Taiwan slaps anti-dumping duties on China-made beer, steel for five years

TAIPEI - Taiwan has imposed anti-dumping duties on China-made beer and hot-rolled steel for five years after a probe found the domestic industry had suffered “substantial harm”, the government said Nov 27.

An investigation was launched in March following complaints of unfair competition and levies were applied in July for an initial period of four months.

The finance ministry said on Nov 27 it and the Ministry of Economic Affairs had “finally determined that the companies involved had engaged in dumping, and that such dumping had caused substantial harm to the domestic industry.”

Companies cited by the ministry included the Chinese subsidiaries of Budweiser and Kirin beer.

The levies on Chinese-made beer will range from 19.13 per cent to 51.94 per cent while for steel they will be either 16.10 per cent or 20.15 per cent.

They will be in place for five years, starting from July 2025.

Some beer importers likely knew “that foreign exporters were engaging in dumping likely to cause harm” between April 4 and July 2 and those goods will also be hit with duties, the ministry said.

China was the biggest source of beer imports to Taiwan in 2024, Bloomberg News reported previously, with shipments topping US$125 million (S$162.17 million).

Taiwan currently has 13 cases of anti-dumping duties on products, including 10 from China, which is its largest trade partner, official data show.

Tensions between Taiwan and China remain high as Beijing maintains military, political and diplomatic pressure on the democratic island, which it claims is part of its territory and has threatened to seize by force. AFP