7 February 2008 - According to the Chinese state press, the Ministry of Commerce has started to impose an anti-dumping tax on potato starch imported from the European Union since yesterday.
Importers of potato starch are required to pay an anti-dumping tax of 17 to 35% to Chinese customs depending on how serious the Ministry of Commerce judges the dumping to be, adds the state press.
An official at the Ministry of Commerce claimed that the measures were put in place to protect the development of the domestic starch industry and raise the income of 3 million farming households in China.
China’s Ministry of Commerce had already taken temporary anti-dumping measures on European potato starch imports in August 2006.
FLEXNEWS reported that the Ministry of Commerce determined that some potato starch importers from the EU were guilty of dumping on the Chinese market and damaging China's own industry. The ruling at the time demanded that importers of potato starch from EU pay duties to the customs authority.