsection 269TDA(16)(b) of the Act. Therefore, I have terminated the countervailable subsidy investigation in so far as it relates to those exporters.”
An ADC statement on the public record also notes that goods exported by Tijwi Kimia were not dumped.
The ADC has not released information as to the result of its dumping investigations into all four counties, with the exception of Tijwi Kimia. For the paper industry in Australia, these rulings will be crucial.
UPM China, noted to have a dumping margin of 34 per cent, and uncooperative exporters in Indonesia with a dumping margin of 86 per cent are the biggest offenders.
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