China’s anti-dumping tariffs on Taekwang unrelated to THAAD: Foreign Ministry

[THE INVESTOR] The Korean government has denied that China’s decision to slap a 4.1 percent anti-dumping tariff on acryl fabrics produced by Taekwang Industrial was in retaliation for its proposal to deploy an advanced anti-missile system here.

“The measure is unrelated to Seoul’s decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD system,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on July 14. 

China’s Trade Minister began reviewing anti-dumping measures for acryl fabrics produced in South Korea, Japan and Turkey in July 2015. In a preliminary decision announced on April 1, China had set the tariff at 6.1 percent. 

In addition, China levied 16.1 percent anti-dumping tariffs on three South Korean companies that did not cooperate with China’s review.

Last year, South Korean companies exported US$19 million worth of acryl fabrics to China, the majority of which was accounted for by Taekwang.

According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, Turkish acryl fabrics are now subject to 8.2 percent anti-dumping tariff. While the rate for Japanese firms is about 16 percent.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)