Commerce Minister Paul Swain has imposed final anti-dumping duties on refrigerators and washing machines from Korea.

Goods are said to be dumped if the price at which they are sold to New Zealand importers is less than their normal value in the country of export.

Paul Swain said the duties are designed to prevent material injury to Fisher & Paykel Ltd caused by dumping.

"Dumping investigations were launched by the Ministry of Economic Development in December," he said.

"The investigations followed claims by Fisher & Paykel Ltd that Korean refrigerators and washing machines were being sold to New Zealand importers at prices lower than on the Korean domestic market.

"The investigations found that all the Korean refrigerator and washing machine imports it looked at were being dumped on the New Zealand market and have caused material injury to Fisher & Paykel," he said.

Paul Swain said Korean exporters did not cooperate with the investigations, which was disappointing.

"However the Ministry did receive full cooperation from importers and it consulted with the Korean Government," he said.

The final duties replaced provisional anti-dumping duties imposed in March and April of this year. The final duties on all sizes of washing machines and most sizes of refrigerator are lower than the provisional duties. In some cases the reductions are substantial.

"New Zealand is an open competitive economy and our manufacturers are happy to compete on an equal footing with international suppliers. However we will not stand for unfair practices that put New Zealand manufacturers and local jobs at risk," Paul Swain said.

Contact:
Robin Hill, Senior Investigator, Trade Remedies Group, Competition and Enterprise Branch on (04) 470-2273