Domestic TV manufacturers are hoping that an investigation to be
conducted by US officials might result in a change in attitude
towards dumping charges against China's TV producers.
An investigation panel sent by the US Department of Commerce has
visited the Sichuan Changhong Electric Co and the Xiamen Overseas
Chinese Electronic Co (Xoceco).
The group will go to another two TV makers -- Konka Group Co and
TCL Holding Co -- later this month.
The US officials have been sent to China to check the production
costs of local TV makers.
The four companies were selected to respond to the US Department
of Commerce in its investigations into alleged dumping of
Chinese-manufactured color TVs, as it does not have the resources
to investigate all 12 companies involved in the case.
After assessment by the US Department of Commerce team, the
firms will be given dumping margin prices based on their own
specific situations.
The firms not being investigated will be subject to the overall
anti-dumping charges levied against China's color TV producers as a
whole.
On November 24, the US Department of Commerce said in a
preliminary ruling that some Chinese television makers are dumping
their products at prices 27.94 percent to 78.45 percent lower than
prices in the field in the US market.
"They are coming to check some original data to see whether
their calculations are right or not,'' said a company spokesman,
who refused to be named.
"They gave us an investigation list, requiring us to provide
original certification of production costs, commodity prices and
staff salaries,'' he said.
He said domestic TV manufacturers have made full preparations
for the investigation.
"We expect this trip can help change their preliminary ruling on
our costs, which is entirely unjustified,'' he said.
"According to my knowledge, our costs are even lower than those
of the Malaysian company involved in the case,'' he said.
But the US Department of Commerce dismissed the dumping
complaint against a Malaysian television set exporter.
Legal experts say it is questionable whether the United States
will accept the costs offered by local companies, even if they are
true.
By defining China as a non-market economy, the US anti-dumping
authorities use costs of production in a surrogate country, where
material and labor costs are much higher than those in China, to
calculate the normal value of Chinese exports.
This time, the United States chose India as the surrogate
country despite the fact China's TV industry is more competitive
and operates as a full market economy.
Local companies claim they import raw materials from Japan and
United States and then export the TV sets back to the United
States, so that their profit lies in the processing fees.
The US Department of Commerce will hold a hearing with the four
TV manufacturers before it hands out its final ruling April 12 next
year.
Domestic TV makers have established a special group to
communicate with the US Department of Commerce, the group members
being professionals in finance, law, materials sourcing and
production.
(China Daily December 11, 2003)