DOC lowers dumping margin
FOND DU LAC, Wis. – The U.S. Department of Commerce yesterday lowered the dumping margin for those outboard engines being imported from Japan from 22.52 percent to 18.98 percent, making a final determination that Japanese producers of outboard engines engaged in dumping in the U.S. market.
As a result, the cash deposit or bond required to be paid on all outboard engines imported from Japan has also been lowered.
The bond was lowered, in part, because of a recent decision to exclude certain imported powerheads from an investigation launched in January when Mercury Marine filed a petition claiming Japanese engine manufacturers were dumping their product in the U.S., the engine manufacturer said in a statement yesterday.
Importers who have paid deposits at the higher preliminary duty will receive the difference between that and the new duty. The deposits still being collected and those already collected will become payable as duties to the extent determined in a later Department of Commerce proceeding, according to Mercury.
Those bonds will be released and deposits refunded if the International Trade Commission rules that U.S. outboard engine manufacturers were not materially injured by the dumping. The ITC decision on injury is scheduled to be announced Jan. 26, Mercury said.
However, if the ITC determines that injury has occurred, a DOC order would remove importers’ option of submitting bonds and cash deposits would then be required, according to Mercury.
Yamaha responds to decision
In its response to yesterday’s ruling, Russell D. Jura, general counsel for Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., said his company was “gratified that the [DOC] has revised its calculation of the margins below normal value,” but maintained that those margins should be eliminated altogether.
“We feel that these margins are still too high and that, had the Department calculated the margins correctly, the margins would have been zero,” Jura said. “Yamaha also feels that the department’s method of calculating these margins has fundamental flaws and does not meet the standards of the World Trade Organization.
“Instead, these calculations still apparently include margins on at least some powerheads for outboard motors. We estimate that if all powerheads were not included, the margins would be about three percentage points lower. Brunswick admitted in November that Yamaha’s powerheads were not the cause of injury to Brunswick, and that’s why Yamaha strongly feels that powerheads should not be included in this margin calculation.
“Even if the ITC votes to find injury, this new margin calculation by the Department of Commerce has nothing to do with any duties being charged on outboard motors or powerheads, and it will perform an entirely new calculation on imports from Aug.12, 2004 onward. Any duties will be calculated only on those imports and only after the conclusion of this new investigation. We feel that, even with the flawed method of calculations used by the department, Yamaha has taken steps that should prevent any duties from being imposed upon Yamaha products.”
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