Glassmaker appeals anti-dumping case
( 2002-04-18 10:36 ) (1 )

Chinese auto glass maker Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co Ltd said on Wednesday that it filed an appeal challenging the anti-dumping decision by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and expressed confidence it will win if treated fairly.

The company and its US subsidiary, Greenvile Glass Industries Inc, appealed April 10 to the US Court of International Trade in New York. The federal district court specializes in appeals of anti-dumping decisions by the DOC.

Cho Tak-wong, Fuyao Glass chairman, said he believes an impartial judge will overturn the decision and exonerate the company of all charges.

The DOC ruled in February in favour of imposing anti-dumping duties of 11.8 per cent on Fuyao's US shipments of automotive replacement windshields.

Bruce Mitchell, the US lawyer for Fuyao, said he had not seen a more unfair case in his 25-year career.

The DOC rejected Fuyao's real costs for materials imported from Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea because of suspicions that the exporters of the materials in those countries get subsidies, he said.

"It is ridiculous for the DOC to say there are subsidies in those countries, so Fuyao should prove that none of the products it uses are subsidized," Mitchell said.

According to US laws and rules of the World Trade Organization, the DOC cannot reject a company's actual raw material costs in the market economy even if there is proof those materials benefit from subsidies.

"It is critical for us to win this case because if the current ruling stands, it will set a precedent and impact Chinese companies," Cho said.

Mitchell said the DOC met at least seven times with the US companies that filed the anti-dumping case without any legal representatives from the Chinese companies present.

Cho said the case would not affect his company's operations this year. He said he expects turnover to grow to 1.4 billion yuan (US$169 million) from 930 million (US$112 million) last year.