Bloomberg reported that Australia imposed provisional anti dumping duties of 16% on some aluminum extrusion products from China, joining the US and the European Union in taking trade actions against the world’s third largest economy.

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service said in a statement that “The dumped and subsidized goods appear to have caused material injury to the Australian industry producing like goods.”

As per report, China has been the recipient of anti dumping duties and World Trade Organization complaints over steel, tires and metal products in 2009 as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression spurred governments to protect jobs. The duty may affect sales of as much as CNY 2 billion.

The statement said that Australia started its investigation in June after an application by domestic producer Capral Limited. The Australian Customs will report to the Minister for Home Affairs with a recommendation by April 15th 2010. It said that “The minister will then decide whether to publish a dumping duty notice and, if relevant, the level of the measures to be imposed. Depending on the minister’s decision, any securities taken may be converted to interim dumping duty or acquitted.”

The report said that the affected products sold to Australia are priced at about USD 2,500 per tonne and the 16% tax will increase the price of Chinese products by USD 400 per tonne.

(Sourced from Reuters)