US ends without imposing tariffs on anti-dumping of Korean KT&G cigarettes

Input 2021.01.07 20:52

US ITC “No Industrial Damage”… KT&G plans to receive temporary tariff refund

The US government’s anti-dumping investigation on Korean tobacco imports ended without any additional tariffs.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 7th, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) announced on the 5th (local time) KT&G(033780)In the industrial damage investigation of the fourth grade tobacco in Korea, it was finally determined that there was no industrial damage in the country. Of the five ITC members, three presented the opinion of’no industrial damage’ and two of the opinions’there is industrial damage’, and finally, it was concluded that there was no industrial damage.

The anti-dumping investigation in the United States consists of a dumping margin investigation (Ministry of Commerce) and an industrial damage investigation (ITC), and the investigation is terminated if either side is negative. On the 7th of last month, the Ministry of Commerce confirmed a dumping margin of 5.48% for Korean grade 4 cigarettes, but the investigation was ended according to the ITC decision on that day. There is no additional anti-dumping duty. KT&G will be able to receive a refund of the provisional tariff that has been deposited with the US Customs Service since July last year.

Grade 4 tobacco refers to cigarettes with a length of 7 to 12 cm and a diameter of less than 1.3 cm and with a stem content of 10% or more. In December 2019, an anti-dumping investigation on Korean-made fourth-class cigarettes continued for about a year due to a lawsuit by local tobacco companies such as Excalibur. The final report on industrial damage is scheduled to be released on the ITC website on the 9th of next month.