- Ceramic tile suppliers from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam have hurt Taiwan’s industry by setting unfairly low prices for their products, a finding released on Monday last week by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Commission
- Taiwanese ceramic tile makers have seen their share of the domestic market decline each year, to 44.3 percent in the first quarter of this year from 58 percent in 2016, it said.
- In the January-to-March period, suppliers from the four countries accounted for 60 to 70 percent of Taiwan’s total ceramic tile imports, the commission said.
- The anti-dumping probe was initiated by the ministry and the commission in October last year after the Taiwan Ceramic Industries Association Champion Building Materials Co, Sanyo Tile Group, and Hiland Co filed a petition requesting an investigation into alleged unfair trading practices by suppliers from the four countries.
- The commission said that it would forward its final determination to the Ministry of Finance, which would decide how to impose anti-dumping tariffs on ceramic tile exporters from the four countries.
- As ceramic tile exporters from the four countries cut their prices by 12 percent in 2017, 6.1 percent in 2018, and 3.4 percent in 2019, their sales rose more than 8 percent in 2018 and 2019, the commission added.
- A declining market share hurt the factory utilization rate of Taiwanese tile makers, caused their inventories to swell, and reduced their return on investment to only 1 percent.
- FINAL DETERMINATION: The International Trade Commission said tile makers from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam cut prices, so local makers lost domestic market share
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