China slaps 12.4 pct countervailing duty on EU potato starch
Beijing. September 19. INTERFAX-CHINA - China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has imposed a countervailing duty of 12.4 percent on EU potato starch imports for five years starting from Sept. 17, the ministry announced last Friday in its final ruling on the case.
The move will affect companies including the AVEBE UA and Germany's AVEBE Kartoffelstarkefabrik Prignitz, the ministry noted, with French starch producer Roquette Freres the only company exempt from the 12.4 percent tariff - it will be subject to a 7.5 percent duty instead.
China imposed an 11.19 percent countervailing duty on EU potato starch on May 19 this year in an initial ruling on the case - though Roquette Freres has enjoyed a rate of 7.7 percent.
The investigation found that subsidies for EU producers caused the price of EU potato starch imports to fall by 40.36 percent from 2007 to 2009, from RMB 5296.02 ($829.11) per ton to RMB 3158.70 ($494.49) per ton.
This helped drag down the average price of domestic potato starch from RMB 4,644.98 ($727.17) per ton to RMB 4,197.36 ($657.09) per ton during the period, the ministry said.
China's imports of potato starch from the EU have surged in recent years, reaching 31,597 tons in 2009, up 329.46 percent from 7,357.47 tons in 2007, according to the MOFCOM investigation. EU potato starch accounted for only 2.44 percent of the China market in 2007, and this had increased to 9.78 percent in 2009.
China also imposed an anti-dumping duty of 12.60 to 56.70 percent on EU potato starch on April 19 this year.
-LYB