The Chinese mainland has come out with a final judgment to impose anti-dumping tariffs against imports of phenol from Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States and Taiwan Province starting from February 1.

The tariffs, which range between 3 per cent and 144 per cent, will last for five years, according to a statement released yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce.

The decision follows a set of temporary anti-dumping measures taken by the Chinese mainland on June 9, which required these importers to turn in cash bonds equivalent to exporters' dumping margins with customs in advance of imports.

The case was launched by the commerce ministry's predecessor, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC), on August 1, 2002.

The Shanghai Gaoqiao subsidiary of Sinopec, Sinopec Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical Co Ltd, the Jilin chemical sales centre of PetroChina Co Ltd and China Lanxing (Harbin) Petrochemical Co Ltd have requested an anti-dumping inquiry on June 18, 2002 on behalf of the Chinese mainland's phenol industry.

These companies made up about 80 per cent of the mainland's total phenol output in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

The Chinese mainland acted to improve protection of its fair trade environment for domestic and overseas firms following its entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in late 2001.

Meanwhile, the Chinese mainland has been faced with more anti-dumping petitions filed by other countries and regions in the past few years.

A recent case was Argentina's anti-dumping investigations on sunglasses and glasses frames imported from Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province.

A total of US$400 million worth of glasses have been exported from the city, one of China's most active private economies, to Europe, the US and other countries and regions from January to November of last year, according to Wenzhou Eyeglasses Business Association Chairman Ye Zijian.

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