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IUE-CWA Scores Tariffs on Chinese TVs
A U.S. trade panel gave final clearance on May 14 for antidumping duties on imports of color televisions from the People's Republic of China, reported IUE-CWA President Mike Bindas.
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously that the U.S. television industry was materially injured by the dramatic surge in television imports from China over the past three years. The vote jump-starts the collection of anti-dumping duties averaging 23 percent on color TV imports.
"We are very pleased with the outcome. This decision will benefit the hundreds of U.S. workers whose jobs are threatened by the flood of unfair imports into our country," said Bindas on behalf of IUE-CWA, one of three petitioners in the unfair trade case,
The unfair trade petition, filed in May 2003, alleged that color TV imports from China are sold in the U.S. at prices below what it costs to produce them in-country. This practice of selling at less than fair value is known as "dumping" and, over time, can seriously injure or destroy an entire industry. U.S. workers lose jobs when their employers lower prices in what is typically a futile attempt to maintain market share.
The IBEW and Five Rivers Electronic Innovations, LLC, in Greeneville, Tenn., joined IUE-CWA in filing the petition with the Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission. Central to the filing was the import trend tracked between 2001 and 2003. The data show that total color TV imports from China between 2001 and 2003 skyrocketed from 56,000 units to 1.8 million units, an explosive 3,000 percent. Further, import penetration rose tenfold during the same time period.
IUE-CWA and the IBEW represent hundreds of workers producing color TVs in the United States, as well as thousands of workers producing the components and materials used in the production of color TVs.
Five Rivers, founded in 1997, employs about 700 workers involved in the production of color TVs, 20 percent fewer than three years ago. The plant, which makes color TVs 25 inches and higher, has cut back from nine production lines on two shifts to three production lines on one shift. IUE-CWA represents workers at Five Rivers and at a Sanyo plant in Arkansas, where another 200 jobs have been lost since early 2002.
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously that the U.S. television industry was materially injured by the dramatic surge in television imports from China over the past three years. The vote jump-starts the collection of anti-dumping duties averaging 23 percent on color TV imports.
"We are very pleased with the outcome. This decision will benefit the hundreds of U.S. workers whose jobs are threatened by the flood of unfair imports into our country," said Bindas on behalf of IUE-CWA, one of three petitioners in the unfair trade case,
The unfair trade petition, filed in May 2003, alleged that color TV imports from China are sold in the U.S. at prices below what it costs to produce them in-country. This practice of selling at less than fair value is known as "dumping" and, over time, can seriously injure or destroy an entire industry. U.S. workers lose jobs when their employers lower prices in what is typically a futile attempt to maintain market share.
The IBEW and Five Rivers Electronic Innovations, LLC, in Greeneville, Tenn., joined IUE-CWA in filing the petition with the Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission. Central to the filing was the import trend tracked between 2001 and 2003. The data show that total color TV imports from China between 2001 and 2003 skyrocketed from 56,000 units to 1.8 million units, an explosive 3,000 percent. Further, import penetration rose tenfold during the same time period.
IUE-CWA and the IBEW represent hundreds of workers producing color TVs in the United States, as well as thousands of workers producing the components and materials used in the production of color TVs.
Five Rivers, founded in 1997, employs about 700 workers involved in the production of color TVs, 20 percent fewer than three years ago. The plant, which makes color TVs 25 inches and higher, has cut back from nine production lines on two shifts to three production lines on one shift. IUE-CWA represents workers at Five Rivers and at a Sanyo plant in Arkansas, where another 200 jobs have been lost since early 2002.