09/15/05 One step closer

09/15/05 One step closer

This is the review period for U.S. anti-dumping duties on Chinese apple juice concentrate. And according to Shannon Schaffer of the U.S. Apple Association, the push to renew those tariffs for another five years is one step closer to becoming a reality. The word came down from the U.S. Commerce Department. SCHAFFER: What the Commerce Department said when they made their announcement recently was that if the anti-dumping duties that are now in place were lifted, they believe that the same predatory pricing practices that were seen back in the year 2000 when they put the duties in place would most likely begin again or continue in some cases. So now all that is left for the U.S. apple industry is lobbying the International Trade Commission to also rule in favor of keeping the anti-dumping duties on Chinese apple juice concentrate in place. SCHAFFER: The great part is that we have already done a lot of this work. Basically, at this point, we're waiting for the I.T.C. to come back with their recommendation. And we expect that recommendation to come in very shortly, maybe as early as later this month. And according to Schaffer and others in the U.S. apple and apple juice industry, upholding the duties will be good news. One reason for the big push by U.S. interests to keep the duties in place is since 2001, even with the anti-dumping tariffs in place, six U.S. companies have been forced out of the concentrate markets as a result of low-cost Chinese apple juice concentrate.
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