Chinese Mainland Renews Duties on Japanese, Taiwanese Solvent

The Chinese mainland will continue to levy anti-dumping duties on methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), an industrial solvent, from Japan and Taiwan for another five years, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Nov. 20, 2013.

The decision was made after a one-year review and will come into effect on Nov. 21, 2013.

The Chinese mainland started to levy tariffs ranging from 9.6 percent to 66.4 percent on MEK from Japan, Taiwan and Singapore on Nov. 22, 2007.
When the five-year anti-dumping measures expired last year, Singapore was delisted, while the other two regions came under review.

After the review, the MOC said domestic producers may again suffer losses to MEK from Japan and Taiwan if the anti-dumping duties were lifted.

MEK is a solvent widely used in making paints, dyes and lubricants.