The U.S. Sets Duties on Imports of Chinese Paper

The U.S. Commerce Department announced on September21 that it had made final determination to slap antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) duties on imported certain coated paper from China, a move might escalate trade disputes between the two countries.

In this case, the product will face 7.60 to 135.83 percent of AD duties and 17.64 to 178.03 percent of CVD duties.

The department said in a statement that Chinese producers and exporters of the products had received subsidies equivalent to the duties that were imposed.

"As a result of the final AD determination, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect a cash deposit or bond based on the final AD rates," said the statement.

"Cash deposits of countervailing duties on imports of certain coated paper will not be required unless the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) reaches a final determination."

According to the U.S. government data, imports of certain coated paper from China were valued at about 279.4 million dollars.

The ITC will make its final determination in November.

The case followed U.S. Trade Representative Office's recent move to file two cases against China to WTO, a move viewed by many economists as protectionism.

The protectionist moves by the Obama administration will ultimately hurt the U.S.-China trade relations, which are becoming more and more important for the bumpy global recovery, economists warned.