Global Fastener News

British Distributors Concerned About Additional Anti-Dumping Duties on Asian Fasteners

John Wolz

The British Association of Fastener Distributors projects that the European Commission’s anti-dumping duties on certain fasteners could add 15% cost to the fasteners or the equivalent of �8 million (US$14 million) in taxes. The association is now “deeply concerned” that similar duties may be levied on imported carbon steel threaded fasteners.

Last year the European Commission levied anti-dumping duties on the majority of threaded stainless steel fasteners imported from six Asian producing countries. The duties, which range up to 27.4%, will remain in place until 2010 and could be extended.

BAFD estimated that over the five-year period the duties could “represent an additional taxation burden on British industries as diverse as engineering, electronics and construction – as well as on the consumer – of �8million,” Fastener & Fixing Europe reported. The calculation shown is based on BAFD stainless steel group members’ estimate of the weighted price impact, which has then been applied to 2005 import statistics published by the British Government Customs department.

Duties on the fasteners from China range from 11.4% to 27.4%; Thailand 10.8% to 14.6%; Vietnam 7.7%; Indonesia 9.8%-24.6%; and Taiwan 8.8% to 21.6%. According to F&FE the duty rate reflects whether specific companies cooperated with the European anti-dumping investigation.
Although BAFD stainless steel members reviewed “sourcing strategies to limit the impact on their customers, the duties or the additional cost of purchasing more products from European manufacturing sources are likely to mean at least an average 15% increase in the cost of stainless steel fasteners to industry.”

BAFD chair Steve Auld asserted that it “is entirely unrealistic for European politicians to expect this level of cost increase to be absorbed by the fastener distribution industry. In some cases the duty exceeds the entire profit margin available to the distributor.”

“BAFD believes that the broad brush, indiscriminate nature of antidumping measures means that duty is applied to many products types that are simply not available from any European volume producer, making the tax an outright burden, without any positive effect on European business or jobs,.”

Working with European fastener distributor associations, BAFD members argued against the duties, but succeeded only in having nuts exempted because there is no high volume European nut manufacturer.

If duties are placed on carbon steel threaded fasteners “the impact on British industry and consumers will be many times wider ranging and deeper biting,” Auld predicted. Web: bafd.org �2006 FastenerNews.com and Fastener & Fixing Europe