On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced it is launching an anti-dumping probe into polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a thermoplastic used in various industries, from auto parts to electronics, imported from the US, the European Union, Taiwan, and Japan. Thermoplastics like POM are malleable when heated but become fixed in a solid shape when cooled, and can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc.
The investigation is expected to take a year to complete but may be extended by another six months, the ministry added.
This announcement follows President Joe Biden’s declaration that tariffs on $18 billion worth of imports of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and various other products will significantly increase over the next two years. Tariffs on EVs imported from China will nearly quadruple from 27.5% to 100%, aiming to counter Beijing’s practice of encouraging aggressively low pricing by domestic EV manufacturers while imposing a 40% tariff on US car imports.
The White House stated that these measures are designed to protect American workers and businesses against China’s unfair trade practices, including “flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports.”
In response, China has vowed to take “all necessary actions to protect its legitimate rights.”
The European Union is also investigating state support for Chinese EV makers and, if it finds that their prices are artificially low, it will announce additional import duties by early July.
