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La cerámica estadounidense se ‘planta’ y exige duros aranceles para las importaciones indias / US ceramic tile manufacturers seek tariffs on dumped & subsidized Indian imports

La petición antidumping de la industria de EEUU pretende la imposición de aranceles entre 408% y 828%, en respuesta al dumping masivo del gigante asiático / The US industry’s anti-dumping petition seeks the imposition of tariffs of between 408% and 828%, in response to massive dumping by the Asian giant

20.04.2024 10:44

A pocas horas del comienzo de Coverings, la principal feria del azulejo y la piedra natural en EEUU, los fabricantes de baldosas cerámicas de Estados Unidos, que representan más del 90% de toda la producción de este material en el país americano, han alzado la voz contra los productos indios. Así, han llevado a cabo una petición formal de antidumping y de derechos compensatorios ante el Gobierno federal para que imponga aranceles a las importaciones de baldosas cerámicas de la India con el objetivo de mitigar las importaciones a precios «injustamente bajos» que «están perjudicando los intereses de las firmas estadounidenses».

Específicamente, la petición antidumping de la industria estadounidense pretende la imposición de aranceles estimados entre 408% y 828%, en respuesta al dumping masivo y generalizado. La petición de derechos compensatorios «busca la imposición de aranceles adicionales para remediar el impacto de numerosos subsidios del gobierno indio, subsidios que han perjudicado aún más a los fabricantes estadounidenses».

«Los fabricantes estadounidenses de azulejos siempre han acogido con satisfacción la competencia leal de las importaciones de países como Italia, España, Brasil, México o China, pero los productores indios de cerámica disfrutan de importantes subsidios gubernamentales, lo que, junto con la venta del exceso de capacidad a precios de dumping, les ha permitido inundar el mercado estadounidense», afirma Eric Astrachan, el director ejecutivo de Tile Council of North America (TCNA).

· Quizás también le interese: Fracaso del antidumping a la cerámica india: sus ventas se disparan un 75% en la Unión Europea

Desde el colectivo estadounidense se reseña que «en los últimos 10 años, las ventas de baldosas de la India han aumentado de apenas 344.000 pies cuadrados en 2013 a casi 405 millones de pies cuadrados a finales de 2023. Nuestros fabricantes nacionales no han tenido otra alternativa que solicitar al gobierno federal medidas por estas injustas prácticas comerciales indias; la industria y el sustento de miles de empleados y sus familias dentro de nuestras empresas miembro dependen de ello».

A partir de ahora, el Gobierno federal iniciará una investigación que, de fructificar, supondría primero la imposición de aranceles preliminares dentro de pocos meses y ya impondría aranceles definitivos al concluir su investigación en un plazo estimado de aproximadamente 16 meses.

US ceramic tile manufacturers, representing over 90% of all US ceramic tile manufacturing are filing anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions with the federal government seeking the imposition of substantial tariffs on imports of ceramic tile from India to remedy unfairly low-priced imports that have injured domestic manufacturers and flooded the market with uncertified porcelain tiles.

Specifically, the industry’s anti-dumping petition seeks the imposition of tariffs estimated between 408% to 828%, in response to ongoing massive and widespread dumping. The countervailing duty (or anti-subsidy) petition seeks the imposition of additional tariffs to remedy the impact of numerous Indian government subsidies – subsidies that have further injured domestic manufacturers.

“American tile manufacturers have always welcomed fair competition from imports. In fact, U.S. manufacturers have plentiful deposits of clay and feldspar, an efficient and well-respected labor force, local community support, state-of-the-art equipment, and affordable energy – so much so that major exporters from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and China have built facilities in the U.S. from which to compete on a global scale,” stated TCNA Executive Director, Eric Astrachan.

“However, Indian tile producers enjoy substantial government subsidies, which in conjunction with selling excess capacity at dumped prices, has allowed them to flood the U.S. market. Over the last 10 years, sales of tile from India have increased from a mere 344,000 square feet in 2013 to nearly 405 million square feet by the end of 2023. Our domestic manufacturers had no alternative but to petition the federal government for relief from these unjust trading practices.

The vitality of the U.S. industry and the livelihoods of thousands of employees and their families within our member companies depend on it.»

According to Barnes & Thornburg, trade counsel for the Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile, as a result of these petitions, the Federal Government will launch an investigation, and if it finds that Indian imports are unfairly traded and have injured or threaten to injure U.S. tile manufacturers, the Government will impose tariffs on Indian tile imports.

The Government would first impose preliminary tariffs in a few months and would impose final tariffs at the conclusion of its investigation in approximately 16 months, with the calculation of such final tariffs applied retroactively to the date of preliminary tariffs, and possibly to the date of initiation.

About Tile Council of North America (TCNA)

TCNA is a trade association representing manufacturers of ceramic tile, tile installation materials, tile equipment, raw materials, and other tile-related products. Established in 1945 as the Tile Council of America (TCA), it became the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) in 2005, reflecting its membership expansion to all North America.

The Tile Council is recognized for its leadership role in facilitating the development of North American and international industry quality standards to benefit tile consumers. Additionally, TCNA regularly conducts independent research and product testing, works with regulatory, trade, and other government agencies, and publishes installation guidelines, tile standards, economic reports, and promotional literature