South Korea moves to impose antidumping duties on OPP film from China

South Korea's trade commission has recommended imposing antidumping tariffs on oriented polypropylene (OPP) films from China, Indonesia and Thailand over the next five years, officials said Wednesday. The decision follows an investigation launched in January. OPP film is a glossy film used in a wide range of applications, including packaging, labeling and textiles. The Korea Trade Commission said it has recommended the government to impose antidumping duties ranging from 3.89 percent to 25.05 percent on Chinese products and tariffs of 4.43 percent to 5.98 percent on imports from Indonesia. Thai products will also be subject to antidumping tariffs of 3.48 percent to 10.55 percent over the next five years, it said. The commission earlier said the combined market share of products from the three countries had more than doubled from 11.5 percent in 2009 to 24.2 percent in 2011. The local market for OPP film was at 327.2 billion won (US$307 million) in 2011. In addition to fresh punitive duties on OPP film imports, the commission has also recommended the government to extend the country's antidumping tariffs on polyester yarn from China, Taiwan and Malaysia. If accepted by the Finance Ministry, polyester filament drawn textured yarn from the three countries will continue to be subject to punitive duties ranging from 2.22 percent to 8.69 percent for another three years, according to the commission. The commission said it has also recognized damages from the country's free trade agreement with the European Union to three local firms that process pork, a move that will entitle the local companies to various government support, including government subsidies for consulting fees and low-interest loans. Pork imports from the European Union jumped 11.2 percent from US$284 million in the first half of 2011, when the Korea-EU FTA was still not in effect, to $316 million in the first half of 2012.