A large number of companies attempting to evade anti-dumping duties have been caught. Anti-dumping duties are a type of tariff imposed when the price of imported goods is lower than the normal value and causes harm to domestic industries. The amount is calculated by adding the difference between the normal value and the dumping price to the basic tariff.
The Korea Customs Service announced on August 11 that, from April to July, a special inspection led by the "Anti-Dumping Task Force" uncovered attempts by 19 companies to evade anti-dumping duties totaling 42.8 billion KRW.
The task force was composed of 38 personnel from the Fair Trade Audit Team at headquarters and audit teams at the Seoul, Busan, and Incheon customs offices. Its main role is to detect illegal activities such as evasion of anti-dumping duties in cases where third countries, facing difficulties exporting to the United States due to U.S. government tariff policies like reciprocal tariffs, export goods to Korea at low prices.
During the special inspection, the Korea Customs Service analyzed changes in import volumes and prices before and after the imposition of anti-dumping duties, changes in supplier countries, and foreign exchange transaction records for 2,500 companies importing 28 items subject to anti-dumping duties, such as H-beams and plywood, in order to identify companies with a high risk of violations.
Additionally, inspections were strengthened at the customs clearance stage to block illegal activities, including on-site verification and securing samples.
Through this process, the authorities detected companies that declared items or specifications not subject to anti-dumping duties, companies that made false declarations using the names of suppliers subject to lower anti-dumping duty rates, and companies that manipulated import prices below the minimum export price promised for price undertaking items.
Price undertaking items refer to goods for which anti-dumping duties are not imposed as long as the overseas supplier exports at or above the minimum export price promised. However, if the undertaking is violated, anti-dumping duties are imposed and collected.
The Korea Customs Service plans to collect the evaded duties from the detected companies and, depending on the severity of each case, will strongly respond by converting cases to criminal investigations and pursuing prosecution if necessary.
Furthermore, transactions suspected of dumping evasion or attempts at circumvention dumping will be reported to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Trade Commission.
Lee Myunggu, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, stated, "Attempts to evade anti-dumping duties cause losses to national finances and can threaten domestic industries through aggressive low-priced imports. The Korea Customs Service will strengthen both monitoring of items subject to anti-dumping duties and cooperation with industries and relevant agencies to block unfair trade practices."
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