The Australian Anti-Dumping Commission has ruled that A4 copy paper commonly used in print franchises, implants and copy shops that originated from China, Brazil, Thailand and Indonesia was illegally dumped in Australia, materially impacting on the viability of the local A4 paper manufacturing sector.
However the Indonesian government has come out swinging against the ruling, saying there was no dumping, calling the judgement ‘not true’ and ‘unfair’, and says that if it remains it will seriously threaten the current free trade talks taking place between the two countries.
If upheld all the foreign manufacturers will be liable to pay duties on papers imported during the period of the investigation.
The investigation, which was initiated by a submission from Australian Paper, the last paper manufacturer in the country, sought to discover whether the Australian paper industry had suffered material injury due to loss of sales volume, price suppression, price depression, reduced profits, and reduced revenue from A4 copy paper as a result of price undercutting from foreign paper exporters.
The period covered was from September last year. The Parliamentary Secretary has ruled that paper companies in China, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand have caused material injury to the Australian paper industry from dumping, and countervailable subsidies.
The main beneficiary of the ruling will be Australian Paper, and specifically its Maryvale mill, which is the biggest private employers in the economically deprived Gippsland region of Victoria. The company has recently cut the pay of its production workers and cut the hours of its maintenance staff in an attempt to remain viable.
Craig Laundy, assistant minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, is the Parliamentary Secretary who handed down the decision. He says, “I am satisfied that the amount of the export price of the goods is less than the normal value of those goods, and because of that material injury to the Australian industry producing like goods would or might have been caused if security had not been taken.
“Therefore, I declare that the Dumping Duty Act applies to the goods and like goods that were exported to Australia from China and Thailand on or after 30 September 2016, and like goods that were exported to Australia from Brazil and Indonesia for home consumption on or after 7 November 2016.
“I am also satisfied that the export price of like goods exported to Australia in the future may be less than the normal value of the goods. I declare that that section of the Dumping Duty Act applies to like goods that are exported to Australia after the date of publication of this notice.”
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